Jack Hardaway
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Things fall apart.
We wear out.
We wear one another out.
Bodies, minds, relationships.
Faith.
Faith wears out.
Trust wears out.
The invitation, the need, the opportunity to renew faith is always there. To renew trust.
To plant the garden again. To plant another generation of trees.
I’ve always been in awe of the renewal of faith in God’s faithfulness.
I have found strength and comfort in knowing that it is God’s faithfulness that is the good news, that I am being set free by God’s faith, and that Jesus is that living breathing faith of God renewing the blood and bones of a shattered Universe.
Baptisms, the renewal of baptisms, the splashing of water, the blessing and recieving of bread and wine, the singing of praise, the confession of the creeds, all these things have always taken my breath away.
I see faith as more than that now.
Our faith in each other.
Our faith in humanity.
Our faith in the Church.
Our faith in our nation.
Our faith in our governance.
Our faith in community.
Our faith in the world, the wind, the rain, the sun, the trees, every living thing.
I have to renew my trust in all these as well.
That is something new to me.
We renew our baptismal vows.
We renew our marriage vows.
We renew our ordination promises.
Renewal is always there in everything.
Psalm 104 reminds us today that God’s Spirit makes and renews everything.
All creation.
Our humanity.
Everything that makes us human.
God’s Spirit creates, sustains and makes new.
The renewal of faith is so much bigger than I ever thought it was, the renewal of trust, it is everything.
That is the way of faith. The renewal of faith is the Christian vocation. It is a way of life. It is the way that is life.
This month I feel like Grace Church has been renewing itself, renewing our faith in God’s Spirit, with the Fall festival, the blessing of the animals, the pledge drive, the BBQ, the energy of youth ministry.
We come together and begin again.
And we receive the Holy Spirit in that renewal.
The renewal of faith is so much more than I ever imagined.
The challenge is so much greater and all encompassing.
It isn’t about just me and God.
Its about God’s Spirit making everything and finding out who we are as we renew trust and faith in each other.
Psalm 104. Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Creation is God’s tabernacle.
And we are part of that.
Breathless.
It feels so much safer for faith to be a private matter of devotion and piety with the Lord of Life.
But, for faith to involve trusting other people, and getting involved with the world, and all the messy disappointments that involves, that is so much more, so much more scarry, so much riskier.
It involves love, and forgiveness, and being vulnerable, and available, and reaching out, and being hurt, and starting over, over and over again.
Things fall apart.
We wear out.
We wear one another out.
Bodies, minds, relationships.
Faith.
Faith wears out.
Trust wears out.
The invitation, the need, the opportunity to renew faith is always there. To renew trust.
To plant the garden again. To plant another generation of trees.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.