Proper 22 C + A leap of faith + 10.6.19

M. Campbell-Langdell

All Santos, Oxnard

(Lamentations 1:1-6; Lamentations 3:19-26 or Psalm 137; 2 Timothy 1:1-14; Luke 17:5-10)

Sometimes it is easy to be a pastor. Things are going well for folks and for the church and you just feel like you could celebrate God’s love and goodness in your life and in others’ lives every day. But then those other moments hit you. When someone comes to you in real pain. And there are no easy answers. There is always hope to offer in Christ, but you know if you jump to it too fast, you are just adding to the pain. Those are the moments when I see folks who feel like the city envisioned as a woman abandoned here in the passage from Lamentations. She feels left all alone, desolate. That is what it feels like when something happens that is too hard to understand. Life is good. Then it is not. And what do you say to that? If you jump to fast to God’s promises, you might miss the opportunity to grieve with someone, to hear their pain, if only for a moment. Then it is time to remind them of God’s goodness.

But between the promises of God and the present moment of loss, sometimes there seems to be a gap. A time when we don’t know the way forward. I was reminded this week of an image that helps me think of how we as Christians can accompany each other as we make the leap of faith. The image was from “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.” In the scene, Indiana is stuck with no apparent way forward coming out of a hole in the rock wall into what looks like a sheer drop. In another space, Sean Connery is on a stretcher, and his character is saying “You must believe boy, you must believe.” And Indiana, played by Harrison Ford, says “It’s a leap of faith.” And then, placing his hand on his heart, he walks forward, and a bridge appears that by optical illusion did not appear before.[1]
That is a bit of what it feels like to see someone in great pain and encourage them to still take that next step in faith. I am a fallible human, and I don’t know that something else equally terrible will not befall myself or another person in the next moment, but God knows. And I trust God’s promises, not that it will be easy, but that if we are willing to take that leap of faith, God will be there to accompany us through the moments until we reach the fruit of God’s promises to us- promises to have life, and live it abundantly.

In today’s gospel, Jesus talks about having faith the size of a mustard seed. As I have continued to reflect on this image, I often go back to how faith has worked in my life. In moments when I was unsure about how to proceed, I was often unconvinced that the next step I was taking was the right one. But I prayed and decided to trust God’s guidance as best I could discern it. And I kept on praying. So that I would know if I hit resistance whether that was God guiding in another direction, or God telling me to keep at it through difficulties. But the faith that I had in those moments was sometimes quite small in comparison to my worries. I may not have trusted God as much as I hope to in general. But nonetheless when I took those steps forward in faith, I was rewarded richly.
A specific example of this in my life was my decision to go to Chile to study in college. You see, I was all set to go to Argentina and then the economy collapsed.  I was somewhat of a student activist so I wondered if God was telling me to go anyway, but the more I prayed, the more I felt that, for me, the better choice was to go to Chile, a country I knew little about but which was another offering in the same study abroad program with which I was signed up. I prayed. I was so indecisive. But eventually I felt that God was guiding towards Chile. And there, not only did I have an amazing cultural and academic experience, but I joined a group of young adults doing Bible study who helped me continue to discern my ministry, I got to participate in a religious retreat that affirmed my faith, and I got close to an amazing host family with whom I am still in touch. Maybe Argentina would have been just as good. But I feel that God was guiding me there. However it was scary. When I arrived, I did experience the stomach troubles so famous when traveling abroad. I experienced quite a bit of anxiety in a new place and a foreign culture. The school system and bus system were totally new and confusing. But I learned it all and gained confidence. God used that time for my good. Because I got to experience all the things aforementioned, a gift that has stayed with me for the better part of two decades.

So when we need to take a leap of faith, or when we are accompanying a friend who needs to know that God is with them and will guide them to the other side of whatever mess is in front of them, let us remember. That God is good. That faith as small as a mustard seed will give us what we need to persevere. That God will grow that little seed. But we must guard that faith with our spiritual life. As Paul says to Timothy in today’s scripture, “Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us (2 Tim 1:14).”

Amen.

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[1] “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” 1989, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-JIfjNnnMA. Idea given by Working Preacher’s Sermon Brainwave Podcast.