Friday, September 22, 2017

Let Faith be Faith



Faith means trusting without knowing for sure.  Everyone knows faith is an essential part of religion.  Whether you believe faith is something we conjure up in our heads, is something God creates in us, or faith is more about doing than believing, faith is central.


The problem is our religions are much too certain.  Our scriptures tell us God operates in mysterious morally ambiguous, unpredictable and strange ways.  So, we need to be careful when we think we are certain about the will of God.  The only one who knows the will of God is God. 

So, why do Synagogue/Church liturgies sound so certain?  When I attend synagogue, all kinds of prayers are chanted as if we are all certain what we are saying is true.  But we’re not certain. I cannot tell you how many Christian sermons I’ve heard where the pastor sounds like he or she is certain about the will of God.  But, some of us have questions and doubts.  Some of us know we are overstating our confidence in the verity of our respective beliefs and traditions.  So, why do we do it?

I suspect most clergy think it’s their role to proclaim the truth and encourage people to believe.  Most accentuate the positive about God and downplay the negative.  For example, religious services beseech and implore God to heal those who are ill.  Week after week, prayers are said.  Sometimes, people do get better and God is credited with the healing.  But, what about all those who only get worse, go through painful suffering and then die, despite the prayers? 

In our worship services, there is no place for lament prayers.  There are no prayers where God is questioned concerning God’s methodology.  I suspect the reason such prayers are omitted, despite the fact they are quite scriptural, is the fear they will imply God is unjust and this will cause people to not believe.

But listen, the contrary is true.  When you promise too much to people telling them that God will make sure nothing bad happens to them, that God will heal them, when you have them recite creeds and sing hymns that say the same, when you preach about the will of God as if you know that will, when you proclaim that everything that happens is God’s will, you are preparing people to give up their faith and their God.  You are creating agnostics and atheists.

So, let faith be faith.  Let it be comforting, risky, magical, superstitious, confusing, full of questions and doubts and wondering if any of it is true.  Our worship services need to be honest and not full of high sounding words that lie in the name of God.  You will never get rid of worries and doubts about God.  It’s part of faith.  So, let faith be faith!  Let it be perplexing, tentative, unsure, crazy making, and reassuring.  Let faith be faith and, in that way, we will be honest about what we trust and what we find hard to trust.

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