Faith is a subtle human phenomenon. Sometimes I call it a practice to break the usual reflex to reduce faith down to the intellectual assent to certain propositions. Faith is a way of approaching life, a way of thinking, a way of acting, feeling, and a way of being. It does have intellectual content but is more than any of what I have just mentioned. And I call it a practice to make it more difficult to take possession of faith, as though it can be one more commodity to own.
Faith is not a possession because, for instance, before it is mine, faith is the faith of the church. (The whole body of Christ, living and departed.) Whatever content ‘faith’ contains, without people teaching it to us, modelling it for us, and showing us how to live ‘the faith’, we would not have a faith to talk about. We might still read the Bible, but without teaching from those who also have learned the faith from someone else, we would not end up with Christian faith. before our faith is our faith, it was someone else's faith before us! So it isn't really mine in the usual sense. And without the Holy Spirit active within us, giving us the capacity to have a faith, the spiritual energy to grasp and learn the faith, and the perseverance to keep hold of faith, we would have no faith, or if we did it would soon expire. It is no exaggeration to say that before the faith is within our grasp, it is the church’s faith, and without the Holy Spirit there is no faith at all, including the faith of the church.
But we can and do talk of ‘my faith’. But it is more like a gift that I am holding rather than a possession. If I were trying to find an analogy it might be something akin to life itself. My life is my life and your life is your life not mine, but my life is never really mine in the sense we use of a possession. I might enjoy life and live it, but I had no say in ‘purchasing’ it and it will be taken from me at some point whether I like it or not. Faith is a bit like that. A generous gift, to be held gently, nurtured, lived, shared, hung onto at times, and celebrated at other times.
Why is this important?
First, it encourages humility as people of faith. In humble gratitude we nurture the gift within us.
Second, because faith in Jesus is a gift from God, faith is the means for us to grow into who we are meant to be by focusing our attention on God. My faith is not about me. It is about God. And in that focus outward to God I will become truly myself.
Third, it gives us a clue of what to do if our faith is weakening. Focus on God. Trust the promises of God. We do that and our faith will rebuild.
Fourth, when we feel things are going badly in our life faith will help us through those difficult times. The gift of faith in Christ grows us in maturity as human beings (it doesn’t shield us from life) to better cope with difficulties, tragedy, and loss and faith will be instrumental in our renewal.
This is part of the message of Hebrews. The faith of the readers was wavering. So, the writer gives encouragement to them by listing the great figures of faith who have gone before them, and most especially, Jesus, who endured the shame of the cross because of the joy set before him. He trusted in God. We can too. God is reliable, from age to age. And Jesus is too. What we see in Jesus on the cross is not an arbitrary mood change on the part of God. Jesus is God. God is Christlike and there is no unChristlikeness in Jesus. The love of the cross is not changeable. (Christ is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.) The love of Jesus and the Father defeats even death itself. Believe it.
