Barnacle-Free Faith

Today's readings: Ps 12, 146; Isa 52:1-12; Gal 4:12-20; Mark 8;1-10

One trait of an effective movement, whether religious or secular, is an ability to stay focused. Unfortunately, the older and larger a movement grows, the more likely it is to lose focus. We need look only as far as the church to see a primary example. Early Christians were focused around the idea that Jesus was the savior, and through him all sin was forgiven. They had de facto leaders but no real bureaucracy, and were more focused on freedom and restriction. Is that what the church looks like today? Can we imagine Peter poring over building use policy revisions, or Paul reading the latest theories on why you should have one third more seats than you do members? These activities aren’t wrong in and of themselves, but if we’re not careful we may start thinking and behaving as if the point of church is to perpetuate church, rather than to serve God.

One of Paul’s purposes in writing to the Galatians was to encourage them to return to the basics of the faith. Like present-day churches, the simple ideas and practices that bound them as a community began to accrete individual and cultural restrictions. Like barnacles on a ship – sometimes known as fouling organisms – these additions adversely impacted the effectiveness and structure of the church. Paul told the Galatians they needed to scrape off “fouling” ideas, particularly a return to justification through the Law (via circumcision) rather than through Christ. Today’s church is just as prone to fouling ideas. Most of the time we can recognize them because they separate us from each other or the world around us. Any time we decide someone who professes dedication to Christ is not a “real” Christian because their denomination, practices, or identity don’t fit our mold, we are probably victims of fouled faith. People have been petty enough to create rifts because someone brought the “wrong” kind of bread for communion. As Christians, we are called to rise above such trivialities and unite rather than divide.

Faith is not always simple, but let’s resist the temptation to complicate it unnecessarily. If we focus on Christ, the barnacles on our faith fall away.

Comfort: Christ is the lens that focuses our faith.

Challenge: What barnacles have you accumulated? Scrape them off.

Prayer: God of Abundance, I will keep my eye on Christ.

Evening readings: Ps 36, 7

Tomorrow's readings: Ps 96, 147:1–11; ; Isa 52:13—53:12; Gal 4:21–31; Mark 8:11–26

Who do you trust?

Today's readings: Ps 62, 145; Isa 51:17-23; Gal 4:1-11; Mark 7:24-37

Trust is an essential component of faith. Who (or what) we trust reveals where our true faith lies. We can easily say and believe we trust God, but when pressed, do we turn to God… or to something else? In this current recession, do we grow more generous in response to the increased needs of others, or do we cling more tightly to what we have? Do we trust our savior or our financial advisor? Psalm 62 warns us not to trust in increased riches (v 10), but we often place practicality above generosity.

Even Jesus needed reminders that living a life of abundance means not hoarding resources, even spiritual ones. When a Syrophoenician woman asked him to heal her demon-possessed daughter, he responded by saying it wasn’t fair to throw the children’s food to the dogs (Mark 7:27). The children were the Jewish people, and the dogs – a very pejorative term in his culture – were the Gentiles. When the woman reminded him even the dogs got the crumbs that fell on the floor (v 28), he relented and healed her daughter. In that moment, Jesus displayed a trust in an abundant God that was deeper than his understanding of his mission among the Jews. Do we trust God’s abundance enough to be open to those who are strangers or even foes to us, or does our self-defined sense of mission limit what God can accomplish through us?

Sometimes we need to undergo some self-examination to understand where we place our trust. Paul reminds the Galatians that a person who places his or her trust in anything other than God becomes enslaved to that thing. In the case of the Galatians he may have been speaking of the Law or of lesser spiritual beings. Today we may cling to the law instead of love, or make idols of creeds or ideas. We may define ourselves by our looks, popularity, intelligence, wealth or any number of things which are impermanent at best, instead of by our relationship with God. If we lost any of these – or all of them! – tomorrow, we would still have God. What things are we enslaved to; that is, what unworthy things divert our trust from God? Let’s trust God now, so we have nothing to regret later.

Comfort: When everyone and everything are gone, God remains.

Challenge: Meditate on what you really trust. When you begin to fear or worry, remind yourself to trust God.

Prayer: God of abundance, I place my trust in You.

Evening readings: Ps 73, 9

Tomorrow's readings: Ps 12, 146; Isa 52:1-12; Gal 4:12-20; Mark 8:1-10