Thomas E.S. (Ted) Miller
August 12, 2007

The Conviction of Things Unseen
Genesis 15: 1-6, Hebrews 11: 1, 10-20

 

“My father was a wandering Aramean,” is a phrase repeated throughout the Pentatuch as a way of recalling the origin of our Judeo Christian heritage. We started out as immigrants and wanderers, a kind of pioneer faith. As a nation which started out in much the same way, as travelers to distant shores set on making a new life in a new world, our forbearers saw themselves in much the same way as Abraham and Sarah were seen by subsequent generations. Not only were they the founders of a dynasty, they were, as the Book of Hebrews points out, set above the crowd by virtue of their faith and their willingness to act upon it. Not knowing where they were going, they set off at the Lord's bidding. They lived their lives as wanderers as did their decedents for many generations. It was enough to live by a promise, the covenant with God.

There was a time not so long ago in America, when religious values and the values of our culture were nearly identical...with the same sorts of ideals and goals expressed in each. Faith was something you learned about and acquired just by participating in the "American Way of Life." When my Mom started learning to read in the early part of the last century, the McGuffey Reader was still being used...with its ample references to the 10 Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount. Values such as caring for your neighbor and sharing resources and skills in order to contribute to the greater good were just what you did. It was the world of Little House on the Prairie. This was the cultural consensus even through the Roaring Twenties and into the Depression. Not all voices agreed, but when our nation entered World War II we did so as a people bolstered by the shared values of a faith tradition which honored sacrifice for the good of the whole...men and women of all walks of life put their personal needs and aspirations on hold in order to participate in the shared project of defeating Hitler and the Empire of Japan.

A man named Gil Rendell, a researcher from the Alban Institute (a religious think-tank and consulting group) utilizes all sorts of resources from sociologists and market analysts to demonstrate that after the War the faith consensus started to break apart rapidly. With prosperity and economic boom...the things hoped for in our lives became more tangible and more achievable. A college education, a home of our own, cars, consumer goods, etc. were in reach for vastly more families than ever before. At the same time, ironically, our ability to delay gratification of our dreams became increasingly more difficult. Credit cards and large debt are one manifestation of this fact. The recent crisis in the home-mortgage market is revealing how paper-thin many families have spread themselves in pursuit of all the things they want.

There is considerable talk about faith, but at the same time, there is little in the way of self-sacrifice discussed in our current American way of thinking.  Much of our pioneer spirit has been lost. If you read Willa Cather's The Pioneers, you have a picture of noble immigrants who scrimp and sacrifice, earning low wages and working harder than the next guy in order to make it in America.  Today, a fellow who works long hours at below minimum wage in order to save enough money to send home for his family is called an Illegal alien and is made the boogey-man. Instead of upholding the tradition of the wanderers, we tend to be a people bent on building walls and fences.

Why should I wait or work for what I want or what I think I need?  If you were to study the theology of countless different TV preachers you would come to the conclusion that the current American faith consensus is an amalgamation of the advertizing agencies and self-help gurus and fundamentalism.  The message is that you shouldn't have to wait for anything.  Take it-use it-throw it away, charge it and flaunt it, that's how you can show you are a success – that's how someone else is going to know that God loves you. It spills over in lots of tragic ways.  Look at the young people in Newark who were lined up against a wall last week and shot for a few dollars.  When someone is running a country that we don't like, particularly if they are sitting on top of some oil reserves – the solution is regime change. Pat Robertson of the 700 Club was advocating the over throw of Hugo Chavez with this very reasoning.

Many of our public figures, both from the field of religion and the field of politics tend to view the world in black and white.  One writers response to that: “Do you honestly a believe the world is split down the middle like a barbecued chicken?” This was the provocative answer that columnist Camille Paglia, wrote to a reader who was questioning her opinion on some current events. In this case, it doesn't really matter what her opinion was or what was the issue, her answer cuts to the point of what many feel is affecting American Culture these days. We have forgotten how to disagree – or to even discuss things. “You are either for me or you are an enemy!” “My way or the highway,” there is little room for debate as individuals launch invectives at one another because they are not in agreement with one another.

Perhaps it is that I grew up in Southern Indiana, which is, as I believe I have mentioned before, very much a part of the Bible Belt, early on I was exposed to folks who came on strong on issues, particularly of belief or faith. I can remember chafing when a class mate would inquire, even as young as fourth or fifth grade, about the state of my soul. I also remember being barraged with pamphlets as you walked up to the gate of the County Fair – “Impeach Earl Warren” out of one hand and a tract about salvation from the other.

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things unseen.

"To love God, recognize that you are loved by God," writes William Countryman, on the faculty of the Episcopal seminary in Berkley, California [i] . "Your whole life is potentially a partnership in love, a partnership in which God wants to share...." Love of God is not a matter of a special list of beliefs, creeds or duties. It is  not bound up in tangibles such as success or failure, or acquisitions or tests of courage or ability. "This love consists, fundamentally, in sharing your life with God."

The conviction of things unseen: the portion of Genesis in which Abraham and Sarah's story is told, is a turning point in the early Old Testament, or perhaps, it can be better understood as a starting point for our faith tradition. Not only is the beginning of the narrative of the history of the people, the Hebrews, it is the beginning of the history of salvation. In the early part of the Bible we have the collective history of human sin from the fall in the garden, Cain and Able, the contention over the Tower of Babel, the story of Noah and the flood.  Now with Abraham, we have the beginning of the saga of a people who live their lives not under the shadow of a curse - as the result of human sin - but people who are living their lives in the light of a promise. Each generation struggling, but also growing and maturing in an understanding that God has loved us, loves us now and will continue to love us. And that love makes an extraordinary difference.

I was recently quite moved by a story I heard on NPR.  It is kind of a testimony to a modern pioneer who lived with a conviction of things unseen. He recently died. An 83-year-old Nazi death camp survivor, Arno Lustiger, led the reading of the Mourner's Kaddish, among a series of prayers central to Jewish worship. The prayer is mostly in Aramaic.

The ceremony then moved inside the venerable place of worship and despite the drizzly chill, hundreds gathered to watch the ceremony on a huge screen outside. The President of France, President Nicolas Sarkozy flew from his vacation in New England to attend the service as well. Hundreds of people, including prominent Jewish leaders, Holocaust survivors and citizens of Paris, gathered to see the simple wooden coffin carried through crowds and placed on the stone square in front of the 12th century Cathedral of Notre Dame on Friday. After the three-hour service, pallbearers carried the casket down the stone steps of Notre Dame into the crypt where other archbishops are buried. Andre Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris led the funeral Mass.

The deceased was born Aaron Lustiger, son of Jewish shopkeepers in Paris, his mother was killed at the Auschwitz death camp – he had been sent as a teenager to live in the south of France in order to escape the Nazi's when they marched into Paris. Lustiger, who spent most of his life working to reconcile Catholics and Jews, asked that his funeral include both faiths. He lived a faith that transcended the limitations of both of the faith traditions – embodied his convictions within himself and everything he did.

His biography is not unlike many of his generation who having overcome much, sought to champion important causes throughout their life-time. What makes him somewhat unique is that Lustiger, born a Jew, became the Archbishop of Paris and served in that capacity for 24 years until 2005 when he retired.

Before he died he asked that a simple plaque be placed in Notre Dame which says, "I was born Jewish. I received my paternal grandfather's name, Aaron, I became Christian by faith and baptism, and I remained Jewish like the Apostles did."

I was really stuck as I heard the report of this funeral on NPR Saturday morning – struck by the fact that in a world where there is so much division and so much enmity between people of various religious traditions, this Prelate of the Church embodied a kind of faith that transcends Religion.

As one theologian has put it, "But if living by faith doesn't mean you will live "successfully," it does mean you will live victoriously.  Living victoriously by faith means we can live secure in the knowledge that we may have absolute trust, complete confidence, in the promises of God.  Living victoriously means being relieved of that death grip of panic and doubt that can freeze us out of any forward movement.  Living victoriously in faith means we are free to prophesy our way forward in life, empowered to work  with every fiber of our being to participate in that prophecy's birth.  Faith in God's promises for each generation, faith in God's continued presence - faith itself is the victory.   Amen