The Second Sunday after Pentecost

+ In the name of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, One God.

Every morning my alarm goes off. And, from the other side of the bedroom door, I immediately begin to hear incessant, albeit adorable,meowing. At first I thought it was because my beloved tuxedo cat was excited to see me! Then I learned, and oh I learned, that really it is that he has very little faith in me - specifically he lacks faith that I will feed him. Despite the fact that he still has food in his bowl, despite the fact that since adopting him he has never gone hungry, his vocalizations clearly indicate a deep seated lack of faith that I will provide!

So I turn to him and say, “O ye of little faith!” (Matthew 8:26)

Today's readings invite us to consider that faith is not merely an intellectual assent or belief in something.

Rather, faith is, at least in part, a hopeful lived out response to the call of God in our lives, trusting that things that do not yet exist in the world or our lives can come to be.

This is coming from the letter of St Paul to the Church in Rome. He is talking about how Abraham was not counted as a righteous man because of his good deeds, or his works; rather, he was counted righteous because of his faith in God (Romans 4:13).

We see that faith playing out in Genesis. “Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you…’” (Genesis 12:1). And Abraham, well Abram at the time, this is before his name change, gets up. Abraham, the father of a multitude, uproots his family and his people, his flocks and his herds, and becomes a migrant - passing through many foreign lands.

And, as an aside: despite what the current tenor of American politics may seem like - migrating is very clearly a biblical principle. As is caring for migrants and foreigners in our lands (Leviticus 19:33-34, Exodus 22:21). So when we hear the Scriptures being hijacked to oppress and create disdain for our migrant siblings, just tell them that we support them because we’re bible believing Christians.

Back to faith.

God calls Abram to become a migrant. And in so doing, offers a vision of something which does not yet exist: “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you.” (Genesis 12:2). God calls. Abram responds. And the trajectory of the world is fundamentally altered because our God is a God who “calls into existence the things that do not exist.” (Romans 4:17).

The Gospel expands on this, as well:

The reading begins with Jesus walking and seeing Matthew. Like the Lord says to Abram, Jesus says to Matthew, “Follow me.” And, like Abram, Matthew “got up and followed him” (Matthew 9:9).

Matthew was a tax collector, and they were particularly hated. Because they were typically Jewish people, employed by the Roman empire, to oppress and tax their fellow Jewish people on behalf of the foreign occupier. They were traitors. They were despised. And this is who Jesus calls. And immediately, the next scene is Jesus having dinner with the people who are hated and despised.

Matthew’s response results in that which did not exist for him: redemption from his past, restoration to community, wholeness in relationship with God.

And then we see two miracle accounts - both of which expand our understanding of faith. A leader of the synagogue comes to Jesus asking for his dead daughter to be brought to life.

Then, a woman who has suffered bleeding for 12 years seeks to be healed by touching the cloak of Christ.

In both instances, the daughter is brought to life, the bleeding woman is healed.

To understand what is happening, it’s important to recognize that the passage utilizes a literary device called intercalation. V. 18 begins with the story of the leader of the synagogue, then switches to the hemorrhaging woman, then concludes again with the account of the leader of the synagogue. This literary device typically uses the middle story as a means of interpreting the beginning and ending elements.

The middle story involves a woman who likely suffered, for over a decade, gynecological issues of bleeding. This would have caused her immense suffering and social isolation because, according to the Torah, she was ritually impure due to the blood (Leviticus 15:25-27). This is a woman who, courageous in her faith, strong in her hope, takes matters into her hands and comes before Christ and touches him. According to the law, he would also have become ritually impure; but here, she is restored, made whole, healed beyond just her health - she is brought back into relationship with her community.

Likewise, when Christ goes and grasps the hand of the dead girl, the touching of a corpse also makes one ritually impure (Numbers 19:11). And yet what happens is a restoration of life and she is brought back into her family.

In the Gospels, response to faith leads to restoration, redemption, wholeness. God brings into existence that which did not exist for these three people.

So as I think about the meaning of faith, its characteristics, and what it means to be a person of faith we see some important details today:

As in Genesis, sometimes the response of faith is to do something frightening, to be made vulnerable, to be uprooted. Much to the chagrin of the prosperity Gospel, sometimes we lose all of what we thought was stable.

And in the Gospel, we see that the outcome of faith, coming before God, is neither isolation nor condemnation or being made ritually impure; rather, the invitation of faith is one of inclusion, and welcoming, restoration and wholeness.

And for each of these people, it was stepping into the possibility of what might be rather than what currently was.

And by faith, we are called to be a people who strive for that which does not yet exist.

We feed the hungry to meet their needs, while also praying and hoping and working towards a future when no one is hungry.

We care for the poor and the oppressed to meet their needs, while also praying and hoping and working towards a future when no one is impoverished or oppressed.

We steward the earth and its resources well, while also praying and hoping and working towards a future when harmony exists between humanity and creation.

And I firmly believe that none of this can be done without responding to the call of God in faith. . Because in faith we trust that things can be different, trusting that God bring into existence realities and possibilities which do not yet exist.

And while I think it will be an imperfectly done job, at least until Christ returns, we continue to live out this call of faith as we pray, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done.”

May we, abiding in faith, respond to the call of God in our lives, trusting that that which does not yet exist in the world can come to be.

Amen.