“How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb?” goes the
old joke, to which the answer is, “Only one; but the light bulb must really want
to change.” There is more to this joke than meets the eye, for what it says is
true of our faith. Faith is a gift from God; but in order to receive that gift,
we must really want to receive it. We must want it strongly enough that
we are prepared to take a step out into the unknown in order to find it.
God has revealed much of himself through his Creation. When we look at
the beauty, the design built into everything around us, from the skies and
plants and animals to the artistic and mental products of human beings, it is
near impossible to imagine that this is all a blind accident. Behind it all we
become aware that there must be an intelligence, a Someone who has
designed it all. No-one can look at a watch and think it an accident; we
intuitively know that there must be a watchmaker. So with the Creation;
there has to be a Designer who thoughtfully put it all together.
But if we are to know such a vast and powerful Creator, we can only
know him is he reveals himself to us. And in order for us to know him,
two things are required: a desire to know him, and a way to do
so. This way of knowing him is what we call faith. If we really want to
know God, he will show himself to us. But he wants us to take the first step beyond
knowing about him to actually knowing him, ourselves. We have to
step out in faith, believing that he exists, and that we will meet him and
experience him if we do this.
C.S. Lewis illustrates this beautifully: When a mother teaches her
toddler to walk, she begins by holding his little hands and leading him to walk
in front of her. Most babies gurgle with delight at the discovery that they can
walk on only two legs. But there comes the day when he must learn to walk on
his own. So she lets go of his hands, takes a small step backwards and calls
him to come to her. That first, unsupported step he takes is a big one for a
tiny baby, but the mother will coax him until he takes it. If he stumbles, she
will be there to catch him before he falls and hurts himself. And how happy
will that mother be that he has taken his first unsupported step, no matter how
hesitant and awkward it might be.
Just so, God wants us to take that first step towards him, a “leap of faith,”
as it is often called. And we need to take that first step, difficult
though it may seem, with the assurance that God, like the mother, will be there
to catch us, and that in that very first step of living and acting as though we
believe in his existence, God will reveal himself to us. This is what
the writer of the letter to the Hebrews means in today’s Second Reading when he
speaks of faith as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things
not seen.” When we place ourselves in God’s hands, we not only discover that he
exists; we discover that he loves and cares for us, that he will do, and has
done, anything to save us, even to the death of his only-begotten Son Jesus on
the cross.
Chapter 11 of the Letter to the Hebrews tells us of the faith of
Abraham. It is worth taking time to reflect upon this passage, which reveals
both the depth of Abraham’s faith in God, and the extent to which God blessed
him through his faith. The leap of faith is not a once-off action, but a choice
which carries us throughout life and beyond. If we are to see at last,
when we reach eternity, the face of God who has revealed himself to us, then we
must continue to hold on to the gift of faith that he has given us, the
“assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Abraham had
faith, and followed God in all that he commanded.” So must we.
Fr Phillip.
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