Sermon - 2013-10-06

Faith is something that we hear a lot about, but it is a hard word and concept to really understand.  What is faith?  Where does it come from?  It is a word that we talk about a lot within the church.  It is the very thing that we are told we need more of, that we need to have and wish we could share with others.  Faith is a word, a concept, an understanding, but most of all it is a gift.  

So what could faith look like?   A husband and wife had been going to church for 45 years together.  Each Sunday they sat in their pew.  They sat in the same pew Sunday after Sunday. She attended Bible studies and would often share insight and remind people of other stories that made connections for everyone there.  People thought that they were the most faithful people within the church.  One day the wife simply would not wake up.  She had passed away in her sleep.  

Her husband became angry, didn’t want to see anyone.  He stopped coming to church.  Everyone in the congregation could feel the loss of the couple.  They were saddened.  The worship services seemed a little less welcoming.  After the Sunday after her funeral, a friend went over and just talked with him about how he was.  They talked for a long while about all the frustrations and the things that he missed already.  It was hard.  After his friend left, a person from church called and told him that they had been praying for him.  They talked for a bit and even prayed on the phone.  When they hung up, the  phone, there was a knock at the door. A couple from the church had made a casserole for him and shared dinner.  They talked about some of the joys that they had enjoyed together, the dinners, the Bible studies, and prayers.  The couple left and the man still missed his wife, but realized that he was not alone.  The next Sunday, he went back to church.  

He sat in the same pew that they had been in for years.  However, that Sunday there was a new family in church.  They had two little children and the little boy was swinging his feet as they hung off the pew.  The little boy smiled at the man.  The man realized that this little boy needed to know the joy that he had found here in the church.  That Sunday was a communion Sunday.  The preacher reminded the people that faith was a gift given to us, but it often feels like a process that we go through.  God gives us the gift of faith and the word of hope.  Soon we forget those words within the events of our lives.  We need to return to hear those words, remember their purpose and gift that is given to us within our lives.  

Today we gather for the same purpose.  We are reminded that though we are children of God, we return to be reminded of the promises and gifts that God has given to us.  For within our lives, we forget that God’s Word is the focus and true gift within our lives.  We return to the table that Jesus has prepared for us.  We kneel and receive the gift that is given to us. We receive it with open hands, open hearts and freed souls.  We are reminded of all that God has done for us each and every single day and what God will continue to do.  We respond to that gift with our lives, our actions and our words.  For it is not always your faith, but it is our faith.  It is something that we share and are given every single day.  For as long as the Lord gives us breathe, we are given the gift of grace and mercy and we live out that response every single day.  Amen.