Who Is A Person of Faith?
Sermon by Steve Edington
February 6, 2005
Bill Moyers has always struck me as a pretty perceptive, insightful, and thoughtful kind of guy; and one not easily given to making alarmist or over-the-top observations. Even when I haven't completely agreed with him I've always figured he's got both of his feet on the ground and his head properly screwed on. So when he makes a statement, such as the one he recently did upon receiving an award from the Center for Health and the Global Environment at the Harvard Medical School, I take notice, and take him seriously. Here's part of what he said: "One of the biggest changes in politics in my lifetime is that the delusional is no longer marginal. It has come in from the fringe to sit in the seat(s) of power... For the first time in our history, ideology and theology hold a monopoly of power in Washington."
The gist of his address, which I'm not going to get into in any great detail this morning, is that what has until lately been regarded as fringe religious ideas and beliefs have become sufficiently mainstreamed enough now to be given serious regard in some of the highest halls of power in our nation. Moyers cites a 2002 Time/CNN poll which indicates that 59% of Americans believe the prophecies found in the Book of Revelation are going to come true - and view the events of the Middle East in their light. In the same poll nearly one-fourth think the Bible predicted the 9/11 attacks. Moyers goes on to point out that Christian fundamentalist and right wing warrior, Timothy LaHaye regularly sees his books on best seller lists - all of which are variations on the theme that we are living in the last times, leading up to the crowing event when the righteous believers will be taken up into heaven - "raptured" is the term - leaving the rest of us heathen types to suffer and be tortured here below. These end-times are all somehow tied in with Israel reclaiming its "rightful" Biblical lands, and then the Jews being converted to Christianity, plus a bunch of other stuff I don't quite get-or feel I need to get.
When Moyers says the "delusional is no longer marginal" he means that the persons, groups, and organizations holding and promoting such ideas as the ones just cited are enjoying, and using, access to political power in a way that has never been the case before. Quoting him once more: "We're not talking about a handful of fringe lawmakers who hold or are beholden to these beliefs. Nearly half the U.S. Congress before the recent election - 231 legislators in total and more since the election - are backed by the religious right... Fifty five Senators and 186 House members of the 108th Congress earned 80 to 100 percent ratings from the three most influential Christian right advocacy groups. They include the Senate Majority Leader...the Assistant Majority Leader..the House Speaker..the (House) Majority Whip..." and various others in pivotal positions of power.
I don't think Moyers is being alarmist or hysterical in his portrayal of our current religious, cultural and political landscape. As I hope to point out today, however, and on our next two succeeding Sundays as well, Moyers is not, thankfully, describing the totality of our religious, political, and cultural landscape - and I think he would agree with me on that. But I want to use just one phrase, to which I've already referred twice, from his speech as a way of moving us into our topic for the morning. "The delusional," you recall he says, "is no longer marginal." Personally I happen to concur with Moyers' use of the term "delusional." But I am also quite aware, as Moyers himself is I'm sure, that when it comes to those to whom he's referring in using the term "delusional," these folk would reply, "I'm not deluded at all Mr. Moyers (or Mr. Edington), I'm just being a person of faith."
A person of faith. What does that mean? This is the topic I want to pursue with you in a somewhat abbreviated way today, and on our next two Sundays as well. What does, or can, it mean for each one of us to be a person of faith - and what does it mean for this gathered community to be a community of faith? This is our topic both for today and for February as well.
I'd like to offer a road-map kind of distinction for two types of faith I want to put before us today. I say "road map" because the actual territory that a map purports to illustrate is never as neatly and cleanly drawn as a map shows it to be. But a map is still a useful guideline, nonetheless. So take this as a map, while realizing that your own religious and spiritual territory probably will not break as cleanly, or be drawn as neatly, as I'm about to draw it here.
That said, I would set forth two types of faith. They differ with respect to the realms in which they are ultimately vested or anchored. One, and we'll call it "Mode One," is the realm of the supernatural or the other-worldly; the other - oh, hey let's make it "Mode Two" - is the realm of the natural and the this-worldly. Both of these modes of faith are lived out in this world and in one's day to day comings and goings. Persons of faith, in both of these realms or modes, will pretty much do the same kinds of things from one day to the next: Go to work, go shopping, watch the Super Bowl and the like. They worship in different places, most likely however; and worship according to different precepts.
Mode One faith, to stay with our road map terminology, holds that our lives, and the life of the earth and universe are ultimately in the hands of a willful and intentional Supernatural Supreme Being, usually referred to as God, Jehovah, or Allah depending upon the particular religion in which it is set. Quite often the will, intent, and commands of this Supreme Being are revealed through a sacred text; a text which, if not taken completely literally, is still to be accorded the utmost seriousness and authority nonetheless. It is this God who gives meaning, purpose, and direction to our lives-and without such a God there is no meaning, purpose, or direction in any ultimate sense.
The powerful, and ongoing presence of this kind of faith in our society, and other parts of the world, goes a long way in explaining why an issue like the teaching of human evolution will not go away. For serious and fully committed Mode One persons of faith the idea that we human beings got here via a process of millions of years during which time we evolved from lesser developed life forms undercuts the idea of a willful and intentional Supreme Being who purposefully created human beings in a Godly image. Such a stance, so this line of reasoning goes, renders life ultimately meaningless and devoid of any chance of spiritual growth and nurture. There are, I know, all kinds of ways of responding to that which I'll save for another day. Moving from the personal to the societal, God (and we're still in Mode One faith) also has a plan and a will for societies; and one role, if not obligation, for person of faith in this Mode is to see that that plan is carried forth. If Bill Moyers is anywhere near correct, persons of faith, in this Mode, are enjoying a fair measure of success at the moment.
I'm not exactly giving away any secrets when I say that this is not the Mode of Faith in which I operate. At the same time I have no desire - not on the personal level anyway - to be pejorative about it. Such faith has been, and is, a powerful and sustaining force in many person's lives; and has gotten them through some terrible trials and tribulations they might not have otherwise borne. I have no need or desire to take such faith away from anyone, even if I could. When it gets the public or civic arena that's another story, which is, again, for another time.
Okay, Mode Two. This one holds that meaningful living, and spiritual nurture, can be found within the realm of the natural. This is a faith stance, I would say. Persons who operate in this mode may quibble about what actually constitutes the "realm of the natural" but let's set that one aside for today too. I went to our website this past week and read the sermon John Sanders gave here back on January 2nd, which was the first Sunday of my mini-sabbatical. I found it to be a wonderful example of a Mode Two Person of Faith. To be a person of faith in this mode means that you trust the human capacity for reason and rationality, and the strength found in the exercise of the human will; while also recognizing that such trust and exercise only takes one so far. As John put it, one is still left sensing the need for "something more." The faith stance here is that this "something more" can indeed be found; and it can be found without recourse to the Supernatural.
To personalize this for a moment I believe, as a matter of faith, that there is within this natural world and universe - and within myself as a part of this natural world and universe - a depth dimension to life that I call sacred or holy. We can touch this dimension when we push beyond our rational faculties - not deny or disavow them but push beyond - and find our divine spark that connects us to the rest of being, to the rest of existence. Some call this sacred dimension the "God Within". On occasion I do myself. Others have other terms for it. Important as language is, the experience to which it points is of greater import.
While I am not a practicing Buddhist, I find the Buddhist idea of being awake, or awakened, a good characterization of this mode of faith and faithful living. The word Buddha itself means "awakened one." Awakened in the sense of being truly aware of your surroundings, aware of the world in which you live, and aware of your relationship to all that is. To live by faith, in this awakened manner, is to believe in this relationship and believe that it is worth living out. My playful title for next Sunday's sermon in "Fake It 'Till You Make It." But what it's actually about is trust - trusting yourself, trusting your internal resources - your "God within" if you prefer (or not if you don't) - and trusting in your capacity to live in an awakened way, even when you feel there's no way you can do any of that. In other words, it'll be about living by faith-your faith.
One more point on what I'm calling "Mode Two" faith today before finishing up. Beyond the personal, the right and proper role of faith, of persons of faith, and of religion of whatever stripe in one's larger society or culture is to be the conscience of that society. Part of being truly awake means being awakened to compassion, to human need, to the demands of justice; and awakened to the care of the earth itself and all its creatures. This was the principle by which Martin Luther King, and those who have followed his example and model, have operated. His method was not to push a partisan, and divisive political agenda by which "God's will" would allegedly be fulfilled, but rather to set before those in power the means by which the common good could be further advanced, and that the demands of justice, equity, and compassion could be better met. Dr. King, and others like him, did this as persons of faith. As persons who were awakened to the human needs of their time, and who believed in the power of the human spirit, and in the power that is both contained within and that transcends the human spirit to see that such ends were accomplished.
Our faith journeys then are ones that go forth within this precious, fragile, sacred, and time-bound life we're given to live. Our faith stance is that the journey is worth the making; that life is worth waking up to; and that the cries and needs of the world in which our lives are lived are worthy of our response.
Stephen D. Edington
February 6, 2005
Copyright © 2005 by the Unitarian-Universalist Church of Nashua NH. All rights reserved.
