True Faith
Don’t Close the Window
First Sunday after Pentecost: Trinity Sunday
Almighty and everlasting God, who hast given unto us
thy servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to
acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power
of thy Divine Majesty to worship the Unity: We beseech thee
that thou wouldst keep us steadfast in this faith and worship,
and bring us at last to see thee in thy one and eternal glory,
O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit livest and
reignest, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
thy servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to
acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power
of thy Divine Majesty to worship the Unity: We beseech thee
that thou wouldst keep us steadfast in this faith and worship,
and bring us at last to see thee in thy one and eternal glory,
O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit livest and
reignest, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
No one has an untrue faith, do they. The proof is in asking, isn’t it. Ask anyone, anyone at all, “Do you have an untrue faith?” The answer is assured: “Certainly not.” “Is your faith true?” “Certainly.”
The Bible says (Hebrews 11:1) “εστιν δε πιστις ελπιζομενων υποστασις πραγματων ελεγχος ου βλεπομενων,” translated, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (NRSV). Key words in the verse are hoped and conviction. All well and good to be certain, but faith is not about certainty, faith is about hope and conviction. Each of us has different hopes and convictions that may be vital and very real to us; thus the qualifying, “it’s true for me or for us” -- which though casting a shadow of doubt, is honest and leaves the window open. Faith is hope and confidence, where confidence is not certitude.
More key words in the passage are assurance, things, and not seen. The hypostasis is more than just assurance, it’s realization. “Things” is pragmaton -- practical rather than theoretical; but in this case, things that cannot be seen. Oxygen, air comes to mind as I suck it in and whoof it out, feeling it but not seeing it. Ruach. Pneuma. The word itself contains and conveys the essence of the thing.
My true faith is my realization, with the ancients of the Church, that there is reality beyond what I see. I can believe humbly, without arrogant certitude. I can have confidence, comfortably not shakily. If I am afraid, I can put fear aside and go confidently on, both with life and into death.
A few more things come to mind this morning. One is that in Hebrews 11:1, all the words are key words. Another is that when, in Bible study, we find some key words, we like to chase around in the Bible and see how those words are used elsewhere; this often helps us understand them better. Unfortunately, the key words in Hebrews 11:1 are pretty much only used in that one verse. So one must resort to the Greek-English lexicon and to conjecture that is “reading back into” based on usages outside the Bible. Anyway, if anyone doesn’t like my early morning struggle with faith and Hebrews 11:1, fine with me.
Another thing that jumps out at me is that the Roman Catholic eucharistic doctrine of transubstantiation is entirely validated by Hebrews 11:1. The realization of reality, substance, essence, that cannot be seen. And, Articles of Religion notwithstanding, transubstantiation is not foreign to our Anglican ethos.
The other thing is that faith, Hebrews 11:1, alleviates our natural human fear of whatever comes or does not come after this life; and entirely validates our prayer in our service for the burial of the dead, “Give courage and faith to those who are bereaved, that we may have strength to meet the days ahead in the comfort of a reasonable and holy hope, in the joyful expectation of eternal life with those we love.” This is not only for the bereaved: it’s blessed hope, faith, for those of us who are dying (where the most foolish thing we utter is, “If I die”). So, we pray confidently,
... We beseech thee that thou wouldst keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see thee in thy one and eternal glory,
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