Faith and Service

The thing that is most important to remember about the request posed by the disciples in today's gospel is this: FAITH FOR A DISCIPLE OF CHRIST IS A LIVING RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.

I'm tempted in this reflection to start this next paragraph with the words, "Faith is not...", and then list all of the things that easily get confused with faith. I've decided not to go there. It's simple really: Faith is our living relationship with God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

If we have this understanding of faith, a lot of things begin to make sense. This is why faith is a gift. We cannot earn this relationship with God, because God is so far beyond us that we cannot bridge the distance. God must cross the distance and initiate this relationship with us. God has done this. Time and time again, God has done this. The relationship that we have with Father, Son and Holy Spirit is gift. Faith is a gift.

Think about Abraham for a second, "For what does the scripture say, 'Abraham had faith, and it was credited to him as righteousness." (Romans 4:3). Abraham had a living relationship with God. They walked and talked together, and this relationship with God, that God invited Abraham to know him intimately, and they spent time together, was what made Abraham righteous. God bridged the distance, and Abraham showed up.

For the Christian, this gift of relationship with God comes through Jesus. Jesus is the way for us to enter that relationship. He is the total revelation of God. So while God bridges the gap to all humanity, one can only enter into the deepest relationship with him, to know him fully, through Jesus.

So the disciples request, "Increase our faith." What they're really asking, although it's unlikely that they knew this at the time, is for Jesus to bring them into a deeper relationship with himself, and ultimately with the fullness of the Trinitarian God.

Jesus's response is unique to Luke. This request is recorded several times throughout all the gospels. But this particular response is unique to Luke. And what is the response:

Be of service to one another. Jesus speaks of the servant who comes in from the field after working all day, and then has to serve more when the master requests his work. This is our role, service to one another. Jesus tells the disciples (us) that if our faith is to be increased, that we should enter into the role of servant.

He adds something very hard, though: Do not ask for anything in return. Serve unselfishly because that is who you are as my disciple. Do not expect any reward, extra pay, "overtime." He might as well have said, "You are my disciples. I expect you to serve." Oh wait, he did: "This is how all will know that you are my disciples, that you love one another." (John 13:35). And when the service is done, we say, "We only did what Jesus asked us to do."

Christian faith is increased through service. Here's the trick, we don't need to look at national unrest or international catastrophes to find challenges to faith. We don't need to look at personal tragedies, like the loss of a job or the foreclosure of a home. No. To find challenges to faith we need only to look at the mundane, more subtle, more insidious challenges that we face everyday, and usually when things are at their best. I'm a firm believer that people have the deepest faith when they are faced with hardship. At least, that's when they pray the most.

It is the times when things are going well that we become complacent in our faith. "Everything's going great, God, so I don't really need you right now." If faith is a living relationship with God, it is not based on need or convenience. So, how do we increase our faith when everything is going well?

Service.

I saw an example of that today at the St. Andrew Parish fall festival in Holts Summit. I spent 4 hours in the kitchen making mashed potatoes. Everyone working in the kitchen was volunteering, as well as everyone serving the food and working the games outside. They were serving any who came for a meal. And everyone of them did it with a smile. They increased my faith by their service, and I joined in with the friendship and the laughter and the fellowship and the service and the faith building.

Here's my challenge, find a service project. If you want to deepen your faith and experience a relationship with Jesus that is alive and powerful, find a way to serve "the least of these." And don't go all wimpy by saying, "My family will be my service project."

I believe that service should first and foremost start in the family. But it's a cop-out if that's all you do. How about this, find a project for your family to do together. Volunteer at the Samaritan Center or Salvation Army. Volunteer at your Church. Get involved in Cursillo, Christ Renews His Parish, TEC, highway clean up, United Way, ... the list goes on and on. Look outside your normal circle of influence. The possibilities to be of service are really endless.

Serve, and do it as a Christian. Pray before you start; pray when you're done. Offer it as a living sacrifice to God the Father. Pause several times during the activity to bring to mind that you are serving because you are a disciple of Christ.

I'm going to find one. Let's hold each other accountable to be of Christian service. I promise, it will deepen your faith.

I'm posting the link to this reflection on my facebook page. If you want to join me as an accountability partner for service, comment on this link in facebook. Join me in Christian service. Let's take the Lord at his word. Let's deepen our faith through service. Let's do what he says to do so that our relationship with him will be alive in the Spirit who binds us together.

Are you with me?