“Your faith has made you well.”
Once again we hear about this word “faith”. Faith is a word that is used very frequently in the New Testament. It is a word that means so much yet is frequently misunderstood. Faith is not knowledge. It is not I know but rather I believe. Knowledge is like seeing with the eyes of the body and understanding things that are seen. Faith is like seeing with the eye of the soul to see the invisible as if it were visible. Faith is having a complete trust and confidence in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. As the letter to Hebrews puts it “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”.
So how do we come to faith? The answer is revealed in chapter 10 of Luke’s gospel work. Christ says “I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes”. The things hidden from the wise that Christ is talking about is how the spirits of evil come under the authority of those with faith in their service to God.
Faith goes hand in hand with spiritual growth. As your faith deepens your understanding of what is really important also deepens. As your understanding deepens your faith also deepens thus both faith and spiritual growth work together towards a richer understanding of what it means to be a Christian alive in the world today.
What is important to faith and spiritual growth is innocence and a sense of wonder. When we observe small children in the imagination of their play we are immediately struck by their concentration and delight in the world as they see it. Unfortunately, we as parents feel that the sooner we can get them to see the world as we see it the sooner we feel that they are on their way to real wisdom and understanding. After all, it is never too early to focus on the things that really matter so that children can grow up to be financially independent and sensible members of society. Therefore, innocence and a sense of wonder are two qualities that are little valued by the material world.
Earthly wisdom and earthly understanding, both qualities that this world aspires to, are paradoxically not qualities that assist us in our spiritual growth. Rather, it is the innocence and wonder that we all seem to reject between infanthood and adolescence that are the qualities that allow us to see afresh the wisdom and beauty of our heavenly father. It is these qualities that allow us to engage in faith of God being with us. It is innocence and wonder that allow us to see the world for the great and complex miracle that it is – we can see the birds, the trees, the skies – indeed everything as pointing to the wonders, joys and mysteries of God’s boundless love and compassion for each one of us. To those lucky enough to recapture their innocence and sense of wonder the world becomes a constantly growing song of praise to God. However, to the wise in the ways of this world, such things have lost their awe and wonder as all that matters to them is getting on with their life in this world.
Some of you may say how can we return to our childhood? To echo Nicodemus’ question to Christ “how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born?” Fortunately, it is not about how old we are but how old we act. After all Christ tells us “leave the children to come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven”. So how can we can we really gain our sense of wonder and awe? St Paul gives us the answer. In one Corinthians he says “when I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face-to-face”.
Some of you may say that what Paul really telling us is to grow up as quickly as possible. To that I would respond yes – but to grow spiritually. So when St Paul talks of a child he is not talking about an immature adult but an adult who is immature in his faith. Becoming a man to Paul was to grow spiritually and to grow spiritually means regaining innocence and a sense of wonder. Therefore, the ways of this world that cause us to see things dimly are stripped away so that the wonder and beauty of God’s great mercy is revealed to us. The only way to grow spiritually is to abandon the ways of this world and what it considers important, such as worldly wisdom and understanding, and instead look towards cultivating and regaining the innocence of our childhood.
Next time we see our children at play let us promote their innocence and sense of wonder. To infants the miracles in the gospels are accepted and better understood as their thinking has yet to conform to the cynicism and rationalism of this secular world of ours. As parents we can assist them by bringing them to church regularly and allowing them to develop a special relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. Thus the wonders of the kingdom can be revealed to them before the habit of common sense overtakes them. We can all learn from observing our children. We can all seek to return to our Lord’s feet as children in our thinking and understanding. By becoming children of God our love and understanding grows and as that grows so does our sense of wonder and our faith. Amen.