Faith’s
History
The Rev. Joanne Neel-Richard
Look at
the reading from Paul’s letter to Timothy. This letter was written in prison to
Timothy, his young disciple. Paul was convinced that his death was immanent and
he was eager to connect with Timothy. He wanted to encourage him to stand firm
in the faith.
Paul reminds Timothy of how power, love and self-control were mediated to him
through the Spirit, empowering him to become a spiritual mentor to other
Christians. Paul recalls Timothy’s family history and his sincere faith, "a
faith that lived in Lois his grandmother and Eunice, his mother..." Faith for
Timothy is not only a current experience, his faith has history -- it was
in his grandmother and mother and now dwells within him.
Consider your own families, your parents and grandparents. Haven’t we all gone
through the process of letting go of one or many of those who gave us life?
Haven’t we sat at the kitchen table, considering how to divide up the belongings
and assets. You know how difficult and emotional it can be. The round oak dining
room table refinished by grandfather goes to a new home. The piano goes to the
one who still likes to play. Mother's china and Grandmother's silver get packed.
The clock that chimed the hours is carefully wrapped for it’s journey to a new
home. Those are the tangibles, the material belongings which hold the family
memories. The entire process is difficult. Memories are stirred up and other
times of our lives are revisited. We laugh. We cry.
A friend of mine is a Hospice chaplain. She says that in addition to updating
our wills to make the division of our property easier for our survivors, we
should also make an ethical will. What is an ethical will? She explained that,
spoken or unspoken, we pass on our values to the generations that follow. How
much better to be intentional. Write a letter. Write down the beliefs and
principles that guide your decisions, your actions, your commitments. These are
more important than the table, the china and the clock we bequeath. Pass on the
values that have shaped your life. Pass along your faith. It will endure and
have influence.
This is not so different from a church family entering a Search process and
writing the parish profile. You’ll be recalling the history that brought you to
this place and naming the values and beliefs that have sustained you. It’s a way
of sorting though all the stuff of the last 20 plus years and saying let’s keep
this and let’s toss that. You’ll be prioritizing the aspects of ministry that
are most important for the parish. It’s a way of passing along your values and
your faith at this moment in your history. All of this is work that can be
difficult and emotional. It is also profoundly spiritual and deeply personal
work.
The faith of a parish is made up of personal histories. How did I come to
hear a call to ordained ministry? Here is one of several answers to that
question. My father’s parents provided the intentional bedrock of faith which I
inherited. My fore bearers from this side of my family came from Ireland, spent
a generation in Scotland and came to the new country, seeking religious freedom.
These Protestant farmers settled in Ohio, eventually moving to the central
valley of California. They were hardworking, dedicated Christians who emphasized
personal faith and family connections as the foundation of their lives. One of
my early memories is Grandpa Neel leading the prayer before meals, head bowed,
one hand supporting his forehead and the other propped on his hip as if
addressing his Lord and God was too weighty an act to commence without bodily
support. My great aunt, that grandfather’s sister was a trained deaconesses in
the Presbyterian church and my father is an ordained minister. Is it any wonder
I became an ordained minister? Faith does have a personal history.
In a similar way, Paul's letter from prison is a reminder to Timothy of his
spiritual inheritance. “It's in you, Timothy,” says Paul. We have an identity
and a birthright given to us by God. Why do we need to be reminded of such a
magnificent inheritance? The still small voice of blessing is often hard to hear
above all the other anxious or negative voices of our lives, the voices that
shout, "You’re not going to make it." Or the voices that say, “You’re on your
own. God isn’t going to intervene just for you.”
The soul's journey, a journey of listening ever more carefully to the voice of
the Spirit that is within you, eventually empowers us to listen to the stillness
of our inner being, "I have called you by name, you are mine. I will not leave
you nor forsake you.” We are able to hear these words because the ancient faith
has been bequeathed to us. That faith is the gift we receive at our baptism. It
is renewed each time we renew our Baptismal covenant. It is renewed each time we
are fed at the Lord’s table, receiving the meal of our ancestors. It is our
spiritual inheritance. Our faith has a personal history.
Paul says to Timothy, "Rekindle the gift of God that is within you." This gift
is the faith that came to Timothy through Eunice and Lois. His faith and ours
has a personal history. Memories of coming to church. Memories of prayers before
bed. Memories of learning right from wrong. Memories of learning that a
mysterious God loves me, this I know. As St. Paul’s parish moves into the
Search for the next rector, remember the words of Paul to the one who was to
continue in the faith after him; “God did not give you a spirit of cowardice
but rather a spirit of power, and of love and of self discipline... He
continues, “I know the One in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is
able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him...Guard the good
treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in you.”
You, good people of St. Paul’s, "Rekindle the gift of God that is within you."
As you do so, remember that you are connected to one another; you are a
spiritual family connected by a personal faith history, a history of laughter
and tears, a history of good times and times of trouble. This history is your
personal scripture, the story of God ever so steadily being revealed through
your forebears and yes, through you. This is the fabric of your corporate faith.
This faith connects you not only to all who have come here before you, but also
to all who will ever be a part of this parish. The treasured spiritual
inheritance of faith is a gift you have received and a gift that you will surely
and gratefully give to the next generation.
Amen.