What is the ultimate purpose of “faith”?
I would say that the purpose of “faith” is to believe in oneself as created by God in order to come into a relationship with God to do God’s will. Jesus tells us that loving God completely and others as we are loved is the will of God. In Matthew 22:37 through 40 he said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” That is the purpose of “faith”.
How does one get “faith”?
Well, I imagine that there are many ways for people to acquire “faith”, but one of the ways is through studying . . . through studying one’s bible, listening to sermons, being taught in classes or lectures. This is the study of God, or what might be called “theology”. Theology is the “study of God”. In our reading this morning we are at the church in Corinth where there is some divisiveness going on within the congregation. It seems that the congregation has been privy to many different types of studies about God. There are different schools of theology . . . different ways of believing in God . . . within the congregation. There is Paul’s school of theology . . . Apollos’ school of theology . . . Cephas’ school of theology . . . even one for Jesus. Within each their followers understand God and faith through those particular flavors of theology. The problem is that they don’t have room for what anyone else believes. Everyone thinks their theology is the “right” theology, which leads to disagreements and argument. It is a “church” divided.
It is into this situation that Paul attempts to pull everyone back into that purpose of faith . . . back to loving God and others. Paul’s task is daunting in that it is tough to convince others when they have extreme loyalty to what they believe. Maybe Paul has bitten off more than he can chew.
You would think that it is simple when it comes to faith . . . but it is not. As a clergy person I am quite aware of different schools of theology . . . different ways to “study God’. For example, there is Old Testament Theology . . . New Testament Theology . . . Biblical Theology . . . Systematic Theology . . . Dogmatic Theology . . . Exegetical Theology . . . Historical, Apologetic, Contemporary, and Practical theologies. That is a lot of theologies that all claim a way of learning about God, and they aren’t the only ones! There is also Liberation Theology, Black Theology, Feminist Theology, Natural Theology . . . on and on go the various versions of theology. It is enough to makes one’s head spin!
So . . . which one is the “right” one, the “best” one? I imagine it would be up to the person answering the question and what he or she believes. Sort of like the situation that Paul was dealing with in Corinth. It all depended upon who was answering the question.
What is an apostle to do!
When Dana and I were in seminary we were like sponges soaking up all sorts of new information about God, faith, and the church. Lots of new and exciting stuff that had us chomping on the bit to get out into the world to share it. But we were warned . . . we were told that we shouldn’t take what we learn one day and try to implement into our congregations the next day. It was certain to end up in failure. Why? Because it is one thing to know something with brain power and quite another to know it from experience. We were told that we needed to grow into it . . . into understanding it. We were cautioned to precede with caution. We weren’t ready yet . . . after all, that is why we were in seminary.
This is the warning that Paul attempts to share with the congregation in Corinth. It will come in time if it is God’s will. That is the test . . . God’s will. It is through God that all things are possible and if it is God’s will it will happen. It takes time.
The 1984 movie, The Karate Kid, is about a kid named Daniel who moves to Southern California with his mother, but quickly finds himself the target of a group of bullies who study karate. Fortunately for Daniel he is befriended by Mr. Miyagi, an unassuming repairman who just happens to be a martial arts master himself. Mr. Miyagi takes Daniel under his tutelage and begins to train him in a more compassionate form of karate. The goal is to settle the differences between Daniel and the bullies in a karate tournament.
In the movie Daniel is raring to start his training, but instead he is given an endless list of chores to do around Mr. Miyagi’s property. Daniel sees no purpose and keeps insisting that Mr. Miyagi teach him karate. For example, in one scene Mr. Miyagi has Daniel waxing his fleet of restored cars. He gives specific details about how it is to be done. With one hand the wax goes on, with the other hand the wax is removed. Wax on. Wax off. Of course, Daniels thinks that this is a waste of time. He sees no connection to karate. Basically, he feels that is a whole bunch of busy work. When he complains Mr. Miyagi tells him that he is not ready.
The reality is that with each chore that Daniel is assigned he is learning about karate . . . just not in the traditional way. In the end with each of the chores he learns important movements necessary to karate and mastering the art. In time Mr. Miyagi shows Daniel how it all fits to work together as karate.
Though Mr. Miyagi does not use the Apostle Paul’s words, he could have. “Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?” Paul is telling them that they are not ready yet and to be patient because it will come in time.
Studying God and about God does not produce faith. Paul says that it is like planting a flower . . . one person plants the seed, another waters it, but it is God that makes it grow. He tells the Corinthians that they are “God’s field”, and the best is yet to come.
Faith is a journey of a lifetime and none of us follow the same path because each of has been created uniquely by God. In our uniqueness we experience people and life differently. Thus, it should be no surprise that there are different ways in which faith is learned and gained. It is a continual experience of growth across the span of our lives. None of us can look back and not see how we have changed and grown in our faith over the years. We are not where we began and nor are we where we are going. We are all heading in the same direction towards the same goal. That goal is God’s will that we love the Lord with all our being and love others as we are loved. It is not in the teaching . . . not in the theologies, but in the way that we live our lives in honor of God and love of one another.
This was the sign that the congregation in Corinth had not understood it yet and that they were still a work in progress . . . they were divisive and argumentative. In that state they had lost sight of what all their theologies were pointing towards . . . love, God’s love. Paul understands that they don’t quite see it yet, but they will. When they do they will embrace the common purpose of faith. As the apostle states: “For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.”
Remember . . . faith is a journey across a lifetime. Even today we continue the journey towards achieving God’s will to love. It might feel as if we are spinning our wheels doing what seems to be a bunch of “wax on, wax off” exercises, but in the end we will know. God’s will will be done. As Paul rejoiced in this knowledge for the congregation in Corinth, so he does for us also. It will come. That is the lesson of “wax on, wax off”. Amen.
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