Yes, the blog is called Shepherd Book, and as Zoe (Gina Torres) was a guest star on this week's Castle (Nathan Filion's current and very successful ABC drama), so today we celebrate the enduring legacy of Firefly, Joss Whedon's short-lived and beloved science fiction drama. "Why is it every time I talk about faith, you think I'm talking about God?" Shepherd Book asks Captain Reynolds in the follow-on movie, Serenity...
And why is it, when we talk about faith, we almost always think we're talking about God? It's not a contradiction of course, but when the Son of God walked the earth, he seemed to be looking for something
- he even went so far as to say it out loud, once or twice:
And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’ - St Luke 18
Time and again, Jesus said to folks, 'your faith has made you well,' 'your faith has saved you.' That's when good things happen. As Jesus helps poor old St Peter out of the water, sputtering and gasping, he asks him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" (St Matthew 14)
I always thought this a bit harsh of Jesus, as St Peter to this day still ranks as the premier water walker of all time (certain Messiahs of fully-human, fully divine nature excepted). But there it is: St Peter didn't necessarily have to have faith in God to walk on water, or faith in Jesus, necessarily, but rather, faith that he was going to walk on that water, just as Jesus was so pointedly doing. If he can do it, I can do it. As far as I know, there was no prayer said before, except... St Peter asks Jesus, "Lord, if it is you (there was some doubt among the soggy apostles), command me to come to you on the water."
Consider. I'm asking you there to command me here to come to you. I want to come to you anyway, but I (for some reason) need you to command me. I want my Lord to command me to do this.
Huh. I've never thought about it like that.
Do I have something I really want to do, some ministry to perform, some task that I'm scared about?
Do I have some chore that needs doing, but I'm lazy, even?
Lord, command me to come to you on the water.
Lord, command me to pursue this vision. Command me to set out on this journey. Command me to do this thing. Huh.
It's not a rule, more like a guideline, really, or just a simple insight. Maybe we need to pray that God would command us more often. Maybe we'd ignore him. Maybe we'd disobey him. But maybe, just maybe, we'd have the faith and the gumption to go out and do it.
Maybe then, when the Son of Man comes, maybe he WILL find faith. I sure hope so.
