What will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?
That could be the only question we ask ourselves for our entire lives.The question seems a bit utilitarian, but it does get to the roots of having faith. There is no real reason to have faith except to have life with God and have it abundantly. For faith in God is a spacious thing, and it has room in it for everything. It has room, because faith is not certainty, or a particular set of ideas, but a RELATIONSHIP, in which God is with us in it all.
The lessons for this second Sunday in Lent revolve around having faith. We begin with the Old Testament’s story of Abraham and Sarah. Many of us know the story to some extent— the couple is very old; they conceive a child and Sarah gives birth to Isaac. Depending on how much we read of the text, the story gets more fleshed out. Abraham gets told by God in his mid 70s to uproot and move. He gets told he is going to have a son with Sarah. At first, he doesn’t really believe it, and has Ishmael by Hagar, perhaps just to be on the safe side. Still sure enough, has a son Isaac with Sarah. They are not the most believing sort of people, this couple, they laugh a lot about this child news. Still God works with them. They move when God says move, and babies are born, into a house of laughter, not such a bad way to have children. One could say they are having life with God and having it abundantly. God has room for laughter, particularly if that is what it takes for faith and relationship with God.
In the letter to the Romans, Paul holds up Abraham as a model citizen of God, but we know that this couple (like we) are a little flawed. Still, perhaps Paul knows a little of what he speaks. Although in their 70s, Abraham and Sarah DO still move when required. Not really easy to move in those days. And they do conceive a child in their 90s. Apparently, they have enough faith. Paul uses Abraham and Sarah as examples for his argument that having faith comes before, and is thus, more important than the law. Even if Sarah and Abraham’s faith is flawed, it is more important than adhering to the law (which in this case is reference to circumcision as ritual of belonging to the Jewish community). Paul knows a thing or two about faith from his own conversion, and he is nothing if not a rhetorician.
The psalm, like many, gives an example of how to live with and interact with God. The first few lines of this psalm are what Jesus calls out from the cross, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani”—’my God, my God, why have you deserted me?’ Even without or before an answer or change of events, the psalm, as most laments do, then sings the praise of God. Our relationship with God is situated in our faith to converse with God. Even if the answers are not what we desire, God does not seem to tire of the conversation. Living with God, having life abundantly, from despair to praise in the space of a psalm.
Faith in God is a spacious thing, and it has room in it for everything. Room for a sense of forsakenness, and the risk of losing everything; and trust in going on, praise even amid lament, and confidence that God will redeem all things. It has room, because faith is not certainty, or a particular set of ideas, but a RELATIONSHIP, in which God is with us in it all.
When Jesus was a little boy, there were about 900 Galilean people who were crucified as Roman insurrectionists. I’m sure that left quite an impression on Jesus. Galilee was evidently a hot spot for upstarts. Jesus was nothing if not an upstart. In this passage from Mark, we may appropriately take up Jesus’ direction as metaphor to “deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me,” but it wasn’t metaphor at the time. Jesus knew exactly what he was risking, and he knew that his ministry would likely end badly, at least in terms of the length of his life. What would it profit Jesus to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? His life, and ours, only has meaning in relationship with God.
So, it leads us back to a very small issue of a preposition. We often think of having faith IN Jesus Christ, but it can, and probably should be read as the faith OF Jesus Christ. Abraham and Sarah, Paul, the psalmist, and of course, most importantly Jesus Christ shows us faith. The faith OF Jesus Christ is a template, a road map for how to have faith.
Faith in God is a spacious thing, and it has room in it for everything. Room for dismissive laughter, room for a sense of forsakenness, and the risk of losing everything; and trust in going, praise even amid lament, and confidence that God will redeem all things…. It has room, because faith is not certainty, or a particular set of ideas, but a RELATIONSHIP, in which God is with us in it all.
What will it profit to us to gain the whole world and forfeit our lives? For us as well as Jesus, it does not change over the millennia, there is no real reason to have faith except to have life with God and have it abundantly. Faith in God is a spacious thing, and it has room in it for everything. It has room, because faith is not certainty, or a particular set of ideas, but a RELATIONSHIP, in which God is with us in it all ….