Introduction
Peter initially showed great faith, but his courage evaporated in the face of the reality of the situation in which he found himself. Jesus accused him of having ‘little faith’, but in whom should Peter have placed his faith?
Context
Faith is an important part of everyday life and without it we would find it hard to function. The legal system depends on witnesses telling the truth and perjury is treated very seriously. An act of ‘bad faith’ is a legal term describing the breaking of a promise.
President Trump has tussled with the mainstream US media over what he calls ‘fake news’. The public find it hard to know in whom they should put their trust: the White House or the Media. The more liberal media now openly proclaim that the President is not to be trusted and that his golfing behaviour is a tell-tale sign.
Usain Bolt ran his last solo race at the World Athletics Championships last weekend. The fairy-tale ending didn’t happen as Justin Gatlin, a twice banned athlete won the gold medal. Gatlin was booed, while Bolt ran a lap of honour. The fans’ view seemed to be that they need to be able to trust that the athletes they watch are running cleaning.
This weekend sees the beginning of the Premiership football season and fans up and down the country will be anticipating what the next nine months will bring. While fans are often said to be unrealistic in their expectations, the majority have a pessimistic streak which is expressed by John Cleese in the film Clockwise.
Climate change is an area in which the majority of experts are clear that humans are affecting Global Warming. However a number of voices have suggested that experts should not be trusted.
Sometimes, it is a matter of who to trust as the opinion of Andrew Wakefield, the disgraced doctor who falsified research to into the impact of the MMR vaccine, still holds some traction.
So who do we believe?
Reflection
Trust and belief are at the heart of the Gospel story of Jesus walking on the water. While Jesus defied gravity as he walked across the sea, Peter, like Wile E. Coyote, began to sink when he thought rather than trusted.
So who do we believe? Does this story teach us to believe in what Jesus can do? Or is it about believing in ourselves? This might sound like atheistic humanism, or The Power of Positive Thinking.
However, it could also be about believing that Jesus believes in us. This is a point brought out by Rob Bell in one of his Nooma videos, Dust.
The motto of Spurgeon’s College, a Baptist seminary in South London, is Et teneo et teneor – I both hold and am held. The phrase was used by C.H. Spurgeon, the college’s founder, but its origins are a little older than Spurgeon. A picture of a cross held by one hand with the same Latin text was used as a frontispiece in a book of poems written by Dora Greenwell.
God believes that we can live like Jesus lives, the problem is that we find it hard to believe in ourselves. On the night before he died Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit – fruit that will last – and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.’ God believes that we can live like Jesus
Prayer
C. H. Spurgeon wrote this prayer:
I commit myself to you, O faithful Creator;
to your keeping, O Saviour of the pierced hand,
to your keeping, O eternal Spirit who is able to keep me from falling and to make me holy.
Amen.
Questions
- The letter to the Hebrews 11.1 defines faith as, ‘the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen’. Can you think of some examples of things or people in which/whom we put our trust every day?
- How do you decide which ‘expert’ you believe? How do you weigh up different truths? (Jeremiah 28, Acts 5.27-35)
Action
Regarding the issue of Climate Change, you might like to get a group together to watch the sequel to Al Gore’s documentary film, An Inconvenient Truth. An Inconvenient Sequel: Speaking Truth to Power, is released in cinemas on 18 August.
Young People
The website ‘The Walk of Faith’ has a number of good ideas for games that help young people understand what faith means.
Simon Carver is a Baptist Minister in St Albans and takes a particular interest in film and sport.
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