Belief & Berry

Anyone who's been reading my blog lately is probably convinced that I have lost all capacity to think of anything other than my sweet daughter Sofia, and you're mostly right. But I am trying to find little glimpses and moments to keep other parts of my brain and self alive, for all our sakes. So I've started a little project. Once upon a time I read "The Hidden Wound" by Wendell Berry for my Race, Gender, and Inequality class with one of my heroes, Dr. Terry Jones of Cal State East Bay. The book struck a very deep chord and had a lasting impact on how I think about the world. In essence, the book is Berry's journey of examining the wound that exists within himself as white man as a result of racism against African Americans, specifically related to American slavery. But the book touches on many other important issues, weaving a spider web to show how much of our lives are inter-connected to one another and to the many parts of our selves. One of the connections Berry makes is between the unique atrocities of American slavery and a paradigm that fails to steward the gifts we are given, such as the land we work in farming. You should read it for yourself to really absorb the whole point, and that's exactly what I told my father, a newby farmer, as I lent him the book to borrow. As I've mentioned before, my dad's not an avid reader, so he didn't get around to it. But I have this digital voice recorder I got for my research study last year, just sitting around my house, and my dad has long drives out to the ranch from the city, so I figured - I could read the book to him on the recorder, and send him mp3s to listen to on his long commute. I hope I'm not doing something terribly illegal.

One of the interesting points from The Hidden Wound I was re-reading into my recorder the other day was about how slave owners attended the same church as their slaves. Berry points out that this would have presented a challenge to the pastors of the churches, who would have depended on their livelihood from donations of the slave owners, but would not have likely had anything financial to gain from the slaves. Therefore, the sermons would have to be appeasing to the slave owners, likely emphasizing certain passages over others that might be too delicate. One of the points which Berry thinks they would have had to take a side was how salvation would be obtained. To side step the judgment of slave ownership and the violence of the institution of slavery, the pastors would have had to emphasize that salvation comes through faith, not works, because if salvation were dependent on works, all the people who paid the pastor's salary would be in trouble. As I first read this, I cringed. I was certainly raised on the verses Berry points to, such as John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." I would go on to point to Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast."

But at the same time, Manny and I have been reading Romans in the mornings recently, and it really has me thinking about how "faith without works is dead." This may seem elementary, but somehow the question never occurred to me, "what does it mean to believe?" We also read this morning from 2 Kings, chapter 2. This king wants to summon Elijah, the prophet, probably to do him some harm. The king sends this army officer with 50 men to tell Elijah to come to him, Elijah strikes him down with fire from heaven. The king sends a second officer and 50 men, again, dead. The king sends a third guy. This time, the third officer approaches Elijah with a bit more humility, begging for Elijah to spare his life, Elijah does, and comes to the king and the story goes on.

The important bit is the third guy - he really believed that Elijah was a man of God, that Elijah's God was real and powerful, and that his life was really in danger in trying to approach this guy. Because he believed he changed his behavior from the guys who went before, and as a result, his life is spared. So what would our behavior look like if we actually believed in God? Much of the rhetoric of the evangelical movement would make it sound like all we have to do is utter a sentence of belief in God, and then we're good for life, no matter our actions. But if we really believed God was who He says He is, which is an all powerful deity of justice (among other things), wouldn't our actions look a little bit different than if we did not believe in Him? So it seems you might have "works" without faith - plenty of people go through religious motions of piety with all manner of alternative motives other than true faith. But can you have faith/belief without a change in behavior that shows that you recognize how all powerful God is and that He wants you to live a life that glorifies Him? I don't think so.

Pondering this point feels like a good excuse for me to revisit my favorite chapter of scripture, Hebrews 11, the chapter that recounts the heroes of faith throughout the whole bible. I think if you read no other chapter of the bible, this is the one you should read, in a sense, it sums the whole thing up (but I also think it gets you to explore the whole thing too). As it recounts the heroes of faith, I want to see how often we can find "just faith," or any example of someone who could believe in God without belief affecting their actions. Let's take a look:

Hebrews 11:

¹ Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. ² This is what the ancients were commended for.

 ³ By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

 ⁴ By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.

 ⁵ By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.”^[a] For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. ⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

 ⁷ By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.

 ⁸ By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. ⁹ By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. ¹¹ And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she^[b]considered him faithful who had made the promise. ¹² And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

 ¹³ All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. ¹⁴ People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. ¹⁵ If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

 ¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, ¹⁸ even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”^[c] 19 Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.

 ²⁰ By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.

 ²¹ By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

 ²² By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.

 ²³ By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.

 ²⁴ By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.²⁵ He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. ²⁶ He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. ²⁷ By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. ²⁸ By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.

 ²⁹ By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.

 ³⁰ By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.

 ³¹ By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.^[d]

 ³² And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, ³³ who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, ³⁴ quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. ³⁵ Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. ³⁶ Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. ³⁷ They were put to death by stoning;^[e] they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— ³⁸ the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.

 ³⁹ These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised,⁴⁰ since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

Abel brought an offering; Enoch sought and pleased God; Noah built an ark; Abraham obeyed and went; Isaac and Jacob gave their sons blessings; Joseph spoke; Moses' parents hid him; Moses chose mistreatment, left Egypt, and kept the Sabbath;  the people passed through the Red Sea; the walls of Jericho fell; Rahab extended hospitality; others conquered kingdoms and administered justice, etc. Each one's faith is tied to a verb, an action, a work. There is no faith without action, works.

That's not a very new concept at all, but Berry's point refreshes it for me and gave me something to think about - so I thought I'd just share, if only to expose my ignorance, or how much I need to constantly revisit such key "basics." Faith is both a simple and tricky thing. Notice this chapter concludes in vs. 39 and 40 pointing to the something better that brings about perfection and truly made salvation possible - the name not listed - Jesus. I won't belabor that point, but I hope it gives someone else something to think about too.

Lastly, I'm freshly struck by the first two verses when it talks about faith as the "assurance about what we do not see" and then goes on to talk about how God brought about creation, "so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible (ex nihilo)." So belief seems to somehow get tied with ex nihilo creation - bringing substance into an absence, just as God did in creation. I think this again points to faith not just being a matter of nice words or pretty feelings, but bringing about God's goodness in the world in someway - where there is darkness, doing our part to bring about light. This is a totally new thought to me in this context, so I'd appreciate other's thoughts on the matter if you have any.

Ultimately, I hope I and others can be challenged to change our behavior like the third officer in 2 Kings and like Berry would have us do in how we steward the planet and our neighbors - bringing about reconciliation amongst all things.