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"High" Faith

Faith is a footbridge that you don't know will hold you up over the chasm until you're forced to walk out onto it.  (NICHOLAS WOLTERSTORFF)

So much of our journey with God involves "choosing" to trust in someone other than our own selves.  In his book, Faith and Doubt, John Ortberg talks about the way in which faith really works.  He has this chapter that begins with the idea of "Mountains" and with that jumps into the theme of "height" as a metaphor.
Altars in ancient times were built in "high places".
Sacrifices were made in Israel by "high priests".
Today we speak of "high ideals" and "high achievements" and politicians who run for "high office".
When someone is a snob, arrogant, we tell them to get off their "high horse".
When someone gets addicted to drugs they get a "high", and when they seek to get off their addiction they seek a "higher power".
Heights attract us in ways that go beyond simple statements.

About six weeks ago I did a wedding at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.  They were only the foothills and not the mountain tops and it was still awe inspiring.
Heights humble us because they speak to our smallness.
One of God's most important designations is "The Most High" which means he is over "all" things.  God most high...someone who cannot be controlled, managed or defined by our own terms.

Some have called faith a "leap".  As if it's not reasonable, not measured, without regard for common sense.  Yet it isn't that at all.  Faith is like putting on glasses.  We need glasses for vision correction.  We simply see, but not clearly.  Yet faith is more than that, it's also passion and commitment.  In faith we say I'm willing to make a commitment (say my wife in marriage) that goes way beyond "knowing", "predicting" what is going to occur.

Faith is a commitment.
Faith is a passion.

During Worship this morning I remembered the story of the French philosopher and mathematician, Blaise Pasca.  He was - is - one of the most brilliant person who ever lived.  Yet he struggled with depression, was unhappy with life.  Then one day it all changed.  His demeanor changed almost over night, and his family and friends wondered how it all could happen so suddenly.  What had happened was that he an encounter with God.  Interestingly, he never spoke about it to anyone.  In fact, no one would have known it occurred if it hadn't been for an accidental discovery after he died.  His nephew and a servant were taking care of his affairs, including what to do with his clothing.  They discovered a piece of paper sewn into his coat.  It turned out to be a crumbled piece of faded paper.  It was nine years old by that time, and yet it recorded what happened.  These were the words he wrote that night:
Fire. GOD of Abraham, GOD of Isaac, GOD of Jacob. 
Not the God of the philosophers and of the learned. 
Certitude. Certitude. 
Feeling. Joy. Peace. 
GOD of Jesus Christ … 
Forgetfulness of the world and of everything, except GOD. 
Grandeur of the human soul. 
Joy, Joy, Joy, tears of joy …4

Ortberg, John (2008-09-02). Faith and Doubt (p. 70). Zondervan


Faith is like that...mysterious, passionate, wonder-filled, and yet it is exactly what makes life real.

Peace






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