Faith of the Apostles

The song What Faith Can Do by Kutless expresses the great power of faith.  When the odds are stacked against you and the world says that you can't, faith tells you that you can.  Faith is powerful.

That truth is more clearly seen in some cases than in others. For instance, after his conversion, St. Francis lived a life of extreme faith.  God at work in his life was visibly powerful in words and actions.

Is that true of my faith too?

Jesus told His disciples (and us too) that faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains. (Matt. 17:20 and Luke 17:6)  A lot of times that verse is used to empower people.  Someone reflecting on the verse will envision the great possibilities if faith so small can do so much.  There is great value in that.

Sometimes, my question isn't wow! I wonder what faith just a bit bigger can do. A lot of times my reaction is wow. How absolutely minuscule must my faith be if mountains would be moved with faith so small?  In other words, I rarely see large gestures of faith within myself.

When you read the Acts of the Apostles, big things happened in their lives, in the name of their faith.  They cured people. Followers were left in awe after experiencing the faith professed by the Apostles.  I have to ask myself WHERE IS THAT FAITH IN ME?

When I was little I loved Star Wars.  I would pretend to be the characters along side my younger brother and other neighborhood kids.  We had epic adventures.  Now today, I love NCIS.  I watch the show all the time.  There are marathons almost weekly, and they are the only discs on my Blockbuster list. I cannot lie. I want to be a government agent.  I literally spend time imagining what life would be like that way.  While I do not physically act out the adventures, I am captivated by them.

I do not have that same response to scripture.  When I read about the magnitude and power of the faith the scriptures endorse, I wonder why I don't want it more.

I am not claiming that big stories of outward, powerful expressions of faith are the clearest indication of faith.  The greatest Saints would disagree with that.  However, I am bringing to question my own commitment to living a life of faith.

I struggle, and I am afraid.

Do you know what the early Christians did in moments like those?  They clung to each other.  They lived in such a tight-knit community (Acts 2:44ish) that were supported constantly by one another.

The challenge for us is to remember that we too are a community.  Our Father offers us the same grace and assistance offered to the Apostles and all the Saints. We are living the same faith. 

Are you living it well?