The extent of faith

One of the ongoing words that I often speak about is "commitment". In today's society this word surfaces almost daily within the faith community usually accompanied by words that are negative, i.e. "not", "fails". "under", etc. Yet no matter what portion of the scriptures we read the word comes up time and again in a positive light. Often associated with praise or at least as an example for those that are hearing, seeing the story develop around them. Mark's gospel is graphic and forms a delightful picture, no matter how we interpret its origins (Mk 10.25), on the need for us to be committed. However, the wider passage that this small sentence is embedded in is so full of our need to ensure that we are fully committed to our faith and its journey in our lives (Mk 10.17-31). If we still think that this is a passage that holds up only on its own then we need to look further to see that there are a number of texts that speak to this commitment in faith (Job 23.1-9; Heb 4.12-16).

A small total commitment means that we share the greatness of faith

The commitment we make is a commitment from baptism onwards, it is not one off, it is persistent throughout time as we grapple with our own faith journey. There are times when we are right on the edge such as portrayed in the passage from Job there are others which are not quite so knife edged and yet we fall back from that full commitment that we make within the promises of baptism. In embracing our faith journey, irrespective of what that may look like, whether it is enjoying the presence of the Spirit and singing with manic delight or sitting quietly contemplating God's presence it requires a total commitment to our life in the journey towards the Christic indwelling in our hearts. This is not a simple commitment to say a date. The whole provision of our faith is a journey towards God and a movement towards becoming Christlike. For Job this is the culmination of his faith to speak to God and demand answers of the most puzzling questions that we can think of.

It is also a commitment that is beyond the petty. We can quite easily commit to one thing and at the end of the day say well done we have achieved the goal through our single commitment. However when we are talking about our own journey in faith this a a work of a lifetime not a single moment. It is a total culmination of the whole of life rather than a small piece of life. It does not discriminate on who we are but is totally inclusive of all believers. It is this wholeness that makes the faith journey something to undertake for our selves and our community. It is simple, we do not have to undertake a journey, we do not have to undertake a fast, we do not have to undertake any of these things. All we have to do is to ensure that our whole life is part and parcel of God. That means that no matter how rich or how poor in financial, time, or even talents we place everything to the fore for God's use. Our commitment must be such that not one thing is left to the vagary of chance but our whole life is placed on the line. A commitment such as this is seen in people like Theresa of Calcutta and the other saints. This is what makes them saints.

We are not loose change people when it comes to our giving. We should not be the type of person that gives out of the loose change that they find in their pockets. In other words we do not give to our faith the small amount of time we have spare between our round of golf and the family dinner party. Our commitment in faith must be greater than this for it to achieve the desires of our hearts for the community of God. It is only by committing our greater resources and only leaving the change for ourselves that we are able to achieve that which God desires.