The Extended Family Of Faith

The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (La présentation de Jésus au Temple), by James Tissot

Luke 2:22-40

Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”...

 

When artist James Tissot was 49 he experienced a re-conversion that affected his art. He was choosing faith in a time of heavy secularism in France. He was also choosing to depict realism through watercolor at a time when other artists were still Impressionists using oils. While his peers were painting the contemporary Parisian city life he took a trip to the Middle East to be able to more accurately depict biblical illustrations. He was not satisfied with relying on Christendom's older depictions of the faith and times of Jesus and he sought out to understand them more accurately. He would go to the holy land and walk in the steps of Jesus and see the sights that Jesus saw. Maybe this would help him believe and practice the faith that Jesus preached. But what was the faith that Jesus lived? Well, Luke 2:22-40 and Tissot's "The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple" give us a view into understanding it. We understand it not only as a stagnant unchanging thing nor as a solitary endeavor. Faith is dynamic and community oriented extending to others who were once strangers and making them family.

 

The Faith of a Child

 

Faith is Sacrifice. That is what many in Jesus' time would have understood it as. Faith involved sacrificing an offering (often a live animal) to the deity that you worshipped. Even the Old Testament Judaistic practices that Jesus' parents followed called for such. They came to the temple in Jerusalem forty days after their son was born to offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God. This is what their scripture required of them. They would follow this because Faith is Obedience. Much like the obedience that they would require of their new born son as dictated by their scriptures. They like all Jewish parents would teach their child that part of being faithful to God was obeying one's parents: just like being faithful for the parent's met being faithful to God as a parent. The greatest acts of faithfulness in this extended family faith were initiated by God Himself, who was giving His own son as a sacrifice, and His Son, who was obedient to His Father.  

 

The Faith of an Old Man

 

...And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:

“Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.” And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him. Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”...

 

Faith is Belief. That is how most people understand it. That is even how the Apostle Paul understood it when he penned "Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." This notion of faith is true... but faith is even more than that. Faith is not just belief in a set of facts about what happened in history to certain key religious heroes in the past. Faith is not just a belief in what will happen to you in the future (including the afterlife). Faith is not just a theological belief in certain church dogmas. Faith is not just a belief in a certain way of living and dying. No doubt it includes all of these things but bigger (and inclusive) than all things is that Faith is Trust in a Person. That Person happens to be God. It is vitally important that we understand God as a Person rather than just a force. A force cannot feel personal love or fatherly love. God as a person felt that fatherly love and communicated His plan to send down His only begotten Son Jesus to ransom His adopted children from death. He communicated it to those who had trusting faith. Simeon was one of those people.  

The Faith of an Old Woman

 

...Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem...

Faith is Worship. Even the nonreligious would agree to this. We often define the type of religion (or Faith) that a person has by how, where and who they worship. But how should one worship? In encountering newly converted Christians from both Jewish and Gentile backgrounds, the Apostle Paul explained to them that faith in God no longer required the sacrifice of dead animals but rather sacrificing a living you. Luckily this did not call for you actually dying but rather you actually living. It required being transformed by the renewing of your mind. It required living out your faith on a daily basis. This even included having long suffering faith in the hard times because Faith is Consistency. If Faith is what we see of a person's Religion then we must learn from the book of James' take on religion: "Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world." The notion that "Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship" is just a popular catchphrase that most Christians don't think through. It doesn't cut the mustard if the Bible argues in favor of "religion" and even "organized religion." In actuality Christianity is both a religion and a relationship. We express our relationship to the Person of God through religious acts... and acts to others that may not seem as religious to you. Like kindness, friendship and service. That is because Faith is Service. Worship of God without service, love and forgiveness to mankind is not true worship... and it never was. That is the religion of Jesus. That is the faith that Anna the prophetess carried out in the temple.   

 

The Family Of Faith

 

...So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him...

As you may have been thinking throughout this post, I am aware that there is not a separate faith for little boys, old men and old women. We all are called to act out this same faith in its multi facets For we have been given the same Holy Spirit for our different walks in life. Yet it is because of this difference in roles and experiences that provides for all of us to express these different aspects of faith at different times. It is why faith really does hold true that faith creates us into an extended family. Just like the above scripture snippet shows it is in that family dynamic that much growth happens. Families are not just a group that you are born into without responsibility, it is a calling that you have. It is something that you have been included in through no work or fault of your own (sorry if your family sucked but just go with me on this one for the illustration's sake). Family (at least a good one) is a grace that you have been given. By that I mean a "gift" but also something that is initiated by a "giver"... a parent. Faith is a Grace it is a gift give by our Divine Parent. No t only is God the Father but as the Holy Spirit He is the sustainer of our faith. As the Son, Jesus Christ, He is also the object of our faith. That last key is very important to understand: every aspect of faith is to be more like Jesus. Whether it is sacrifice, obedience, belief, trust, worship, consistency, service or grace, they all are given by God so that we might be more like His Son. For every show of faith God shows Himself faithful in shaping us in the image of Jesus. The Christian life is a lot like James Tissot's investigation trip to the holy land back in the 1800's: walking in the ways of Jesus and seeing things like Jesus saw them so that we can believe and practice the faith that Jesus preached.