Faith not Sight

In our first year anatomy class the professor gave us a snap quiz of the most unusual kind. He gave us a series of black plastic bags which contained bones. We could reach into the bag and feel the bones but we couldn’t look. From that touch, we were to draw the bone, name it, and tell where it belonged on the skeleton.

Paul tells us that we walk by faith, not by sight. That can be daunting. We rely so heavily on seeing things, especially if we are asked to believe in them. Yet so much of our Christian faith is just that, faith, not sight. So much of what we believe cannot be taken to the lab and proven or even duplicated. For instance, it is by faith we believe that King David’s descendant, Jesus, was Messiah. And speaking of Messiah, it is by faith that we believe that Mary conceived through the work of the Holy Spirit, that Jesus was somehow fully God and fully human, and that Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. Faith alone.

The beauty of it all is that our faith does not have to be conjured up; it is a gift from God. It is through this faith that we believe.

Thank you, faithful Lord, for the gift of faith. Amen. — DAB