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HOW YOU
HAVE GROWN!
By Pastor Nancy R. Easton
It never fails to amaze me—one week, I
offer the bread at communion to a young person in our congregation. The
next week, I offer the bread to them again, and they are about two
inches taller than they were the last time I fed them. “Growing like
weeds! My, how you have grown!” I say to them at worship’s end. By the
time they hit senior high school, I am looking up, up, up at them, and
reaching up, up, up to place bread in their hands.
While I realize it doesn’t take much for
someone to be taller than I, it still fascinates me to see how quickly
young people grow when that adolescent spurt occurs. The growth is
visible, the change noticeable, practically from day to day. Makes me
think about the growing that is less visible and less noticeable to the
naked eye, but real growth nonetheless. In particular, our growth in
faith.
So often we assume our growth in faith is
similar to the growth a child experiences as they mature into a young
adult, as if faith-growing takes place only during the ages of 1-17
years. Or, as if faith-growing takes place only when someone is
actively engaged in academia. Not so! We have the possibility and
potential of seeing our faith and trust in God increase throughout
our earthly lives. I can speak to my own experience. I know I’ve
grown and matured in my Christian faith journey. But I’d have to say
that more growth and maturity has taken place in the years following
my seminary education than in my years of seminary education.
Living out our Christian faith in our daily lives, reflecting on how
that faith impacts what we say and do in our little corner of the world—that’s
where faith has opportunity to grow.
But not without nourishment or nurturing.
We must be ever intentional about feeding our faith. That nourishment
can come in many forms. For some of us, a classroom setting (Bible
studies and Sunday School, for example) is the place where learning
promotes growth. For others of us, it is in a more active forum, such
as a service project where, with our hands and feet, we are doing
Christ’s works of compassion. In the process of that serving, our faith
is strengthened. For still others, it is in the quiet time of prayer
and meditation, listening for God’s voice and discerning His will, where
a mature faith can take root. And, of course, so many of us find
gathering in worship as food for the soul.
Whichever type of nourishment suits you,
the point is that, without being fed regularly, our faith stagnates and
can grow shaky and tenuous. When that happens, we are less willing to
follow Christ’s lead and more distracted by the world’s cares. We are
less confident in God’s promises and more dependent on our own seeming
abilities. We end up thinking we walk our life’s journey alone, instead
of walking in the guidance and strength of our Lord.
Let us instead be like that father in
Mark’s Gospel who brought to Jesus his son, suffering from an unclean
spirit, and implored Jesus to heal him. The father said to Jesus these
words: “I believe; help my unbelief.” (Mark 9:24b) That father
expressed the truth of our faith—that it needs always to be growing, and
only with God’s help can it do so. Let each of us seek the nourishment
we need for such increase of truth in our great God.
And, frankly, when our faith does grow, I
think it will be visible to the naked eye. Especially when that
faith motivates us to love and servanthood and generosity. In that
case, as I feed you the bread of Holy Communion, I will certainly be
thinking to myself, “My, how you have grown!”
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