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A Begging Faith

A Begging Faith

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1)

I passed by the third homeless person on Mass Avenue and did not stop to give him any change. A few lonely coins rattled at the bottom of his grimy Big Gulp cup as I cruised to the subway stop.

How does my faith guide me in this moment? If the kingdom of God is seen in the “least” among us, what have I just missed? What have I just refused to see as I passed by the stranger asking for spare change? What’s the meaning of faith when we don’t even recognize the kingdom of God when it stretches its very hand out to us?

Hebrews 11:1 tells us, “faith is being certain of what we do not see.” How can I be faithful in that sense when I can’t even acknowledge when God is visibly, physically reaching out to me on the street corner?

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 reminds us, “Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an external glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” Is this passage meant to give hope to the homeless man in Harvard Square? Or is it a sentence of condemnation for me?

If you want to get biblical about it, the homeless man and I are the same person. We are all broken, all beggars, without hierarchy. Whether for spare change, for food, for mercy, for forgiveness – we are all begging, desperate and in need. We all must reveal our desperation and open ourselves to receiving grace. And we are all called to be Christ’s hands in those moments – stopping, bending down and serving.

If Christ is true, if the Gospel is true, it would seem that seeing Christ in the beggar as well as seeing the beggar in me reflects the reality of what Paul tells the Corinthians is both “eternal” and “unseen.”

As we embrace, by faith, the reality of God that stands in front of us, we are in that moment living for another world, a truer world. In that moment, we are echoing our belief that the pleasure of God’s reality, what Paul calls “eternal glory,” is more authentic than what is “seen” – the world’s illusions and delusions grabbing for our allegiance.

Perhaps being faithful is believing and living like there’s truly no difference between any of us.

Dig Deeper:

Read Matthew 25:31–46, 2 Corinthians 4 and Hebrews 11.

Prayer:

Lord, I confess to You that I am just as weak and broken as those who I perceive as being needy. I thankfully receive Your grace. Help me to live for eternal glory by serving those around me.


RELEVANT’s “Deeper Walk” daily devotionals are presented by the LUMO Project, a visual translation of the four Gospels developed to engage people with scripture in a new way. You can watch the videos—which redefine the standard of visual biblical media—on YouTube, and find out more about LUMO’s mission at their website.

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