The Book of Exodus gives us many
images of Faith: crossing the Red
Sea, setting out into the desert,
following the pillar of fire.
Perhaps there is yet another image which
can give us a sense of
what faith is all about. Although not
found in Scriptures, it captures the
heart of Biblical Faith.
Picture, if you will a stone
table, and next to it a flying
carpet. The table is solid;
its legs are strong. The carpet is
floating at the same height
as the tabletop, but there is nothing
underneath it. You look at the
carpet, and the Lord says, "come."
The table looks safe, you can
tell what you are standing
on, you know where the edges are,
you are sure you won't fall. So
naturally, you head for the table.
But the Lord says, "No,
over, here."
"On that, Lord?" you ask.
"How do I know it will hold me up?"
The Lord insists, "I'm telling
you, come over here."
"But, Lord," you protest, there
is nothing holding it up. How
do I know it won't fall down?"
So the Lord assures you, "I have
called you and I'll sustain
you. I t is I who will
hold you up." Finally,
reluctantly, you give in.
"Well, okay, Lord, if you say so."
And so you test it out.;
You press on it and it looks like
it goes down a bit.
But it doesn't sink to the
floor. So you summon all
your courage, and you climb
onto the carpet.
Suddenly, you're floating!
You fell so alive! You
know for sure the Lord is
loving you. You can hardly
contain your joy.
"Wow,
Lord! Why didn't I believe
you? If I had listened to
you sooner, I could have
been reborn! I would have
known what it means to Live!
Oh, thank you, Lord!"
But then it gets a little
windy; you wonder what's
happening. "Lord, stop it,"
you plead. But God doesn't
stop it. The wind blows harder,
and you find yourself wondering
whether you're really safe.
You look around, and you notice
that the Lord has started
pulling out the threads from
the carpet!
Right away, you jump onto
the stone table, and you
felt a lot safer. But then
you hear the Lord calling.
"What are you doing over
there? I thought you were going
to trust me. Didn't you say
you would leave everything
and follow me?"
"Yes, but…"
"All right, then trust me.
Let me take away all those things
you think you need. I
will give you freedom. I
will make you a new creation.
But you have to believe in me.
You have to believe that
I can do it."
"I do, Lord you say defensively.
"But please stop pulling those
threads out!"
You meekly get back on the
carpet. Once again you feel
the excitement. Once again
you fell the wind. Once again
you look around and-wouldn't you
know it? The Lord is at it again,
pulling out the threads.
So there you are. The carpet
is getting threadbare. The
wind is getting gusty. That
stone table looks so secure.
You start bargaining. "Lord,
why can't I stand on that? I
would still be a good Christian.
I wouldn't disobey the commandments.
I'd still go to Mass on Sundays.
I'd even give more money to the poor.
It's too scary over here.
But the Lord doesn't let you go.
"Just trust me," he reassures
you. "That's not where it's
at. This is where life is. I
will be your hope.
I will be you fullness."
"Okay, Lord," you say. And
as the time goes on, you
see the Lord continuing
to pull out the threads until
finally there is nothing left
but him.
And that's exactly what God
wanted you to see! That's
exactly what you need to
experience for yourself. It
was not the power of the
carpet that sustained you;
it was the power of the Lord.
In the end, you find that all
you thought you were going to
lose is given to you in
-30-'60-, 100- fold, as
the gospel says poured into
you lap and overflowing
(Luke 6:38).
The fulfillment that the
Lord gives always surpasses our
expectations. God will not
be outdone in generosity.
Whatever we let go of will be given
back to us many times over.
But we don't know that except
through hindsight. When we
first set out on the journey
of faith, we don't
know that.
The Book of Exodus ends with
God still leading the people
forward into history. It
seems ironic but Moses did
not get to enter the Promised
Land. He saw it from a distance,
looking at it from across the
Jordan, but died without setting
foot in Canaan.
Later generations of believers
thought there should be some
theological explanation for
this, so they suggested that
God punished Moses in this
way for those times in the desert
when he didn't trust God
100 percent. They gave an
interpretation which fit
their own experience of God,
and apparently they experienced
God as punishing and vindictive.
But that is not my own
experience of God, and that
is not the God I find
in Scriptures. To me, it makes
more sense to believe that Moses
did not have to set foot in
the Promised Land because
he was already walking in it.
He was walking the journey of
Faith; he was living in the
Kingdom. He had met the Lord on
Mount Sinai, and so he
did not have to go somewhere
else to meet him.
His journey was complete, even
before it ended. We can
see too that there was nothing
on the West Bank of the Jordan
which was not also on the east bank.
In a sense the journey was
his destination.
God was constantly calling them
to the Promised Land, but as
constantly they kept wanting
to go their own direction.
But by trusting God with
their whole hearts, they
found themselves going around
in circles. If they had believed
with a firm and constant faith,
there, journey might have
taken a lot less time, They
could have walked straight across
the desert into Canaan.
But instead, they doubted.
Instead, they hesitated. Instead
they kept wanting to go their
won way. They were tempted,
just as you and I are tempted.
You want to believe, but
the good news sounds too good
to be true. You want to trust,
but you wonder whether the
Lord will really hold up your
flying carpet. And so your
journey-Whichever one you happen
to be on at the moment-takes
longer than it needs to take.
But maybe there is no other
way for us humans.
In spite of those doubts, in
spite of those fears, the Lord's
promise to you is still the
same as it was to Israel, and the
same as it was to Moses.
Surrender to the Lord completely,
and God will sustain you.
God will feed you. God will give
you life. God will fill your
heart with Love!
Like the Israelites, you will
find that the desert is not all
desert. The way to the
Promised Land leads to life even
in the midst of the
desert.
When you least expect it,
there is an oasis. As it says
in the Scriptures, God will
make the desert bloom
(Isaiah 35:1).
Or like Moses, you may find
that you do not have to arrive in
order to arrive. God can
give you the Promised Land even
before you get there. You
can live in the kingdom even
before the Kingdom comes. For
if you seek the Kingdom of God
above all else, everything
else will be given to
you besides.
"Author Unknown"
"The Life Of Christ"
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