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Friends,
our Gospel today tells of Jesus healing a royal official's son. The
official asked him to heal his son, who was near death. Jesus said to
him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe."
But the royal official persisted. And Jesus told him his son would live.
The man believed Jesus and his son recovered.
Theologian
Paul Tillich said that "faith" is the most misunderstood word in the
religious vocabulary. And this is a tragedy, for faith stands at the
very heart of the program; it is the sine qua non of the Christian
thing. What is it? The opening line of Hebrews 11 has the right
definition: "Faith is confident assurance concerning what we hope for,
and conviction about things we do not see."
Faith
is a straining ahead toward those things that are, at best, dimly
glimpsed. But notice, please, it is not a craven, hand-wringing, unsure
business. It is "confident" and full of "conviction." Think of the great
figures of faith, from Abraham to John Paul II: they are anything but
shaky, indefinite, questioning people. Like the royal official, they are
clear, focused, assured.
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