Paper-Clip Faith--September 9, 2021

Paper-Clip Faith--September 9, 2021

"By faith [Abraham] received power of procreation, even though he was too old--and Sarah herself was barren--because he considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, 'as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore'." [Hebrews 11:11-12]

We cling to God by faith the same way a paper clip sticks to a horseshoe magnet, held in a power not our own--a power which moves through us so that we can hold fast.

Seriously.  Let's think about how things work if you're a paper clip being gripped in the magnetic field of your standard horseshoe magnet.  You are, to be frank, inert.  A paper clip has no moving parts, no energy source, and no secret supply of chemical combustion waiting to be sparked.  What it has is the potential of being held.  Its molecules can be realigned to get in sync with a magnetic field, in which case it sticks to source of that field.  If the magnet is strong enough, those paper clips can even appear to jump up of their own power to cling to the U-shaped object in the science teacher's hand.  But let's not be fooled about what's happening: the paper clip doesn't bring any power of its own--it receives the ability by the closeness of the magnet.  The power of the magnet makes that leap possible, but the paper clip brings only is ability to be held.

And, again, no disrespect to our ancestors in the faith, Sarah and Abraham, but what they bring to their relationship with God isn't their own power, their own virility, or their own strength. What they bring is the ability to be grasped by God's power, so amazing things can happen.  Faith is like that--it's not a power source that arises from within us to propel us up to God; it's what happens when a trustworthy God moves toward us with a magnetic pull that grabs hold of us so that we hold fast to God.  It might look like we are the ones leaping up to God in faith, but it's all rather like the paper clip and the magnet: the magnet does the pulling, and we paper-clips are given the free ride.

The writer of Hebrews doesn't mince words about this.  Like other New Testament voices (Paul, for example, will also use the phrase, "as good as dead" to describe Abraham), our writer here underscores that Abraham didn't bring faith as a superpower that God somehow needed or harnessed or accepted in payment for giving him a child.  It was rather the faithfulness of God which enabled Abraham to have faith.  It was the trustworthiness of God which enabled Sarah to trust.  That makes all the difference, because it means that we will be held, even when our faith is wobbly or sputtering (which happens, let's be honest), because the thing that makes us "sticky" isn't our own power, strength, or capacity to believe in God.  It is the other way around--God's grip on us enables us to hold onto God as well as we can.  Rather like a squirmy child's hand fidgeting at the crosswalk in the grip of a loving parent's hands, what keeps us safe isn't how hard we are holding onto the One who loves us, but rather how strong that Love is holding onto us.  Faith is about being held, being drawn, being gripped by grace--it's never our achievement or accomplishment or even our ability.

Getting this straight honestly makes all the difference between Gospel good news and religiously-dressed self-help.  If Christianity ends up being about how well or accurately I believe a list of facts about God, I'm always going to be worried I haven't studied hard enough for my postmortem theology exam, and in the end, my being saved will be a matter of my own achievement on that test.  But if the life of faith really is, as Hebrews says, about trusting Someone who is trustworthy even when I bring no power or strength or energy to the table, then it means my being saved is a gift of grace.  And if it's all a gift, I can rest assured I can't lose it, and I can't wriggle out of God's mercy.  It is about being held in, as the old hymn puts it, the love that will not let me go.

Today, let's allow that idea to just steep into us like a cup of strong hot tea:  faith isn't your power, but a gift you receive.  Holding onto God isn't something you achieve, but a sign you are held in the goodness of God like a paper-clip clinging to a magnet.  The power comes from the thing doing the holding, and we bring the ability to be held.  So even poor old decrepit Abraham can be empowered in amazing ways--even to become the ancestor of countless descendants--because it was never about his ability. It was always about the strength of the God who drew him close.  

Today, then, be a paper-clip, held in the grip of God's powerful goodness.  And as you find yourself drawn close to this God more fully in life, recognize where that comes from.  You are being held in the force-field of grace, and even your ability to trust God is a gift God give us.  You and I are paper-clips, stuck to the One who calls us beloved.

Lord God, hold onto us with your own strong power, and help us to rest in your assurance that you will not let us go.