Experiencing God - 199 Gift of Faith

"But to all who did accept Him, He gave the power to become children of God."
Gospel of John

Last night, I watched a movie on TV called "Heaven is for Real".  I read the book a few years ago.  It is a real story about a four year old boy who had a "near death experience" as the result of a ruptured appendix.  After his recovery from this near death experience, he began to reveal, little by little, to his shocked parents, his experience of "going to heaven" during the critical time of his illness.  Some of the things he revealed were quite extraordinary. They were, not only beyond the knowledge of a four year old boy, but things about others he would not have otherwise known.

This movie gave rise to some interesting discussions in our family afterwards.  How did we react to the movie?  What evidence do we see that gives credibility to the Gospels and its teachings?  For example, we know that:

1.  Jesus was a real historic figure.
2.  Jesus had a specific teaching which, if it were not true, would suggest that He was mad; yet His life would support the position that He was very sane, perhaps even more so than anyone else.
3.  His apostles and followers believed in Him and His teachings to the point of sacrificing their own lives in martyrdom for His cause.
4.  Jesus and his teachings have affected the lives of millions of people in the centuries that followed.
5.  And, of course, the greatest miracle of the conversion of one's heart to faith, is a common phenomena to those who accept Christ in their lives.

And yet, not all people come to faith in Christ.  Faith, as St. Paul would describe it, is a gift of grace. In the prologue to John's gospel we read:  "But to all who did accept Him, He gave the power to become children of God".  

For those of us who have accepted Christ, do we not often take for granted this tremendous gift that has been given to us?  For those of us who have received this gift of faith through Grace, is it not something that we should be honored to share?  

Does our gift of faith entitle us to look down on those who do not share this particular gift?  Certainly not!  After all, it is a gift; which means, something that is given to us by another.  A gift is something that is not necessarily given to everyone.  I have not been given the gift of music, at least to any extent.  I do not write poetry; I do not excel in certain sports, and none of my teachers ever considered me a genius.  Yet, I do have this gift of faith in Christ which I cannot fully explain; and as with you, through this gift, I experience very strongly this connection with God, which again I cannot explain.  

Yet, we know that, like a spark, our own faith can ignite the hearts of faith in another, if the right conditions exist. 

I remember a song from my early days as a christian:

"It only takes a spark to get a fire going,
and soon all those around will warm up in its glowing.
That's how it is with God's love, once you've experienced it;  It's fresh like spring, you want to sing,
You want to pass it on."

So we don't look down on a brother or a sister who has not received the gift of faith, but, when the time is right, we joyfully share that gift with them in the hopes that they too may share in our joy.