Faith Versus Belief 

The opposite of faith is not doubt. All too often, the opposite of faith is belief.



I have heard many wonderful sermons in my life.

There are three whose themes have stayed with me,
  with at least one concept that continues
    to be an inspiration to me.

The first of those sermons was an Easter message
  with the simple title of, "Mary!"

I heard the sermon while I was in seminary
  in South Carolina.

It was about the moment that Mary Magdalen
  recognized the risen Jesus.

When she first saw him,
  she thought he was the gardener.

He spoke her name,
  "Mary!" he said, and 
    instantly she knew who he was.

She said to him, "My Teacher!"

The concept that has stayed with me
  is that Mary recognized Jesus
    when he called her by name.

In the second memorable sermon
  the preacher spoke about
    the confession of sins
      with which Lutherans begin
        every Sunday worship service.

She said that we are really simply confessing
  our failure to acknowledge
    our dependence on God.

As UU's we interpret the idea
  a little differently than many Christians:
    We could say simply
      that we depend on the spark of the Divine Spirit
        that lives in each and every one of us.

The helpful concept is the same for me either way:
  I don't have to search my conscience
    for thoughts, words, and deeds
      that I have to define as sins.

I can simply remember that I can lean on
  the best of my true Self, the divine life within me.

The third sermon that has stayed with me
  includes a concept that I'm still working on, 
    the concept on which I'm basing
      my own sermon for today.

It was a UU sermon,
  delivered by the Rev. Marlene Walker,
    who was at the time a most effective
      interim minister at the UUCP in Moscow, ID.

She said that the opposite of faith is belief.

For me at the time, it was a startling statement,
  but of course being startled
    only caused me to pay closer attention.

The concept that unfolded
  has been a continuing part
    of my own spiritual formation,
      and it is my hope that it will be meaningful
        for you all, too.

Faith is our own deeply personal exploration
  of the meaning of life.

Belief is the conclusion we come to
  regarding the meaning of our own life.

Exploration is active.

A conclusion stands still.

Faith has to keep moving.

Belief has nowhere to go.

As UU's our faith is solidly built
  upon critical thinking.

Those who focus on their beliefs
  are generally not so interested in critical thinking.

We also have beliefs,
  but those are, like the beliefs of Buddhists,
    subject to change
      if they are proven wrong
        by investigation and experience.

It would not be too unusual
  to find that someone considers
    the opposite of faith to be doubt.

In fact, doubt is a vital part of faith,
  and not just for UU's.

Today is often nicknamed, "Low Sunday"
  among those who follow a liturgical calendar.

You can probably guess why.

Easter Sunday often sees the highest attendance
  of any Sunday in most years.

The Sunday after Easter
  often sees the lowest attendance,
    (except for maybe the Sundays around
      three day weekends
        like Memorial Day or Labor Day).

Whether today has the lowest attendance or not,
  the story of the day on liturgical calendars
    is (nowadays) the story of "Doubting Thomas."

I prefer to think him as Believing Thomas
  because of the transformation he experienced.

For us UU's, being called a doubter
  would not be any sort of insult.

We sometimes even doubt our doubts!

After all,
  one of our most sacred symbols,
    and one that I treasure in my heart,
      is a question mark.

  One of my favorite things to see
    on a UU Christmas tree
      is all the question marks!
        (along with all the Darwin fish -
          the ones with little feet and legs
             sprouting from their underside)

Our faith is in science,
  not dogma.

Religious doctrine is rightly understood
  as our human attempt to describe
    our personal, spiritual experiences.

Dogmas and beliefs try to normalize the experiences
  and insist that everyone
    must have similar experiences
      and define the experiences in similar ways.

Such an approach
  actually stifles faith and spirituality.

This is not to say
  that all traditional faiths
    engage in stifling real faith
      by their emphasis on dogmas and beliefs.

Many people in traditional faiths
  are much more open than that.

We find people of good will
  in every faith and every kind of church.

As UU's we can surely afford
  not to judge anyone.

There is in fact an entire tradition
  within Christianity
    that takes a dim view of beliefs and dogmas.

They are known as
  the Society of Friends, the Quakers.

They refer to dogmas and beliefs
  as "notions."

They do not insist
  that people must believe certain notions
    with one notable exception:

They believe that every person
  has within themselves a spark of divine light.

For this reason they are pacifists.

No one has the right, they say, to kill anyone
  who carries within themselves
    a spark of divine light.

This sounds to me very much like
  our First Principle:
    The inherent worth and dignity of every person.

UU's are not traditionally known as pacifists,
  but our First Principle stands.

There have certainly been UU pacifists,
  and our church authorities
    have vigorously defended
      their commitment to pacifism
        within our faith tradition.

During the Vietnam War, for example
  the UUA established a denominational registry
    for conscientious objectors.

It's just that we don't require everyone
  to agree about much of anything.

I see that as a good thing.

There are UU Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists,
  and representatives of many other faith traditions,
    atheists, agnostics, believers and non-believers
      in many kinds of spiritual ideas and practices.

We are generally pretty good
  at agreeing to disagree,
    at being civil to each other
      even when we strongly disagree
        about principles that are important to us.

We do agree about our seven principles,
  but those are not in the form of beliefs.

They are more like commitments we have made
  to value each other because of our differences,
    not in spite of them.

I believe that this is a key to our UU faith
  in this understanding:

We treasure the variety of human expression.

We do not insist on conformity.

We even value variety in our approach to
  spirituality and the development of our faith.

We do not worship science,
  but our faith and practice are informed by it,
    including the scientific study of religion
      as part of human social psychology.

A UU sermon is not just a treatise
  on the analysis of issues,
    but there is often that element.

Like all good preaching,
  a sermon is an expression of good news and hope
    even in the midst of difficult circumstances
      such as those we are all going through now.

Today's good news
  is that our beliefs are not frozen.

We do not believe everything we hear;
  indeed we often only believe half of what we see,
    as the song by Marvin Gaye says,
      "Believe none of what you hear
          and half of what you see."

Thus our faith is steeped in doubt,
  and beliefs, as frozen notions
    about religion and spirituality,
      can truly be understood
        as the opposite of a faith like ours.

If you remember anything about today's sermon,
  I hope it will simply be
    the understanding
      that it's OK to question everything.

Don't believe everything
  you hear, see, or even think! 

This principle will be especially valuable
  in our time.

There is so much information
  and misinformation
    that some healthy skepticism will be important,
      even to keep us healthy!

As we do for our own UU faith,
  we can do our own investigations
    and come to our own conclusions.

Indeed, the process
  will be vitally important for us all.

Amen.

So let it be.

Blessed be.