Where is Your Faith?

Roy Baumeister studied energy for more than 50 years. In this he is not alone. Many people study energy.

What set Baumeister apart in his study of energy was this: he studied the power of the soul. Specifically, he studied the power of the will, how the soul uses energy in decisions, habits, relationships, addictions. His research showed how we are depleted of energy during the day with so many choices, how this creates fatigue, tires us out.

Governing all his research was a simple theory: there is only so much energy in a day, in a person. Each of us has a battery life. We may not deplete all our energy every day, but it is possible. The soul uses power, energy, strength to live the day.  Along the way, during our day, events and occurrences can empty us or fill us. We say things like that wiped me out, that was draining, I am spent.

We know this happens.  But we may not see how and why it happens. For instance, no one likes to wait.  But how we wait impacts us in ways we may not notice.  If we are waiting for something and our heart is filled with fear, anxiety, dread, then, research has shown, time becomes like a weight we carry, each second more and more exhausting.  If we are waiting with calm or peace, research has shown, if we are waiting without fear or trepidation, the waiting can be a time of rest.  We can have more energy than when we started just because we found a non-anxious presence.

              We know this from experience. What Baumeister did was create tests and studies and situations where this could be proven, observed.  Classic examples of this are having people watch a film of something very sad and telling them to not feel emotions, do not have sympathy.  Another group watches the same film but are given no instructions.  Both groups are then given a test that is taxing and hard to complete.  The group that was told not to emote did poorly because they used up all their energy telling themselves, “Don’t be sad.”  The other group had plenty of energy.

              Another classic example is jars of jam.  Two display tables are set up in a grocery store.  One table has a hundred different types of jam, another had only five or six.  The table with the fewer jars sells more than the table with a hundred.  Customers were exhausted by the idea of 100 choices and empowered by the modest offering of a few choices. 

              Baumeister and his colleagues used such studies to explore the benefit of good habits and the negative consequences of bad habits.  What they found was that having good habits reduces the number of choices you make in a day and thus saves energy; having negative or no habits created chaos or painful consequences, each of which took away energy.

              Such research can be dismissed as simplistic or obvious.  I mean who doesn’t know you get tired at the end of the day?  No one would be shocked to find out a thousand choices is more taxing than two.  Common sense really.

              For the most part, social psychology studies the common, the everyday habit, the mundane; this is its usefulness, to understand why we do what we do and how we do it.  Yet, what set Baumeister apart, what I have found very helpful, is how close his theory about energy comes to the teachings of Jesus. Baumeister might find this an odd thought as I don’t remember him speaking about religion in the books I have read of his.  Indeed, he might not know that the good news of Jesus, his teachings about the kingdom of God in us, his parables, his acts, all of this was simply a way of transforming the destructive energy of fear, worry, and anger into the constructive energy of humility, trust, courage, joy.

              Most theology, as it should be, is a study of God. Most of the letters of the apostle Paul are about our relationship to God created by the cross.  The Old Testament in many ways is a long description of God’s relationship with people.  All of these are good and fine.  We should have beliefs, creeds, doctrines about God.  We should seek to understand our relationship with God.  And God’s relationship to humanity, while bumpy, reveals a lot about truth, goodness, beauty.  The only thing is, Jesus doesn’t talk about theology much. 

              What Jesus tends to talk about the most is what it means to be human and how we can overcome fear by trusting humility, the power found in courage where we give our life away.  His gospel speaks of finding freedom from anger, anxiety, delusion, greed more than it talks about finding heaven.  Even more, he teaches the trust and courage we need is within us, already there. We may not have mastered courage, but such faith is not rare or exotic or the purview of a few.  No.  The power to trust humility and the energy we gain from courage, this is common, in all of us.

              Our reading today is not a common occurrence; it is unique.  While it is uncommon in its details, it does have a meaning consistent with all the other teachings of Jesus.  The calming of the storm is different from the other acts or miracles of Jesus.  Usually, he does an act of power to heal, to restore.  On a few occasions he declared people forgiven, suggesting he had the power to do so.  He will change water into wine, feed five thousand and four thousand, but these too are outliers.  For the most part the miracles of Jesus are done to end suffering.

              The calming of the sea is also uncommon because it comes with a rebuke.  Where is your faith?  The question seems awkward, a bit harsh.  He is chastising them for what might be called a justified fear. Hence, the rebuke seems odd.  The boat was being swamped and Jesus seemed indifferent. In Matthew, the evangelist records Jesus saying to the disciples, why are you afraid, you of little faith?  Mark is the most terse.  Why are you afraid?  Have you still no faith?

              It could be Jesus was cranky.  He finally got some sleep, and he was woken to find chaos.  That can make nice people rough. But there is something deeper going on here than fatigue.  He seems to suggest in this moment of crisis the disciples lacked the strength to endure, to face the storm and overcome fear.  They didn’t have enough faith to overcome dread.  Faith, in this story, is more than not being afraid, it is the courage, the strength to overcome adversity.

What a different story this would be had Jesus said, “you all should have woken me sooner.”  Or “remember, I am here for every storm, every problem.  All you need do is call.” Imagine, “you should have given this to God; let go, let God.”  What a different story this would be if he had confirmed their fears.  “Yeah. That was scarry.  I was frightened too.”  Yet, by his rebuke the message is: you didn't need me to solve your problems.  Your courage, faith, would have been enough. 

As he tends to do, Jesus' words are not about himself; they are not about God; they are not about cosmic forces of the universe.  What he says to the disciples is about them.  His rebuke of the disciples, like so many of his teachings, seems to suggest, faith is something you have; it is in you.  Courage is possible; you can overcome fear.  You can.

Recently I finished the fantastic biography of John D. Rockefeller Sr. by Ron Chernov.  A massive book.  Not a quick read. It is though inspiring, intriguing.  Rockefeller was just an image of greed for me, but by the end of the biography I found a person whose complexity cast a great light. 

Rockefeller was uniquely wealthy but quite common in terms of being ruthless.  This part I knew.  What I didn’t know was the other side, the philanthropist. Chernov’s account offers two sides.  There was the monopolist who destroyed competitors, broke laws, controlled markets and bought politicians.  And then there was the man who spent most of his life trying to give away all the money he earned.  There was the robber baron and then there was the tea-totaling Baptist, the founder of schools and research, the modest man who built churches and liked to golf.

I knew the first Rockefeller from Ida Tarbell who devoted her energy to expose Standard Oil.  I knew the tainted quality of his donations.  Many organizations sought to keep the gifts of Rockefeller quiet so as not to be condemned.  I knew this.

What I didn’t know is that he founded the University of Chicago.  Not a department or a chair, the whole thing.  I didn’t know his philanthropic interests created modern medical science and research in the United States.  Not a study or a particular cure but all medical research.  Even though I have been a member of the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan, I didn’t know the site of the museum was once a grand Rockefeller mansion that was donated and razed so they could fund the construction of a new building dedicated to modern art.  Didn’t know.

I knew the greed, but I didn’t know the generosity. Seeing both illumined how hard it is overcome greed with trust, how hard it is to be free from fear.  Surprisingly, the second half of his life was more challenging than the first, giving life is harder than taking it.

While perhaps not on the scale of Rockefeller, the struggle to overcome greed with generosity is a challenge we all face. And the challenge is relentless.  Think of how many financial decisions you make in a day.  Should I buy this?  Should I give this?  Should I save for a rainy day?  How am I going to pay for this?  Even something as simple as comparing items to buy where one is a few cents cheaper than the other.  Who hasn't stood in store aisle and worried?

Yet the most surprising and helpful part of Rockefeller's story was the clarity of his choice.  At some point he decided to become philanthropic. He chose to give away his life.  His confidence, his faith became generosity.

I believe Jesus was cranky with the disciples on the boat because they had yet to make this choice.  They believed in him, followed him, trusted him, cried out to him in distress.  But they were still afraid.

All his teachings and sayings and debates beg one truth, you must lose your life to gain it; even though he showed the power of humility, how to become great by being least, despite this they were afraid.  They had not found the faith within, the courage, which is in all of us, to live as the least, to die to live.  They had yet to make the choice to find the courage in their heart to overcome all fear by the power of humility and the spirit of generosity.

Jesus didn't promise his disciples they would live a life free from storms or calm every storm.  He promised persecution.  The gospel of Jesus is not a message of heaven or the cross or even love.  His message was very simple: the kingdom of God is in you if you have the courage to live it, choosing freedom instead of fear, faith not dread.

There are so many exhausting choices in life. We must make the same choices countless times. Yet, the gospel begs one choice: choose to find security in wealth and possession and live with the limits of those or choose to live in the courage of generosity and find the strength of humility.  What is your choice; where is your faith?  Amen.