Introduction

This article is the July 2010 installment of my monthly message in the parish newsletter for Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Beatrice, Neb.

Daily Witness

The other day I stopped at the Beatrice Post Office to buy stamps for the Lincoln Stamp Club’s July newsletter. A few months ago I agreed to add the creation of this newsletter to my other responsibilities as the Club’s secretary. Because the newsletter goes to stamp collectors, they appreciate when the stamp on the newsletter is a commemorative and not a common issue.

I’d recently seen that the Postal Service had released a Kathryn Hepburn commemorative, and thought—given the ages of most of the members of the Club—that this would be a good choice. I found out from Bob, the clerk at the post office, that he was almost sold out of the Hepburn stamp and didn’t have the fifty I needed. But then he suggested a roll of Flags of Our Nation, featuring the Nebraska flag. That was the choice I made.

Somehow in the course of our brief conversation I mentioned the newsletter. Bob said, “Oh, I’m in a stamp club too.” It took only a moment for us to discover he was a member of the same club and actually receives the newsletter I write. This led to us comparing notes on our specialty collections and me asking whether he would ever consider presenting a talk on his collection at one of the Club’s meetings.

At this point, you might be asking yourself, “Where is he going with this rambling story?” That’s a good question. And the answer is that I was struck by how easily and how energetically I could engage in a conversation with a complete stranger when the topic touched on our shared passions. You have probably had a similar experience, whether it involves sports or antique cars or the latest best seller or ….

No, Not That!

But now envision yourself running into someone and somehow—through the twists and turns of the conversation—bumping up against your faith. Certainly we are passionate about our Lord Jesus Christ, about the new life we share in the Holy Spirit, and about the trust we have in coming, upon our deaths, to the endless day we will enjoy with the Father in heaven. But to talk about that with a stranger is an almost unimaginable scenario for most of us. In fact, we often find it hard enough to talk about our faith in church or even at home with a spouse or other relative. When we picture ourselves treading perilously close to the topic of our faith, we find ourselves pulling back, raising our hands in defense, and crying soundlessly, “No, not that!”

Beyond Fear

We typically fear what we cannot control, so it is natural, in one sense, to fear a conversation about faith. Once that topic arises, then God—without a doubt—is present and active and alive in the conversation. And we do not control him.

But while fear is natural, fear that shows we do not trust God to guide us is the kind of fear that we know to be the absence of faith. St. Paul reminds us:

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, [emphasis added] but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:15–17, NRSV)

This helps, because it reminds us that the Spirit bears witness with us when we share our faith with others. And really, of what or whom need we be afraid if God is our ally standing at our side? With him as our companion, we are free—free of fear of embarrassment, ridicule, injury, even death—to witness daily to others of our faith with the same intense passion we bring to our hobbies and pastimes.

Blessings!