Faith on a Trampoline

Faith on a Trampoline: Matthew 15:21-28

Preached at St Nicholas (8am) and St Mark (10am) on Sunday 17 Aug 2008

One of the more disturbing things about getting older, is that I'm discovering that I just don't bend like I used to. That was brought home to me recently - with special pain - when I had a go on my nieces' trampoline. "Come on Uncle Tom", they said, "you have a go!". "Oh," thought I, "that looks fun!". So I heaved myself up onto the trampoline, and started to bounce. Everything was going well, until I decided to do a little trick I learned when I was ten. It was just one of those simple trampoline tricks when you sit down for one bounce, and then stand for the next one.

So, at the apex of a bounce, I tucked my legs under me, and went for the sit-down bounce. What can I say? The pain! The pain! And I even think I might have said a word or two that should not normally pass from a Vicar's lips!

While I was recovering, later that day, I remembered something I had read in a book by an American theologian and pastor, called Rob Bell. Bell says that we should think of the Christian faith as being a bit like a trampoline. And, he says, it is when we begin to jump on the trampoline of faith, that we realise where the springs come in. He says, "When we jump, we begin to see the need for springs... The springs aren't God. The springs aren't Jesus. The springs are statements and beliefs about our faith that help give words to the depth that we are experiencing in our jumping. I would call these [springs] the doctrines of the Christian faith."

Bell goes on to describe what he means about the trampoline springs being the doctrines of the Christian faith. He points out that many of the doctrines - the beliefs - that we hold dear are in fact ideas which have been developed over the centuries since Jesus. For example, the Doctrine of the Trinity.

We have come to understand God as being three persons in one. For, he says, "while there is only one God, God is somehow present everywhere. People began to call this presence, this power of God, his 'Spirit'. So there is God, and there is God's Spirit. And then Jesus comes among us and has this oneness with God that has people saying things like 'God has visited us in the flesh'. So God is one, but God has also revealed himself to us as Spirit, and as Jesus. One and yet three. This three-in-oneness understanding of God emerged in the several hundred years after Jesus' resurrection. People began to call this concept 'the Trinity'. But the word trinity is not found anywhere in the Bible. Jesus didn't use the word, and the writers of the rest of the Bible didn't use the word. But over time this belief, this understanding, this doctrine has become central to how followers of Jesus have understood who God is. It is a spring, and people jumped for thousands of years without it [in the times before Jesus]. It is a spring, and it was added [to the trampoline of faith] later. We can take it out and examine it. Discuss it, probe it, question it. It flexes, and it stretches." (Bell, R. 2005, Velvet Elvis, Zondervan, pages 22-23)

Now I'm sure that by now, some of you will be wondering what any of this has to do with this morning's Gospel reading. Well, let's look at the reading now - in the light of this idea that the trampoline of faith is held up by flexible springs.

What we have in this morning's reading is a strange glimpse into Jesus' mindset. We see a non-Jewish woman arguing with him - arguing that even though she is a Gentile, her daughter should be entitled to receive a blessing from Jesus...and especially a healing from him. The strange part of the story is that Jesus appears to resist this idea. He says that he was called first to the children of Israel, and (in language that we find quite shocking), it would be wrong to give what was meant for the children to the dogs (refering, in this context, to Gentiles.) The woman, however, doesn't give up at this rebuff...she argues that even dogs get to eat the scraps from the children's table. Jesus then grants the argument to her...she has won the debate. He credits her with great faith, and heals her daughter.

Theologians have wrestled with this passage for generations. Could it be that the part of Jesus which was decidedly human was a bit racist? Did he really think of non-Jewish people as 'dogs' - until this debate with this particular Gentile opened his mind to the possibility that his mission should include non-Jews as well.

No, I think the purpose of this story is to show that Jesus himself understood that doctrines and beliefs had to be flexible...that there are springs on the trampoline of faith. He knew that those around him viewed him as essentially a Jewish Messiah. By using wholly uncharacteristic language - that of children and dogs - I think he was in fact 'playing to the crowd'. He was using the language that they would have used to talk about non-Jews...Jesus was encouraging the crowd around him to change their dogma, and their doctrine. They believed that the Messiah would liberate the Jews alone. But Jesus came to liberate the whole world. Jesus wanted his followers to understand that dogmas and doctrines have to be flexible. We cannot hope to contain God by our words - for God is, and always will be, greater, bigger, more magnificent than anything we can say about him, or assume we know about him.

So where does this leave us? Let me ask you - how flexible are the springs of your trampoline of faith? Are we ready to hold up some of those springs, examine them, let them flex a little, as we seek to discover more of what God has in store for us, for this community, and for the world? I wonder how much more God might have to show us...if we are willing to flex the springs of our trampoline a little.

In the autumn, after the summer holidays, we are planning to start a new home-group for the parish. Initially, we'll meet at the Rectory - because I've been given a great big lounge we can meet in! The purpose of the group will be to let our springs start to flex. It will give us the space to take out some of the key Christian doctrines and dogmas, and then hold them up to the light. We will stretch them, and oil them, and then reattach them to the trampoline - believing that the trampoline will bounce even higher, even better, for having done so.

So, what I'm asking you to do today is to start thinking about whether you might enjoy that process. If you know immediately that you could embrace such a house-group...then let me know after the service. It would also be helpful for me to get a sense of what evening of the week - or which day-time, you would find most convenient. If you have a computer (or are reading this on the website) by all means email me with these details.

But most of all...let me encourage you all to keep bouncing on the trampoline of faith. It really can be a most exhilarating ride!

Amen