To Center Down
In a world that often feels chaotic and uncertain, Habakkuk, Jesus, and Paul teach us what it means to live faithfully. Drawing on the Hebrew concept of emunah, the Greek pistis, and Howard Thurman’s call “to center down,” this sermon explores how faith is steadiness in the midst of life’s storms. Through small acts of love and trust, even the tiniest seed of faith can move what seems immovable.
The Glimpses of Grace podcast is a ministry of Grace Episcopal Church in Gainesville, Georgia. We are passionate about supporting the spiritual growth of souls, and we hope these sermons and conversations meet you where you are and enrich your soul as we all continue to make meaning in the world today.
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Transcript
For those of you who haven’t attended Wednesday noon Eucharist… a fun thing that Stuart does
when the service aligns with a Sunday on which I’m preaching… he says something along the lines of:
Can’t wait to see what Brandon has to say!
On Wednesday, after reading the Gospel reading, all looked to me. At that point, I was honest, saying:
I have no idea where this sermon is gonna go!
We find ourselves sitting with three voices:
Habakkuk, a minor prophet and contemporary of the prophet Jeremiah; Jesus, teaching his disciples; and
Paul—or someone writing in his name—encouraging young colleague, Timothy. They all speak from different times and places in the life of God’s people.
But they are all wrestling with the same question:
What does it mean to live faithfully when the world seems shaky?
First, Habakkuk.
He cries out with a raw prayer:
“O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen?
Or cry to you ‘Violence!’ and you will not save?”
It’s the kind of prayer that isn’t filtered,
that doesn’t polish its edges before God.
Habakkuk names what he sees—wrongdoing, destruction, injustice. It feels dark, chaotic…there’s a sense of desperation.
And yet, God answers with a word that is both promise and challenge: “The righteous live by their faith.”
Not by strength. Not by cleverness. Not by apathy.
By faithfulness — אמונה) emunah).
The Hebrew carries weight. It’s not a fleeting feeling or a fragile hope. אמונה is firmness, steadiness, fidelity—
a way of being in the world with both feet planted,
even when the ground trembles.
It’s not unthinking optimism,
but a steadied trust in God’s presence,
a rootedness that is forward-facing.
Howard Thurman, in his meditation How Good to Center Down, describes the moment when the noise of our busy lives—
all our fears, ambitions, and distractions—
quiet just enough that we are receptive to something deeper: How good it is to center down…until the questions fall silent and what we hear, faintly but clearly, is the sound of the genuine in ourselves.
Habakkuk names the chaos, but God invites him
to center down, to stand steady, to listen for the genuine
that is God’s voice within, the Holy Spirit living in us.
That is אמונה: not escape from the storm, but rootedness in the midst of it.
Then, the disciples in today’s Gospel.
They come to Jesus with a request:
“Increase our faith!”
But Jesus doesn’t give them a spiritual booster shot. He points out that, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”
In other words, it’s not about more faith—
it’s about the quality of faith.
Even a tiny mustard seed of real, living faith is enough.
Faith is not about dramatic spiritual heroics.
Faith is about doing the steady, faithful thing,
day after day, whether or not it seems spectacular:
our lives are our practice.
And finally, Paul’s letter to Timothy.
Paul knows his companion is facing fear and uncertainty.
So he urges him:
“Rekindle the gift of God that is within you.
For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice,
but…of power and of love and of self-discipline.”
Here Paul uses the Greek πίστις (pistis)—faith, faithfulness, trust, assurance. πίστις is not only inward belief but outward loyalty.
It is relational.
It is trust in God, faithfulness to the Good News,
fidelity to one’s calling…
and what that means for self, God, and others.
It is not a faith that is about clinging to an abstract idea—
it is about living, trusting, in a way that is transformative.
Do you hear the thread?
Paul’s writing to the faithful of the early Church,
the disciples’ request of Jesus and his response,
Habakkuk’s lamentation.
אמונה) emunah), πίστις (pistis),
steadfastness, fidelity.
Faith is how you live with your whole self, in body, mind, and heart.
I’d say that sometimes “faith” gets misunderstood as unthinkingness— as a type of blind following, shutting off of the mind.
But today’s readings don’t ask us to stop thinking.
In fact, they call us to integrate mind and heart.
Faith is not mindless; it is mindful.
It is not the absence of thought but the union of
thought and trust, head and heart, reason and love.
Faith does not disengage us from reality — it steadies us to stand in it.
Thurman’s image of “centering down” helps us.
Because centering down is not ignoring the world’s noise and injustice. It is pausing long enough to hear what is genuine and true within— and to live from that center.
That is what faith looks like: not loud, not flashy, but deeply steady.
Habakkuk faced violence and injustice, and still stood steady.
The disciples were reminded that faith doesn’t come in bulk— it’s present in even the tiny acts of love and trust in God.
Timothy was urged to “guard the good treasure”…
for the grace of God is living in us.
When the news feels like Habakkuk’s lament—violent, injustice, confusing— faith steadies us.
When we are unsure, thinking we are not enough,
faith reminds us that even a mustard seed is enough.
When fear or discouragement creep in,
faith rekindles the gift God has already planted in us.
Faith begins with a single step.
It continues with a single act of love.
It grows with a word of truth.
Even the smallest seed of true faith
is enough to move what seems immovable.
So listen for the sound of the genuine.
Center down.
Root yourself in God’s steady love.
Live with the courage of faith—
the kind that steadies us, carries us, and transforms the world. Amen.