Standing for Faith

Sermon Romans 3:19-28 October 30, 2016 Reformation Sunday

Standing for Faith

After I submitted this title for my sermon a few months ago, I was fairly certain about my sermon focus. But, as the nation seems to be in turmoil about values, as neighbors are stealing candidate signs out of each other’s yards, as name calling has crossed the line on social media and even among respected reporters, I find myself wondering, what does it really mean to stand for faith?

Today we remember the Reformation. We are known as Protestants-because of those who protested against the then current form of faith expression.

This Scripture from Romans was the power behind Martin Luther’s protest-

we are justified by faith in God given to us in Jesus Christ-

not but any rules of humanity,

not by any organized religious doctrine,

but by the power of the Word of God to transform us

from our human wickedness

into a Godly righteousness.

Paul was pointing to a moment of crisis for those who were listening.

It was a moment of crisis for those of faith

and it was a moment of crisis for the world in which they were living.

It was a moment of crisis for an understanding of faith expression.

For the Jews (of which Paul was one) the Temple had been destroyed.

For the Gentiles they were never accepted in any circle.

And for both groups, the Roman government had taken a violent turn

and placed an even more oppressive hand of rule over the people.

Which leads me to ask today:

What is our current form of faith expression?

What is it that brings our faith to a moment of crisis? Can you remember a time when your faith has been in crisis?

What brings our attention to the matters of the world?

What brings us to a place where we see the world in crisis?

And in this crisis of faith and world, where do we get our understanding of it and where does the possibility of realizing who we are in it come from?

Karl Barth, Jean Calvin, and Martin Luther point out that we return to the origins of our Maker who evokes within us a memory of our habitation with the Lord of Heaven and Earth. Let me repeat these long ago words- we return to the origins of our Maker who evokes within us a memory of our habitation with the Lord of Heaven and Earth. In other words, we are reminded of how we are connected.

We are able to recognize who we are, how the world is, through the power of God who shows us. God places within us the conviction of ourselves as beings who are not perfect; “Beings who look up to the heavens, who look to a time beyond time; who look to an impossible possibility.” (Karl Barth). God places us to where we are able to view the power of God for us for our salvation-for life in death and for eternity in time.

We are the expression of God’s love for the world and we are the expression of the impossible possibility through the power of God in Jesus Christ. 

That said we have a bit of work to do.

We are a people who have fallen and been broken and who have shown emotions to one another that are irreprehensible. We are guilty. We are a people who have sinned.

As you know I am not a fire and brimstone preacher. But we need the reminder of our sin and our brokenness to remember the power of God to re-form us. I am aware of our constant need to look in the mirror and tell ourselves we are a child of God. And with that face to face view in the mirror we also discover our need for reliance our dependence on God. God sees beyond the flaws and beyond the faults and sees the beauty of grace and the wonder of God’s righteousness in us.

That’s why Paul’s “But now” is so important. These two little words, “But now” are really important. “But now” is the hinge on which our faith exists.

It is the remarkable power of God to transform humanity and fling it into a world where faith expression can heal, make whole, restore and rebuild a suffering world and a suffering community and a suffering soul.

We are made whole through the love of God. We are God’s people. We are children of God. We are a broken people bound together as one through the Body of Christ. We are a community of faith united, sealed in the blood of Christ as grace is poured out on us. Our ability to stand for faith is not just our individual faith but the faith we have together as God calls us the Church.

These little words “but now” remind us that we have God’s promise for the impossible to be possible; and that is the great hope for the Church.

We stand in the tension of the now and the not yet.

We live in the tension of what is and what should and could be.

And these two little words “But now” remind us there is no small gesture and no tiny deed-all things are possible.

Years ago I was part of a mission group, an inter-generational group, who went to Russia. We worked together at an orphanage of 400 mentally challenged children; children who were unadoptable and unaccepted in the community. We worked hard for two weeks 

and at the end of our time our emotions had been tested. Our mission was a powerful experience and we were spiritually and emotionally exhausted.  As we waited in the airport of Moscow for our return trip I noticed a woman who was lying across the seats in the waiting area. She was a woman of Turkish descent, dark skin, clothing that defined her ethnicity, a scarf covering her head. She was sound asleep and it was clear she too was exhausted. My attention was drawn to her because a group of women speaking in Dutch surrounding her were calling her names and they were yelling at her to get out of their seats. Now this happened years ago. As I look back I realize my reaction was a knee jerk reaction. I realize I was not quite in control of my temper. But as I watched my heart ached. My gut wrenched. When the women started cursing and kicking this pour soul that could barely raise her head to respond, I lost it. I ran to her side and began to yell back in Dutch that this was a child of God, how dare they seek to harm someone who had a right to be there. I moved the woman from the seats and found her a safe place to rest. I was shaken. I was shocked that one person could be treated so badly in public. My flight home after this reaction was hard. That moment still catches me in a flood of emotion. I realize that this stand for this woman was a stand for faith.

Standing for faith is standing together. It is to protest that which we believe is against the things that tear us apart.

Standing for faith calls us to seek to live united. It calls us to be listeners.

Standing for faith means to get up and speak for those who have no voice.

Standing for faith requires us to see in another value greater than our own.

Standing for faith means to be willing, as Ghandi told his wife, to clean toilets with the untouchables, even when we struggle to bring ourselves to do it.

Standing for faith requires us to respect differences of opinion while at the same time seek justice.

Standing for faith calls us to see in the face of the one who we would deem our enemy-our brother.

This is the constant tension as we live and seek to live for Christ.

The reformers were not seeking to start a new religion. They like many before them were seeking new understanding.

They were seeking to be re-formed in faith.

Those days and hopefully many to come in the future were days when eyes were opened to see faith in a new way. It was the power of God to grant vision through newly cleaned lenses.

May we see the vision God has for us as we stand for faith together. Amen.

Re-formation

Re-formation

As I prepare for another Reformation Sunday, I can't help myself but to trail my thoughts back to a weekend in the Cevennes in the Massif Central of France.

The Cévennes according to Wikipedia are a range of mountains in south-central France, covering parts of the départements of Ardèche, Gard, Hérault and Lozère. The word Cévennes comes from the Gaulish Cebenna, which was Latinized by Julius Caesar to Cevenna.

But, the Cevennes for Protestant Huguenots was a place of hiding and the clandestine continuation of worship. In the caves and rocks of the rugged area, Huguenots kept their Protestant faith alive. The French Reformed Church is the descendant of the efforts of those early 16th century rebels. 

One place in this region is a place of pilgrimage. It is not Mecca, nor Rome, nor Edinburgh, but it is the Musee Du Desert. It is situated in the heart of the lower Cevennes, in the Mas Soubeyran, a hamlet in the commune of Mialet, it retraces a long chapter of Protestant history, which had a great impact on the region : the Desert period. Here, each year the French Reformed Church holds a service of worship. Thousands gather to sit together under the trees to sing hymns, to read freely from Scripture, to be baptized and to remember those in faith who paved the way for religious reform. 

I had the privilege of traveling with my senior pastor and my congregation from Chalon sur Saone to join with congregations from all over France to gather together for worship at the Musee Du Desert. 

There among the trees we spread our blankets and set up our chairs. We laid out elaborate baskets of food to share with one another. We brought our hymnals with us and we began to sing. The Reformation instituted that every family home should have a Bible and a hymnal with the order of worship. Families were to conduct worship in their homes. 
It was a powerful witness to me as a foreigner and not a descendant of the Huguenots to be among the faithful pilgrims. The joy of the voices rising above the trees, and the Word of God resonating over the rocks and hills reclaimed the power of faith within me. 

Touring the museum afterwards to see the tiny Bibles women hid in their hairdos and the barrel converted to a pulpit strengthened my resolve to be faithful to the Word of God and the people of God. 
Religious wars are never right. Religious intolerance is always wrong. And so we do not lift up the injustice on both sides of the Reformation. We lift up the power of God to transform us in our ways and in our thinking. 
The strength of those who hear God paving a new way, being reformed in faith, and seeking to follow God has transformed me. I reminisce on that weekend eleven years ago and my heart is warmed because of the experience and the friendships. 

May God continue to re-form me and transform me to the image of Christ our Lord. 

Public Image

Sermon Luke 18:9-14 October 23, 2016 Parable Series yr C The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Public Image

We just heard the Scriptures read about the Pharisee and the tax collector.

Two people with life styles that Jesus sets apart. So here in the congregation let’s set ourselves apart.

Let’s say for example the baptismal side of the congregation-you are the Pharisees. You know the Scriptures, the prayers and the creeds. You have it all together when it comes to knowing how to do it all correctly.

Now you on the choir side, you are the tax collectors. You don’t know all the prayers and you know you’re not perfect. You know you’re not even really welcome in the ‘religious’ group.

And the choir, organist, you are the disciples listening to the words of Jesus.

SO as the Pharisees you can say to the tax collectors, “I am glad I’m not like you.” How easy is that to say? Now the tax collector group, you can say, “I’m not worthy.” And the disciples, you can say, “I’m glad I’m not either of you.”

This story from Jesus is a pretty easy story.

The Pharisee is pompous and has it all together from the point of view of the religious tradition of the Law. He really was doing it all right. He could claim his righteousness by his actions. He could come to God and let God know all the correct ways he has lived out his life. He was setting himself apart from a life of uncleanliness and only associated with the appropriate people of faith. He wanted God to recognize him for his public image and his earthly status.

The tax collector on the other hand did his job, which was a despised career.

He was not a public image that people wanted to even get close to. His circle of friends was also people like himself. He steered clear of those righteous people because he didn’t fit in. He had no earthly status worth recognizing .

The disciples were a band of Jesus followers and sometimes it was cool to be with Jesus (especially when he was followed by tons of people) and other times it was easier not to admit knowing him because he had stones hurled at him.

You, who are the Pharisees, it’s not easy to look at the tax collectors and say, “I’m better than you”, is it? And you who are the tax collectors it’s not hard to say, “God have mercy”, is it?

And you disciples, I bet you’re siding with the tax collector right now. You would be convincing yourself this is the guy you want to be, because you want to get the good grade from Jesus.

You can let Jesus know you have the story figured out and we can all go home now.

The crazy thing about this story though, is the minute we have it figured out who we want to be and who want to avoid being, we get back to judging.

We get back to pointing out our differences and claiming we are better than the other. “Look at me, I know how to be humble.”

We are people that need to have an identity.

We need to know who we are and how we fit in in this world.

So we are grouped by what we do, how we look, or what we believe. And often to make ourselves comfortable with who we are, we say we are glad we are not like those people. We are glad we are not criminals, or bounty hunters, or foreigners, or TV evangelists, or politicians, or movie stars. “We are better than that”, we say.

The hard part about this parable is (as David Lose writes) the minute we claim who is and who is out, we draw a line between us and God. The lines we draw to separate ourselves, to make the distinction of how we are not the other, we separate ourselves from God.

When we throw the moral code on others, we will be required to look in the mirror and wonder how well we too, live in the moral code we hurl at others. When we claim our views are better than another’s without taking the time to listen, we put ourselves on a pedestal and claim our own righteousness. When we refuse to accept differences of opinions or of a person’s choice to make-even in an election-we dismiss them, and diminish them in order to justify who we are to make ourselves feel better. We return to the chant, “We are better than you.” And when we can’t believe people can do those horrific things to another human being, when we claim we cannot say hurtful things, or maim, or cause pain, we once again, draw a line of who we believe we are not. For within all of us there is a dangerous place we must learn to ask God, “In your mercy, forgive us, we have sinned.”

We, the religious, are so quick to judge, so anxious to be right. We have put so many in the other group that no one dares to step over the threshold of the church anymore because they, like the tax collector, do not feel worthy. And yet, none of us are.

And yet, this hard part is also our Good News. There is no separation from God’s love and mercy. All have fallen short and all are made righteous through Christ.

So, anyone can come before God as this tax collector has done. He didn’t use the correct formula for prayer. He couldn’t stand in the special place to pray. He couldn’t claim victory of how wonderful he was. He could only recognize the wonder and the mercy of God. God came first in his prayer.  And that is the good news-God sees us and accepts us as we are.

When we are able to put God first in our prayers and receive God’s mercy; when we are able to put God first in our relationship to God; we are then able to recognize who we are to one another. The divide of Pharisees, tax collectors, and disciples melts away.

So now that we have been told that all of us are justified in God’s eyes we can reach out to each other and shake hands. We can see each other for the uniqueness of God’s image expressed in us.

We can say. “I’m glad you are who you are, for there is no better than the gift of God in you.”

God places a love song within each of us.

A song that defines us and makes us who we are.

God works within us so that we can see the beauty of creation in our souls.

This is where we find ourselves in humble prayer.

This is where we discover the grace that makes us unique and sets us apart, not apart from one another, but as a part of the whole, the Body of Christ.

The joy for us in this parable is that we don’t have to have an earthly status or a public image to the world’s standards.

We only need the grace of God to carry us as we go.

The Pharisee and the tax collector, the disciples and Jesus are in each of us.

We can remove the sides we are on and we can recognize the power of God at work within each of us drawing us closer as we learn from one another.

With Christ there is no division, we are all friends. Amen.

Resources: NIB, Feasting on the Word, David Lose: Working Preacher

Stubborn Prayer

Sermon Luke 18: 1-8 October 16, 2016 Parable Series

Stubborn Prayer

We can no longer sit silent.

This text from Luke is a pivot point for us. It reveals the Word of God powerful, strong, and unrelenting.

The widow can no longer be dismissed.

She can no longer be pushed aside.

Work for the Kingdom of God is challenging, confusing, frustrating and ongoing. We find ourselves at a place where we can no longer sit at the feet of Jesus and pray prayers with flowery platitudes.

We stand shaking our fist and we scream and we yell and we demand, “When are you coming to straighten out this mess?”

“How long do we have to wait for you Jesus, to return to us with your justice, love and reconcile the world to yourself?”

We plead with feeble voices, “Where are you?”

There are times we are angry, we are bitter, we are hurt in many ways by words, by feelings of those who think and act differently from us.

We have lost loved ones, we have lost parts of our own selves.

In the midst of crisis around the world we watch and wonder, “where is God?”

In helpless voices we ask, “Where do we step in and stop being afraid and where do we stand before those who block the way of doing what is right?”

There are many reasons why believers have lost hope and trust.

There are many reasons among believers (and those who don’t believe for that matter) where faith feels dismantled.

Can you name where your faith seems dismantled? For those around you, Do you where faith has disintegrated?

For places in your heart where has faith been disrupted?

Is there something burning to burst forth from your heart that must be spoken?

Each of us has a widow voice within us.

We come before God with persistent cries for the young woman who has lost yet another child and has empty arms and an empty womb.

We are angered at yet another death in the streets of police officers and unarmed men. We are bitter at another factory closing and people without work.

We are hurt by the public officials who fling words as if they are immune to retribution. We hide behind social media and witness accusations hurled across invisible wires by those who refuse to come face to face.

We are infuriated at rebels who take the lives of children and have no remorse.

We find ourselves banging on the door of God’s Kingdom begging and begging for action on the part of God. (1) Our prayers, like the widow’s, are persistent and stubborn-do something God! Show up for Pete’s sake God-we are here! We beat ourselves against the gates of heaven to get God’s attention.

~~~

This week we hosted a spaghetti dinner to raise funds for the Coalition Against domestic violence. We seek to be light to the women of abuse to find a way to leave the life that holds them hostage. We seek to speak out so they can find their voice to speak out against their abuser. We have made a choice to reconsider our silence (2) and as a church speak openly in the community that words matter and that violence against women is NOT ok.

The world seems out of our control and so the widow voice is all we have.

We come as she does before God-vulnerable, alone, without a crowd to support us. The Old Testament and during the times of Jesus the faith community was responsible for the care of widows and orphans. They had a mandate from God to provide widows with all that they needed. And so here we read about a widow before a judge, an unjust one to boot, who comes alone-no faith community is present with her-no one has taken responsibility to care for her and to remain at her side. And yet, she goes forth with audacity and unashamedly before the judge to stubbornly make her request.  

We come willing and with audacity and with stubbornness before the One who can make a change, we come persistently and consistently.

The widow voice within us cannot let go.

This is the hopeful courage that resists the injustice in our lives and in our world.

The Spirit fills the heart and bubbles it up with strength to act when there is no strength. The Spirit acts within us to go beyond ourselves.

And perhaps, that is the Good News for us today.

It is in our daily persistent prayers-“give us this day our daily bread”-our stubborn faith that God will provide-that God’s amazing love for us is a promise that brings it all around-even if we have to wait-we will not give up. For the Kingdom will come on earth as it is in heaven. The Scriptures remind us, “For the Kingdom of God is within you.” 17:20-21

That’s all well and good you say to me, that’s only half of the story, what about this unjust judge?

Is this judge an image of God?

How can we imagine such a capricious being? How can God be so frivolous?

This judge says he has no fear of God or respect for others. What does that mean?

Is he granting to this widow the answer to her request just to keep her quiet;

to protect his reputation?

Is he giving her what she wants to keep himself from being publicly embarrassed? Is it that she won’t leave him alone that people are beginning to wonder about his ethics? How can God be compared to this judge?

What have we learned about God as we’ve grown up? Nothing like this guy, for sure! We’ve learned that God is faithful and loving.

God claims us as his children.

God’s love is so persistent for us that God chases after us continuously with love for us even though we keep running away. Hosea.

God is relentless in love to the point that Jesus was among us-God incarnate-persistent-stubborn-fully present.

Jesus who gave his life for us so we in turn can have the fullness of life.

There is no doubt of God’s unfailing and sacrificial love for us as we have been taught.

Perhaps then this judge who has no fear for God and no respect for others

is how

we see God in relation to our unanswered prayers and our frustration in a broken world.

Perhaps this

is how

we see the lives of the faithful who pray and one prayer is answered and another goes unanswered.

Perhaps our witness of God, our experience of God is of a being who has no respect and no fear.

Perhaps we feel that God is just NOT fair.

That is exactly where the gospel writer Luke wants us to be with this parable of Jesus. He provides us with the definition of justice that Jesus proclaims: respect for others and the fear of God.

Which brings us back to stubborn prayer.

An unjust judge grants the request of a widow who puts herself at great risk to receive a measure of justice.

Her stubborn persistence brought about change, no matter how she felt about the judge.

No matter how we feel about God: just or unjust; we can have the widow’s voice and come to God over and over again.

We have a widow’s voice within us.

Let us act with stubborn prayer, with unrelenting faith (the faith that Jesus will find on earth) and publicly come before God seeking justice for all. “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.” Amen.

Resources: Karoline Lewis (2); Feasting on the Word (1).

It is NEVER OK-KNOW THE SIGNS:Domestic Violence

KNOW THE SIGNS:Domestic Violence
THIS is more important today than ever before.

We must read and know that abuse is still prevalent and very much in the public conversation today. So we are very pleased to be sponsoring the Spaghetti Dinner to raise awareness for the Coalition.

This week we will hold a spaghetti dinner to help raise funds for the Eastern Shore Coalition Against Domestic Violence at Naomi Makemie Presbyterian Church on Friday October 14 from 5-7 pm.

It is an honor to serve a congregation that puts the issue of domestic violence as an important and necessary mission of the church.

So as we approach our dinner tomorrow night let's review the signs and symptoms of domestic violence. Let's understand the destructive patterns of violence against women. What is abuse against women? 

Abuse against women is physical and emotional. Physical abuse occurs in unwanted sexual advances, rape, assault, and many other forms of touching a woman's body without her permission.
The book "The Emotionally Abused Woman" by Beverly Engel MFCC is an excellent resource for women, men and anyone in relationships with other human beings.This article is filled with information from her book.

Here is a quick list of some types emotional abuse that women suffer:

• Domination-men who dominate women need to be in charge, and they seek to control every detail of a person's life actions. They often resort to threats to get their way.
• Verbal assaults-this behavior involves berating, belittling, criticizing, screaming, blaming and using sarcasm and humiliation. This is particularly dangerous because these assaults demean and diminish the woman or any human being for that matter. It is dangerous because it is difficult for women to heal from this abuse. 
• Abusive expectations-unreasonable demands placed on a woman and no matter what the woman does it is never good enough. She is subjected to constant criticism.
• Emotional blackmail-this is a powerful form of manipulation. It is the conscious or unconscious coercion of a person to have them do what this person (man) wants by playing on fear, guilt, or compassion. 
• Unpredictable responses-the abuser has unpredictable outbursts and inconsistent responses. Mixed signals are continuously sent and the abused is never sure of what triggers the outbursts.
• Constant criticism-the insidious nature of consistent, continuous criticism that cumulates and eats away at the persons self worth and self confidence. 
• Character assassination-mistakes are blown out of proportion. There does not seem to be a level of severity-burnt toast is as bad as a burnt house; past failures are always brought to light. Humiliation is the constant game that is played.
• Gaslighting-purposely creating an atmosphere through a variety of insidious techniques to make a person doubt herself, her memory, her perceptions, even her very sanity. This person denies what he has said or done. He will tell her that she is lying. He will avoid responsibility for his actions and tell her she is exaggerating. 
• Constant chaos-continuous chaos is the norm. The abuser seems to have an addiction to drama. Arguments are started for what appears to be no reason. It seems the person is adept of keeping the relationship and all that is around him in constant crisis. 
• Sexual harassment-unwelcome, unwanted, sexual advances, or physical or verbal conduct of a sexual nature. 

Friends NONE of this is OK!!

These predators have behaviors and women need to be informed how to spot them:

Check out this list on "How to Spot an Abuser"

• Poor impulse control
• Low self-esteem
• Selfishness and narcissism
• Needy and demanding
• Poor social skills
• Alcohol and drug abuse
• history of being abusive
• history of mental illness
• emotionally dependent
• antisocial behavior
• need for power and control
• conspiracy theorists 

We can spot the abuser and we can learn the M.O. of the abuser: 

• Victor: abusive expectations, and domination
• The Napoleon complex:the need to ridicule, and behave in anyway necessary to shame, blame and put the other down in order to make themselves look good.
• The Bulldozer: these people mow over everyone in their path. they will tear others down and take them down with them. These people are power hungry and will do and say anything to get ahead. 
• The controllers: these people have much of the above combined in order to have and maintain the control they have over another. Threatening to the point that others are afraid is real and again also very dangerous.
• Sex addiction: this person pleads or demands sexual contact frequently and becomes angry, hostile and manipulative in order to get what he wants. 
• The anti-social personality: these people do not live by the same set of rules and values as anyone else lives by. They create their own desires, their own agenda and they blame everyone around them for their behavior. They are incapable of loyalty to others. 
• The Misogynist: complete lack of respect for anyone other than they are. Hatefulness towards women by men, This hatefulness permeates throughout all interactions with women by making fun of them, by seeing them as sex objects, even to the point of becoming sexually violent towards them.
• The Blamer: they are NEVER wrong. they are incapable of apology. 
• The Destroyer: The goal to destroy their victims.
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: This person is gentle and kind and in an instant turn to rude, crude, angry, hurtful behavior.

If any of you have ever experienced behavior towards you in this way then you have been a victim of abuse. Know the signs and know it is NEVER OK! And the abuser must be stopped. 

Mustard Seed “How Much Faith is Enough?”

Sermon Luke 17:5-10 October 2, 2016 WWCommunion Parable Series #2

yr C

Mustard Seed “How Much Faith is Enough?”

How much faith is enough?

Really, friends how much faith will be enough for us to get through each day?

I always wonder what does a lot of faith look like?

I know what my little bit of faith looks like.

It is the faith that gets scared.

It is the faith that gets angry at God when bad things happen.

It’s the faith that feels helpless.

It is the faith that wonders if God is even hearing my prayers.

Yes, I think that is what my little bit of faith looks like.

So, I like the disciples say to Jesus when faced with a challenge that appears to be beyond me, “Increase my faith!”

There are a lot of moments throughout the gospels when Jesus addresses matters of faith with his disciples and with those he meets along the road.

Jesus praises and admonishes in regards to faith as if it is a measurable commodity. Jesus tells the paralytic that he has great faith and admonishes the disciples, “ye of little faith during the storm.” So it makes sense in the context of this story that they demand of Jesus, “Increase “our” faith.”

Faith 

Jesus challenges the disciples and they find themselves very vulnerable! They are unsure of themselves with the expectations of Jesus. In the verses preceding ( 1-5), Jesus tells the disciples they are to confront and forgive sin.

They realize to confront and to forgive sin is beyond their ability.

It is beyond their power, their strength.

It is beyond their own biases, their own prejudices.

It is beyond their ability to care for others.

To forgive anyone who asks is too much for them.

To challenge and to confront a sin in another is also too great a task.

So their cry out to Jesus for more faith is a normal response!  When we are at the edge of doubt, despair, fear, or even perhaps anger, we need Jesus to give us more faith!

There have been plenty of things happening in our own country and across the world and in our day to day lives for us to ask Jesus, “What is faith good for?” Or, “Does faith do anything for us?”

These questions come from the place we go that is so deep that only faith in the power of God to “do something” can make a difference. It is the request of faith to show up when we are most challenged.

And we find ourselves asking, “ how much is enough?”  A walnut size, a boulder, a mountain?

If we have enough faith will it give us peace?

What will giant faith get us? A Rich and easy life, popularity?

We come back to the disciples and their quest for more faith. We discover that they realize the faith is not from them in the first place and they ask Jesus to increase their faith. Paul tells the readers of his letters, faith is a gift: Ephesians 2:8

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

Grace is a gift from God and so is faith.

Grace we understand as an immeasurable gift that cannot be quantified.

If grace has no limits and love has no boundaries then it makes sense that faith is as immeasurable as God’s love. And (as Karoline Lewis says) that is where the promise for this Scripture comes to us. God’s love and grace offer faith that is immeasurable.

The mustard seed is so small that it will slip between your fingers. It is unquantifiable. It is tiny enough to learn from Jesus that there is no way to measure the size of faith for it is not the amount that matters but the mere presence that makes all the difference.

When I asked David what his mother always tells him about how much she loves him, she tells him, “I love you to the moon and back.” In her words she loves him more than he can measure. Jesus grants faith to the disciples more than can be measured. We the disciples of Jesus have received faith beyond what can be measured, beyond our very expectations.

~~

The parable that follows these words of Jesus affirm and reinforce that there is nothing we can do or say or be to makes us more than we are with God.

We are claimed by God as God’s own.

It is the ‘master’ that claims us and we cannot outdo ourselves in ridiculous and unrealistic expectations of what we must do to please the master. We cannot earn a place at the table or a recognition of any kind other than the love of God we have already received.

You see this parable of servant and master shows up in the context of the times to turn the tables upside down!

The servant is required to fulfill more than a day’s work.

The servant has responsibility of a farm and a household and receives nothing in return for all the work done. It is understood in the context of that century’s culture that this is normal. (Can you believe it?!)

Yes, servant expectations were absurd and ridiculous.

And so Jesus turns the table on the story to show the disciples that they are the servant in the story. Even when the demands of them are unrealistic and ridiculous they are not to expect special treatment or fancy rewards from God.

God’s grace is sufficient and that is given in abundance.

I can imagine Jesus sharing this parable with the disciples and with the readers of future generations as an intentional exercise to demonstrate how he is present to turn the world upside down.

The absurdity of the inequity of humanity is demonstrated here.

And Jesus implies to the disciples, “If you find it easy to demand this dutiful work of another without even a moment to rest, stop, or breathe, then you will understand that God expects the same dutiful behavior from you.”

I can imagine that Jesus was pointing out to the disciples with this parable the reinforcement of the hard work of facing the challenges of this world and the forgiveness needed to all.

I can hear Jesus saying, “You think it’s hard to forgive anyone who asks you to forgive? You think its hard to challenge the wrong in the world, the sin around us?” “You bet it is! But, it’s expected of you without a break or breath.”

And that’s when we begin to notice the power of God’s love and grace bubble up in us as faith that can accomplish more than we ever imagined.

Our faith together creates within us the ability to trust God’s presence whether we walk the high mountain or the deep valley.

Our faith at Table grants us the immeasurable, inestimable wideness of God’s mercy.

As we recognize believers, doubters, sinners and saints gather at Table across the world in thanksgiving of our Lord. And that, friends, is plenty and enough faith. Amen.

 

All is ready, All are welcome at the Lord's Table-this is for you.

Resources: Feasting on the Word, New Interpreter’s Bible, Working Preacher-Karoline Lewis.