Mustard Seed “How Much Faith is Enough?”

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

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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.

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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.