Faith
A Sermon for the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
October 2, 2022
The Rev. Robin Teasley
The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" The Lord replied, "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.
"Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, `Come here at once and take your place at the table'? Would you not rather say to him, `Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink'? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, `We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!'" Luke 17:5-10
It’s October and the landscape around us is beginning to change. Some of us are always ready for autumn, others hang onto summer as long as possible. Temperatures fall, the days get shorter, gardens slow down, and perhaps the most striking change is seen as the leaves of the trees turn brilliant, displaying God’s glory in a fire of spectacular color before floating to the ground. The leaves descend on random currents of air, faithfully doing what they were made to do. They appear dead, and yet their purpose has not ended. They decompose, returning their nutrients to the soil that will feed and strengthen the mother tree, and they will also provide a rich nursery, a seedbed, for the many seeds scattered by birds and other plants. All of this is an eternal cycle; all of this takes time.
Faith is like that. It’s eternal, always there through the cycle of life, a tiny seed implanted by God in the depth of our hearts. Sometimes though, we forget about the truth of that seed of faith, the steadfast promise from God that grace will be there for us. We forget that we must practice patience, and we take things into our own hands. We want more than we have, never thinking we have enough, or we try to make things happen on our own schedule. Perhaps the source of most of our anxiety is our fear of loss of control, fear of not having enough, fear that we cannot do all that is required of us in any given moment. This anxiety that comes out of fear can challenge our faith, it can diminish our hope, it can paralyze us.
I suspect this is what the Apostles, those 12 original disciples, were feeling as they followed Jesus. In the scripture leading up to today’s Gospel, Jesus has been asking some extraordinary things of them; things like, know that you will stumble and know that if you cause someone else to stumble it would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. Forgive those who wrong you, forgive the same person seven times a day if necessary. I’m guessing all this was overwhelming.
So, it’s not surprising that the disciples ask for more faith. In fact, they don’t even ask very nicely, they desperately demand it – increase our faith! They are afraid and feeling inadequate to the tasks around them, unable to imagine accomplishing any of what he is asking.
Have you ever felt like asking, or even demanding Jesus to give you more faith or more of whatever it is you think you need? In the world, and in our nation, much is needed. Those who were in the path of Hurricane Ian are surely afraid and anxious for what comes next. When I see the pictures of the destruction, I cannot imagine how they will begin to rebuild, and I wonder if they are asking for more faith. We all have things going on in our personal lives that can make us feel as if we need more faith. Faith to get out of bed in the morning, to get through the day, to know that we can make a difference to someone, or to a situation in our lives.
In our Gospel today the disciples call time out. I can imagine them coming to a dead halt in the middle of the dusty road after hearing yet another impossible thing from Jesus. “If we are going to do all this then you are just going to have to give us more faith.”
But Jesus doesn’t respond as they expect. Instead, Jesus says something that makes them wonder if the hot sun is getting to him. The Lord replied, "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.”
It’s good for us to remember that Jesus often makes a point by the use of hyperbole, that is, exaggeration that’s not meant to be taken literally. His statement would have been immediately both outrageous and hilarious to the disciples. They knew how tiny a mustard seed was and no way was that enough faith for all Jesus was asking of them. They also knew a thing or two about the mulberry tree. These trees were prolific, their branches grew tall and their roots grew deep, allowing them to thrive in hot, dry conditions. It was ridiculous to think that one of these trees could be uprooted, and why in the world would anyone plant a tree in the sea. So what was Jesus saying to the disciples? What is he saying to us? Just how much faith do we need and what must we do to get it? Tell us, Jesus, because we have a lot to deal with and we are getting anxious!
Jesus tells his disciples, both then and now, that we’ve already been given all that we need to be faithful; that being faithful, is about paying attention and noticing God’s glory already surrounding us. All we need do is show up and do what needs to be done in all the opportunities God sends us.
Perhaps faith is not some kind of scarce resource that we need more of, that we need to hoard or save. What if faith is simply and humbly doing whatever needs to be done, tasks big or small, great or mundane, just because they need doing? Things like volunteering in worship, keeping the nursery, teaching the children, offering our help at Trunk or Treat and the Steak and Oyster Roast. What if it’s making a prayerful decision to increase our pledge so that our parish will be able to help more people know the love of Jesus?
Too often though, we want to say to Jesus, “If we are going to do all this then you are just going to have to give us more faith.” Managing the resources of this church is a great example of that. It’s easy to be overwhelmed by all the needs of caring for our property, providing good worship, finding ways to make disciples, or figuring out who our next rector should be. We can find ourselves focusing on what we don’t have enough of, or how things are not like they used to be. Perhaps, if we trust God and simply participate by faith with our time, talent, and treasure, we will find that God will work through us to increase our faith and our power to spread the Gospel.
Following Jesus often means just doing the next thing, trusting that God will bless it, trusting in the patient process of growth from tiny seed to great strong tree. Could it be that faith is found, not in striving to do great things, but in the ordinary and everyday acts of doing what God sets before us, responding to the needs around us, and caring for one another?
If we begin to understand faith in this way, then we will see that God is gently asking us to continue, simply to do the next thing. Following Jesus in faith means that we keep forgiving, as we trust in God’s care and in God’s timing. Like the seed and the mulberry tree we are called to be faithful, called to fulfill God’s purposes for us. In our own lives that might look like caring for an aging parent, sitting with someone in the cafeteria who looks like they could use a friend, serving dinner at the men’s shelter, or driving someone to a doctor’s appointment. These acts of faith are all part of a larger process, part of the eternal circle of life in Christ.
As the seasons of life change, may we have faith that God will be with us. Like the seeds, may we push through the heavy dark soil to find the light.
Like the trees, may we let our light shine in a brilliant array of color, working together to create a landscape of holiness. And then finally, may we let go, trusting that God has given us all the faith we need to be exactly who we were created to be, all the faith we need to trust that God’s plan is the best plan.
What of our lives are the seedlings, tiny and full of hope, and what are the mulberry trees, wise and strong, blazing yellow in the sun? What is our work to be done as God's people, and how will we display God’s glory as we go about our lives, faithfully doing what we have been created to do?
Title Image: The Mulberry Tree, Vincent Van Gogh
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