"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 my 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
Have you ever asked the Lord to increase your faith? What was it that brought you to that point? Was it a darkness you found yourself groping around in; a growing despair that light might never break? Was is it a calling beyond what you had strength or confidence for; beyond what you had ever imagined and you asked God for faith and faithfulness that you might do the task before you? When doubt was assailing you, did you ask God to encourage the spark of faith that remained, lest it become a smouldering pile of ashes? After experiencing the brokenness of Christian community maybe you asked for faith to believe that God really could reveal his glory and accomplish his purposes through the church. Likely most of us know this prayer for faith/faithfulness well.
On this particular day the disciples asked the Lord to increase their faith after hearing him say to them: "occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come! It would be better for you if a millstone were flung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for one of you to cause these little ones to stumble. Be on your guard! If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender and if there is repentance, you must forgive. And if the same person sins against you seven times a day and turns back to you seven times a day and says, 'I repent,' you must forgive."
It is interesting to me that Jesus' words on forgiveness precede the request of the disciples. Jesus hasn't just told them they would do amazing things in his name, no, he has given them some instruction on how to live and he has given the imperative to forgive. We can almost hear the disciples response - we recognize it as our own - this is too hard, Jesus - give us faith - make us faithful people. We can't do it on our own.
Could it be that having faith, even the size of a mustard seed - that forgives - can do the impossible; the beautiful; the miraculous: "you can say to that mulberry tree, be uprooted throw yourself in the sea and it will obey you"; "you can say to that mountain move from here to there, and it will do it"(Matthew 17:20). Faith that contains the seed of life is potent; we cannot underestimate it. Engage this image with a holy imagination and enter into the enormity of what is possible. Look back into Hebrews 11, recall what God has done. Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Moses... they had their own complexities and fears and doubts; yet they believed and were faithful and through them God revealed himself and worked his plans and his purposes, "though all of these died in faith without having received their promises, they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were foreigners and strangers on the earth. For people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland... a better country, a heavenly one."(Heb. 11: 13-17) Think about others who"left their home and sought a better country, a heavenly one": Martin Luther King Jr, Dorothy Day, Jackie Pullinger ... Who comes to mind for you? Faith enacts the kingdom of God - it brings with it freedom and new life even in the midst of all suffering and death.
I was a university student when the Columbine and Taber tragedies happened in April of 1999; a year later, in the spring of 2000 I sat with thousands of students in Convocation Hall to hear Dale Lang speak on forgiveness. I will never forget the silence that fell in the hall as we sat before this humble and heartbroken man, hanging on his every word and wondering about the way of forgiveness in the world. Extraordinary forgiveness: what Dale Lang gave the boy who murdered his son, what the father offered to his lost son, forgiveness that offers restoration. Our lives are to be oriented around a merciful and forgiving God who forgives us, restores us and welcomes us to his table. This is faith. This is a gift of God, a grace in our lives and a discipline, something we live out.
In Jesus' story of the master and the slave Jesus' followers are reminded to be faithful with the tasks before them. This is a down to earth, every day spirituality that does the dishes and doesn't ask for props. The disciples are not to go seeking for rewards and recognition rather they are to be humble in all things lest ambition and status-seeking become their undoing. They are to be alert, to be an example to younger ones, to remember those in need with justice and compassion, to work for the restoration of the sinner into the community of God's family. With faith that believes and practices this we can only imagine what God can do.
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As we come to the gospel this week I think this might be a good opportunity to do a little bit of teaching on faith. What is faith? I do think it is important to be clear that faith is not about trusting that things will work out for me the way I would like, I think many children get this idea along the way. Rather, faith is trusting in the promises of God and bearing witness to them in our lives. Faith is lived and enacted and it is also a gift of God - what does it mean to practice our faith? How has faith that contains this seed of life impacted our world? Perhaps you can share the story of someone whose faith has inspired you or maybe you would like to share your own story.
The epistle for this week is from 2 Timothy, it is a beautiful exhortation which was first opened up for me by my High School Sunday School teacher, I have included it for you here:
2 Timothy 1:1-15
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the sake of the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, 2To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.3I am grateful to God—whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did—when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 4Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. 5I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you.
6For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; 7for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.8Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God, 9who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, 10but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher, 12and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him. 13Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.
God be with us as we teach and our taught by children; may we all be strengthened in faith to live the life we have been called to in Christ; to enact the Kingdom of God.
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