The 19th Sunday after Pentecost brings with it the scripture texts from: Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4; Psalm 37:1-9; 2 Timothy 1:1-14 and Luke 17:5-10. I am not sure what text I will be preaching on but a number of questions and thoughts came to mind this morning in reading (and discussing) Luke 17 at text study. I am sure others will pop up during the week but for now this is what I am pondering. Please leave a comment and let me (and everyone else who stops) know what you are pondering in relation to Luke 17 or the others listed above.
First let’s read the text from Luke 17:5-10:
"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!’" " (Citation: Luke 17:5-10; NRSV)
(1) "Increase our faith" — This is a curious request by the disciples. Right before this request Jesus is talking about forgiveness. Jesus says, "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent’, forgive him." (Luke 17:3-4) I wonder if the disciples were thinking, "Forgive him? I don’t know if I can do that. Hey Jesus…help us out and increase our faith". I mean…an increase in faith would definitely help in forgiving a person who sins against you seven times in ONE DAY. Right?
I wonder though…do we really want Jesus to "increase our faith"? On the Crossmarks Christian Resources website, Brian Stoffregen comments on this request from the disciples (page to the bottom of the page). What would happen if Jesus were to "increase our faith"? We would be more dutiful servants; more dutiful in attending worship; more generous in giving, etc. Do we really want that? Do we really want our lives to change that drastically? Its an intriguing thought.
(2) Jesus response to the disciple’s request. Jesus said that if they had the faith the size of a mustard seed (the smallest of all seeds) then they could uproot a mulberry tree (a tree with strong roots and nearly impossible to uproot) and toss it out in the sea. So I am wondering: If we had even a little faith, does that mean we could easily forgive our neighbor if they sin against us seven times in a day? Does this indicate that our faith is not big enough; that our only hope is to rely on the grace of God in Jesus Christ? Maybe if we had faith the size of a mustard seed we would not need to rely on Jesus – we would be able to handle the requirements of the Law on our own. Hmmm…any thoughts on this?
(3) 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!’" The question that was asked this morning is this — What do we really expect for being faithful to Christ? This got me thinking: Are there people around us (maybe even ourselves) that serve Christ expecting a reward of some sort? This would imply that discipleship is a choice of some sort and if you choose to "do it" then a reward will be given to you (eternal life, maybe a corner room in God’s mansion, or a life time membership at the Holy Heaven Links and Country Club). But Jesus says, "Do what you are commanded to do. You are unworthy, but guess what, that’s fine because I have done the hard work for you already. I have died and risen from the grave so you can have eternal life. Now…go out there and "Just do it".
Maybe it is not a matter of wishing we had more faith but just doing what we have been commanded to do; living in the knowledge that nothing we do will ever be good enough to merit salvation. But that is fine because we live with a God of grace. Our faith does not need to increase to the size of a mustard seed because we have Jesus. We will slip and fall. We will make mistakes. We will hold grudges. And we will turn away from Christ. But in the end…God still loves us and offers us forgiveness. God’s grace is indeed sufficient for us.
So…maybe the phrase for the day is: Just do it and place your hope in Jesus. Hmmm…
Those are just my initial ponderings. What are yours?
-edh-
The Heart of a Pastor 
I don’t routinely have religious experiences, much less write them down and post them on the web. But as I came here this morning to get prepared to lead a text study class this coming Sunday, for some reason I wrote the words you’ll find below. I guess I will trust God, cast this out into cyberspace, and leave the rest to Him.
Tom
*****
“All I can do is pray … “
What does that phrase bring to mind? In our modern American culture, you’re most likely to hear that in the context of a secular film, TV show, or novel. And what does it mean? It translates: “There are no options left .. my situation is hopeless.”
Yesterday I said just that to my wife, and meant it just that way. She replied “Praying is good.”
But I didn’t pray. I have no right to ask for God’s help with my little problems, when the world is so full of suffering on a massive scale, suffering that could be alleviated if people merely treated each other the way God asks us to.
My problem yesterday had to do with hotel reservations in Queens NY for my son’s debate tournament. My son made them first. I made duplicates a few days later. When I learned he had already made them, I canceled mine, but was sure I left his. Now I was confirming those reservations, and the hotel said the only reservations under our name had been canceled, and they had no space to book new ones. This was the official hotel for the tournament, the one with the tournament shuttle, the only convenient one for the tournament. And, the guy on the other end of the phone had a big city “hey this is your problem, and I’m busy” attitude.
I didn’t pray. Instead, I went to look yet a third time for some notes that might maybe help me resolve this. While going through my stack of papers again, I remembered something about those notes that suggested I look elsewhere for them. I did, and sure enough, I found them. I held my breath and placed yet another phone call to the hotel in New York. “Sure we have a reservation under that name.” (Even though it was the same last name as the canceled reservations?). But these reservations were one day too short. I held my breath again: “Can you add one more day to these?” “Sure, done.” I breathed another sigh of relief and got a confirmation number.
I went to tell me wife that it was OK, and dissolved into tears. Why, she wondered. Well, here I was with Jesus’s comment about faith the size of a mustard seed floating around in the back of my mind. And here I’d felt like I’d run into a brick wall, had casually said “All I can do is pray,” and hadn’t even seriously considered saying a prayer, because I didn’t think it would make any difference. My faith would make a mustard seed look huge.
And it felt like God, maybe with a twinkle in his eye, had decided I needed a little nudge, a tap on the shoulder, a gentle reminder. “I am real. Prayers do matter. Trust me.”
So my little problem was resolved. And you could easily explain all this as the result of mis-spelled names in computer systems. And the world’s suffering on a grand scale still goes on.
And I got a personal message from God, which has nothing to do with hotel reservations.
Thanks for the story, Tom. It is in moments like yours (and most people have had those) where we are kicked in the butt with a love that surpasses all understanding. Sometimes we need those little reminders.
Thanks again.