Readings: 2
Timothy 1:1-14 Luke 17:5-10
We pray: May the
words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in our sight
O God, our rock and our sustainer.
A few days ago I
was sitting on the bench at the entrance to the Gardens, waiting to meet a
parishioner. And this guy came up to me
and said how much he liked the cross I was wearing and what faith was I?
And the
conversation progressed – he and his mate asked if they might sit, and as they
shared a wine out of the brown paper bag with each other, we discussed God, the
church, religious hypocrisy, spiritual clarity and responsibility. They were
seekers, explorers of spirituality, askers of the hard questions in the midst
of, and shaped by their brokenness. I
have to say it left me feeling humbled, a little confused and very aware of a
special moment of encounter with God through these two men of faith.
Some might say
their faith was not strong else they would live a better life.
Some might say
their faith was not facilitated by doctrine and community – and therefore
suspect.
Some might simply
say – yuk – they smell bad and choose to walk away.
I say they were
people of faith.
So how do we
understand faith? Especially in the
light of the Gospel passage today where we are told we only need faith as small
as a mustard seed to tell a tree to uproot itself and plant its roots in the
sea. Hints of miracles fed not by our
efforts at building our faith but by God working with what we have.
As Paul says to
Timothy …’not according to our works but according to [God’s] own purpose and
grace. Paul also talks about the faith
of Timothy’s family and that all faith is the gift of God.
When the disciples
ask for more faith to counter the troubled times ahead they are acknowledging,
understanding two things:
One; that faith is
a gift that only God can give, certainly not a result of any work on our part
to complete the ten-steps-to-greater-faith programme. Faith is not something
that belong to us. Too often we talk
about our faith in God, in Christ with the emphasis on the ‘our’. Faith
is not a possession but is God at work in us.
Two; that, in
faith, nothing is impossible for God.
Their conclusion
therefore: more faith has to be the answer to their impossible future.
Well done,
disciples. A B+ pass at least.
Jesus, however,
sees a good teaching moment – and grabs it with both hands. Jesus sees they are still measuring their
effectiveness as people of faith by how strong they think their faith is as a
Christian. Jesus wants them to
understand that their faith in fact needs to be ‘in’ Christ to do what is
needed with whatever faith they have.
Reformed theologian Margit Ernst-Habib puts it like this: When the disciples ask for greater faith,
knowing that difficult times lie ahead of them, Jesus responds by asking for
something small: a trusting faith the size of a mustard seed, so that the
faithful follower might not look to [themselves], judging [their] own faith,
relying on its strength or being scared by its weakness, but look instead at
the one [they] follow. [They]
know that [their] faith is in that
sense not [theirs], but the work of
the Holy Spirit binding [them] to
Christ.’
Jesus is asking us
to refrain from thinking that the volume, efficiency, and efficacy of our faith
has a direct and measurable impact on the work of God in this world. It does
not. Trusting faith as big as a mustard
seed, when it is held in the hope of Christ, will equally move mountains and
part the waters.
This understanding
helps us unpack the somewhat disconcerting statements that follow – that of
humbly accepting your lot in life, expecting no thanks or reward for doing the
work that is, after all, expected of you.
Rather we can begin to see that even the slave, the lowest and least,
receive God’s grace in Christ as a gift and an extraordinary recognition of
their worth. Human merits make no
difference to God’s work in and through us, thanks be to God.
In a sense this
frees us up from holding our precious faith in a bank vault, adding to it and
building it up as we can. Instead we are
encouraged to throw our tiny seeds around with gay abandon – never sure of the
details of the harvest but knowing that in the love of Jesus, it will be
abundant.
We do have to be
careful reading this passage, don’t we?
It is too easy to read it as Jesus is mocking the disciples, ‘If you
only had some faith you would understand this…’ shaking his head at their lack
of faith. Rather, it seems to me that Jesus is encouraging both his disciple of
then and of now to realise that even ‘this much’ faith is enough – that we
already have enough faith to do whatever is required of us.
Faith is a way of
life, where we look out for each other, safe in the knowledge that, in the
unfailing generosity of God’s grace, what we do and who we are will be
enough.
As Paul encourages
Timothy so may we encourage each other to trust in God through the love and
faith that are in Jesus Christ.
As I remember
those two men I met on a park bench and heard of their faith in Christ, as they
earnestly sought to share their beliefs, we trust that God’s work is being
done.
As we continue as
community here in Opoho remembering to be content with what sometimes seems
like a mustard seed of faith, we trust that Jesus Christ will flourish his word
and work here abundantly.
As we remember all
the different expressions of faith across cultures and countries and over time
and the ways in which these communities express their faith (large or small) in
Christ Jesus, we trust in the wonderful diversity of God’s people.
And as we gather
round this table today, we trust that we who have faith in the living Christ,
know the presence of God transcending all boundaries, one people together.
Amen.
Margaret Garland
