Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost October 7, 2007
Scripture	Luke 17:5-10 5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 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. 7“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’? 8 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’? 9 Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? 10 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!’ ”
Devotional	Turning from the Pharisees, Jesus speaks again to the disciples in chapter 17. We find two short parables one about faith and the other about power. The parable about the worthless servant, in last week’s reading, may not be our favorite but it does cause the disciples to reevaluate their lives. Do these parables cause you to reexamine your relationship with God? Have the disciples begun to question and examine their faith? The disciples ask Jesus to increase their faith. Self-improvement is a focus for many in our culture. We are confronted with offers that make us smarter, healthier, and more attractive. Products and offers are available for all types of self-improvement. The problem for the disciples is not their lack of faith. Their problem is the kind of faith they have. Is the question for us to get more of the kind of faith we have at the present or it have a different kind of faith? The new faith is like the mustard seed as Jesus suggests. The mustard bushes were a nuance to the farmers in Palestine. These bushes grew wild everywhere. The birds would eat the mustard seed but not entirely digest the seed. They would drop the seed everywhere The plants were removed only to return again. The bushes would compete with existing crops and vineyards. Remove them and they would return in a short time. The type of faith Jesus is speaking of is a faith small enough to be carried anywhere by common folks. A faith that is dropped everywhere and grows in everyplace. It is not a large faith but a faith that spreads through society. Sprouts up and takes over to grow in people. A faith growing out of control. Is this the type of faith we are producing today? Is this the faith that Jesus encourages us to practice today? Prayer: Lord increase our faith not in size but in the kind that spreads everywhere and grows beyond our expectations.