Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
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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!’ ”
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Devotional |
The apostles say, “Increase our faith!” They were assuming that they need more faith but Jesus implies that they have misunderstood. They assumed that the faith they had would not be adequate for the challenge Jesus had given them. This challenge comes from verse 4, “and if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,” you must forgive.” The apostles were thinking that the faith they had was not adequate for this amount of forgiving. Is our faith based on the amount or on the strength of our faith? We attempt to emphasize the quantity of faith instead of the quality of faith. It is not the amount of faith but how strong our faith is expressed in our lives. Jesus shattered their allusion about faith. If they had the faith of a tiny mustard seed, they would be able to perform a miracle. It is not more faith that they need but a different kind of faith. The mustard seed produced a bush that became a problem for the Palestine farmer. It grew wild. The birds ate the seed and dropped them ever where. It would take over the vineyards and fields. Removing them provided only temporary relief because more would replace them in a few weeks. This bush was persistent and fast-spreading. This mustard seed faith was the type they needed. A faith that was small enough to carry around and spread every where. Not a faith that was bigger or even deeper but one that spread rapidly and took root. This is the type of faith Jesus is recommending to these apostles. Not a bigger faith but a contagious faith. True faith brings us face to face with a God with whom nothing is impossible. A trusting faith the size of a mustard seed is adequate for our task of forgiveness. Faith can be surprising to the believer. The question is not if we have faith but if we have faith enough to live together not leading each other to destruction and to keep on forgiving one another. Is our faith contagious? Is it small enough to be dropped and spread in all places? Faith even in the smallest quality has the power to perform miracles.
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