October 6, Luke

SERMON FOR OCTOBER 6, 2019

LUKE 17:5-10

Once a month my husband and I allow ourselves the pleasure of going to a “fast food” restaurant for lunch or dinner.  We know that the food there is not all that good for us or our health, but oh, it tastes so good.  Just thinking of a Burger King “Whopper” or a McDonald’s fish sandwich makes me hungry.  Have you noticed that today when you go to any fast-food restaurant, they always ask you if you want to super-size?  Not only do you have a large size, but now a super-size that is probably more food than two people sharing it should have at any one sitting.

Our American culture has conditioned us to have an insatiable appetite for more, more and more.  If big is good, even bigger is better!  So, my guess is that none of us are really surprised by the disciples request in this morning’s Gospel lesson.  “Lord! Increase our faith!”   It’s a reasonable request given the sort of things that Jesus has been teaching.  Who among us would not like to have stronger faith?

Jesus responds with the story of the mustard seed.  A story that all of us have known since we were in Sunday School.  According to Jesus, faith is like a small seed, a mustard seed, which if nurtured grows over a lifetime to be a very large plant.  As humans, the way to nurture our faith is with regular worship, prayer, Bible study and other spiritual practices. As our faith grows our behavior begins to evolve as it is shaped to be more and more like that of Jesus’.  We begin to think more like Jesus in how we respond to others and the situations around us.  The wonderful thing about this passage is even faith that is as small as the mustard seed connects us to our Lord Jesus Christ.  That is, it is not the size of our faith, but the fact that we have faith that is important.

In this passage maybe the issue surrounding the disciples isn’t so much in asking for more faith, but in thinking they don’t have enough.   We can’t make our own faith, for faith is a gift from God.  Thinking that we don’t have enough appears that we think God has short-handed us, when what is needed is to do those things that make our faith grow over time.

Often the parable of the mustard seed is separated from that of the “Master and the Slave.”  At first glance, one can understand why for it seems that Jesus is in a round- about way of approving of slavery.  First as Jesus speaks, we are put into the position of the manager, but at the end we are asked to see things from the viewpoint of the slave.

A closer look, however, reveals that Jesus is not calling us to be slaves who merely follow orders.  Instead, Jesus is calling us to be active using what money and talents we have to help others wherever we can.  Let’s listen to Jesus words again.  “So, you also when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”  What Jesus is telling us is that we should go well above and beyond what most people would expect of us in a given situation, doing our upmost to show the love of our Lord Jesus Christ to others around us regardless of their sexual preference, race, or creed.  It is faith that gives us the courage to step out of the cultural norms when called to do so to make the world around us a better place.  It is faith that enables us to face the hard issues in our own lives and in the world around us.

Our faith is not measured by how difficult a task is.  God does not gift us more faith for the harder tasks and issues we take on in life.  Even if our faith is the size of the mustard seed, we can as Philippians 4:13 tells us, “we can do all things through Him who gives us strength.”

Faith also does not change the circumstances of our lives, but in the end, it changes us.  Having faith does not mean that we will live an idealistic life with no trouble or strife in our life.  It does not mean that we will have all the money and things that we want.  What it does mean is that Christ is right there with us as we work through the rough patches in our lives, for they will come to each and every one of us.  Through faith, we are strengthened to move ahead no matter how hard our life circumstance is.

As we leave here this morning, let us remember that faith is not something that we can stockpile away for the future, but instead, it is lived out in obedience to God’s law.  Faith is in short, a way of life, a life lived with a sense of duty to serving God with delight.  Faith is visible in how we serve the Lord and our neighbors with love.  It is visible in how we set our personal priorities, and in how we live our life on a daily basis.  It is the visible joy of knowing that we have eternal life because of what our Lord Jesus Christ did for us on the cross.

Let us listen once again to the words from this morning’s reading of Lamentations chapter five.

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in him.”

As God is faithful to us, let us resolve to let our faith in Him shine bright for all to see!  We can do all things through Christ.

Amen