10012022 – Luke 17 5-10
Let’s talk about FAITH! Miss Adell, if she were still alive, would spell it out, so you couldn’t forget what she was talking about…F-A-I-T-H she would frequently say!
To be clear: Jesus is talking with his disciples.
He is NOT speaking to the crowds.
He is NOT talking to the Pharisees or to the scribes.
NOR did we get the impression that they are listening in…
It is discussion with the 12 alone! He is responding to THEIR REQUEST for MORE or greater FAITH.
When we talk about the word “FAITH” we are really talking about “believing in something.”
We are talking “trusting.”
Not to mention “fidelity and commitment.”
It is not about understanding or intellectual agreement or consensus.
We are talking about obedience…
We are talking about a kind of bonding with…
We are talking about a kind of loyalty that goes unspoken, and it is pretty much – taken for granted.
I trust in you.
I believe in you.
I have FAITH in you.
I have bonded with you.
I obey you.
I listen to you.
I am loyal to you.
All words that bespeak of “a RELATIONSHIP.” A MUTUAL RELATIONSHIP!
It is PERSONAL.
It is MEANINGFUL.
And probably, like “most relationships” it is somewhat COMPLICATED!
There is an ebb and a flow to it, like with most relationships.
FAITH is something that “pretty much is taken for granted,” until it becomes necessary or needed or called for…
It is simply a part of us… and who we are, OR IT IS NOT.
To be a “person of FAITH,” is EVERYTHING! It is HUGE!
To be without FAITH, to be “FAITH-less” is well, SAD.
There is LOSS, there is a LACK of commitment, a LACK of a relationship. Some would even say, a lack of fullfillment.
There is a VOID, known or unknown.
There is a “missing piece” to the puzzle.
Again, think about “THE RELATIONSHIP.”
Without faith, the relationship deteriorates into nothingness…it grows cold, it withers, it dies…
Which is why, I said “to have” FAITH is to have EVERYTHING…you have THE RELATIONSHIP…something to hang on to…and hopefully, something to see you through whatever should arise. It is your relationship!
And, it calls for a certain amount of commitment. It is that PORT in a storm. That OASIS.
FAITH is powerful. Relationships are powerful. They can take our breath away! They have MEANING.
I think the request of the disciples kind of caught Jesus BY SURPRISE…he DID NOT SEE THIS ONE COMING…
Why would you ask for MORE faith?
Why would you ask for AN INCREASE in FAITH?
There is “a great temptation” (on our parts) to turn FAITH into something COMPLEX but NOT by Jesus.
THAT would be on us!
Jesus pretty much kept it SIMPLE. NOT that he dumbed, it down mind you, because he DID NOT!
FAITH IS NOT “gimmicky”…no matter what “others” may tell you.
It is NOT something ANYONE becomes an EXPERT IN. There are NO DEGREES in FAITH. No doctorates given or bestowed. No cap or gowns…
The disciples were simply MISTAKEN…
When it comes to faith, there is NO SUCH THING as a never ending quest to get more and more, or bigger and better.
As a matter of fact, Jesus pretty much went on record as saying. “You hardly need ANY AT ALL.” A little is A LOT, if it is all you’ve GOT.
Even just “a mustards’ seeds worth” is plenty…more than enough, more than sufficient.
You do NOT NEED or require a lot.
You need little bit (to move whole mountain ranges) which is NOT TO SAY, there isn’t room for growth…but IT is also NOT an “ARMS RACE,” either.
Relax. Take a breath. The temptation to obsess “over FAITH,” is actually an unnecessary distraction!
“The FAITH of Jesus” was all about God and neighbor, widows, orphans, and foreigners.”
It was about “others” outside of ourselves.
It was NOT about getting SOMETHING MORE for yourself…But that’s the way we are … isn’t it? We can turn anything and everything to be ABOUT US…including FAITH.
That’s why, when it comes to FAITH, only “a little dab will do ya. Just like Brylcreem!”
It only takes “a small amount of light to pierce the darkness.”
No one is required to be a Spiritual Jedi Master, here…we are NOT talking PAPAL FAITH (if, even such a thing existed!)…but simple FAITH…FAITH is NOT measured in either “quantity or quality.”
It is simply a gift.
Given, accepted, bestowed, acknowledged.
And if you listened carefully, you heard some more of that “old Middle Eastern Exaggeration” thrown in JUST for good measure – I mean who goes around moving mountain ranges? Or pulling up mulberry trees and transplanting them, of all places, in the SEA?
FAITH is how we live; the LENS through which we see ourselves, others, and the world; the criterion by which we act and speak.
FAITHFULNESS means that no matter where we go…no matter what circumstances we face… we do so …
in relationship …with THE One who Created, Loves, Sustains, and Redeems us.
Amen.