Holy Trinity Episcopal Church

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October 07, 2007

Fred Heard - October 7, 2007

October 7, 2007 Sermon
Luke 17:5-10

What is faith? We can’t see it. Maybe you think on a bad day, you don’t believe in faith because you can’t see it. It was recently reported that Mother Theresa had a lot of those bad days. But wait a minute. I can’t see love. I can’t see hate. I can’t see the wind. I can’t see propane gas.

And there is faith in God but what about faith in each other? We often express faith in each other or the ones we love—but find it hard to accept faith in God and we can’t see either kind of faith.

2 Timothy tells us in today’s reading: “I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands, for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.” Could anyone tell us what this gift from God looks like? If we were to wrap it in a box—what would we wrap? This reading also talks about grace and that it was given to us in Christ. What does it look like? What does the Holy Spirit look like? In fact, aren’t most of the things that count in this life—impossible to see?

As the disciples ask for more faith, Jesus does not respond by dishing out invisible faith on the spot…like so much oatmeal. He tells them about the power of faith, even a very little faith. “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.” That is a lot of power for something that is invisible and small as a mustard seed.

So……if a child came to you and said, “What is faith?” What would you say? First of all you have faith when you believe in something that you cannot see and cannot prove. You have faith when you believe in something no matter what might happen or what anyone tells you. You feel faith and you feel it inside.

That is one of the reasons that I take such great joy in doing weekly chapel at Trinity School here on our campus. The children ask deep and penetrating questions like who is God and where is God. I give them my best answer and they accept it because for now they have faith in Chaplain Fred; and if I say something is so—it certainly is in their minds. They then take that information or bulletin home with them and their parents tell me they repeat what I have said. When I tell them God is everywhere, and that He is at their dinner table, and that they can talk to him anytime even in the middle of the night, they believe that. They believe God goes on vacations with them, and they believe God is with them when their Grandma or Grandpa dies, and they believe it because I told them it is true. Our Trinity children know you cannot see the wind, but we know it is there because we can see what happens when it moves through the trees and the wind blows our hair and it touches our faces. We can’t see germs unless we look under a microscope—but when we get the flu we know there is some kind of a germ inside us. We know we should wash our hands often because they carry germs. We have faith that the sun will come up tomorrow and lighten our world. The children then translate all of this, and faith becomes a gift from God.

And so today the disciples said to Jesus: "Increase our faith!" So where did this request come from? Jesus had said: "Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come! It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck, and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble." And so it was at this point the disciples said, "Lord, increase our faith." They were probably thinking, “That is really tough. How do you ever avoid causing one of these little ones to stumble? That's a lot to ask! And who are these little ones? Certainly the children can be counted—but we are also included in that number of little ones. Little ones probably meant those who are vulnerable among us. All of us have been vulnerable at some time or another; and often as adults, it passes and if we are healthy mentally and physically we are pretty steady on our feet. But having been vulnerable as children, and for the most part moved away from it as we grew to adulthood, it often returns during old age. And so as we meet the challenges Jesus places before us we say, “Increase our faith so that we can do it. We can't do it on our own." Sometimes, it would appear that Jesus’ standards are impossible.

Sometimes Jesus’ ministry is overwhelming. The Sermon on the Mount is a good example. Jesus said: "Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Help us, Lord! "Increase our faith."

Jesus also said: "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you so that you may be children of your Father in heaven." We can't love our enemies. Help us, Lord! "Increase our faith!"
And I wonder where ambition enters into this story of the mustard seed. We strive and we teach our children to work hard and they will be successful. One of the worst things we can say about someone is that they are lazy. But is the definition for laziness wrapped up in my goals and what I think you should be doing for yourself? In other words, my cup of tea might not be your cup of tea. How far will you go for success? Who will you step on to move up the ladder? Thomas a Kempis put it this way. "The devil is continually tempting thee to seek high things, to go after honors." What is your price?

When the disciples said, "Increase our faith," Jesus responded with these words, "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." Perhaps, as Bishop Marc recently said the story of the mustard seed is really about how we grow and what we do with it.

When the disciples said, "Increase our faith," they wanted Jesus to increase their faith. They wanted him to wave a wand over their heads and endow them magically with great faith. They wanted him to say something clever that would "buck them up"—that would give them sudden insight— that would increase their faith.
But Jesus didn't do that. Instead, he told them what would happen if they grew in faith. He told them that they wouldn't have to become spiritual giants. They wouldn't have to possess towering faith. All they would need is faith the size of a mustard seed, one of the world's smallest seeds. If they could develop even that tiny bit of faith, they would tap into God's power so that they could figuratively say to a tree, "Be uprooted and planted in the sea," and the tree would do that. Jesus was suggesting that faith could give the disciples great power. As I look at our Trinity community, I see powerful people—and no it isn’t just money and possessions. I see powerful people who do have money and possessions. I see powerful people who do not have money and possessions. What they both have in common is that they have faith. With that faith, they are tapped into God’s pipeline. I see these people and so do you. I respect them and love them and so do you.

Jesus did not give these disciples faith on the spot—but he did give the disciples the great faith they wanted.
Their faith was shaken when Jesus was taken from them and crucified. After they saw the risen Christ, they became people of great faith—the faith that led to them putting their lives on the line. What did they do right after the crucifixion? They locked themselves in a room because they feared they were next. They denied they knew Jesus because they were afraid. After the resurrection, they went out into the streets, baptizing and preaching, and saving. They built churches. You see they tapped into God’s pipeline and were the leaders we follow even today in Menlo Park. These were ordinary people and we don’t even know their names—but they became saints of the church. Were they powerful? You bet. They had God’s power and they have God’s power today in 2007. At Trinity, we see the people who stand at our welcome table, we see our ushers and our altar guild and our flower guild, and our musicians, our custodians and gardeners, our commission members, our staff, our children going to Sunday school to be with our teachers, our lectors who proclaim the word of God—these are all people of faith—these are all powerful people—these are people with the faith of at least a mustard seed. Jesus did not wave a wand over them or over us. He has helped us all grow in faith. Sometimes growth comes after we have failed and that is part of the lesson of growth in the faith. If you but open your hearts to Jesus Christ, you will be given the opportunity to grow in faith, and remember once we have faith even the size of a tiny mustard seed, Jesus promises: "You can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you." This world would be empty if we did not have faith. Most of the richness that we have in our lives, we accept on faith. We cannot see those riches. AMEN