SUNDAY SERMON

October 3, 2004
Proper 22, Year C

Church of the Holy Communion
The Rev. Gary D. Jones

Gospel: Luke 17:5-10

We can't say for sure why the disciples turned to Jesus the way they did in this morning's Gospel story and said, "Lord, increase our faith." We don't know what caused them to worry that their faith was too small. The Gospels are sometimes sketchy this way; we have to read between the lines.

But there are a number of possibilities. Some people think that perhaps the disciples were feeling increasingly inadequate. Jesus was attracting large crowds, including prominent religious people like the Pharisees, folks who knew the Bible backwards and forwards. The Pharisees seemed so confident and secure in their faith, and when they talked about God and the Bible, it was very clear that they knew what they were talking about. But the disciples were just uneducated, simple fisherman. Yes, it's true, they had been strangely and powerfully moved by Jesus and left everything to follow him. But when they found themselves around these very sharp, very knowledgeable, and very self-assured religious people, the disciples started to feel a little intimidated. "Lord, increase our faith. We want to be more like these religious people who seem so sure about everything. The truth is, we still have doubts and sometimes even wonder if we did the right thing when we decided to leave everything and follow you. Increase our faith so that we can be more like them."

Another possible reason the disciples ask Jesus to increase their faith is that the penny has just dropped. It wasn't so much that they wanted to be like the Pharisees; instead, it had just dawned on them what kind of life Jesus was calling them to live, and they were worried that they just didn't have enough faith to pull it off.

Forgive anyone who offends you, not just two or three times, not seven times, but seventy times seven. Well, what he was saying, of course, that forgiveness just had to become a way of life, something they would do every day of their lives. Love your enemies, turn the other cheek, don't judge other people lest you be judged … well, the list went on and on, and suddenly, the disciples realized this was about much more than going to church and making a pledge. "Lord, increase our faith. We're grateful for the little faith we have, but the life you're describing is going to take a lot more faith than we have."

We can't say for sure why the disciples turned to Jesus and asked him to increase their faith; there are lots of possible reasons. But what most of us can say for sure is that there have been a number of times in our lives when we've done the same thing. Some of us, perhaps particularly life-long Episcopalians, have found ourselves feeling a little vulnerable and defenseless when a Christian of another stripe turned on us to quiz us on our beliefs or our knowledge of the Bible. When someone starts poking and prodding on our faith, quoting passages from the Bible and cross-examining us about our religious opinions, we can feel a little helpless and insecure. If only God would increase our faith, so that we could convey strength and confidence like our inquisitors.

Others of us know what it's like to receive an overwhelming and unexpected medical diagnosis and wonder if our faith is big enough to handle the treatments and uncertainty ahead. Others have felt the same thing when a marriage suddenly and abruptly ended, or a spouse died, or a well-paying job got pulled out from under us, … suddenly, our faith doesn't seem big enough to sustain us.

When the disciples turn to Jesus and say, "Lord, increase our faith," most of us know something about what they're feeling.

But Jesus' response is interesting. Faith the size of a mustard seed is all you need. Faith isn't like something you get at MacDonald's or Burger King. The point is not that we need to be "super-sized" with faith. The tiniest faith is all anyone needs. You don't need more of it, you just need to pay attention to the little you have.

In the Epistle reading this morning, I think Paul is saying something similar to what Jesus is telling the disciples. Paul says, "I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you…." You already have what you need. You don't need more faith. Mustard-seed size is enough; all that you need is within you. Just rekindle what you already have.

The problem is, the faith that is within each of us can be easily covered up and hidden under the many cares and occupations of our lives. A mustard seed is very small. And if you are not disciplined about looking carefully, you'll miss it.

Advertisers are saying it's harder and harder to get our attention nowadays. In our society, we are so heavily assaulted with noise and visual images that, if an advertisement is not shocking or outrageous or visually assaulting, we likely won't get the message. Televisions and radios are our constant companions, so that silence is increasingly uncomfortable for us. And the art of thoughtful conversation is rapidly being lost in America, it seems. News program interviews on television, with names like "Crossfire," often deteriorate into shouting matches, and one politician recently even challenged his host to a duel.

In this environment, something that is as small as a mustard seed will be very easily lost or covered up. There is plenty vying for our attention nowadays, and if, as Elijah experienced, faith comes to us not in an earthquake or in thunder or fire, but in a still, small voice, it's very likely that we simply are not going to notice.

Our fellow parishioner, John McQuiston, has just published another book. I have already read it a couple of times, and I look forward to reading it again. It's entitled, Making Time for the Timeless: Spirituality in the Workweek. The book tells of real people and the every-day spiritual practices they use to free themselves from the worldly preoccupation and worry of our culture. The first chapter is about Phillip and sets the stage for all that follows:

It is early on a Monday morning. Phillip has been at work for two hours. He is the only person at his company's office. The daylight is just appearing. Phillip is reading the letters, e-mails, and memos that came while he was on a trip the previous week. In a few minutes his co-workers will fill the office.

Phillip is sixty years old. He has a wife and two grown children. His home is paid for. He finished educating his children a few years ago. They both went to graduate school. He is in reasonably good health: not perfect, but good. He is slightly overweight. He has a bad back and moderately high cholesterol. He attends church, but he does not consider himself to be religious.

Phillip has been on the same performance-based track for his entire life. Although he has achieved financial success and considers himself lucky, he feels he has missed something of importance - that indefinable ingredient that could have turned a good life into a fulfilled life. As he sits in his corner office anticipating a busy and productive day, he is not unhappy, but he wonders what he could have done, what he might have learned, or how he should have lived in order to look at his life this morning and say: I am deeply satisfied.
- John McQuiston II, Finding Time for the Timeless, pp. 1-2

Many of us, perhaps, are like Phillip. We are not unhappy. But every once in a while we wonder: what can we do, what might we begin to learn, or how should we now live, so that we can look at our lives and say that we are not only reasonably happy, we are deeply satisfied.

I sincerely believe that being a person of faith in our current environment requires an enormous amount of intentionality and attentiveness. The most important things in our lives are often as small as a mustard seed and as quiet as a whisper. And while the Toyota salesman is yelling over the radio about the biggest sale of the year and the zero percent financing, your child is in the back in her car seat hoping you really liked the picture she drew for you that morning but that you seemed to have forgotten, and your spouse is at home wondering if all marriages go stale like this, or is it still possible that the magical feeling of being cherished could return. Mustard seeds and whispers.

Jesus was constantly saying things like, be watchful, stay awake, because he was drawing our attention to small and delicate things like faith, things that could get covered up if we weren't careful or that could unleash enormous power if we attended to them carefully. That's the way the spiritual life is, it seems. We have been given what we need. It is enormously powerful; it's not the kind of thing that can be "super-sized." It is also easily overlooked.

But those who are careful about being attentive to the gift of God that is within them, those who are intentional about "making time for the timeless" and being on the lookout for angels because they're likely to turn up just about anywhere, these are the ones among us who are most likely to look at their lives and not worry overly much about increasing anything. Instead, they are the ones who look at their lives and say very simply, "I am deeply satisfied."

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