A Measure Of Faith Series

Our message for this evening is entitled, “A Measure of Faith,” and it’s taken from a passage of Scripture that’s sometimes called, “Faith and Duty.” Have you ever felt inadequate in your relationship with God, or perhaps in your ability to bear spiritual fruit? Have you ever felt that you don’t have enough faith? Have you ever asked the Lord to give you more faith? Many times we ask God for more faith, thinking that this is the correct thing to do, and believing that the Lord will be well-pleased with us for this sincere request. However, in the following parable, Jesus shows us that we shouldn’t be asking God for more faith. So, why is asking for more faith the wrong thing to do? Well, that’s what we’re about to find out from tonight’s parable!

A Request for More Faith (vv. 5-6)

5 And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” 6 So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”

We read here how the apostles, or disciples, asked Jesus to increase their faith. Instead of responding by telling them how to gain more faith, He told them what they could do if they would just use what they had. The disciples were probably hoping that Jesus would tell them, “Yes I can see that you need more faith. I am pleased with you for asking Me for more; and therefore, I will increase your faith.” We see, however, that Jesus only stated the obvious result of one’s existing faith, which was the ability to uproot a mulberry tree. He didn’t tell them how to acquire more faith.

Jesus shared with them about the faith necessary to move a mulberry tree into the sea. When the disciples heard this, they were probably thinking the reason for someone being unable to move a tree into the sea was that the individual needed more faith; however, Jesus was meaning something totally different. When He spoke about how faith would allow them to move a mulberry tree into the sea, He wasn’t telling them the result of having “more” faith. He was telling them what they should be able to accomplish with the faith that was already in their possession.

The disciples didn’t seem to understand that they had enough faith to begin with; therefore, Jesus went on to illustrate His point through the use of a parable. He wished to show the disciples that they didn’t need more faith, because they already had faith. The reason why they weren’t seeing much happen in their lives is because they hadn’t realized the potential of the faith already in their possession. Faith is some powerful stuff if people will just realize what they have and use it for God’s glory!

Use What You Already Have (vv. 7-8)

7 “And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? 8 But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’?”

Warren Wiersbe comments, “The servant in the story was evidently a ‘jack-of-all-trades,’ for he was responsible for farming, shepherding, and cooking. It was not unusual for people with only modest means to hire at least one servant, but Jesus described a situation which in that day was unthinkable: a master ministering to his servant! In fact, He introduced the story with a phrase that means, ‘Can any of you imagine?’ Their answer had to be, ‘No, we cannot imagine such a thing!’”(1)

The servant in this parable is symbolic of any servant of the Lord; and the master of the servant represents God. In verses 7-8, Jesus asked what master in his right mind would give his servant some food to eat, when the servant hasn’t even yet prepared his master’s table in order for his master to eat. The servant would not have received food until after he had first served his master. So, what does this imagery about service and receiving food represent in the Christian life?

Christians are servants of the Lord, and God is our Master. The food that we receive is God’s blessings, or His daily provision. Before we can experience His blessings, we must first use what we have for God’s glory. When we look at the servant in this parable, we see that he had food in his possession while preparing to serve the master, but he wasn’t able to have his fill of that food until he had first made proper use of it. The priority was to feed the master first. Likewise, we have faith already in our possession, but we can’t have our fill of abundance until we first serve the Lord.