Simple Faith
Luke 17:5-6
October 7, 2007
There was a great story in the September 2007 issue of Reader’s Digest. It goes like this:
“What’s that?” asked my young patient’s father as I hung a bag of IV fluids over her bed. “Since your daughter isn’t allowed to eat or drink anything right now,” I explained, “she’s getting infusions to keep her hydrated and energized.” “Oh,” he said, as it dawned on him. “Intravenous Red Bull.”
I need to admit to you up front that I have never had a can of Red Bull or any of the other energy drinks that are on the market, but not knowing anything about a subject has never before stopped me from preaching about it, so why should it now?
Red Bull, if you believe the advertisements, “gives you wings.” I however, have never been willing to plop down $3 for a 12 ounce can. There are a couple of hundred different energy drinks on sale. Some of the drinks on the market include:
• Jolt - $2.50 for 24 ounces
• Rock Star - $2.00 for 16 ounces
• Pure Energy Drink - $2.00 for 6.8 ounces
• Cintron Sugar Free Citrus Mango Liquid Energy - $2 for 16 ounces
• Wild Buzz – 99 cents for 12 ounces
These drinks are incredibly popular with our teenagers and young adults. I don’t have recent statistics, but in 2004, sales of these beverages which are packed with sugar and caffeine reached the $1 billion mark.
The caffeine apparently is the big incentive. Folks think that they get a caffeine buzz that keeps them alert and awake. The fact of the matter, however, is that they have about as much caffeine as a weak cup of coffee. The more important ingredient, or at least the most overrated ingredient, is taurine. Taurine is a naturally occurring amino acid in our bodies which is a major constituent in bile. It stimulates the nervous system and increases energy.
As it is found in energy drinks, its synthesized version has caused anxiety, irritability, high sensitivity to noise, and even self-mutilation in rats. As these energy drinks are marketed, the stated benefits to humans include: improved performance, improved concentration and reaction speed, improved emotional status, and stimulated metabolism. All of that is theoretically possible, I suppose. The science suggests that taurine also has the potential to lower blood pressure.
For those of us my age and older, an energy drink is the equivalent of Popeye gulping down a can of spinach when he need an extra boost. When we are tired, frazzled, worn-out, or at the end of our rope, we can run into the convenience store or gas station and grab a can of Red Bull and holler out, “Give me the juice.”
Keep that in mind for a minute as we go to the Scripture lesson from Luke this morning. It comes from the long travel narrative that stretches from chapter 9 through chapter 19. Jesus and his disciples have begun to make their way down to Jerusalem for the final time. Here is just a small sampling of what they did while traveling. On the way they had to bypass hostile Samaritans, send out a seventy member advance party to the places that he was about to visit, and watch as demons gave in to his authority. Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan, was entertained in the home of Mary and Martha, and preached and cast out demons wherever he went. On a couple of different occasions, Jesus ate at the home of a Pharisee and had to confront arrogant, self-righteous religious scholars. He preached about greed and the storing up of treasures on earth, confronted controversy by healing on the Sabbath. He taught in parables about the lost sheep, lost coin, and the prodigal son.
My guess is that by the time we reach chapter 17, the disciples are tired. Their latest challenge from Jesus was to forgive another person who has wronged them even seven times a day. The thought of that had to wear them out. They have been challenged physically, emotionally, and spiritually. They were still walking into the unknown, unsure of what really waited for them once they reached Jerusalem. And then in verse 5 of chapter 17, they seemingly can’t take it anymore and address Jesus by asking, “Give us more faith.” Their faith was running low. Their energy was depleted. They didn’t know if they had it in them to continue down the road. They were in the midst of an incredible spiritual fatigue. They needed a faith transplant.
Before this incident, there have been five times that faith has been mentioned in the gospel of Luke. In 5:20, after some men had let a friend down through a roof in order to get him to the place where Jesus was, the record goes like this. “When he saw their faith, he said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven you.’”
Chapter 7 tells the story of a Roman centurion who came to Jesus asking him to heal his slave. When Jesus started to go off to his house, the centurion told him not to bother, but just say the word. He said that he was not worthy to have Jesus enter his house, but he knew that Jesus could heal from a distance. Jesus said in reply, “…not even in Israel have I found such faith” (7:9).
Also in chapter 7, when a sinful woman washed his feet and dried them with her hair, he said, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace” (7:50).
One day, as recorded in the eighth chapter, Jesus was out on the Sea of Galilee with his disciples. He was sleeping in the back of the boat when a fierce storm arose out of nowhere. The disciples woke him up, telling him that they were going to sink and drown. As he spoke a calming word to the water and the wind, he said to the disciples, “Where is your faith? (8:25).
Toward the end of that chapter, a woman who had been hemorrhaging for many years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his robe. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace” (8:48).
It is clear in these instances that faith requires trusting in Jesus enough to know that he is able to powerfully act to address problems or crises.
A new name and condition has entered the Christian lexicon. We used to call it “burnout”, but now it’s called “compassion fatigue.” I have witnessed it in some people in every church I have ever served. It happens when a person is always in the giving mode. These people always see one more person to visit, one more prayer shawl to make, one more Bible study to teach, one more teenager to reach, one more meeting to chair, one more witness to make, one more potluck to cook for, one more fundraiser to attend, one more community event to volunteer for, one more church cleanup day to work at, or one more children’s program to plan.
I know that some of you have felt this. Even the most dedicated among us can come to the place where we don’t know how in the world we are going to be able to continue giving. There is always something to be done. There is always a lack of people to do it. That’s when we search for a shot of energy. That’s when we need a little help.
I wasn’t there with the disciples, but I am guessing that as they were approaching the end of their journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, they were bone weary and dead tired. They probably felt like they had been ridden hard and hung up wet. They didn’t know how they could possibly continue. So they went to Jesus and said, “Give us more faith.”
Jesus told them that they didn’t need “more” faith. They simply had to be able to tap into the faith that they already had. They need to embrace the faith that was already present in them, even though it may have been just a small amount.
Then he talked to them about the mustard seed. The mustard seed is the smallest of all the seeds. Yet, when it is planted and nurtured by the soil and the rain and the sunlight, it slowly grows and matures and blossoms. It starts small, but grows steadily into a large tree.
There is no magic pill for burnout. There is no secret formula for spiritual exhaustion. There is no twelve step program for compassion fatigue. There is no energy drink that can add fuel to your ministry. There is only your faith. Even though it may be as small as a mustard seed, it is enough. It is more than enough. God can use even the smallest amount of faith to do the impossible.
I want you to notice something about the response of Jesus to the disciples demand for more faith. If you have faith the size of the mustard seed he said, you could cause a mulberry tree to be uprooted and thrown into the sea. I want you to notice that he doesn’t say that will happen instantly, or tomorrow, or next week, or next year. He doesn’t say a word about how long that will take. It could be accomplished in a minute or it might take an entire lifetime. But faith is the key; even the tiniest amount of faith.
The more difficult or daunting a task we face, the more we may feel inadequate, and the more God can work through us and our faith. I read a wonderful sentence this week that I wish I could claim credit for. It came from a preaching magazine to which I subscribe. The author said, “Faith is not about our ability to do the job, but God’s ability to do the job through us.” The only requirement on our part is to make ourselves available. Because faith is more about God’s ability than it is about ours; then it is God who gets the credit.
How’s your faith today? You don’t have to feel like you have to be a league with Billy Graham or the Pope. Even simply faith is enough.
Even if you have just a little faith – it is enough. Give it to God and allow God to work through you. Even with little faith, the impossible becomes possible. Even with little faith, great things can happen. How is your faith today?
