Opening illustration: Many years ago a shoe company in England sent one of its sales people to Africa to start a business. After a few months this salesperson sent a message back to his head office telling them that he is coming home as nobody in Africa wear shoes and therefore it is a waste of time and money being there. This shoe company did not give up, so they sent another salesperson to Africa to replace the returning one. After a few months this second salesperson sent an urgent message to head office asking them to send more order forms as nobody in Africa is wearing shoes and there are plenty of opportunities making sales. The second salesperson saw the opportunity in his situation – not the difficulties that he is facing, and more to the point, he had in himself and in his products, and because of that he succeeded where the first salesperson failed. He expected the impossible and it happened.
The apostles, realizing that they could never live up to these expectations in their own strength, said, “Increase our faith” (v.5). Jesus promised that if they had a small grain of faith they would be able to remove whatever stood in the way of their obedience to these commands (v.6). He then told a parable to show them the need to fulfill these obligations cheerfully out of love rather than grudgingly or with an eye on being rewarded (vs.7-10).
We are to humbly depend on the Lord and obey Him because our hearts are full of love and gratitude. Anything less is unworthy of even a thank you.
Let us turn to Luke 17 and catch up with the apostles as they ask Jesus to increase their faith …
Introduction: “If I just had more faith …” I think most of us have struggled with that at some point in our lives. If I just had more faith I wouldn’t have so many questions or doubts. If I just had more faith God would answer my prayers. If I just had more faith he wouldn’t have died; she would have recovered. If I just had more faith I would be more involved in the church. If I just had more faith I would be a better person, a better parent, a better spouse. If I just had more faith I would know what to do, I would handle things better. If I just had more faith life would be different.
It is an approach to faith at least as old as the apostles’ own faith. It is the approach they have taken in today’s gospel. “Increase our faith,” they ask Jesus. Jesus has just warned them not to become stumbling blocks to others and enjoined them to forgive as often as an offender repents even if it is seven times in one day. That will be difficult. It will be a challenge to live that way. “Increase our faith,” is their response. It seems like a reasonable request. If a little is good a lot must be better. If McDonald’s can supersize our fries and drink surely Jesus can supersize our faith.
How to increase your faith?
1. Expect IMPOSSIBLE things to happen (vs. 5-6)
Matthew’s Gospel records Jesus’ reply in a similar fashion, but instead of uprooting a tree, Matthew records Jesus saying you can move mountains!
It was believed that prophets would “uproot mountains” which is exactly the image Jesus uses in Matthew’s account. But the idea of uprooting is also present in Luke’s account. But a little faith uproots a mulberry tree instead of a mountain. Both, however, get cast into the sea. This is not a small feat by any means, and a little faith is the key to it.
It appears that Jesus is setting up an impossible goal for the disciples. None of them have even “mustard seed” faith apparently because there is no record of trees, much less mountains, being flung into the sea by the disciples, or anyone else for that matter.
Here’s the way we usually handle this passage. We act like Jesus is saying something that is achievable, but of course, he doesn’t mean it literally, we say. Rather, Jesus means that even a little faith can move mountains — obstacles that might be in our way. “Mountain-moving faith” we call it, or “mustard seed” faith. Remember when you could buy necklaces and bracelets that had a single mustard seed incased in a ball of plastic that magnified its size? A little faith accomplishes big things!
But suppose that’s not what Jesus means here because it never happens. The disciples never exhibit that kind of faith, as though faith were a superpower like super heroes possess. Maybe Jesus wasn’t telling them they needed more faith, maybe he was telling them they already had enough to do what they needed to do.
Why do I say that? Well, suppose Jesus is saying, “You want faith. Let me tell you how powerful faith is. Just a mustard seed amount of faith can uproot trees (or mountains).”
But Jesus hasn’t asked them to uproot trees or mountains, or even to accomplish the impossible. He’s just told them not to cause other people to sin, and when others do sin, to forgive them. That is not mountain-moving by any means, or even tree-uprooting for that matter. [Romans 12:3 … as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.]
Illustration: Pioneering the Elim House. Never done this before … we are taking a shot in the dark. We are asking God for the impossible and expecting Him to do the incredible. One might say we are taking a huge risk but nothing monumental takes place without someone jumping out in faith knowing there is no safety net to hold if we fall! This is further going to build our faith to learn to trust God for impossible things when there is no Plan B in place. What kind of faith do we have when risk is absent? Apparently risk is what gauges our faith in God.
2. Expect NO APPRECIATION from people (vs. 7-9)
I believe what Jesus is telling the disciples is this — “You have enough faith to be faithful.” In other words, he is saying, “You don’t even need a mustard seed size faith. The little bit of faith you have is enough for you to do what I’ve called you to do.”
Why do I think that? Because of what Jesus says after the mustard seed story. He gives an example of a servant, a story that seems to have nothing to do with faith, or with the question the disciples just asked.
So, Jesus turns from an example of faith to an example of faithfulness to illustrate his point. Probably Jesus and the disciples are outdoors, walking along. Jesus has already pointed to a mustard plant, and a mulberry tree. Now he points to a servant plowing a field, and another looking after sheep. Both were very common practices in that day and visual examples were easy to spot.
Then Jesus weaves a little story around the servants. “Suppose your servant comes in from the field. You as the master don’t say to him, ‘You look really tired. Come, sit down and eat, and take it easy!’
“No, the logical thing is that when the servant comes in, before he can eat, he has to prepare the meal for his master. Only after he finishes all his chores, can he then eat. And, at the end of the day, he doesn’t get special praise because he’s just doing what a servant does.” That is exactly what a calling of a Christian is … this is our faith builder. Have you seen some folks in the body of Christ asking/demanding a ‘Thank You’ from you? They do stuff just to get appreciation from others. It will tell you about where they are in their faith walk.
Illustration: The universal norm and societal etiquette is to say thank you for every little thing someone does for you. It is a normal expectation. There are so many other normal expectations from all of us which we seldom fulfill. As Christians who are living out their faith must not have an expectation from people to hear “thank you” from them. This is going to build your faith to be faithful to those who don’t deserve it.
3. Expect NO REWARDS for your love (v. 10)
Jesus wants to drive the point home. We’ve just done our duty, we haven’t done anything extra. We’re God’s servants. God has given us all the faith we need to serve him, to live our lives as we should. And that’s all we have to do — do our duty. Be faithful, live like we’re supposed to. And none of that takes a supernatural amount of faith, only a little faithfulness.
I read somewhere that when men help around the house, they expect some kind of recognition. So, when we’re finished vacuuming, or folding the clothes, or with some other chore, we men want our wives to see what we’ve done and give us some reward.
“Honey, did you see how great the carpet looks after I vacuumed it?” Or, “Just look at those windows, I did a great job cleaning them, don’t you think?”
Women, I am told, just go about their business doing stuff for which they do not expect, or receive, recognition. That’s what Jesus is saying here. Even if you’ve done a great job of serving God, of not leading others to sin, of forgiving others when they do, you’ve only done what you were supposed to.
Faith will not, however, change the circumstances of our lives. Instead, it changes us. Living in faith does not shield us from the pain and difficulties of life, it does not undo the past, and it will not guarantee a particular future. Rather, faith is the means by which we face and deal with the circumstances of life – the difficulties and losses, the joys and successes, the opportunities and possibilities.
Faith does not get us a pat on the back, a reward, or a promotion in God’s eyes. It is simply the way in which we live and move and have our being so that, at the end of the day, the faithful ones can say, without pride or shame, “We have done only what we ought to have done!” Nothing more and nothing less. We have lived in openness to, trust in, and love for Christ. We have allowed him to guide our decisions, our words, and our actions. We have been sustained by him in both life and death.
Faith, however, is not lived out in the abstract. It is practiced day after day in the ordinary everyday circumstances. Some days when the pain and heaviness of life seem more than we can carry it is by faith, relationship with Jesus, that we get up each morning and face the reality of life. Other days present other circumstances. When we feel the pain of the world and respond with compassion by feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, speaking for justice; when we experience the brokenness of a relationship and offer forgiveness and mercy; when we see the downtrodden and offer our presence and prayers — in all those we have lived, seen, and acted by faith. Then there are days when we feel powerless, lost, and do not know the way forward. By faith we sit in silence and wait.
Illustration: My wife and I have been vulnerable and loved people like they are our very own. Though we have never had expectations from folks, at times the return has been bountiful. Many a times our fingers and feet have been burnt and a couple of times people have been offended by our love and we have had to apologies just because we didn’t ask permission to love them and poured ourselves to them but we did it anyway knowing how Christ has loved us. Has this deterred us to love others who come in our path? No! Everyone is accountable before God for what they say and do … He is going to be their judge anyway whether they like it or not. We just have to do our duty and assignment … what God has entrusted us to do. This is going to build our faith to be loving to those who don’t really deserve it.
Application: Jesus does not supersize our faith. It is not necessary. We live by faith not because we have enough faith but because we have faith, any faith, even mustard seed sized faith. That is all we need. Jesus believes that. So should we.
The question is not how much faith we have but, rather, how are we living the faith we do have. How is our faith, our relationship with Jesus, changing our lives, our relationships, the lives of others? If it is not, more of the same will surely make no difference. The mustard seed of faith is already planted within us. It is Christ himself. He has withheld from us nothing. We already have enough. We already are enough. We do not need more faith. We need more response to the faith, the Christ, the mustard seed, the relationship we already have.
Our faith increase is really tested out to see whether we love expecting nothing in return.
