Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to Luke
Glory to you O Lord
5The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"
6He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ’Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.
7"Suppose one of you had a servant ploughing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ’Come along now and sit down to eat’?
8Would he not rather say, ’Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’?
9Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do?
10So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ’We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’
This is the Gospel of Christ
Praise to you O Christ
Sermon
Story: There is a story told of a small town in the USA in which there were no nightclubs.
Eventually, however, a nightclub was built on the High Street.
One of the churches, in the area, was so disturbed that they conducted several all-night prayer meetings, and asked the Lord to burn down the nightclub.
One night, lightning struck the nightclub and it was completely destroyed by fire.
The owner, knowing how the Christians had prayed, sued the church for the damages.
His attorney claimed that their prayers had caused the lightning and fire.
The church people, on the other hand, hired a lawyer and contested the charges.
During the trial the judge declared, "It’s the opinion of this court that the owner of the nightclub is the one who really believes in prayer while the church members do not!"
I have just come back from the AEA Conference where we were told that if the decline in the Church of England continues at it present rate there will be no church in 2050!!
Danny De Vito in the film “Other people’s Money” said this: You know you’re in trouble when you have a growing share of a declining market”
Does it worry you that Church attendance seems to be a declining market?
The pace of life has changed so dramatically in the last few years that the traditional church is out of touch.
We are living in a post modern society and the Church is still in the age of modernity. Life is changing so quickly that we have lost touch with society out there.
People say to me “We are such an old congregation – I wish we could have more young people to take on the baton of the church from us”
What can we do?
Jesus in our Gospel reading today challenges us when he said:
"If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ’Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.
The plant which Jesus referred to as the mustard seed was not literally the smallest seed – though it was pretty close to it. It had however become a byword in Jewish thought for small size (17:20; m. Niddah 5:2; Toharot 8:8).
The small mustard seed was however amazing because it could yield a large shrub that for example commonly reached the height of eight to ten foot around the Lake of Galilee.
What Jesus is saying is “a little faith can go a long way”.
Let’s look at the verse in its context.
The disciples had asked Jesus to increase their faith and Jesus doesn’t appear to answer the question – or does he?
I think he does. You see – any faith is good enough to release God’s power.
It is not the QUANTITY of your faith that matters just the QUALITY however small.
You see the small mustard seed has everything in it to enable growth.
Do you remember the story in Mark 9 about the man who brought his demon possessed son to Jesus’ disciples but they weren’t able to help.
He then went to Jesus with his problem.
21Jesus asked the boy’s father, "How long has he been like this?"
22"From childhood," he answered. "It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us."
23" ’If you can’?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes."
24Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"
25When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. "You deaf and mute spirit," he said, "I command you, come out of him and never enter him again."
26The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out.
The key I believe to the miracle was the man’s little faith – mustard seed size you might say – and he asked Jesus to help his unbelief.
He didn’t have much faith – but Jesus could work with that!
Our faith – though it might come in a small packet (i.e. as a seed) is all that is needed.
For that seed of faith can grow when it is in good ground and watered and nurtured by the Holy Spirit.
In the Book of Ephesians in Chapter 6, Paul describes the Armour of God.: He says this
13…..put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
The shield of faith.
Note that a shield is a defensive weapon – it protects us against the doubts and fears that the enemy brings against us.
If you are anything like me - there are times I doubt.
But it is then that Paul tells us to take that shield of faith and stand on God’s Word.
Story: when I was a young Christian, I couldn’t really believe Jesus wanted me.
The way I overcame my doubts was to look at Rev 3:20 where Jesus says: Behold I stand at the door and knock. If any man opens the door, I will come in and sup with him and he with me.
My faith wasn’t in my emotions but in Jesus’ words. He says if anyone opens the door. I’d opened the door – I could trust him to come into my life
Things might look bleak for the church. But when we make God’s promises the basis of our faith, then we can stand against our fear and doubt.
Story: Many years ago Shoe Manufacturing Company sent a Sales Director to a far off country with a mandate to start a local shoe business.
After a few months he sent back the message: "I’m coming home, nobody wears shoes here.”
The same company sent a second Sales Director
to that country a few months later. After a few weeks there she wrote back to the office: "Send more shoes – no one wears them out here"
Which one of them had faith in the mandate that they had been given?
We don’t have to worry about the church – all we have to be is faithful to the Commission he has given us.
And instead of worrying – we must pray –as Jesus told us to do in the words of the Lord’s Prayer - for his kingdom to come.
Let me leave you with one thought from St. Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine…” (Eph 3:20)
If we have faith like a mustard seed that he really “can do more than we can ask or imagine” then that let’s get praying for growth in our churches today rather than worrying about it. Amen
