The Roots Of Faith

Roots of Faith

Luke 17 :5-10

Online Sermon: http://www.mckeesfamily.com/?page_id=3567

Since “religion is not a private pursuit, but is a shared family responsibility,” how difficult it is to rebuke and extend forgiveness to those who have “sinned against us” (17:1)! While we know that “unchecked sin is like yeast roaming through the community” that if left unchecked leads to indifference to God’s commands, is it not easier to “turn a blind eye to the sins of others” even if they are offensive or worse yet direct attacks against us? We say we are right to forebear one another but how is it right to silently bear a grudge and “demonize” those created in God’s very own image (Genesis 1:27)? If one does not rebuke another does not one risk becoming a stumbling block and oneself face God’s judgment (17:1-3) because silence often means tacit approval? On the other hand, if one rebukes another for the speaks in their eyes (Matthew 7:3-5) does not one risk losing the friendship or worst yet invite them to become one’s enemies? To offer unlimited forgiveness to those who repent but repeatedly offend is not something that us skeptical and lovers of “eye for an eye” people find overly attractive especially when the other “believer” responds by indulging a battery of swings in our general direction! Imagine how the shocked the disciples must have been when Jesus told them the condition of their forgiveness was mere repentance! To rebuke and forgive a repentant believer once is hard enough but to do it seven times in one day (17:4) … well that takes great faith not only that the rebuke will not offend, and one gains an enemy but also that each time the person repents they are being genuine! Not only did Jesus elsewhere ask the disciples to forgive “seventy-times-seventy” (Matthew 18:22) but also commanded them to not keep the offender pinned “down in the muck of their past failure” by keeping records of wrongs but instead to create an environment of unconditional love that sees the blood of Christ as sufficient to pay the price of their sin! While Jesus’ instruction to the disciples was clear, rebuking those who sin in the community and when they repent forgive them, well that is near impossible to put into practice!

Increase our Faith

Since the disciples saw rebuking and then granting forgiveness to those who repented as demanding more faith than they had they asked Jesus to “increase their faith” (17:5). While it was by grace and faith in the atoning sacrifice of the Son (Ephesians 2:8-9) that we found the pearl in the field (Matthew 13:44) and were born again of the Spirit (John 1:13), the faith we had as mere spiritual infants (1 Corinthians 3:1-3) is expected to “grow” over time. The apostles asked for increased faith so it must be able to grow. While tens of thousands will enter heaven whose faith never reached beyond the simple reliance on Christ in which they were saved, others will enter rejoicing and standing firm on the Rock of their salvation in midst of turbulent tribulations and the fiercest of persecutions! And yet while we are consciously aware of our perseverance leading to greater faith over time (James 1:2-4), we must humbly admit that faith is also as gift from God that is given to us in degrees as we live in this world that is not our home (Hebrews 13:14). And yet even if faith is limited in a sphere of size ordained by God this in no way negates performing our duty with the power of the Holy Spirit to utilize more and more of whatever sphere we are given to do His “good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:2)! When faced with challenges we are to rejoice for even in our weakness His strength is perfected for what He asks of us He enables! “It is not so much great faith that is required as faith in a great God!”

In response to the apostle’s request to have their faith increased so that they might be able to rebuke and forgive repentant sinners Jesus said that if they had faith as tiny as a mustard seed, they could command a mulberry tree to uproot and be replanted in the sea (17:6). “A mustard seed is so small that, held in the palm of one’s hand, it appears as a speck of dust, barely visible” and yet it “packs a lot of life” for it can grow a tree that is some thirty five feet high! It has a “vast and tenacious root system which intertwined with everything in its vicinity that is so strong that it can last up to 600 years! And yet despite the size and strength of this tree it could be uprooted by a single command given in faith! In using this metaphor Jesus is saying to do the seemingly impossible it is not more quantity of faith that one needs but the genuine desire to petition God with the faith one has already received! “Genuine faith can accomplish what experience, reason, and probability would deny, if it is exercised within God’s will.” If the apostles were to rebuke in love and forgive unconditionally, repentant sin all they needed was to ask Jesus to enable them to have the faith as tiny as a mustard seed to exercise the trust and spiritual strength needed to accomplish reconciliation in His name! “Faith is not so much a possession as it is a disposition!” So, we need not fear God’s wrath because we cannot accomplish what He asks but are to rejoice that He has already given us the faith needed to do good deeds that point to God the Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16)!