Luke 17 1-10 2007
Pentecost 19
Luke 17: 1-10
October 7, 2007
“INCREASE OUR FAITH!”
Introduction: “You just gotta have faith.” That’s a popular sentiment in our society. By and large, people believe that faith is an important virtue worth having. The problem is that we get so caught up in determining what faith is, and if we have enough of it.
This is nothing new. Jesus’ own disciples struggled with the very same issues. They often heard Jesus talk about faith. They knew it was something they wanted, but they weren’t quite sure what it was, or if they even had it.
Sometimes, we feel the same way. We wonder if we are truly faithful believers, and deep-down we long for some tangible, outward proof to assure us that we have enough faith. So we say with the disciples, Lord, INCREASE OUR FAITH! We’ll look and see if that is an appropriate request. Lord-willing, we will consider these two points: 1) Why the Disciples Made this Request, and 2) How Jesus Responded.
1) Why the Disciples Made this Request
Have you ever felt completely inadequate for a task? Sometimes people ask things of us that we just don’t think we’ll be able to accomplish. For example, consider the whole process of learning to ride a bicycle. First, mom and dad determine that their child is ready to ride a bike. On some special day they show up with a bike and offer the question, “Would you like to learn to ride”? Invariably the answer is yeah, sure, OK and these statements are made with a certain amount of hesitation. They think, “Can I really do it? It looks hard. Man, I bet it hurts when you fall off? Eventually, the child learns to ride. But what is the most important part of the process? Some might say the learning of the mechanics of riding or learning to balance. I believe, however, that the most important part is faith, -Faith that riding can be done -Faith that the process can be learned and Faith that when they fall there will be someone there to catch them or at least to give them comfort. At first, the whole process was a daunting task filled with fear and uncertainty, then came the joy of riding the bike.
In the gospel for today, we find Jesus’ disciples experiencing the same fear and anxiety. Not about learning to ride a bike, but in the process of living the Christian faith and the responsibilities that they were being given as the Apostles of the Lord. The reason is that Jesus had just given them some difficult instructions. What are these instructions? First Jesus said, “Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. So watch yourselves. Two, “if your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.” Jesus gives two commands: don’t be a stumbling block to someone else’s faith, and, forgive others. And when the disciples looked at themselves they insisted that they weren’t up to the challenge.
Still, Jesus is serious about these command. These words apply to us as well. Our example, whether in word or deed, should not cause others to be trapped in sin. Now, Jesus admits that sin will be committed, but that does not mean his people are to take a careless attitude towards giving offense.
We live in a society that wants to undermine our faithful walk with God. “C’mon! Everybody’s doing it!” That’s the great mantra, which bombards us everyday. From the television to the Internet, we find all sorts of traps that would ensnare us, and in the process, trap others. As Christians, we wear our faith in Jesus on our sleeves. That means, who we are and what we do are plainly seen by the people around us. I’m sure it’s no surprise to our friends and neighbors that we are Christians. At least I hope this is true. Yet, when those same people see us saying or doing things that are contrary to the Christian faith, it will lead them to wonder about our sincerity, it will lead them to wonder about our Lord, and it may even lead them to do or say the very same things, since they saw us do it. They will assume it must be alright. Jesus’ warning hits home. He says, “Watch yourselves.” This requires faith.
Now for the second command, Jesus says that when people are tempted by sin and they will be, when they fall into sin, and they will – we are to forgive them. Jesus said, “if your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.” This is harder than riding a bike. It’s hard enough forging the sin, but Jesus says first we must rebuke, admonish, reprimand, warn, and advise when a brother or sister Christian falls into blatant sinful behavior. We, as Christians must first comfront the sin. OK, lets be honest. No one here wants to do this, not the pastor, not the congregation members individually and certainly not our Elders. This is unpleasant business. It’s like a soctor exposing a nbasty cancerous tumor that stinks and smells to high heaven and then prepares to cut it out – a ghastly process indeed. But if it is not done, the patient may die. So it is with sin, if left unrecognized and unchecked, if not dealt with, in some cases it can and will lead to eternal death and hell. Perhaps that should be one of our motivating factors. Would we rather remain silent and let a brother or sister go to hell, or would we speak the truth in love that may lead to the fruit of repentance and God’s grace of forgiveness.
Part of the reason we are slow to speak is because we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. What right do we have to speak? We don’t want to cast stones, lest stones be cast at us. We might say as the disciples did Lord, increase our faith.
As repentance comes with the recognition of guilt we are given the next challenge. When someone sins, we are to forgive as we have been forgiven. It is never easy to forgive. But Jesus wants us to forgive and to do so even when it is difficult to do. Often times we say, “O.K. I’ll forgive this time, but once is enough.” Our Savior confronts this attitude straight on. Jesus mentions the hardest case of all – a fellow Christians who sins not only once, not only twice, but seven times, and all in one day! – Jesus says, “It doesn’t matter. If he comes back every time and says, ‘I’m sorry. Please forgive me,’ forgive him.” What Jesus is telling us is that we are to be willing to forgive one another no matter how often we sin. This goes against our grain. We look at sin, repentance and forgiveness with human eyes. We see, but we are blind. We hear, but we do not listen. Our idea of forgiveness is this. We say we forgive you. Then the person sins again and we say, “Did they really mean it”, “and, “If they really meant it they wouldn’t do it again”. We think, “Should we forgive them again…so soon?” That doesn’t seem right. We are challenged when someone sins and the very next day they do it again, and express sorrow over sin. How is it that we could ever handle a person sinning the very same sin seven times in a day, expressing repentance and then we gladly forgive? “Lord, increase our faith.”
How does God see things. We’ll, how often do we sin against Him in a given day, once, twice, seven times, no, it is more like seventy times seven. Yes, as God’s Word and the Holy Spirit cause us to recognize our sins we are sorry. Then the next day we get up and do it all over again, day in and day out until the day we die. Now, how would you like to hear God say, “Did you really mean it when you confessed your sins” and, “If you really meant it why did you do it again?” Do you see the trouble that we would be in? God wants us to forgive as we have been forgiven. It is incredible, I know. It takes faith.
When we consider Jesus’ words, we soon find that the disciples were a lot like us. They felt that if they could have more faith, they could be better disciples. We think like this too. We often look at our life and we are not pleased at what we see. We get this sense that we could be doing better. So, we say to ourselves, "If only I had more faith. Then I could be a better disciple." And we say to God the same thing the disciples said - Increase my faith!
It’s as if we say to Christ, “I’m not able to do all of this. You didn’t give me enough faith!” Notice how Jesus responds to his disciple’s request. He 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.” I don’t think this was the answer the disciples were looking for. We might have expected Jesus to pray for them and to ask God to grant them more faith. Instead Jesus gives them some irony to chew on. Jesus was implying that the disciples did have faith at least as small as a mustard seed - a mustard seed being the smallest of all seeds. It’s as if he were saying, "You do have faith. And even if it is small, you can still do great things!" In other words, "You already have faith! You just aren’t using it!" The disciples were asking for the wrong thing. They didn’t need to increase their faith - they needed to increase their faithfulness.
Faith is a gift from God. He gives us the amount of faith that we need and it never runs out. To ask God to increase our faith is kind of an insult. He’s given us faith. The key is to go ahead and act in faith; to be faithful. To be faithful means to look to the Lord, to listen to his promises, to trust in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for all of our sins, believing that they are forgiven and then to trust and obey him. If we spend too much time looking at the size of our faith we will be disappointed with what we see.
What Jesus is saying is that the quantity of faith is not as important as whether faith is present at all. It’s like being pregnant--either you are or you aren’t. There is no such thing as being a little pregnant. In the same way you either have faith in God or you don’t. If we do, then God will work amazing things in our lives. He will lead us to be faithful and forgiving of others.
Now, we need to keep in mind that faith is not something we can create in ourselves. Faith is created by the commands and promises of God. God creates and sustains faith through his Word and sacraments. In his grace God tells us that He loves us. We live by faith in that we believe this truth. God has proven his love for us. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. I am a sinner. Jesus saved me! Those words work and strengthen faith. We have faith because God is faithful. He keeps his promises. Heaven is yours and mine! Faithfulness to God is the result of our faith. By faith we will guard our words and actions, so that we don’t lead someone else astray. We will strive to forgive those who sin against us. This is our way of responding to God’s great love for us.
Our Savior urges us to simply use what we’ve been given. God’s grace is all-sufficient. There is no reason for excuses. Rather, there are only opportunities. God places us among each other to serve as a source of encouragement and forgiveness. We are all weak and sinful. We say and do things that only hurt each other and ourselves. God recognizes this. And that is where his grace enters the scene. His faithful love compels us to love each other, even we who are so unlovable. It’s faith in God’s grace in Jesus Christ that enables us to do such things.
“You just gotta have faith.” Those who say that often look to themselves as the foundation or basis for faith. That’s not the case, though. The source of our faith –whether great or small --is Christ Jesus. Yet, it is true. We must have faith. Jesus insists, “You gotta have faith,” but he doesn’t leave us to look to ourselves for the source of that faith. Instead, Jesus completes that important sentence, proving his grace. He says, “You just gotta have faith, and I’ve given it to you!” Amen. (Excerpts from Eward Frey)