Sermon for October 2, 2016
Proper 22C – RCL Track 1
The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase
our faith!" The Lord replied, "If you had faith the size of a mustard
seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, `Be uprooted and planted in the
sea,' and it would obey you.
"Who among you would say to your slave
who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, `Come here at
once and take your place at the table'? Would you not rather say to him,
`Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink;
later you may eat and drink'? Do you thank the slave for doing what was
commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do,
say, `We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!'"
The apostles said
to the Lord “Increase our Faith!” Once
again I find myself identifying with the apostles. Those human followers of Jesus who at times
did not even know why they followed the itinerant Rabbi but kept following
him. They are amazed at the healings he
does and how he interprets and breaks open scripture for them. And they want more faith.
It might help to
put this into context. This comes right
after Jesus telling the disciples that if they see a friend going astray that
they should correct them and forgive them.
And even if they do the wrong thing seven times in one day we should
forgive them seven times in one day.
So after being
told to forgive someone even if they are totally clueless – not once, not
twice, but seven times – for perhaps the same offense – well no wonder they
needed more faith. I bet you would
too. How many times have we muttered
something about needing faith to get through something. Right now with the crazy election season that
is offering tweeting rampages at 3 o’clock in the morning and questions about
wealth and taxes and personal attacks I am sure we have all asked for more
faith. Or we have tuned out completely –
if that is even possible these days.
And it is just so
much our plea in our world to want more.
More money, more food, more security, more, more, more. So of course we too are probably asking God
to supersize our faith. Please God. More faith.
I don’t think I can handle this world without more faith. With the senseless killings, violence, and
environmental destruction all around I just need faith that there really is a
God. Faith that God’s dream is one of
love and respect for all of God’s creation – because right now its pretty hard
to believe.
And Jesus
response to the plea for more faith is not useful. I am not sure if he is telling the disciples
that they have little or no faith or that they should be satisfied with the
faith that they do have. And then we
have all of the talk about servants/slaves doing their job without expecting
any thanks.
What are we to
make of this!
The problem that
Jesus seems to be getting at is that we really can’t measure faith like we measure
the size of the soda at the local fast food place. We can’t measure faith like we tally up our
bank accounts. Faith is immeasurable.
Faith is about the big things – but perhaps more importantly faith is
about the small things. Faith the size
of a mustard seed is big enough. Big
enough to do amazing things. And what
matters is not how big our faith is but what our faith is in.
If we put all of
our faith in wealth we are not going to get very far. In our gospel reading from a couple of weeks
ago – when I last was here – we heard Jesus tell us to give away all of our
wealth if we want to follow him! If we
put all of our faith in our politicians – well I don’t even need to go
there! We are in big trouble. Because really this is not the kind of faith
that the disciples are asking for and it is not the kind of faith that Jesus is
talking about.
It is when we put
our faith in God that things can be different.
It is when we work to bring God’s dream of a right-side up society where
we respect the dignity of every human being – and I mean all of us – Episcopalians
or not!
We Episcopalians
promise that we will respect the dignity of every human being in our baptismal
promises – and I bet there are days that we have to ask forgiveness at least
seven times for not following that promise.
For degrading the other. For
slandering the other side of the political aisle. For walking past a homeless person and not
even seeing them. Let alone acknowledge
that they are beloved children of God.
We all want to
see great feats of faith. We look
towards the saints to see examples of great works of faith. We look to people like Mother Theresa – recently
canonized by the Pope – as people of great faith. But Jesus tells us that we don’t need great
faith. We can do amazing things with a
very tiny bit of faith. It is the small
acts of faith that change the world. It
is the small acts of loving each and every person and taking care of this
fragile earth that helps turn our world rightside up.
Another preacher
I follow, David Lose, said, “Faith is found not in the mighty acts of heaven
but in the ordinary and everyday acts of doing what needs to be done,
responding to the needs around us, and caring for the people who come our way.”
When we open the
door for someone who is struggling to open a door we are doing it with
faith. Faith that acts of kindness and
justice will turn society right side up and help bring God’s dream to fruition.
Just yesterday I
witnessed a homeless person standing in front of 7-Eleven asking for
change. While I was crossing the street
I saw him rush over to hold open the door for a person in a wheelchair. He didn’t do it to earn some change – in fact
I noticed he didn’t even ask that person for change. He did it because it was the right thing to
do. This person with very little saw an
opportunity to help and he leapt to it.
No reward expected – or necessarily received at that moment. But perhaps in that moment a small piece of
society was turned right-side-up. God
smiled and another mulberry tree was uprooted because of the kindness of a
stranger.
How many small
things do each of you do every day to help someone? How many times have you seen – or perhaps been
the person – to listen to someone who needs to talk. How many times has a sack lunch been given
out? How many meals are served on
Wednesday’s and Fridays in this small parish?
How many times have you listened to the struggles of a coworker or
family member? Not with an ear to “fix” the
problem but with the ear to let them speak.
All of these
little acts of faith add up. Every time
we act with a belief that God is calling us to change our world we are acting
in faith. Every time we say hello to the
stranger and welcome the other into our midst we are acting in faith. David Lose said, “None of these is any big deal, and yet it is
just these kinds of acts that occupy so much of our lives. And I suspect it
wouldn’t cross the minds of most of [us] … that they are acts of faith.”
And it is in
these acts of faith that God’s dream is realized. If we stop acting by faith this world would
be worse than it is! We need little acts
of faith to keep from sinking into the depths of despair. There are examples of faith all around us.
Right now one of
our diocesan deacons, Lewis Powell, has gone to Standing Rock Sioux Reservation
where native people are trying to stop an oil pipeline from crossing the river
and damaging their lands. He is visiting
a people who recognize the creator and sacredness in the water that flows
through the land. A water that is
prominent in many native peoples creations stories just as water is important
in our own creation story. Deacon Lewis
wrote “The camp held a pow-pow honoring the presence of water. Tribes from all
over brought their flags as a way of showing solidarity with Standing Rock.
There were even three women from the Sami Tribes of Norway/Sweden/Finland that
brought sacred water to offer in ceremony."
There is a faith
that environmental justice and environmental stewardship of our fragile earth
is a sacred duty. There is a faith that –
while not covered very well by our press
– that the nation will come to the aid of a people who have been mistreated in
our nation and stand beside them as they try to protect our fragile earth.
David Lose
reminds us that “… when we read the headlines and see news of more shootings,
more injustice, more war, it can seem like there is no hope. Yet all around us
signs of hope – of God continuing to love and care for this world – abound,
even and especially through the simple, ordinary, even mundane acts of
faithfulness our people are already doing.” And Jesus promise is that your
small seed of faith is enough. It is
enough to do amazing things.
I invite you this
week to see the seeds of faith that you have.
Seeds that will allow you to help change the world. Not in any single big “act” of flinging the
proverbial mulberry tree into the sea.
But in all of the small acts that you do to bring about a world that is
right-side-up. In greeting the homeless
with a smile – and perhaps a lunch. In
talking actions to preserve this fragile earth.
Where all of creation is cared for. And then to give thanks to the one
loving God who we have faith in and who we work with, in faith, to bring about
God's dream to our fragile earth.
Amen.
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