Luke 17:5-10 (Listen)
Increase our faith the disciples ask Jesus. So we start by asking the question ‘what is faith?’ The simple answer comes from the faith chapter in the Bible Hebrews 11 (SCREEN “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” Hebrews 11:1)
But for me that does not do much. So we ask some other questions.
How much faith is enough faith?
When we ask that question we realize it is more than just the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Some people desire a certain kind of certainty about faith.
Some want a mystical spiritual experience.
Others want something to see them through life’s challenges.
With enough faith the television preachers tell us we can conquer doubt, illness, and even economic hardship.
Most all of us when faced with an incredible obstacle or a heart wrenching burden have thought (SCREEN ‘if only I had more faith’).
Years ago when I was developing a mission congregation in Brookfield Wisconsin I had a young couple who had a son with a rare degenerative neurological disease for which there was no treatment.
All we could do was watch as the boy got worse and worse. I remember the mom, a woman with a vibrant and deep faith asking me ‘do you think if I had more faith and prayed harder my son would be healed’?
She had brought her Bible in with her and turned it to Matthew 21-21-22 (SCREEN ‘truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree but even if you say to this mountain ‘be lifted up and thrown into the sea, and it will be done. Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive’ Matthew 21:21-22)
I reassured her that she had a strong faith to see her through her most difficult of life’s challenges that of watching your child die. I had no answer for her, we cried together.
Later that year I had the funeral for the little guy. We cried some more. Somehow they held onto their faith relationship with Jesus Christ.
What is faith? David Lose, preaching professor at Luther Seminary writes “faith is not the opposite of doubt”. But just as courage according to philosopher Plato isn’t the absence of fear but rather the ability to do one’s duty when one is afraid, so too (SCREEN ‘faith isn’t the absence of doubt but rather a tenacious commitment to keep believing when surrounded by doubt’ Prof. David Lose)
When Martin Luther was writing about the basics of the faith-Word and Sacrament were tops on his list but another basic he listed high on the list was struggle because Luther strongly believed (SCREEN “Wherever there is faith, there will also be struggle” Martin Luther)
What if God answers our request for more faith? Brian Stoggergen says I am not positive that we really want more faith. More faith could lead us to do some things we really don’t want to do.
More faith might lead us to be more forgiving towards those who have deeply hurt us and we may not want to forgive those rotten people.
People say they want more faith that will help them, a faith to heal a loved one, a faith that will help them pass a test, a faith that reassures them of eternal life but do we really want more faith that would lead us to be more giving and more forgiving.
Stoggergren suggests that (SCREEN many people only want an inoculation of Christianity just enough of it to protect them from catching the real thing)
So we need to be careful what we ask for, if we ask for more faith, God may answer our prayer and turn us into a spiritual fanatic about forgiving, tithing, obeying, and taking the call to follow Jesus more seriously than we intend.
But faith isn’t about getting answers to life challenges and trying some 7 step program to increase of our faith. None of that sort of behavior works because (SCREEN faith first and foremost is a gift).
I have mentioned Martin Luther’s meaning to the third article of the Apostles’ Creed in sermons before because it is what led me into the ordained ministry.
Jeanne was finishing her teaching degree and I was in graduate school at the University of Minnesota. One day I was typing on my typewriter. Remember those typewriters that you could carry around in a little suit case?
I was asking myself is this what I really want to do with my life and Luther’s meaning came into my head-I cannot by my own understanding or effort believe in the Lord Jesus Christ or come to him, but the Holy Spirit calls me through the gospel, enlightens me with gifts and sanctifies and keeps me in the one true faith.
It was then that my faith relationship with Jesus began to become alive and vibrant. Up to that point in my life faith was just a passive assent, yes I had faith-just like I had faith the sun would come up in the morning, just like I had faith my car would start to get me to school. Passive assent until that point in my life.
Faith is a gift, it cannot be earned, it can not be achieved in seven simple steps, because I cannot by my own understanding or effort believe. God freely gives us faith.
Our response is one of simple trusting God’s ability to give faith.
Faith cannot be measured as a commodity. God give me three pounds of faith today because I am having a relatively easy day or God give me fifty pounds of faith today because I am having a horrendous day.
(SCREEN Faith that is enough is faith that trusts in God’s ability to give faith.)
Peter Marty in an article entitled “An appreciation for doubt” says the opposite of faith is not doubt it is certainty.
He goes on to say (SCREEN “a popular myth in our day elevates certainty in spiritual matters as the goal to which we all should aspire.”)
Devout people start to become obsessed with being right in spiritual matters.
Such certainty voids faith of all the ingredients like surprise, joy, wonder, mystery and spontaneity.
Such people who have that element of certainty in their faith can be kind of frightening because they claim to know the mind of God. They claim to know which sins God hates more. They claim to speak for God like the Pastor with the church just outside of Gainesville who was going to burn the Koran.
Novelist Marilynne Robinson wrote (SCREEN “there is something about certainty that makes Christianity very un-Christian”).
Healthy doubt causes us to wonder at the mysterious ways of God. God says ‘my ways are not your ways’. We are never capable of understanding God. That is why in our relationship with Him is based on trust and not on knowledge.
Matthews gospel ends with that very familiar verse the Resurrected Jesus appears to the disciples and say “go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit”
But just prior to that command of Jesus we read (SCREEN “when they saw him (meaning Jesus) they worshiped him but some doubted” Matthew 28:17
That is the way most Bible translate that from the Greek manuscripts but NT Professor Mark Allan Powell points out the word “some” doesn’t appear in the Greek manuscripts.
Translators inserted the idea ‘some’ inferring that maybe a couple of the eleven doubted it really was the Risen Lord. By doing so again they cast a negative image on doubt.
Peter Marty in his article reminds us that faith and doubt go together. Doubt deepens faith. Doubting means trusting God’s ability to freely give us faith.
Early on I talked about how Martin Luther closely linked faith with struggle. But Martin Luther did not want to link faith with works, even to the point of objecting to the New Testament book of James.
In James we read this about faith ‘what good it is my brothers and sisters if you say you have faith but do not have works.
(SCREEN “Show me your faith apart from your works and I by my works will show you my faith.” James 2:18)
Faith is lived out in service to others. Faith is lived out in obedience to God. Faith is lived out our actions.
Dorothy Day (SCREEN her image) who founded the Catholic Worker movement towards the end of her life was an inspiration to thousands of people because of her commitment to helping the poor and feeding the hungry.
People would seek her out to just see her and some would want to touch her.
Sometimes Dorothy would overhear people saying of her “she is a saint”. This would upset her very much.
She would respond by saying “Don’t say that. Don’t make it too easy for yourself. I know why you are saying ‘she is a saint’. You say that to convince yourself that you are different from me. (SCREEN I am not a saint. I am like you. You could easily do what I do. You don’t need any more than you have, get working please”.)
That is Jesus message to the disciples who ask for an increase in faith. You already have it and now live it. Living out the faith is not optional. Living out the faith is feeding the hungry, giving to the poor, loving our neighbors. As Dorothy Day said ‘you don’t need anymore than you have, get started.
Amen.
