Title: Seed-size Your Faith
Text: Luke 17:5-10
Thesis: Being super-sized can be over-rated and seed-sized under estimated in the life of faith.
Introduction
It has been in the news of late. Fifty years ago, on October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1 into orbit. Sputnik 1 was beachball sized, nearly 23 inches in diameter and weighed 184 pounds. It orbited earth 1,440 times before its batteries ran out and it plunged back into the earths atmosphere on October 26, 1957.
The success of Sputnik 1 shocked us here in the United States and precipitated what would become the so-called “space race” which continued through the Cold War.
It was not very big when we think in terms of our Space Shuttle, which is 149.6 feet tall, 28.5 feet in diameter, and weighs 4,474,574 pounds. Sputnik 1 demonstrates that something does not need to be enormous in order to be effective and even cause a big stir.
Do you remember the McDonalds campaign a few years ago in which fast food patrons were asked if they would like their meal super-sized? Shortly after the airing of the 2004 documentary titled Super-size Me, McDonalds and other fast food chains phased out the super-sized meal option and began to offer healthy menu options. Non-the-less, we Americans are pretty impressed by things super-sized, be they Space Shuttles or Big Mac Meals.
I would like to suggest that in matters of faith, super-sizing is not Jesus’ idea of faithful living.
I. The desire for greater faith might be a misunderstanding of faith.
One day the apostles said to Jesus, “We need more faith; tell us how to get it.” Luke 17:5
The story that follows indicates that: Faith does not have to be huge to make a difference!
In Matthew, Mark, and Luke we have the story of how Jesus healed a demon-possessed boy. In desperation, the boy’s father had brought his son to the disciples to be healed, but they could not. I have the feeling from reading the text that Jesus shook his head and said, “My, my, how long must I be with you before you believe? Bring the boy to me.”
In the Mark 9:14-29 account of the story, the father said to Jesus, “Do something if you can, for my son.” Jesus replied, “What do you mean, ‘If I can?’ Anything is possible if a person believes.”
In the story line the father responded to Jesus’ comment regarding the possibilities of faith, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.” In this story Jesus is moved to act even in the face of shaky faith.
I think we live under the illusion that faith is something we quantify. We assume that if we have any shred of doubt or concern, God will not be able or moved to demonstrate his mercy or exercise his power.
It would seem that we would do well to aspire to mustard seed-sized faith.
II. Mustard seed-sized faith is sufficient to do great exploits.
Jesus said, “Even if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, “May God uproot you and throw you into the sea, and it would obey you.” Luke 17:6
A mustard seed is not the smallest of seeds, but it was a seed and a plant with which his listeners were aware. The seed is about 1/20 of an inch in diameter. Comparatively a petunia is 1/50th of an inch in diameter and a begonia is 1/100th of an inch in diameter. You need a 10 to 30--power microscope in order to see an orchid seed in detail. (The Parable of the Mustard Seed and its Alleged Contradictions, J. Timothy Unruh, 1996)
The point is not that the seed is the smallest of seed… but it is small.
The Mulberry Tree is not the largest of trees, but it is tall. The Mulberry tree with which Jesus’ audience would have been familiar could have been from 10 to 15 meters in height or nearly fifty feet tall. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulberry)
So the point Jesus is making is that a pretty small and insignificant faith can have a sizeable effect or make a significant difference.
So what is Jesus saying?
• Does this mean his disciples do not even have mustard seed-size faith?
• Does this mean that Jesus believed they had mustard seed-size faith and they just need to use what faith they have?
• Does this mean that faith is evidenced by uprooting a mulberry tree or moving a mountain and tossing them into the sea?
• Does Jesus mean that the exercise of faith is about doing theatrical demonstrations.
• Does Jesus mean that such exercises of faith are kind of pointless? In other words, what is the point of planting a tree in the sea? Is the point just being able to do it?
The story of The Illusionist, based on Steven Millhauser’s short story, “Eisenhelm the Illusionist” is set in 19th – century Vienna where Eisenhelm has returned after years of absence. He stuns and amazes his audiences with his magic. Shimmering ghosts stand alongside him on stage. He appears to plant an orange seed in a pot and it grows into a plant with the wave of his fingers. Butterflies flit about from a blue handkerchief… and on and on the exploits go. The citizens of Vienna are delighted… it is mesmerizing fun to be fooled.
Then the illusionist speaks to his audience and says, “Everything you have seen here is an illusion.” Whether it is a 19th-century Eisenhelm performance or a 21st-century Las Vegas act, we are fascinated by what is real and what is illusion.
I may be totally out of kilter on this one, but I wonder if spectacular, public demonstrations of faith may miss the point of living a faithfully! Maybe the life of faith Jesus is advocating, is not about getting God to uproot trees but something we do…
III. Maybe the life of faith is something we do rather than uproot trees… maybe the life of faith is more about duty.
Jesus told a story, “When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, he doesn’t just sit down and eat. He must first prepare his master’s meal and serve him supper before eating his own.” Luke 17:7-8
Note the examples cited in the story… plowing and taking care of sheep. This is the work of a servant or hired hand. Cooking and serving is the work of a cook and a server.
Could it be that Jesus is not so much concerned with the disciples’ desire for more faith so they can work miracles, as he is that they serve faithfully.
Remember when Jesus wrapped a towel around his waist, took a basin of water, and went around the table washing the feet of his disciples? The story is recorded in John 13.
After having washed their feet he asked them, “Do you understand what I was doing? Since I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet… a servant is not greater than is master.”
In Luke 22:24, the disciples were arguing among themselves about who would be the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. Jesus overheard their conversation and said, “Among you, those who are greatest should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be your servant.”
The disciples wanted more faith, but Jesus says, “…the servant does what he is supposed to do.” Luke 17:9 Maybe the life of faith is mostly about duty.
Author and lecturer, Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest in which he was asked to judge or determine who was the most caring child. The winner in Buscaglia’s mind, was a four year old boy.
The little boy’s neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the gentleman’s yard, climbed up on his lap, and just sat there.
Later, his mother asked him what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, “Nothing, I just helped him cry.”
The man did not care if the boy could uproot trees and toss them into ocean… he cared that the little boy showed up to help him cry.
Do you think Jesus would say that the little boy’s caring was a significant activity? Was the little boy doing a meaningful thing? Was he making a difference? Was he demonstrating the love of God?
Not only does Jesus suggest that the life of faith is not so much about spectacular demonstrations of faith as it is about duty and living faithfully, he said, “Folks might not even thank you for doing what you do.”
IV. Increased faith is doing what we should do even if it is taken-for-granted and unappreciated.
“And the servant is not even thanked, because he is merely doing what he is supposed to do. In the same way, when you obey me, you should say, ‘We are not worthy of praise. We are only servants who have simply done our duty.’” Luke 17:9-10
In an episode of The Simpsons, Marge arrives home after just passing her real estate exam. She announces, “I passed!” Bart and Lisa yell, “Yay!” Lisa says, “Way to go! And Bart says, “Way to Go!”
Bart, who had been manning a two-sided sign which read “BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME” on one side and “CONGRATULATIONS” on the other, turns the sign to say, “Congratulations!”
Marge says, “Thank you Bart, thank you Lisa, for all your help.”
Then Homer pipes up and asks, “What about me? You didn’t thank me.” Bart answered him, “You didn’t do anything!” To which Homer replied, “I still like to be thanked.”
We all like to be appreciated, but the simple fact of the matter is this: We don’t always get thanked when we do good things. We aren’t always appreciated when we do our duty. But, Jesus says, “We still do our duty because it’s the right thing to do when you live the life of faith.”
Conclusion
In 1972, NASA launched the exploratory space probe Pioneer 10. According to Leon Jaroff in Time magazine, the satellite’s primary mission was to reach Jupiter, photograph it and its moons, and beam data to earth about the planet’s magnetic field, radiation belts, and atmosphere. Scientists regarded this as a bold plan, because up until then no satellite had gone beyond Mars, and they feared the asteroid belt would destroy the satellite before it could reach its target.
But Pioneer 10 accomplished its mission and much, much more. Swinging past Jupiter in November 1973, the space probe was hurled at a higher rate of speed toward the edge of the solar system by the planet’s immense gravity. At one billion miles from the sun, Pioneer 10 passed Saturn. At some two billion miles, it hurtled past Uranus; Neptune, at nearly three billion miles; Pluto, at almost four billion miles. By 1997, 25 years after its launch, Pioneer 10 was more than six billion miles from the sun.
And it’s still going. Though now nearly 8 billion miles from the sun, the satellite keeps sending signals; some were received as recently as April 27, 2002. And despite that immense distance, Pioneer 10 continues to beam back radio signals to scientists on Earth. "Perhaps most remarkable," writes Jaroff, "is the fact that those signals emanate from an eight-watt transmitter, which radiates about as much power as a bedroom night-light, and take more than nine hours to reach Earth."
"The Little Satellite That Could" was not qualified to do what it did. Engineers designed Pioneer 10 with a useful life of only three years. But it has kept going and going and going. By simple longevity, its tiny eight-watt transmitter radio accomplished more than anyone thought possible.
So it is when we offer ourselves to serve the Lord. God can work even through someone with eight-watt abilities. (Craig Larson, Pastoral Grit: The Strength to Stand and Stay, Bethany Publishing, 1998)
The life of faith is about faithfully doing the things we do.
In the life of faith, being super-sized can be over-rated and seed-sized under estimated.
May we exercise seed-sized trust in God’s ability to act and in demonstrating our faithfulness to God and others in ways great and small.
