Faith that Follows Us

Luke 17:5–10 begins with a desperate plea: “Increase ourfaith!” But Jesus reminds us that faith isn’t something to grow—it’s something to live. Faith is trusting that Jesus keeps following us, even when we stumble. It’s taking the next small step, and the next, believing that what God has already planted in us is enough.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

You're listening to The Word on Baker Street, a podcast from Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Bakersfield, California. Each week we share the good news of God's love through the sermons from our Sunday worship. Wherever you are in your journey, you are welcome here.

SPEAKER_02 0:15

The Holy Gospel according to Luke 17, 5 through 10. And the apostle said to the Lord, Increase our faith. And the Lord replied, If you had the faith the size of mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, Be uprooted and planted into the sea, and it would obey you. Who among you would say to your slave, who has just come in from ploughing 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 a supper for me? Put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink. Later you may eat and drink. Do you thank your 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 have ought to have done. The gospel of the Lord. Please pray with me. Loving God, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts draw us closer to you today.

unknown 1:27

Amen.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

When I started reading the gospel lesson today, I thought, oh wow, the mustard seed of faith. Yeah, that's cool. And then I read the rest of it, and I'm like, uh, okay, how does this go together? Um, these five verses are kind of disjointed, and they're, but they're actually a small portion of a much larger teaching that Jesus has been doing. It's this big teaching that his attention's kind of shifted from his disciples to these crowds of people, and then religious leaders, and then back and forth to these different groups, and the topics have hit this whole range of things. From is your heart with your money, or is it with God? Love your enemies or bless those who curse you. Forgive others even when they when they don't deserve it. Give to others without expecting anything in return. Be ready to take up your cross and follow me. Love God with all your heart and mind and soul. Love your neighbor as yourself. You know, I can I can see, you know, with all of this stuff going on that the disciples they might be ready to ask Jesus to increase their faith here a little bit. And the request becomes even clearer when Jesus' focus starts getting on the disciples. Only a few verses back, after all of this teaching, Jesus says to the disciples, you're gonna stumble. And woe to you when you do. And by the way, if you cause one of these little ones here to stumble, it would be better for you if a millstone was tied around your neck and you were cast into the sea. And the disciples are like, oh, uh if that's how it's gonna be, uh Jesus, could you increase our faith? And and here, it's I mean, this is more like a desperate begging, pleading kind of thing. Jesus, please increase our faith. And Jesus tells him, you know, hey, if you'd have the faith of a size of a mustard seed. And and it seems to be like the kind of a metaphor that Jesus really likes. And in Matthew, he says that, well, you know, you've got this kind of faith. You can command a mountain to move, and today it's up from a mulberry tree, cast it into the sea. And this this story always reminds me of when I attended vacation Bible school as a kid, and we got this small round medallion of a thing, and they glued a mustard seed onto it, and it on the back side of it, it had the word faith on it, and it was it was there to let us know that whatever amount of faith that we had, if it was just as small, it could be as small as the smallest seed, it was enough. And the thing is, my grandparents, um they were farmers, and I spent a lot of time on their farm in North Dakota, and I knew a lot about seeds, and so I looked at this mustard seed that was on that little medallion thing there, and I said to my teacher, you know, there's a lot of seeds that are smaller than this seed. There's the poppy seed and the alfalfa seed and the lettuce seed and the carrot seed and the strawberry seed, and she looks at me and she's like, it's just supposed to be an example. Turns out that the mustard seed in the Middle East is a different kind of seed than the one that we have here. So, in terms of it being a metaphor or an example that Jesus was using, I guess it was okay. But I think Jesus seriously missed the mark with his follow-up story here. I mean, the disciples are begging to have their faith increased, and Jesus is like, well, why would I do that? Yeah, just a speck of faith. And you can say this mulberry tree here, be uprooted and be planted in the seed, and it would obey you. I mean, would you say to your slave who's been working in this fields all day? Come on in and sit down and have your place at the table? Or would you have them cook your dinner and serve you the meal and let them know they can eat dinner and then what? Do you thank them for doing what they're supposed to be doing? Now, if you think Jesus sounds a little bit like a jerk here, you're not alone. This is one of those lessons people like to clean up a little bit. Even when I was printing out this scripture today, I I wanted, rather than even using the word slave, I wanted to change it to the word servant. Right? I was like, this is Jesus really doesn't sound good here. Why is he using all of this stuff? What are you doing, Jesus? And there's no way to make it sound nice. There isn't even a way to interpret this to make it sound nice. I don't know why you needed to do it this way. Maybe it was, you know, like within the culture. Maybe if Jesus had told this story another way, that and used a story that didn't grate on me so much, I might hear his intentions more clearly. But his no to the disciples couched in the story that makes it sound like you know, y'all just need to suck it up. You know, I pretty much don't need to hear that from Jesus ever. And it's even more difficult when I actually care about the disciples' question. Increase our faith. Increase my faith. So then the disciples say, increase our faith. And Jesus says to them, if you had the faith of the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, be uprooted and planted in a sea, and it would obey you. Jesus isn't chastising them here. He's not telling them you don't even have this much faith. The way it's worded here, it's more like, of course, you'd have this much faith. I mean, he ends, after all, talking to these disciples who have been with him all of this time. And so Jesus says to them, you've got at least a speck of faith. And this is what you could do with it. Say to this tree here, get up and move, and it would be awesome, right? I mean, imagine watching this huge mulberry tree with all of its massive root system being ripped right up out of the ground and flung into the ocean. If people saw you do this, then you would be amazed. You would get a lot of attention. It might even be enough to take Donald Trump out of the out of the news cycle for a day. Maybe a few hours, minutes, I don't know. You'd definitely get attention. And people will be wondering what great thing you're gonna do next. But here's the thing levitating a massive tree and having it flung into the ocean, it might be amazing. It's actually a completely useless thing to do. There's nothing about it that would ever make a difference. Jesus says this life of faith that we're living is not about trying to make great things happen. I think it's tempting to quantify our faith, to think if I just believe hard enough, something great will happen. Or at least the very bad thing will be held at bay. And there are times when we really want to believe enough. I know I do that, and it can be for something a lot more useful than tossing a tree into the ocean. You know, I want, I we want, we prayed for, you know, loved ones who suffer for cancers to be healed, for peace in our world, for our leaders to be just, for our loved ones to be safe, for our our detention centers to be to at least be sane places, for our communities to be loving. Goes on and on and on for what we for what we cry for, for what we hope for. And we can cry out to God, increase our faith as if we simply believe enough, if we have enough faith that these that these things will happen. A faith, it's not fireworks, it's it's often as ordinary as doing the next thing. As simple as keeping a promise, as forgiving again, as showing up for worship or offering a kindness or when no one else notices. It's the kind of faith that grows quietly in the kitchens and in hospital rooms or classrooms or in the back pews or in people who keep loving, serving, praying, and hoping, even when no one thanks them. And maybe that's why Jesus tells the story the way that he does, not to belittle the disciples, but to remind them and to remind us that faith isn't about recognition, it's about relationship, it's about living within the love of God and letting that love shape how we move through the world. One of the most damaging messages the church has passed on along is that faith and doubt cannot coexist. You know, that if we somehow struggle, then somehow we don't have enough faith. But faith was never meant to cancel out doubt. Faith is what we what we do in the middle of doubt. It's what carries us through fear, through the silence, through the not knowing. Faith is what leans into God's abundance when everything else feels scarce? What if faith isn't something we have more or less of? What if it's something we do? I mean, what if faith is what if faith isn't even a noun? What if it's a verb? What if it's it's not quantity at all, but a direction about where we're facing and who we're trusting? And when I look through the Gospels, the people that Jesus calls faithful, they're not the ones with this perfect theology, you know, or the steady confidence thing going on. They're the ones who turn towards him. There's the woman who touches his cloak, or the blind beggar who calls out for mercy, the leper who comes back to say thank you. The Roman centurion who risks asking for help. Their faith shows up in movement, in reaching and for asking and trusting to take that next step. Maybe that's what Jesus means by this mustard seed of faith. And it's not big, it's not big faith, but living faith. Faith that leans towards love, even when we're tired or uncertain. Faith that grows because it's practiced. Faith that doesn't need to dazzle anyone or win applause. It simply shows up. Now, faith is not deciding once and for all to follow Jesus. It's not that I have decided to follow Jesus. Faith is trusting that Jesus keeps following us. Faith is taking that next small step and then the next and then the next. And believing that evening our halting steps are held in grace. Beloved, the invitation of this story is not to somehow chase a bigger faith, but to live the faith that we already have. To consent to be where we are, to trust that what God has already placed in us is enough. It's enough to love, enough to serve, enough to hope, and to keep going. One small, faithful step at a time. Let us pray. Loving God. Thank you for the small and steady faith that holds us together. And for the courage to love, to serve, to forgive, and to keep going. When we grow weary of waiting for something big, remind us that your kingdom is already growing in the smallest acts of grace.

SPEAKER_01 16:41

Teach us to live the faith that we have, trusting that it's enough.org. May God's grace and peace be with you today and always.