Faith to Change

What an odd request. “Increase our faith!” Maybe it seems odd because we don’t know what they meant by that. We have no background for the question, no whispered conversations, and the drawing of straws to find the lucky (unlucky?) one who would pose the inquiry. Or maybe it was a spontaneous outburst from a growing frustration of confusion or inability to do what Jesus could do.

Maybe it follows the verses the lectionary cut out of the text for this week. Jesus told them that this journey would be difficult and that they would be liable to getting it wrong, to stumbling, to sinning. He tells them that the consequences of their sinning might fall not just on them but on others, especially innocent ones. In that case, their sin is even more grave; the punishment even more severe. And though he then talks about repentance and forgiveness, they recognize their failings and cry out, “Increase our faith!”

Now, it makes sense. We know that feeling. Facing some struggle, some choice, some temptation that might knock us off the path, we, too, would cry, “Increase our faith.” We would know we weren’t strong or smart enough, and we feared that people – including ourselves – would get hurt. So, strengthen us. Increase our faith.

That’s an important and possibly heartfelt question. But it seems that Jesus tosses it aside or that his compassion escaped him that day. His response seems harsh, out of character, burdensome. Or am I missing something? We have two responses to this question or plea from the disciples. Maybe they were put together in the editing process. Maybe Luke grabbed two different stories from two different teaching occasions and plopped them together here. Or maybe we should just take it at face value and ask what Jesus was talking about here. Let’s assume both are responses to the disciples’ distress.

One of these responses we like, and we will run with it, as we have run with it before. The other, we quietly ignore or feel uncomfortable about and leave it alone. In fact, both are dangerous words from Jesus. Unsettling words, perhaps. These words, like many of Jesus' teachings, can be misused or misinterpreted. The mustard seed, for example, has often been coopted by the prosperity gospel preachers to mean that God wants us to have more and more. The parable of the servant or slave – depending on how you translate the Greek word doulos – has been used to justify slavery in the past or to present something about social strata that put certain individuals into their proper place. Don’t underestimate these dangers, and don’t neglect to examine your words, preacher, to make sure you aren’t hinting in these directions.

What, then, do we do with these stories or metaphors? How do we weave them together into a whole response from Jesus to the very real request that came from the troubled disciples. No doubt you’ll agree that one consistent theme from Jesus is a warning against fear. How many times does he say, “Do not fear” or “Why are you afraid?” Could it be that he hears the plea to increase their faith as a fear response, and his answer does not dismiss the gravity of the request but shifts it to another arena? Rather than avoiding errors, he invites them to claim possibility and service. If we put the two responses side by side, we might see a spectrum of faith responses in difficult or risky situations.

Jesus might be telling his followers that the call is ever to move forward—to take that step in faith, that leap, perhaps, into something unknown, but we are sent there be his word and command. And mountains may move. It has happened before; God’s people have changed the landscape of the world in which they live. But even if it doesn’t, or the change is too small to see right away, then we still move forward in service. It is what we are called to do. It is who we are called to be. The world should expect it from us. Not to put us or anyone in their “proper place,” but because that is who we are. Acts of service are not for recognition but for the joy of serving the one who said he came not to be served but to serve.

That is the faith we are growing into; that is the increase we need. We don’t and can’t claim faith that never stumbles or makes a mistake. But we can and should grow into faith that serves and even takes on mountains that seem unmovable.