Most of us as students probably struggled with our grades from time to time. When I was growing up, there was a mail order program (probably on VHS) called “Where There’s a Will, There’s an A.” I never had a chance to view the material but have to admit that I was always a little intrigued. I thought that what I needed to do was study more, but according to the title, what I was missing was a will. I thought “no wonder my grades aren’t that great. I don’t even know what a will is.” I don’t know if the program actually helped, but this is typically how gimmicks work. Promise you something that you really want with little or no effort on your part. After all, how hard is it to have a will? Finding one of those should be much easier than actually studying. You can find similar phenomena in weight loss and finance – secret tricks that promise you can eat whatever you want and lose weight or super easy ways to earn extra cash right now. Unfortunately, most of life’s problems require more than a simple fix.
In today’s gospel, the apostles ask Jesus to increase their faith. Faith put simply is the belief, trust, and obedience to God as revealed in Jesus Christ. Sounds like a difficult feat to have someone increase your faith. Upon hearing Jesus’ response, one might conclude that a very small-sized faith is something to aspire to. After all, we are told that we could command a tree to uproot and plant itself in the sea if we had faith the size of a mustard seed. Jesus doesn’t grant their wishes. Instead, he tells them a story about a master and a slave. When the slave returns from the fields, they are asked to prepare supper for the master. All this is expected of the slave. The slave expects no thanks, and neither does the master intend to give any. It is simply the nature of the arrangement.
Regardless of the slave’s beliefs or whether the slave is appreciated, there is still work to be done. The fields must be plowed and dinner must be prepared. There is no magic solution to get these things done. There is only effort. In this story, Jesus is offering us clues to discipleship. Through our obedient love, service is how our faith is lived out. But like many of Jesus’ teachings, there is more to the story than face value. Jesus is actually pointing out that the size of our faith does NOT matter – indirectly affirming that the apostles already have enough faith. After all, they are literally following Jesus. What matters is that we HAVE faith. What our faith can accomplish is another matter altogether. The story of the mulberry tree was not meant to be taken literally. Rather, it represents the awesome possibilities that faith in God can produce.
Jesus demonstrated an extraordinary life of service and obedience to God. Like the slave in the parable, we are to serve God faithfully. However, what is missing from the story is that we serve a loving Master, who has our very best interests at heart. Faith is a gift that comes not from our own actions but from God’s unmerited grace and mercy. Our faith is demonstrated in our service to God and others. Following Jesus requires love, as He commanded us to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves. There is no distinction between a little faith and much faith. There is only faith. By believing, trusting and obeying God we have the power of the Holy Spirit working through us to accomplish God’s will here on Earth. God loves us and desires a relationship with us and a relationship like a mustard seed can grow into something remarkable. However, that relationship requires our own active participation. We are not alone in our struggle. God is there to strengthen and guide us. As followers of Christ, we trust that God cares for us and wants what is best for us. As we continue on our journey, we will find that our faith is sufficient and we have all the help available to us that we need. And for that we can say “Thanks be to God!” Amen.
