Sufficient Faith? —Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 17C (Luke 17:5-10)

  

Luke 17:5-10 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” ⁶ The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

⁷ “Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’? ⁸ Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me; put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’? ⁹ Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? ¹⁰ 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 ought to have done!’ ”

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                There are times when I read Scripture, including the Gospels, that I struggle to make sense of what is being said. I don’t reject it outright, but I do ask myself whether this is a word from God or simply a word that found its way into Scripture. There is a great cultural divide between the world of Scripture and the modern world. To take everything we read as not only being divinely inspired but a command to be obeyed can produce unfortunate results. One of those cultural elements that must be rejected is slavery. In the ancient world, slavery was commonplace. That is no longer true. One can’t simply translate what is said about slavery into modern economic terms. Therefore, the reading for the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost is one of those passages that may give preachers fits. That is, unless the preacher wants to address the current attempts to whitewash American history by sweeping both slavery and Jim Crow under the rug, so we don’t have to face the realities of our history. In that case, a passage like this might be worth considering if only to preach against the text’s context.

                In Luke’s narrative, we are getting closer to Jerusalem, but we’re still not there. Jesus still has work to do, so we continue the journey with him as he speaks to areas of concern. The parables come fast and furious. One of those areas of concern involves faith. But faith, we should probably think of trust, not intellectual assent.

                Our text has two parts. The first part deals with the question of faith, followed by Jesus’ word about the duty that slaves have to their masters. In the first paragraph (verses 5-6), the apostles say to Jesus, “Increase our faith!” I need to pause here to make a note of a change in titles. To this point, we’ve heard about Jesus speaking to various groups, including his disciples. But here Luke notes that it is the apostles who ask the question. In Luke/Acts, the title “apostle” generally applies to the twelve. So, perhaps this conversation takes place between Jesus and his most intimate grouping of disciples, those who will take the lead once he departs from them. So, why might these apostles ask Jesus to increase their faith?

 We might want to look back to the previous paragraph (Luke 17:1-4), where Jesus tells the disciples not to be stumbling blocks to the faithful response of others. It would be better to tie a millstone around one’s neck and be thrown into the sea than to cause one of the little ones to stumble. He also tells them that they need to rebuke a disciple who sins so they might repent. When it comes to sins against them, they must forgive each other. If they sin seven times against you, if they repent, then forgive them all seven times. When you read these four verses, you begin to get a sense of why the disciples would ask Jesus to increase their faith. These are difficult expectations to fulfill, thus requiring a lot of faith. Or does it?

                When the disciples ask Jesus to increase their faith, Jesus responds by telling them that if they have the faith the size of a mustard seed (a mustard seed is very tiny), they have sufficient faith to tell a mulberry tree (Matthew and Mark have a mountain here) to uproot itself and plant itself in the sea, it will do so. It must obey the command of faith. The danger here is that embracing this parable can (and has) led to bad theology, such as seen in the prosperity gospel. Just believe, and it will happen, so we’re told. If it doesn’t happen, then you must lack faith. The world, of course, doesn’t work that way. So, what should we make of this statement? Fred Craddock suggests that “faith lays hold of God with whom nothing is impossible, and it is God who empowers the life of discipleship” [Luke: Interpretation, p. 200].

                If the reading begins with a request for increased faith, followed by a word about the way faith works, even if that faith is rather small, then the next word, which is a parable of sorts, must be connected to the request for more faith, even if the choice of a slave’s duty to his or her master is problematic. The message seems to be that slave are expected to fulfill their duties, even if they are rather arduous, without expecting any thanks. So, if a slave comes back to the house, tired from a day's work in the fields, and the master demands that they make a meal for the master, they will do so without complaint. They can eat later, after the master has had his fill. That’s just the way it works in the master/slave relationship. The master expects the slave to obey without question. The way this is set up means that it in no way parallels a modern employer/employee relationship. 

                As we have moved through Luke’s narrative in recent weeks, we have seen him portray Jesus as preparing the disciples/apostles for life after he departs from their midst. While at times Jesus argues with opponents, he also spends time addressing the questions and concerns, and needs of the disciples. He wants them to understand what being his disciple means, especially when things get tough. Craddock notes that the message here is that “even after a period of obedient service, there is no ground for boasting (Rom. 3:27), no period of fulfilled duty beyond which merits begin to accumulate.” We hear in the passage a reminder of what Dietrich Bonhoeffer referred to as “the cost of discipleship.” But it is important that we remember that Jesus himself came to serve and not to be served. Craddock then writes: “Jesus came among us as one who serves, and so are his followers servants. There is no place or time, therefore, at which the disciple can say, ‘I have completed my service; now I want to be served’” [Craddock, Luke, p. 200].

                We may not expect divine affirmation of our discipleship, but it is wise to thank one another for our service to the realm of God. We never retire from being a disciple, for it is a lifelong effort. Thus, when it comes to forgiving one another, there is no limit. Such is the life of faith when one responds to the call to follow Jesus. We might not like thinking about the life of faith in terms of duty, and yet to some extent, discipleship does involve duty. It does involve obedience to God’s commands and the development of habits. So, even though the life of faith may at times be thought of as an adventure, it can also be understood as a disciplined journey. This requires faith/trust in God, but faith the size of a mustard seed is, apparently, sufficient.