December 13, 2009

Increase Our Faith - Luke 17:5-10

And the apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith."

So the Lord said, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and sit down to eat'? But will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink'? Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.'"

We should notice that the disciples did not ask Christ the question we might have asked. They did not say "What is faith?" As with their earlier request in Luke 11, "Teach us to pray," they were not simply curious philosophically. They were practical men, and they sincerely wished to be brought to the place where they could live and walk as their Master did.

It is clear that Jesus was also not interested in being abstract or academic. His response is very direct. Faith, He essentially tells them, is a matter of great authority and great humility. If they had even the tiniest measure of faith, they could speak to that tree they were standing by, and it would be pulled up and planted in the sea. Not thrown in the sea. Planted.

The longer part of His answer involves a servant who has labored hard in the fields or pastures. This man, upon arriving at the house, does not feed himself. Rather, he prepares a meal and serves it to his master, waiting patiently until the master has finished eating. After this the servant is able to take care of his own needs. But not only does the master not thank the servant for his service, the servant does not see any of this inequity of privilege as being wrong.

An interesting aspect of this story is that the listener transitions from being the master at the beginning to being the servant at the end. Jesus is not putting His disciples in either role. Rather, He is illustrating a principle, the principle of authority and submission. The reason this story falls so painfully on modern ears is because we have no real sense of the sacredness of duty, especially duty based on positional hierarchy.

But try as we might to revise things a little, this story is consistent with Christ's definition of faith throughout the gospels. There is the story (in Luke 7:9) of the centurion who desired healing for his servant. He told Jesus he was not worthy for Him to come into his house. Because he himself lived in a hierarchy of military command, he understood the authority Jesus had simply in the words He spoke. Jesus was amazed, and told the people around Him, "I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!"

A similar request for healing is found in Matthew 15:22-28.

And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed." But He answered her not a word.

And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cries out after us." But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!" But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs." And she said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."

Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

Like the servant in the first story and the centurion in the second, this woman was not resentful that she was in a subordinate class. Her expression of humility was neither fake nor manipulative. Rather, she peacefully accepted the higher status of others, and again the healing power of God was released as a result of her "great faith."

In the 18th chapter of Luke, Jesus was teaching on the coming day when the Son of Man would again be revealed. At the end of His discussion, almost as a private musing, He asks, "Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?"

There is no question that faith has been on earth in the past. Many people, both famed and unnamed, occupy the honored "Hall of Faith" in Hebrews 11. Here is how some of the famous are described (verses 32-35).

For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again.

Yet the stories of the unknowns are also listed.

Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—of whom the world was not worthy. (Hebrews 11:35-38)

Once again we see the two key components of faith in these Old Testament saints--the courage to stand strong in God's miraculous authority and an unwavering willingness to accept humiliation and abuse. The apostles also operated in this same faith during the days of the early church.

But the question remains, will Christ find these when He returns? Are we also ready to pray, "Lord, increase our faith"? Or has not our culture, and even the church, raised some very different standards in our day? Do we not pursue the equalization of privilege between all people as one of our highest aims, thereby forfeiting even the concept of positional authority? Do we not encourage self-actualization and self-esteem as premiere virtues? Do we not teach our children to aspire to personal greatness? "You can be anything you set your mind to!"

Or will we recall the quiet voices of Mary, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38), and of John the Baptist, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30).

If we truly desire to possess the faith of Christ, I believe we need to become as the servant in the story, gladly serving without expectation of appreciation or reward, knowing too that our Master has the full power to move trees--and even mountains--and that as His representatives we can draw on that power to accomplish His will in our world.