enough faith

In the gospel reading, the disciples ask for more faith. Jesus has told them more about what it means to be a follower of his, and the response from the disciples is to ask for more faith. A number of times, it  seems the disciples don’t get what Jesus is on about – I mean if we did all that Jesus told the disciples to do, that would be really weird! Forgiving others, loving others, including the people everyone else discounted. Why Jesus even ate with and touched people who were not ‘clean’. Jesus acted in ways that were against the accepted religious traditions of his time. And now the disciples have been told to not to be the cause of another stumbling in their faith, and to forgive, as many times as it takes.

How on earth can we live this way, Jesus’ way, without bucket loads of faith? No wonder the disciples ask for more faith.

The disciples request shows they misunderstood the nature of faith, they think of an amount of faith. They show that they fear that they will not have enough, that faith is a scarce and limited commodity.

The disciples asked for more faith, and Jesus tells some stories.

The first is the story of the seeds of the mustard weed, a weed that was difficult to eradicate. Mustard weed grew wild and was the scourge of farmers in Palestine.  Birds would eat the seeds and distribute them, and even if you pulled up the mustard weed, the birds would drop more.  It was persistent, irritating, and fast-spreading. It would be there whether you liked it or not.

Jesus is telling the disciples, and us, that this is the kind of faith we need. This isn’t about amount of faith, but faith that is small enough to be carried everywhere, faith that is contagious and takes root into any space it can find.

If you have any faith, even as tiny as a mustard weed seed, you can do amazing things. It isn’t about how much, but having any faith at all. Any amount of faith in God is enough. Faith in God, faith that God is God, that God is able to act in the world. If we believe in God even just a little bit, it is enough.

Faith is about what we do, rather than how much we have. Jesus changes the discussion from how much faith, to what faith can do, and what we do with the faith we have.

All these words about faith but what is faith? What do we mean to have faith, to have enough faith?

Faith is a heart thing, it is trust and acting in obedience to God. It is honest sadness, tenacious remembering, performance of duty, a holy calling, and holding fast to sound teaching. Living in faith requires everything of us. Being grounded in awareness of the holiness and sovereignty of God; reflecting the grace of God in all our living; knowing our purpose is in serving God.

Looking at the second letter to Timothy, a few things stand out for me. This was likely written in the early part of the second century, that means we are looking at second and third generation Christians. The church is struggling, many thought that Jesus would have returned quickly, but this had not happened, … how to hold fast to what is true, how to not be discouraged when living in a hostile environment.

The author of this letter is writing to encourage Timothy, but not in a sweet or soft way. The encouragement is to stand firm, to maintain correct teaching. The letter starts by telling Timothy how much he respects Timothy, calls him beloved, and how grateful to God he is for Timothy. How Timothy comes from a family tradition of faith, handed down from Grandmother and mother and Paul to Timothy.

I remember hearing that faith is caught, not taught. Who are the people who lived faith into you? who inspired you, or challenged you, to live in faith?

While we all have role models and mentors in faith, we too teach others what it means to live in the Christian faith – are we helpful or unhelpful guides for people around us, particularly people younger in the faith? What does your faith family tree look like?

In the past few years some of my reading has been about why, or why not, young people who grow up in the church, leave the church. Much research is being done on this topic, and one thing that comes out of the research is the importance of intergenerational worship and activities. The research is showing the importance of children being part of the community of faith, not just knowing their parents and Sunday School teacher, but knowing other people in the church community.  Lois and Eunice handed on the faith to Timothy, and Paul mentored Timothy.

In what ways can we encourage each other, no matter what age, to live out our faith?

Remembering from the gospel reading that any faith is enough for God to work with, any faith is faith enough to make a difference.

What difference have you made in the past week? What value have you added to people’s lives though your paid employment;   through volunteer work; your involvement in community and sporting committees; meals you have cooked; prayers said. Imagine what the week would have been like without all those things being part of it. 

“And so Jesus tells his disciples -- both then and now -- that we’ve got all that we need to be faithful, and that being faithful, finally, is about recognizing all the God-given opportunities just to show up and do what needs to be done:

·                     doing our work

·                     caring for those in need

·                     protecting the vulnerable

·                     reaching out to the lonely

·                     befriending the friendless

·                     keeping the world going

·                     contributing to the common good.

It’s all the ordinary stuff we do all the time and, taken together and blessed by God, it’s pretty darn extraordinary.” [David Lose http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=2773

We are equipped with the promise that our faith will be sufficient, and the assurance that "God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."