Pentecost
20 – 2 October 2016 – Year C
Grace
to you and peace from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
The
text for this meditation is written in the 17th Chapter of the
Gospel according to St Like: Verses 5 - 10
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 And
the Lord said, “If you had faith as a grain of mustard
seed, you could say to this sycamine tree, ‘Be rooted up, and be planted in the
sea,’ and it would obey you.
7 “Will any one of you, who has a
servant plowing or keeping sheep, say to him when he has come in from the
field, ‘Come at once and sit down at table’? 8 Will he
not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and gird yourself and serve me,
till I eat and drink; and afterward you shall eat and drink’? 9 Does
he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10 So
you also, when you have done all that is commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy
servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”
This text can be difficult to understand. The disciples
ask Jesus to increase their faith, and He says if you had faith equal to a
mustard seed in size you would be able with your words say to his tree, be
uprooted and throw yourself in the sea.
Jesus then tells a parable about a servant doing his duty without
seeking any praise or favours. As we have experienced, Jesus’ parables are
lessons to us on how to live our lives as a Christian; and in five short
verses, Jesus challenges us. Do we have a seed of faith? – Are we humbled and
grateful for His free gift of salvation?
“Faith” is a “power indicator word” that has been watered
down by being constantly used ‘out of context’. Picture yourself in a city and
a man is about to walk across a tightrope strung between two skyscrapers. The
promotions manager calls to all the spectators “who believes this man can walk
across safely to the other side?” – about 90% of the spectators put up their
hands. The promoter then says “who volunteers to sit on this man’s shoulders
while he does it?” – Not a hand in sight!! ‘Belief’ is one thing, but ‘Faith’
calls on the individual to act out their belief. You see a Christian must not
just talk the talk, but must walk the walk. Even then Jesus is telling us that ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done
what was our duty.’
How faith is applied in service to our fellow human beings,
is what Jesus is talking about. A servant’s task is never done, as Jesus
explains. The servant comes in from a full day’s work in the field not to eat
right away, but to serve the master’s meal. He is doing what is expected of
him. It must be understood that the actual context of this reading is not about
the master giving compliments, but in doing his duties serving the master the
slave is not putting his master in debt
to him. In fact in the context that we
are the slaves and Jesus is the master,
Jesus has paid the ultimate debt for us and given us the real gift of eternal
salvation. If the disciples wanted to ask for an increase of anything, it
should not have been faith, but the energy to apply the little faith they have
in ongoing, never-ending service.
From a human viewpoint we could
expect that Jesus would be happy to receive the request for more faith, but His
response to the disciples is that they have not yet begun to understand the
real nature of faith. The original Greek Biblical text is grammatically complex
in that the first part of verse 6 actually implies the disciples do have the faith, and the second part
of the verse implies that the disciples have not yet even begun to understand
the real nature of faith they have.
The disciples assume that to do
the work as Jesus teaches, they will need an ever-increasing amount of faith,
but Jesus tells them that they need to understand that faith allows God to work
in a person’s life in ways that defy ordinary human experience. This is
not about performing extraordinary miracles, but that with even the smallest amount
of faith, God can help them to live by his teachings on discipleship.
In the understanding of faith I
will quote the historically famous theologian Dr. Martin Luther:
“Faith is not what some people think it is. Their
human dream
is a delusion. Because they observe that faith is not
followed by
good works or a better life, they fall into error,
even though they
speak and hear much about faith. ``Faith is not
enough,'' they
say, ``You must do good works, you must be pious to be
saved.''
They think that, when you hear the gospel, you start
working,
creating by your own strength a thankful heart which
says, ``I
believe.'' That is what they think true faith is. But,
because
this is a human idea, a dream, the heart never learns
anything
from it, so it does nothing and reform doesn't come
from this
`faith,' either.
Instead, faith is God's work in us, that changes us
and gives
completely different people. It changes our hearts,
our spirits,
our thoughts and all our powers. It brings the Holy
Spirit with
it. Yes, it is a living, creative, active and powerful
thing, this
faith. Faith cannot help doing good works constantly.
It doesn't
stop to ask if good works ought to be done, but before
anyone
asks, it already has done them and continues to do them
without
ceasing.
Faith is a living, bold trust in God's grace, so
certain of
God's favor that it would risk death a thousand times
trusting in it.
Such confidence and knowledge of God's grace makes you
happy,
joyful and bold in your relationship to God and all
creatures. The
Holy Spirit makes this happen through faith. Because
of it, you
freely, willingly and joyfully do good to everyone,
serve
everyone, suffer all kinds of things, love and praise
the God who
has shown you such grace. Thus, it is just as
impossible to
separate faith and works as it is to separate heat and
light from
fire!” (An excerpt from "An Introduction to St. Paul's Letter to the
Romans," – Luther 1522)
A young man applied for a job as a farmhand. When the
farmer asked for his qualifications, he said, "I can sleep when the wind blows."
This puzzled the farmer, but he liked the young man, and hired him. A few days
later, the farmer and his wife were awakened in the night by a violent storm.
They quickly began to check things out to see if all was secure. They found
that the shutters of the farmhouse had been securely fastened. A good supply of
logs had been set next to the fireplace. The young man slept soundly. The
farmer and his wife then inspected their property. They found that the farm
tools had been placed in the storage shed, safe from the elements. The tractor
had been moved into the garage. The barn was properly locked. Even the animals
were calm. All was well.
The farmer then understood the meaning of the young man’s
words, "I can sleep when the wind blows." Because the farmhand did
his work loyally and faithfully when the skies were clear, he was prepared for
the storm when it broke. So when the wind blew, he was not afraid. He could
sleep in peace.
There is no confusion here; Hebrews 11:1 tells us
that faith is “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not
see.” This is summed up in the promises contained in the Hoy Scriptures. Our
Father in Heaven has created us and
led the people of the Old Testament lovingly through countless human pitfalls
by His Prophets. Our Saviour, Jesus God’s Son one with God in the Triune
Godhead redeemed us when He came to
earth as a human, lived a perfect life as recorded in the New Testament
Scriptures, and willingly died a horrific death on a cross as full payment for
our sins. On the third day He overcame death and the Devil that we may have
eternal life. At Pentecost the Holy Spirit was sent to forever sanctify us that we may be as one with
God into eternity.
This is
the plan that the creator of the universe has had for us since before creation.
He knows us, each and every one of us and wants only for us to receive the free
gift of salvation and eternal life He alone has earned for us. There can be no
doubt that where our human weakness fails us, our Triune God is there to guide
us and forgive us. Armed with this sure truth; we are able to boldly step out
in faith, as small as it is, and let our Lord and Saviour work His miracles in
our lives.
Romans 1:16-17 “For
I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to
everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the
righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The
righteous shall live by faith.” Amen
The love and peace of our Great Triune God that is beyond all human
understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen
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