Faith - Redeemer Episcopal Church

Luke 17:5-10

⁵The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” ⁶The 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’? ⁸Would 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’? ⁹Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? ¹⁰So 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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This sermon was originally preached by me, Rev. Sarah Locke, at Redeemer Episcopal Church in Jacksonville, FL on October 6, 2019. You may read the transcript below, or listen to it (with infusions from the Spirit) at this link. It was also our celebration of "Blessing of the Animals," which adds a little context to why my dog was with me that morning. 

God of mercy, help us to understand that we already have enough faith through your Son, Jesus Christ, to live our days in Christian obedience. Amen.

A few weekends ago, I attended a women’s retreat that focused on spiritual gifts. Before the retreat, we were all supposed to take a spiritual gifts assessment online and bring our results with us. 

As we began our conversations, I listened to various women confess, “well, it says my most prominent spiritual gift is faith, but I don’t know about that.” The other women, their friends who had come with them, and the one who listened to their stories over the weekend began shaking their heads. “Yes,” they said, “it is so obvious to us that faith is your spiritual gift. Just the way you walk through life and encounter people— it is certainly a prominent gift in your life.” 

The faithful women didn’t see big flashy, newspaper worthy signs of the faithfulness— maybe they never left their homes to live in poverty, perhaps they weren’t traditional ministers or nuns, maybe they’d never been recognized for their faith ever before that day. 

Whatever it was, they didn’t feel like they had “enough” faith, which is what the disciples were looking for in themselves because Jesus was asking them to do what they thought were big, huge, flashy things. The disciples had heard Jesus tell people about the true cost of discipleship— a lifestyle that would cost them not only their relationships, their livelihood, but ultimately their very lives. 

It’s really no wonder that the disciples were demanding Jesus to increase their faith, but Jesus obviously thinks it’s the wrong request. 

Faith, Jesus says in not so many words, is not something that can be measured, but something that has already been gifted to us— in ready abundance— by the Holy Spirit. Faith is something that we walk every day, obedience we called it, perhaps, as Jesus implies by his story of the slaves serving their masters. Faith is simply doing what we are told by God to do— nothing flashy, nothing worth praise or a news story. 

But the disciples didn’t want faith to simply make it through the day, they were asking for faith to do great works and great wonders according to their own desires. But this was not according to God’s own grace and love. 

But I understand the disciples’ cry for more faith— it would be nice if we were recognized a little more for how much faith we have, wouldn’t it? Just so we know we have enough. But the reality is that we do already have the faith that we need, and more than that, we already demonstrate that faith every day. 

God gives us enough faith through the Holy Spirit to continue in the Christian life, to continue to turn back toward God despite our sinfulness and temptations. Not flashy, but good and true and measured everyday faith. 

It’s the faith that Jesus speaks about at other times— not the faith of moving mountains or of uprooting a mulberry tree and throwing it into the sea. 

It is doing small, faithful things repeatedly. It is the faith of a mustard seed, the faith of salt and grain and ordinary life. 

Presbyterian pastor, Courtney Ellis says, “It is what we do in those ordinary times that matters most because those are the days that shape us most regularly.” God works in the minuscule things. God works in our every day, faithful acts of obedience. 

When we decide to turn toward our neighbor instead of away, God works in that small faithful act. When we spend an extra few minutes snuggling with our child at night, when we decide to just do this dishes instead of fussing at our spouse or roommate. God works in that small faithful act. When we prayerfully decide to commit a few extra dollar to the mission of the church this year, God works in that small faithful act. When we come to worship with our friends and family, when we bring our pets for a blessing. God works in that small faithful act. 

And God works in those small faithful acts day after day, even when we trip up and feel like we haven’t done a single faithful thing in weeks. Because God is faithful to us. And it is God’s faithfulness that keeps us moving toward the Kingdom.

There are countless examples of every day faithfulness in my life, people I can point to and say, “that’s exactly what God is like.” But the best example I could think of this week was Cooper, our seven year old husky here. 

We also have a one year old little boy, so every day Cooper is whacked with toys and bottles, he has his fur tugged on and pulled out, and he’s regularly used as a footstool. We don’t walk him as often as we should and he spends a lot of time at home sleeping. Yet he remains faithful. He is always calm and happy, always willing to stick close to our son and me when we do go on walks. Every day he demonstrates his obedience and devotion to us, despite the way we sometimes unknowingly neglect him. 

We see that kind of faithfulness in so many pets, service animals, and therapy animals. The faith of simply continuing to look forward to the next day, no knowing what it holds, but knowing that God is there guiding us and being faithful alongside us. 

And that faith might not be flashy or glamorous, it might not feel like a lot and some days it will feel like it is barely there, God works in that too. Amen.