Luke 17:5-10. [read 1-10]
I wonder if you believe in justice, and that there are always consequences to our actions. In our society plenty people have no thought for their words and actions, thinking they will always get away with whatever they do. But Luke records what Jesus said about the terrible consequences for those who cause others to sin – especially concerning children; in a day when there are plenty of examples of how children and young people have been so damaged by the sins of others, there is a place for declaring Jesus’ judgement on those who damage children in whatever way. And then Jesus speaks about the other side of judgement –“ if your brother sins” – meaning not just filial relationship but also those in the faith as well as those who are outside it – “rebuke him” – so there is a place for whistle-blowing and confrontation in the kingdom of God, as well as forgiving them should they admit and confess their sin. But Jesus goes even further – “if he sins against you seven times in a day and comes back and repents, forgive him.” How on earth can we live like that if someone sins against us and therefore against God so much? Which is when the apostles cry, “Increase our faith!”
None of us can live a life of forgiving anyone that much so often – surely? Exactly – we can’t; which is why we need some impartation of godliness to do it; Jesus is only telling us to do what he does – for He forgives every time a sinner repents; Paul’s injunction in Romans 6:”How can we who died to sin still live in it?” To live according to those standards Jesus sets, can only be done when He is Lord of us. The apostles asked,” Increase our faith.”
What is faith? Hebrews 11:“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we believe that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” Being certain of what we cannot see is what faith is about. Faith in NOT believing something that isn’t true, as the old schoolchild joke says.
“Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” I’ve had people tell me they have no faith at all and don’t believe God exists. That’s very much a Western cultural approach, for across the rest of the world there is little real atheism, because people live in the real world where they are more conscious of things unseen. Most atheists I’ve met are so not by conviction but by convenience, as they don’t engage with looking at the evidence. Some refuse to even enter a debate with me because to do so might just challenge their poorly thought through world view that denies so much truth.
Faith has to be in something or someone. “Having faith” has to be qualified as to it’s object. I meet people who say they are “spiritual,” but they clearly have not a clue what that really means and usually it is a convenient excuse to not engage in the truths of life.
In whom or in what do we have faith? Lots of people believe in a higher power, but to be challenged as to what that higher power is, is a different question. A car has an engine, a clutch and wheels. No one says “My car has a very powerful clutch,“ if the power of that engine is not translated into the turning of the wheels. It’s not the clutch that’s powerful; it’s the engine, but something has to transfer it’s power into action. You don’t need a big clutch to connect that power into motion.
It’s who you believe in. That’s why Jesus said you only need faith as a tiny mustard seed and you can say to a mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea and it will obey you.” Now I’m not into uprooting trees nor moving mountains without the aid of a bulldozer; Jesus was using the tree as an illustration, just as in the mountain metaphor; we all have mountains, or giants, to contend with from time to time; who do we believe in? When we know God, and are living the life He planned for us, we know what to ask for, and when faced with impossible things, we ask His direction as to what to do. Sometimes we pray and are not answered immediately; if we don’t know Jesus very well we may think He’s not listening or He has been unfair somehow. We have to learn…Sometimes we pray for particular situations to change, and we have to wait - and pray - for a long time before they do. I have a friend whose husband went off with someone else; she knew in her heart that she was not to give up on him and for months and others she prayed; in the end he “came to himself” and returned. She now runs the pastoral care team in her church, looking after visiting and those troubled. Faith, trusting in the Living God who loves us.
When faced with a boy entrapped by a demon, Mark records Jesus saying to the father,” Everything is possible for those who believe.” “I do believe, help my unbelief.” With that, Jesus healed the boy. Faith is a decision: we can choose to believe what God says or we can choose not to. Faith is believing God loves us and has accepted us, which opens the gates of heaven itself to us, being ushered into the presence of God Himself; that means we enter into a new place of hearing Him speak to us, and prayer becomes a new experience. We only need a little faith but in a big God. Faith helps us rise above our circumstances to discover God is on our side. Increase our faith? Or increase our vision of who we actually believe in?
