Faith the Hard Way

Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him. And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you. But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do. Luke 17:3-10 KJV

I think this is one of my favorite passages about faith because it doesn't fit into any popular concept of faith. Let's hit the highlights.

Jesus said, if your brother sins and repents, even seven times in a day, forgive him.

The apostles said, "Increase our faith."

Pretty straightforward, eh? Either the apostles didn't understand faith, or we don't. Since Jesus didn't say, "you silly people" I'm guessing we're the ones who have it wrong.

Next, Jesus gives an example of sufficient faith to cause a tree to move from point A to point B. It's here where many people interpret faith as either positive thinking or confident wishing. Unfortunately, they stop reading too soon, because the very next sentence starts with the word "But" which indicates that Jesus wasn't done speaking yet.

Jesus goes on to tell a story about a master and a servant. He explains that the master does not cater to the servant, but the servant to the master. He also points out that the master does not even think to thank the servant. He says nothing about the servant expecting thanks and you come away from the story thinking that this is a typical arrangement. (It doesn't matter if you agree with the arrangement or not, the illustration still stands).

After Jesus is done with his story he says, "So likewise ye..." and then equates the apostles, and by extension all who hear this lesson, with the servant by telling them that when they have done all that they have been commanded, they need to recognize that they are still unprofitable servants. In other words, complete obedience is the minimum expectation. There are no brownie points for doing the minimum.

Remember that this story was told as a response to the apostles request to increase their faith. Just how, you may ask, does this address that issue? It deals with faith by laying out an explicit hierarchy; a chain of command. And, if the apostles are the servant, then God is the master.

What Jesus is telling the apostles is that faith is increased by understanding your place in relation to God and living within that place. A little bit ago we looked at the Roman centurion who said, "I am a man under authority..." and Jesus said he had not seen such great faith. Whenever we see Jesus directly address the issue of faith, he speaks of a hierarchy and our place in it.

What does a hierarchy of authority have to do with moving a tree? Well, Jesus said that if you had the faith of a mustard seed you could move a tree. Too often people concentrate on the size of the mustard seed and think that you need only a small amount of faith. I think that Jesus was using something simple to illustrate the passive nature of faith. The mustard seed is what it is and operates within the bounds set for it by creation.

We are to do likewise. If we look back to the garden, we see that man was given authority over all of creation. In relation to creation, man is the master and creation is the servant. Jesus is saying that if we operate within our position in the hierarchy, submitting to God, we will command nature. Faith allows for a delegation of authority.

And what, pray tell, does this have to do with forgiving our brother (read fellow human)? If we recognize that a sin against us is really the outworking of a failure to live up to the commandments of God, then we see that all sin is ultimately an affront to God. And, as one who is submitted to God; beneath Him in the hierarchy, then it is not our place to effect justice or exact retribution, and thus forgiveness is the appropriate response.

My understanding of faith is not necessarily in line with some of the more popular understandings, but I believe it is consistent with scripture and more importantly an understanding that can be effectively incorporated and communicated.

Faith is not wishing. Faith is not magic. Faith is knowledge. Faith is power. But, faith is hard.