The
27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
NRSV 2 Timothy 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ
Jesus by the will of God, for the sake of the promise of life that is in Christ
Jesus, 2 To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the
Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 I am grateful to God-- whom I worship with
a clear conscience, as my ancestors did-- when I remember you constantly in my
prayers night and day. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may
be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived
first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives
in you. 6 For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is
within you through the laying on of my hands; 7 for God did not give us a
spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of
self-discipline. 8 Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or
of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on
the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not
according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace. This grace
was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, 10 but it has now been
revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death
and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11 For this
gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher, 12 and for this
reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have
put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day what I have
entrusted to him. 13 Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard
from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good
treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.
NRSV Luke 17:5 The apostles said to the Lord,
"Increase our faith!" 6 The 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'? 8 Would 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'? 9 Do you thank the slave for doing what
was commanded? 10 So 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!'"
“WITH
OR WITHOUT?”
We eat 20 billion hot dogs a year in
this country. When you have a hot dog,
you have a decision to make. What to put
on it? Mustard is a typical
possibility. There is, of course, catsup
and relish, or some may prefer sauerkraut or chili. Mustard is a perennial favorite. According to the National Mustard Museum in
Middleton, Wisconsin, mustard is the most popular hot dog condiment. They have the largest collection of mustards,
the MustardPiece Theatre, a tasting bar, gift shop, and host, on the first
Saturday in August, National Mustard Day festivities. They tell us to mark our calendars—in bright
yellow. How do I know all this? One of my sisters was once a tasting judge in
the annual World-Wide Mustard Competition.
In the Gospel reading the disciples
asked Jesus to increase their faith.
Now, that is not a bad request, but Jesus’ answer to them is
unusual. If you had the faith the size
of a mustard seed, you could say to a mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted
in the sea,” and it would obey you. It
is a startling picture of faith. The
disciples talk about faith like it is some kind of activity, like lifting
weights. Jesus talks about faith like a
tiny seed. Faith is very simple and very
powerful.
The reading from 2 Timothy talks
about faith as well. Paul greets Timothy
and praises his sincere faith, which he learned from his mother and
grandmother. It is an essential part of
his life. That part of faith can be
passed down over the generations. And we
are reminded about Paul’s faith, too. It
is trusting in God who is able to guard what has been entrusted to him. Faith, is not only believing truths about
God, it is also trust in God. That kind
of faith focuses more on God’s power than our own.
That is true for Jesus’ reply to the
disciples. They have just been told that
they need to forgive others, even seven times, a difficult, but not impossible,
thing. It is a thing requiring
effort. They ask Jesus to increase their
faith. Jesus brings them back to the
simplicity of faith. It is both more
simple and more powerful than their question asks. He tells them if they had the faith the size
of a mustard seed they could do incredible things. A seed is one of the smallest of common things. A tiny seed can grow into a great bush or
tree. A seed is not an effort, not a
project, it is a thing with the potential of life in it. All it needs is a place to be planted and
grow. A farmer or gardener can’t make
the seed grow. There is no effort that
can make it grow. All they have to do is
plant it and care for it. Faith, while
simple, requires us to respond to it.
That is the message of the rest of the Gospel
reading, this parable about a slave. The
slave does not come in from work and then the master serves him or her. He or she finishes the work in the field and
comes in and then has to serve the master.
All this seems a bit, well, harsh.
But it is the picture of humility.
The servant works for someone else.
That is the reminder that we receive God’s gifts, faith and what faith
make possible, not by thinking we are in charge but by receiving it. We, like the servant, have nothing to claim
our own. We receive what we need from
the Master. It is also the reminder that
faith and what we do by faith really is for someone else. It is for God. The kind of faith that Jesus is talking about
is not self-serving control of the world, or some kind of showy magic tricks. It is for how we can advance the mission of
God in our world, so it can grow in spectacular ways, like the mustard plant. Sometimes that requires that we do great
things.
We go back to that idea of the
seed. How do we learn about gardening or
farming? It is often like how we learn
about faith, by seeing it in our families or watching or hearing about it. Louise Stoltzfus talks about growing things
in an Amish community, that she learned about it as her grandmother read the Farmers’ Almanac to them. They loved its wisdom, but also learned that
gardening, whether for pleasure, food for the table, or extra income, required
hard work.
Many times we focus on effort—on
what we can do. In faith we follow God’s
will, we do what is needed for following the direction God gives. The lesson is that we need to plant the seed,
but we need to be faithful with what God has given us.
The seed, what we start with, is a gift. It is from another plant, from another’s
work. No one can make a seed. It is given to us and reminds us of those
words from Lamentation: Great is thy faithfulness, O God. It is for serving God even as God cares for
us. God cares for our hopes and dreams,
for what we need in life. The seed can
be an invitation to dream and a sign that our dreams are God leading us into
God’s care for us.
Think of that mustard seed, it is to
remind you to look forward in hope. It
is to let you know you are part of God’s plan, as it grows like the plant, as
it unfolds, and blossoms and bears great fruit.
It is to remind you that your hopes are important to God, who will bless
them with growth.
If you had faith the size of a
mustard seed, great things can be done.
Jesus reminds us of the power of faith.
The power of faith is the power of God in us. And like the servants, it is not for our
desires and whims; it is to serve God.
But we are also reminded that it is a gift and we see again the care God
takes of us day by day. The seed is
possibility of things to come, like God’s mercies that are new every
morning. Great faith is possible. Great things are possible. Great is thy faithfulness, O Lord.
+++++
No comments:
Post a Comment