Monitor What's Growing Within
Sermon
Sermons On The Gospel Readings
Series I, Cycle C
As the seventeenth chapter of Luke opens, Jesus turns his attention away from his enemies, the scribes and Pharisees, back to his supporters, the disciples. With an economy of words, only ten verses, the Master offers four teachings -- one on tempting others, one on forgiving others, one on the need to act on your faith, and a fourth on how doing this is no big deal. Just keep on doing it.
Let's see how Jesus weaves these four teachings into a tight, narrative tapestry.1 (In our examination of the text for today, we will also include Luke 17:1-4.) Jesus begins by warning the faithfully mature to be careful not to tempt the less mature. This demand brings us to the interface between the freedom that we have by faith in Christ Jesus and our responsibility to help others. In ancient Israel, religious law governed every detail of daily life. There were rules and regulations on everything from what to eat to how to prepare the food to how to wash the dishes. There were rules on public behavior as well as rules governing the most intimate aspects of relationships. Hebrew law specified over 250 regulations just on what was permitted and not permitted in order to "Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy." Paul emphasized that because of what God has done in Jesus Christ, people of faith are set free from following all those rules and regulations. Our relationship to God, Paul writes, is established by having faith, not by keeping rules.
Of course, freedom is never free. It brings its own set of problems and responsibilities. The Corinthian Christians once asked Paul if it was acceptable for them to eat the meat from animals sacrificed to pagan idols in the various temples around town. Sacrificed animals, after all, were the source of the best cuts available at the butcher shops. Christians didn't believe in those pagan gods. What harm could there be in having a rack of lamb or a nice sirloin from a goat sacrificed at the Temple of Apollo?
Paul responded to that inquiry by noting that for the spiritually mature, there was no problem. But some of the folks in the Corinthian Church were new to the faith. Just a few weeks ago they worshiped those pagan gods. They might not yet be strong in their faith. Therefore, the mature Christians should be careful not to flaunt their freedom in any way that tested the faith of the new Christians.
In Luke 17:1-2, Jesus makes this same point. He reminds his most mature followers that they have an obligation to the less mature. "It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble." That which is perfectly acceptable for parents can be destructive for children. And that which is not a problem for those who are strong in the faith could destroy the faith of a new Christian.
Lesson one from verses 1 and 2: Out of love, plan to be a role model for others. Lesson number two comes in verses 3 and 4. Out of love, stand ready to set straight anyone who steps out of line. Then, if they ask to be forgiven, forgive them. In fact, as people of faith we have an obligation to forgive and forgive and forgive and forgive.
Obviously, these two lessons place enormous demands on Jesus' disciples. It is incredibly difficult to be a role model for others. It is even more difficult to forgive repetitively -- simply because that other person asks to be forgiven. Luke tells us that in unison, the apostles said, "Increase our faith" (v. 5). To paraphrase, "Jesus if you expect us to do that, we will need to be substantially stronger in what we believe. We are not perfect. We are bound to do things that cause others to stumble. As for this continual forgiving stuff, we are not certain we are up to that. We might forgive once or twice, but the third time can't we just throw the offender out of our group? We just don't have sufficient strength to do what you ask. Lord, increase our faith."
Jesus responds with the third thread in this teaching tapestry. "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed," the Lord said to them, "you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you" (v. 6). To understand this verse, scholars wind us through the nuances of Greek clauses. Let me cut to the bottom line. Jesus means, "You already have faith sufficient for what I am asking. All it takes is faith no bigger than a mustard seed. If you act on that tiny faith that grows within you, you can tell that mulberry tree over there to pull itself out by the roots and jump into the ocean and it will."
Obviously, this is figurative hyperbole. Don't take it literally. Faith is not a magician's trick by which we are empowered to do spectacular landscaping. "Tulip bulbs, plant yourselves. Mulberry tree, show me your roots. Then dance over to the lake and jump in." The point that Jesus makes is that there grows within each of us a tiny capacity for faith sufficient for the task. Elsewhere Jesus emphasizes the wonder of the mustard seed. It is half the size of a grain of rice, yet it grows into a bush so large birds come and build nests in it. The implication is obvious. If we will act on the seed of faith growing within us, we will be amazed at our capacity to get good things done.
Please note that our Lord uses this notion of "having faith" in a very specific way. To Jesus, having faith is not adhering to a certain set of beliefs or doctrines. To Jesus, to have faith is to have a spiritual force in your life that calls forth and shapes everything about you.
Let me put that in a different way. Having faith in God differs from believing there is a God. A theologian once explained the difference this way. He said, "When I say I believe in my wife, I don't mean that I believe I have a wife. I know that is true. When I say I believe in my wife I mean I have faith that my wife will be my wife. I can trust her to be my wife. When I say I have faith in God, I mean that I trust God to be God. God will be the Person God is as God." When Jesus comments that we have the faith to tell a tree to move, he means that if we trust God to be God, we have all the faith we need.2 And that capacity for believing grows within us -- even though it might be as tiny as a mustard seed. We need to be aware of our capacity to trust God to be God. We need to monitor it. We need to act on the faith that grows within.
Unfortunately, more than faith grows within us. Lesser-valued things also grow within. As Jesus notes earlier in this passage of scripture, we also have the capacity for setting a bad example. Like a mustard seed, our ability to set a bad example can grow until we are nothing but a stumbling block for others. We have the capacity to forgive one another over and over again, but we also have the capacity to hurt one another over and over again. Frankly, if we are not monitoring, growing, and acting on the seed of faith within, we are likely to grow and to act on our capacity to sin.
Harry Emerson Fosdick, perhaps the greatest preacher of the first half of the twentieth century, once commented that he was listening to a couple of old friends. They were pontificating on the world's problems over lunch. Neither of these men had ever developed the gift of faith within themselves. As he listened, Dr. Fosdick realized that without faith these two lived in terribly small, self-centered worlds.3 Indeed, without cultivating the possibilities of faith we get wrapped into our own self-interests. When the outer edge of our world stops at our own ego, we live in a tiny world. As the ancient Zen proverb puts it, "Self is the sound of one hand clapping." The not so old American proverb holds, "Those who live only for self, deep down they are really shallow." At a time before political leaders consulted focus groups, President Woodrow Wilson observed that the rise to spiritual maturity requires serving others and not just serving self. We all need to monitor and control the seed of self-centeredness that grows within.
There is also within each of us the seed of anger. If carefully tended and grown, that seed can grow into violence. In human beings this capacity for anger is both universal and enormous. Several years ago, two young men named Terry and Timothy became offended at the way the United States government handled the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas. They talked constantly about their anger. They nursed their displeasure until it became a bubbling cauldron of rage. They began to hate their government and plotted to strike out against it. Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols did not monitor and control the anger within them. They made a bomb and left it in front of the federal building in Oklahoma City.
Mary Lee Sooter and her husband pastored the Eagle Heights Baptist Church. This congregation had some tough rules on following the faith -- no dancing, no card playing, no movies. But Mary Lee was not judgmental. She was known for her sweetness. The Sooters had a daughter named Jenny. When Jennie became 24 years old she announced to the family that it was time for her to leave the nest. She got a job, rented an apartment, and even decided to join a church that was closer to where she was living.
Jenny's mother, usually bubbly and encouraging, became very distraught over her daughter's decision to leave home. Mary Lee didn't believe her daughter was ready for independence. She was immature, naive about the ways of the world. Mary Lee asked her daughter to remain with her parents. When the young woman insisted on moving out, her mother shot her to death and then committed suicide.4
When children are small, parents act in what we believe is their best interest. In fact, the smaller the child, the more control we must assume over their lives. But as children grow, healthy parenting requires we give up control over their lives so that they can learn to be responsible for themselves. Mary Lee Sooter could not bring herself to give up control over her daughter's life. She was not confident of the Proverb, "Bring up a child in the way she should go and she will not depart from it." She did not trust God to be God and for God to be faithful. Multitudes want to have control over their lives and the lives of those around them. The only thing unusual about Mary Lee is the extreme to which she went when she began to lose control.
That is part of the lesson Jesus teaches in Luke 17. The potentially destructive desires of ego, control, gluttony, covetousness, pride, lust, sloth, anger, and envy exist within us. But the seed of faith is also there. We need to monitor what is growing within. If the mustard seed of faith is not germinating and growing, then there is a good chance that one of these other seeds can take over.
The first three lessons in Luke 17 make significant demands on Jesus' followers. We are to be role models for doing good and not do anything that causes others to stumble. We are to forgive others over and over again. We are to act on the seed of faith within us, and we are to make certain that seed is nourished while we keep in check the growth of the weed seeds that can also grow within us.
These lessons, coming one on top of the other, must have left them breathless. "Wow, this is tough stuff." Jesus, sensing that his listeners were overwhelmed by the demands, launches into a parable about how slaves do not make a big deal out of the service to which they are called. They just do it. That same is true for us. Don't complain about it. Don't magnify the difficulty of it. Just do it. Be a role model for others. Forgive others, over and over again. Monitor the anger, selfishness, envy, greed, and everything else troublesome that might be within you. Keep those troublesome things to a minimum. But whatever you do, carefully nurture the faith that is within you and act on it. Don't make a big deal out of it. Just do it. For you will be amazed at how much can be accomplished by faith. It is God's love that simply will not let you go.
____________
1. Fred Craddock, Interpretation: Luke (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1990), pp. 198-201.
2. Lectionary Homiletics, Volume III, Number 2, October 1992, p. 6.
3. Quoted in Pulpit Resources, Volume 14, Number 4, October 1986, p. 4.
4. "Faith Eases Pain For Congregation," Kansas City Star, Metropolitan Section, March 5, 2001, p. B1.
Let's see how Jesus weaves these four teachings into a tight, narrative tapestry.1 (In our examination of the text for today, we will also include Luke 17:1-4.) Jesus begins by warning the faithfully mature to be careful not to tempt the less mature. This demand brings us to the interface between the freedom that we have by faith in Christ Jesus and our responsibility to help others. In ancient Israel, religious law governed every detail of daily life. There were rules and regulations on everything from what to eat to how to prepare the food to how to wash the dishes. There were rules on public behavior as well as rules governing the most intimate aspects of relationships. Hebrew law specified over 250 regulations just on what was permitted and not permitted in order to "Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy." Paul emphasized that because of what God has done in Jesus Christ, people of faith are set free from following all those rules and regulations. Our relationship to God, Paul writes, is established by having faith, not by keeping rules.
Of course, freedom is never free. It brings its own set of problems and responsibilities. The Corinthian Christians once asked Paul if it was acceptable for them to eat the meat from animals sacrificed to pagan idols in the various temples around town. Sacrificed animals, after all, were the source of the best cuts available at the butcher shops. Christians didn't believe in those pagan gods. What harm could there be in having a rack of lamb or a nice sirloin from a goat sacrificed at the Temple of Apollo?
Paul responded to that inquiry by noting that for the spiritually mature, there was no problem. But some of the folks in the Corinthian Church were new to the faith. Just a few weeks ago they worshiped those pagan gods. They might not yet be strong in their faith. Therefore, the mature Christians should be careful not to flaunt their freedom in any way that tested the faith of the new Christians.
In Luke 17:1-2, Jesus makes this same point. He reminds his most mature followers that they have an obligation to the less mature. "It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble." That which is perfectly acceptable for parents can be destructive for children. And that which is not a problem for those who are strong in the faith could destroy the faith of a new Christian.
Lesson one from verses 1 and 2: Out of love, plan to be a role model for others. Lesson number two comes in verses 3 and 4. Out of love, stand ready to set straight anyone who steps out of line. Then, if they ask to be forgiven, forgive them. In fact, as people of faith we have an obligation to forgive and forgive and forgive and forgive.
Obviously, these two lessons place enormous demands on Jesus' disciples. It is incredibly difficult to be a role model for others. It is even more difficult to forgive repetitively -- simply because that other person asks to be forgiven. Luke tells us that in unison, the apostles said, "Increase our faith" (v. 5). To paraphrase, "Jesus if you expect us to do that, we will need to be substantially stronger in what we believe. We are not perfect. We are bound to do things that cause others to stumble. As for this continual forgiving stuff, we are not certain we are up to that. We might forgive once or twice, but the third time can't we just throw the offender out of our group? We just don't have sufficient strength to do what you ask. Lord, increase our faith."
Jesus responds with the third thread in this teaching tapestry. "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed," the Lord said to them, "you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you" (v. 6). To understand this verse, scholars wind us through the nuances of Greek clauses. Let me cut to the bottom line. Jesus means, "You already have faith sufficient for what I am asking. All it takes is faith no bigger than a mustard seed. If you act on that tiny faith that grows within you, you can tell that mulberry tree over there to pull itself out by the roots and jump into the ocean and it will."
Obviously, this is figurative hyperbole. Don't take it literally. Faith is not a magician's trick by which we are empowered to do spectacular landscaping. "Tulip bulbs, plant yourselves. Mulberry tree, show me your roots. Then dance over to the lake and jump in." The point that Jesus makes is that there grows within each of us a tiny capacity for faith sufficient for the task. Elsewhere Jesus emphasizes the wonder of the mustard seed. It is half the size of a grain of rice, yet it grows into a bush so large birds come and build nests in it. The implication is obvious. If we will act on the seed of faith growing within us, we will be amazed at our capacity to get good things done.
Please note that our Lord uses this notion of "having faith" in a very specific way. To Jesus, having faith is not adhering to a certain set of beliefs or doctrines. To Jesus, to have faith is to have a spiritual force in your life that calls forth and shapes everything about you.
Let me put that in a different way. Having faith in God differs from believing there is a God. A theologian once explained the difference this way. He said, "When I say I believe in my wife, I don't mean that I believe I have a wife. I know that is true. When I say I believe in my wife I mean I have faith that my wife will be my wife. I can trust her to be my wife. When I say I have faith in God, I mean that I trust God to be God. God will be the Person God is as God." When Jesus comments that we have the faith to tell a tree to move, he means that if we trust God to be God, we have all the faith we need.2 And that capacity for believing grows within us -- even though it might be as tiny as a mustard seed. We need to be aware of our capacity to trust God to be God. We need to monitor it. We need to act on the faith that grows within.
Unfortunately, more than faith grows within us. Lesser-valued things also grow within. As Jesus notes earlier in this passage of scripture, we also have the capacity for setting a bad example. Like a mustard seed, our ability to set a bad example can grow until we are nothing but a stumbling block for others. We have the capacity to forgive one another over and over again, but we also have the capacity to hurt one another over and over again. Frankly, if we are not monitoring, growing, and acting on the seed of faith within, we are likely to grow and to act on our capacity to sin.
Harry Emerson Fosdick, perhaps the greatest preacher of the first half of the twentieth century, once commented that he was listening to a couple of old friends. They were pontificating on the world's problems over lunch. Neither of these men had ever developed the gift of faith within themselves. As he listened, Dr. Fosdick realized that without faith these two lived in terribly small, self-centered worlds.3 Indeed, without cultivating the possibilities of faith we get wrapped into our own self-interests. When the outer edge of our world stops at our own ego, we live in a tiny world. As the ancient Zen proverb puts it, "Self is the sound of one hand clapping." The not so old American proverb holds, "Those who live only for self, deep down they are really shallow." At a time before political leaders consulted focus groups, President Woodrow Wilson observed that the rise to spiritual maturity requires serving others and not just serving self. We all need to monitor and control the seed of self-centeredness that grows within.
There is also within each of us the seed of anger. If carefully tended and grown, that seed can grow into violence. In human beings this capacity for anger is both universal and enormous. Several years ago, two young men named Terry and Timothy became offended at the way the United States government handled the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas. They talked constantly about their anger. They nursed their displeasure until it became a bubbling cauldron of rage. They began to hate their government and plotted to strike out against it. Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols did not monitor and control the anger within them. They made a bomb and left it in front of the federal building in Oklahoma City.
Mary Lee Sooter and her husband pastored the Eagle Heights Baptist Church. This congregation had some tough rules on following the faith -- no dancing, no card playing, no movies. But Mary Lee was not judgmental. She was known for her sweetness. The Sooters had a daughter named Jenny. When Jennie became 24 years old she announced to the family that it was time for her to leave the nest. She got a job, rented an apartment, and even decided to join a church that was closer to where she was living.
Jenny's mother, usually bubbly and encouraging, became very distraught over her daughter's decision to leave home. Mary Lee didn't believe her daughter was ready for independence. She was immature, naive about the ways of the world. Mary Lee asked her daughter to remain with her parents. When the young woman insisted on moving out, her mother shot her to death and then committed suicide.4
When children are small, parents act in what we believe is their best interest. In fact, the smaller the child, the more control we must assume over their lives. But as children grow, healthy parenting requires we give up control over their lives so that they can learn to be responsible for themselves. Mary Lee Sooter could not bring herself to give up control over her daughter's life. She was not confident of the Proverb, "Bring up a child in the way she should go and she will not depart from it." She did not trust God to be God and for God to be faithful. Multitudes want to have control over their lives and the lives of those around them. The only thing unusual about Mary Lee is the extreme to which she went when she began to lose control.
That is part of the lesson Jesus teaches in Luke 17. The potentially destructive desires of ego, control, gluttony, covetousness, pride, lust, sloth, anger, and envy exist within us. But the seed of faith is also there. We need to monitor what is growing within. If the mustard seed of faith is not germinating and growing, then there is a good chance that one of these other seeds can take over.
The first three lessons in Luke 17 make significant demands on Jesus' followers. We are to be role models for doing good and not do anything that causes others to stumble. We are to forgive others over and over again. We are to act on the seed of faith within us, and we are to make certain that seed is nourished while we keep in check the growth of the weed seeds that can also grow within us.
These lessons, coming one on top of the other, must have left them breathless. "Wow, this is tough stuff." Jesus, sensing that his listeners were overwhelmed by the demands, launches into a parable about how slaves do not make a big deal out of the service to which they are called. They just do it. That same is true for us. Don't complain about it. Don't magnify the difficulty of it. Just do it. Be a role model for others. Forgive others, over and over again. Monitor the anger, selfishness, envy, greed, and everything else troublesome that might be within you. Keep those troublesome things to a minimum. But whatever you do, carefully nurture the faith that is within you and act on it. Don't make a big deal out of it. Just do it. For you will be amazed at how much can be accomplished by faith. It is God's love that simply will not let you go.
____________
1. Fred Craddock, Interpretation: Luke (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1990), pp. 198-201.
2. Lectionary Homiletics, Volume III, Number 2, October 1992, p. 6.
3. Quoted in Pulpit Resources, Volume 14, Number 4, October 1986, p. 4.
4. "Faith Eases Pain For Congregation," Kansas City Star, Metropolitan Section, March 5, 2001, p. B1.
