If you had faith the size of a mustard seed – St. John's Episcopal Church

Sermon for October 2, 2016 (20th Sunday after Pentecost – Proper 22)
Dr. Steven Minkler

To listen to this sermon, click here to begin playing the audio file.

Good morning! Before I begin – I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, “Isn’t Steve usually over there, at the piano? What is he doing at the pulpit, at this point in the service?” I admit, it’s a little strange to me, too. I’d like to thank Fr. Armando, Fr. Mike, and our Senior Warden, Jay Anthony, for asking me to share my reflections on the lessons today, as part of the service.

A couple of weeks ago, I brought my car to the Toyota dealer on Straits Turnpike in Watertown. It was time for the car to get an oil change – regular maintenance that you have to take care of every couple of months. They changed the oil and checked the car to make sure I didn’t need anything else such as a new battery or a wheel alignment. They also looked in their computer to see if the car needed a recall service covered by the warranty. No worries, just an oil change, the car was in great shape. Everyone at the dealership was pleasant – when they were done, I picked up the car, and was on my way.

By the time I got home, I had received an email from Toyota Corporation. They asked me to fill out a survey about my experience that day with the dealership. Oh, no, another survey, I said to myself. I don’t need this. I deleted it. The next day, I noticed a text message on my phone, from Toyota. Please fill out the survey, it said. I deleted it, too. The very next day, I received a phone call from the gentleman who helped me the day I brought my car in for the oil change. He said he really wanted me to fill out that survey because it was important to him and the company… and, by the way, they are hoping for nothing less than the top rating I could give. I admit, it was a little creepy – how did he know I didn’t do the survey? He said he’d email me a new copy of the survey, and I said that would be fine.

Based on your reaction, I can tell you’ve seen these kinds of surveys, right? Toyota wanted to know things like, “How do you rate your level of satisfaction with the dealership… Please use the scale 1 – 5 for your answer where 1 = very poor; 2 = fair; 3 = good; 4 = very good; and 5 = excellent.” They also had a place where I could write in any answer I wanted, to the question, “How could we make your experience with us any better?” Well, I figure they are just doing their job and there really wasn’t much more they could do except make sure they don’t mess up my car!

So, let’s imagine for a moment that you, or I, one day, open the mail – or get an email, or a text message – from the Home Office upstairs. Jesus writes, “We’d like you to take a few minutes to complete a ‘customer faith survey.’ Your responses are important to us.” You notice there are two questions. They are not asking about your satisfaction with God, or with Jesus. That would be ridiculous, in my opinion. Instead, the first question asks, “Please rate your faith using the scale 1-5, where your answer is 1 = very small; 2 = small; 3 = medium; 4 = large; and 5 = very large.” How many of you would really be confused as to how to answer this question? Me too.

The second question is, “Is it important at all for you to increase your faith? If so, how would you do that?” I’m not sure I’d know how to answer that question, either.

In today’s Gospel lesson, the disciples seem to be telling Jesus they think their faith is a “one” on a scale of 1 to 5 – very small. They say, “Increase our faith!” They are hoping a higher level of faith would be pleasing to Jesus. Jesus doesn’t say, “Sure, no problem – here you go.” Jesus also doesn’t say, “Well, if you’re not convinced by now, here’s another miracle to show you I will love you no matter what.”

Instead, Jesus scolds them for lacking even mustard seed-sized faith and suggests they should not expect reward or praise for their service. Perhaps there is more to the story. When Jesus’ followers – the disciples, and you, and me – ask for faith, what do we want? Some of us might desire a faith that brings a kind of certainty, perhaps even superiority. If you gave a 4 or a 5 on the survey, you might think “I’m more faithful than my neighbor.” Faith, then, becomes an accomplishment. Some seek a mystical experience, a faith that works like a tonic and helps us get through life’s ordinary challenges. Some aspire to faith as an antidote to struggle. We tend to look for more faith when times are tough, not when they are ordinary.

The request to increase our faith, and the belief that if I had more faith things would be different, reveals, at best, a misunderstanding of faith itself and, at worst, demonstrates our own unfaithfulness. Jesus is very clear that faithfulness is not about size or quantity. He says, “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.”

The answer is not how much faith we have but, rather, how we are living the faith we do have. How is our faith, our relationship with Jesus, changing our lives, changing our relationships, and changing the lives of others? If it is not, more of the same will not make any difference. The mustard seed of faith is already planted within us. It may be small – but it’s everything we need. If planted, it will grow. The “mustard seed of faith” is Christ himself. He has withheld from us nothing. We already have enough. We already are enough. We do not need more faith. We need more response to the faith, the Christ, the mustard seed, the relationship we already have.

As one of your musicians, I sat down earlier this week to contemplate what these lessons meant. I first turned to song lyrics. Not hymns – those would be a little too obvious. I looked at contemporary songs to see how the authors talked about faith and our relationship with God. Most such songs seek a greater faith in times of trouble – you can imagine a whole list of Country Western songs with titles like “Jesus may love you, but I don’t.”

It struck me that we often ask for increased faith in times of trouble, but we rarely recognize our faith when things are going well – in the ordinary day to day lives with our families, our friends, our co-workers, and the people across the counter at a grocery store or Toyota dealer.

If you didn’t already know this, my “day job” is that of Academic Dean at Middlesex Community College in Middletown. I’ve had the privilege of working with community college students for nearly 30 years. Every day, I am inspired by their stories of perseverance – their faith that they can overcome obstacles and struggles such as working while in school, raising a family, and the simple act of getting to college. I take it very seriously that our students put their faith in their faculty and me to help them get an education, prepare them for their future, and live the lives that God intended for them. My job is not just a job – it’s one way I live out my faith on a daily basis to help other people.

I am inspired by students who helped create what we call the Magic Food Bus, a school bus we converted to a food pantry to help those students with food insecurity and who may not be able to have a good breakfast before coming to class. I’m inspired by students who participate in Courageous Conversations, gatherings of faculty, staff, students, and community members that are not “instructional,” but are honest and open discussions about overcoming racism and intolerance, addressing social justice, and topics such as mental health, free speech, and being fully engaged members of our community. Finally, I’m inspired by students who are active in an organization called Students Promoting Equality, Awareness, and Knowledge – SPEAK – students who themselves are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, along with LGBT+ allies – to educate one another about being looked at as “different” in a society that doesn’t yet appreciate all differences among God’s children.

So… getting back to Jesus’s “customer faith survey.” His question, “Please rate your faith using the scale 1-5” is really a trick question. The best answer is “all of the above.” As long as it’s the size of a mustard seed, we’re OK.

I did find some song lyrics I thought to share with you. I’ll leave you with the words sung by Faith Hill – and maybe we’ll sing them one day here at St. John’s:

It’s not easy trying to understand
How the world can be so cold, stealing the souls of man
Cloudy skies rain down on all your dreams
You wrestle with the fear and doubt
Sometimes it’s hard but you gotta believe

There’s a better place, where our Father waits
And every tear He’ll wipe away
The darkness will be gone, the weak shall be strong
Hold on to your faith – There will come a day.

The song will ring out, down those golden streets
The voices of earth with the angels will sing
In the glory of His amazing grace
Every knee will bow, sin will have no trace

There’s a better place, where our Father waits
And every tear He’ll wipe away
The darkness will be gone, the weak shall be strong
Hold on to your faith – There will come a day.

Amen.