Reflection for 3 October 2010

Year C Proper 22 3 October 2010
Lamentations 1: 1-6 Lamentations 3: 19-26 OR Psalm 137 2 Timothy 1: 1-14 Luke 17: 5-10
I’m a long way from having a “green thumb”, but I do love to grow things. Unfortunately I seem to have more success with weeds – which I don’t even plant, but which come up all by themselves. I didn’t realize until today that I actually knew something more about one gardening aspect than my Mum. She gets her plants as seedlings and didn’t realize that she can grow a lot more from what she has by taking the dead flower of the marigolds, pulling it apart and scattering the seeds.

Our Gospel reading brings us to reflect on the mustard seed. I personally have no familiarity with mustard seeds, except that I know that to spread them in the paste form on meat makes for something wonderful. The mustard seed is what Jesus used to explain to his disciples about faith.

The apostles’ request to Jesus we find in Luke 17:5 “The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"”
I’m sure we can relate to the request. We want to be walking in step with God and His ways, but often fall short. In fact, I think this is a dangerous request as it is easy to feel connected to God and walking in faith when all is going well, but if we are to really step out in faith it will be in the times when everything around us distracts us from walking in step with God and when things are not going so well and we are worn out and maybe even bitter.

The Israelites were given this opportunity to grow in faith when they were sent into exile. For many years they had neglected God’s ways, and then when they were taken into captivity they remembered the good things God had done for them and they mourned the loss.

A couple of weeks ago I spoke about our need to lament and this week our reading is from the book of Lamentations.
Lamentations 1:4-5 “The roads to Zion mourn, for no one comes to her appointed feasts. All her gateways are desolate, her priests groan, her maidens grieve, and she is in bitter anguish. 5 Her foes have become her masters; her enemies are at ease. The LORD has brought her grief because of her many sins. Her children have gone into exile, captive before the foe.”

Two things are important to note. One is that it is in these times of hardship that many of us remember God and turn back to him. Secondly, it is important to lament – because many of us, instead of turning to God, turn against him in bitterness of heart. Lamenting is being honest before God about how we feel. Sometimes we feel that we are being faithless if we are not putting on our “happy” faces and praising God in all our situations. We are exhorted to praise God in everything, but if we do this without ever taking the time to lament we will find ourselves becoming bitter actors – otherwise known as bitter hypocrites, and eventually the effort to continually put on an act will wear us out and we will give up all together.

We must lament and we must grieve. A whole book in the Bible is dedicated to lamenting.... surely this tells us something. However, in our grieving and lamenting we should remember to be in the presence of God and take note from the wisdom in the book of Lamentation:
Lamentation 3:19-22 “ I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. 20 I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. 21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: 22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.”

So, with all this in mind – the good times and the bad – the joy filled and the times of loss and bitterness - how do we “walk by faith”?

Faith is not gritting your teeth and telling yourself over and over, “I believe, I believe, I believe!” What we learn from the book of Lamentation is that it starts with honesty. Remember the story about the man who said to Jesus, “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.” Be honest with God and yourself and in that simple act of connecting in truth to the God who created the universe, anything is possible!

Firstly we need to look at what Jesus says about faith. Luke 17:6 “He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.” ..... We do not need an increase in our faith, but we may be ignorant about the power of the faith we have.

A mustard seed has all the information contained in it to become a full grown tree. It is lacking in nothing, but simply needs to be put into action. Our faith is similar. Everything necessary for amazing things is contained in our little faith, as it is our faith in a very powerful God – but it remains a seed and nothing more until we put it into action.

Someone once explained it as a chair. You can look at the chair and say that you have faith that the chair will hold you and not collapse under your weight, but unless you are willing to sit in it your in-action betrays your lack of faith.

On the flip side; you may have total faith in a chair to support your weight, but if that chair has a broken leg, all the faith in the world is not going to make that chair more reliable. The reverse is also true. It you only have a tiny bit of faith that a chair will support your weight and yet the chair is totally reliable, then your tiny bit of faith is all that you will require. Therefore, because God is reliable, even if our faith is tiny, we can achieve amazing things.

Paul exhorted Timothy to guard the gift of faith in his life. 2 Timothy 1: 5-7 “I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”
Remember that faith, like a seed, needs to be put into action. Through this faith there is a gift of God which Paul exhorted Timothy to fan into flame. Likewise we have similar gifts and challenges. We have to fan into flame the gift that lies dormant like a seed within us.

Sometimes there can be a kind of spiritual “snobbery”. When great things are happening around certain people or leaders, Christian people can easily fall into thinking that these people are those with great faith, and look up to and revere them. Perhaps you have met some of these people as well, who are very good self promoters. They speak fluent “Christianese” and it takes quite sometime to realize that the depth of their faith is really quite shallow. I think it is very likely that the apostles request for an increase in faith was linked to the temptation to show themselves to be “special” and this is the reason for Jesus following statement:

Luke 17: 7-10 “ "Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? 8Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? 9Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.' "

Taking the lesson from this we should remember that the most unassuming and unimpressive person that we know in the church has as much potential for greatness as the most impressive. It reminds me of a message I read from the Christian martyr, Watchman Nee, when he said that to those who are walking in the Spirit, things that others would see as extraordinary are viewed as quite normal and expected.

St. Paul also asks that Timothy guard the faith within him. We need to be told the same... and we achieve this in the same way – with the help of the Holy Spirit and by remaining connected. When we are not connected to sound teachings, teachings that are absolutely true and a proclamation of the Good News, then we are led astray and take on a theology of garbage.... and lies. If it were not a possibility then Paul would not have had to remind Timothy at all.

2 Timothy 1: 13-14 “13What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.”