Faith is something we do. October 2, 2022. The Rev. David M. Stoddart

 Luke 17:5-10

Growing up I went to an Episcopal school, St. Mark’s in Dallas. It’s a K through 12 school, but I attended from seventh through twelfth grade. When I was a senior I took a religion class, taught by the school chaplain. As part of the class, we had to do a final project. But when I went to see this chaplain and talk about possible projects, he gave me a surprising choice. He told me I could do a research paper — or give a talk at middle school chapel. Without hesitating, I said, “I’ll take the paper.” Without hesitating, he said, “No, you won’t.” I really resisted the idea of a chapel talk, but he pushed hard for it. And he was a man I respected and looked up to: he was an important figure in my spiritual story. So with great reluctance I agreed to do the talk. The prospect terrified me, and when the day arrived I felt like I was going to throw up. But somehow I got up in front of 200 middle school boys and said something. I have no memory of what I said: I just know I managed not to throw up and I was beyond relieved when it was over. It was the first homily I ever preached, but that’s not why it’s important. I’m sharing it with you because I think it was probably the first time I remember consciously acting on faith. And it taught me a truth that I continually need to relearn: faith is not something we have. Faith is something we do.

I would define faith as trusting in God: trusting that there is a God, trusting that God loves us, trusting that God is always working for our ultimate good. When I gave that talk I trusted that God would give me the strength to do it and somehow use it for good. But while trusting is a verb, it is very tempting to think of faith as a noun, as a thing we have or we don’t have; a lump we have a lot of or a lump we have little of. But that kind of thinking can inhibit us because we might feel that we have to acquire or build up a certain amount of faith to do something: we have to have x amount of faith to be kind to someone we don’t like, say, or we have to have x amount of faith to invite someone to church. And if we don’t think we have the right amount of faith, we just won’t do it. And the disciples seem to feel this way in our Gospel today. Jesus asks them to do lots of hard things. Immediately before our reading today, Jesus said to them: And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times a day and says, “I repent,” you must forgive. So the disciples say, “ We need more faith to do that. Increase our faith!”

And Jesus’s response . . . is so Jesus. As he is wont to do, he uses hyperbolic language and a seemingly absurd image to make a crucial point: 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. I do not believe we are meant to take this literally, and that we are supposed to somehow measure or quantify how much faith we have, and then act based on that. If I have the faith size of a mustard seed, I can uproot this tree. So if I have faith the size of a watermelon, I can uproot a whole forest of trees. And if I have faith the size of a minivan, I can redirect an asteroid. I’m pretty certain the point here is that we should not assign any size to our faith at all. The disciples are asking for the wrong thing. It doesn’t matter how much faith you have. What matters is actually exercising faith and trusting in God.

If we had to use a physical metaphor for faith, I would liken it to a muscle. If we want to grow more muscle, we have to use the muscle we have. If we want to get stronger, we have to do things that require strength. Growing in faith does not mean passively waiting for God to fill us with more of this mysterious substance we call faith. It means using whatever faith we have, because whatever we have is enough. It’s the doing that matters.

So in light of that, let me pose a question. Can you think of a time in the past week when you exercised faith? When you did something consciously trusting in God? Maybe you can think of a dozen times you did that; maybe you didn’t do it at all. But if we are going to follow Jesus and grow in faith, that will demand that we act with faith, that we do things that push us beyond our comfort zone, things that require us to trust in God. What are those things? Well, of course that will vary from person to person, depending on our circumstances, on our spiritual maturity, and on God. The Holy Spirit is continually calling each of us personally to exercise faith by taking the next step in our own spiritual journey, whatever that may be. For example, maybe we don’t pray much, and we feel tugged to devote some time each day to praying and connecting with God. Doing that would involve some sacrifice, maybe getting up earlier or having less free time in the evening. But doing it would be acting in faith, trusting that God will be there in that prayer and that God will use that time to bless us. God won’t give us that faith first: showing up to pray will be our faith. Or perhaps we feel called to get involved in an outreach ministry, like serving dinner at the Salvation Army. But we feel uncomfortable about doing that: we aren’t used to soup kitchens, maybe, or feel uneasy dealing with the people who come to the Salvation Army for food. We can’t wait for God to give us faith to do that: actually doing it is faith. And it doesn’t have to be a churchy thing at all: God can call us to exercise faith in all sorts of ways and all kinds of circumstances. 

But always what matters is not storing up faith in advance, because that’s impossible. It’s not a thing we can bank. What matters is following Jesus, trusting God, and answering the call of the Spirit in our lives at any given moment. Because doing that is faith. And whether we think our faith is great or small, it is enough.