Return to Sermons Page | Home Page

“Increase our Faith”

Sermon by Chad Miller
on Lamentations 1:1-6 and Luke 17:5-10
given October 7, 2007

Well I must say I am pleased to see so many of you here again this morning!  Even though I condemned you all to hell last week, you have returned for more!  I am especially pleased that after having said such things I am still employed here at Westminster.  I bet you can hardly wait to hear what I might say this week!

And aren’t we off to a good start?!  Nothing like the profoundly sad and painful words of Lamentations to get things rolling!

But when we think of the living conditions of the majority of Christians in the world, perhaps, there could be no better words than these.

Today is World Communion Sunday.  On this day we will celebrate with the saints of every time and place, the Eucharist, Holy Communion, the Lord’s Supper, which means we celebrate with our brothers and sisters in Christ in Sudan who are slowly being exterminated, our brothers and sisters in Botswana, Zambia and South Africa, more than 40% of whom are suffering and dying from AIDS, our sisters and brothers in Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan, who are suffering ever increasing persecution as a result of our military actions, and the list can go on and on.

For them the words we read from Lamentations are not simply stirring; the words are in fact descriptive of their experience of life.  The words from Lamentations keep those of us in comfort, mindful of the reality the majority of Christians face this morning.  If we are to approach Holy Communion with any kind of authenticity and integrity, we need to first acknowledge the sadness and pain that far, far too many people face.

But what can we do?

If you were here last week you already know the answer to that question.  We can do anything!  With God, there is literally nothing we cannot accomplish.  All we need to do now is be the people faith we are called to be.

But what does it mean to be a person of faith?  How do we do that?

A good place to start with any and all of the “faith” stuff is with Jesus.  So let’s turn to our Gospel lesson for today, which comes to us from the Gospel according to St. Luke.  We will be reading from the 17th chapter.

Our reading picks up from where we left off last week.  As you remember, Jesus condemned all rich people to hell in chapter 16.  Then in verses 1-4 of chapter 17 he goes on to say that it is better to be drown with millstone around your neck than it is to mislead other people.  After this Jesus proclaims the only thing that is possibly worse than being drowned with millstone—which is the command to forgive everyone; no matter what you have to forgive.

And then Jesus talks about faith.

Friends together let us listen for a word of God.

I can see it in your faces all ready.  You are all wondering this, “I thought Chad said Jesus was going to talk about faith.  That passage did not sound much like faith to me.”

To answer your confusion, I would like to tell you a story that will at first seem equally confusing and unconnected to faith.

I recently went on an adventure.  I journeyed to the top of the tower in the back of the sanctuary.  A few weeks ago the call of the bell tower was simply too great to ignore.  I just could not wait another moment to find out what was at the top of that very, very tall ladder.  I also had great hope to stand outside on the top of the tower—a feat which I have not yet accomplished because a very stubborn hatch presently stands in my way.

One Saturday, I put on my grubbiest jeans, an old t-shirt, and came here to church with great excitement.  Even though the building was empty, I stealthily moved through the sanctuary, into the balcony, then quickly into the tower.  I grabbed hold of the one of one of the steel rungs of the ladder and began to climb.

As I climbed the ladder, a strange feeling overcame me.  I was about half way to the top and then for a brief second I couldn’t move.  I could not place the feeling at first.  Then I realized, much to my shame and surprise, I was terrified.

I have to tell you I was very disappointed with me.  I have been climbing ladders, grain silos, and mountains since I was very little.  I have jumped off cliffs for that matter.  But fear had never taken hold of me like it did that day.

I took a deep breath, set my eyes on the top of the ladder and forced myself to continue to climb.  And I made it to the top, where I was able to visit some lovely bells inscribed with Scripture verses.  I fought with the hatch to the outside for a while.  And when I failed to open it, I came down.

In my life I have never been afraid of heights, so my experience really troubled me.  Since that day, I have been forcing myself to climb up and down the ladder in the tower every now and again to rid myself of that unwanted feeling.  As I have been practicing, my feelings have begun to change.

If you have not yet figured out what climbing a ladder, Jesus’ illustration about a slave doing what he or she ought to do and faith have to do with one another, I will give you a hint.  I didn’t believe my way up the ladder.  Nor did believing I could climb the ladder and was not afraid of heights make climbing the ladder any easier.

But repeatedly climbing the ladder did.

For me, faith is like climbing a very tall ladder.  It is something that is not easy and it is something that we do and to do it well we probably need practice.

According to Dr. Joel Green, one of the worlds’ foremost Luke scholars, faith and faithfulness are one in the same in Luke’s gospel.(i)  While faith can be seen as believing in a set of ideas or principles; this is not the biblical understanding of faith.  In the biblical setting, faith is always something that is practiced.  Belief and action are inseparable.

At first glance, the passage we read from Luke appears disjointed and unconnected to our modern ears.  Jesus tells the disciples that if they have faith the size of a mustard seed they can tell trees to uproot themselves and move into the sea.  And then Jesus seems to shift gears and gives an illustration about a slave who should do his or her work without reward.

But for Jesus action and faith were not separable as we think them to be.  In the ancient world, faith was not an abstraction to be believed; but was instead a way of life.

Jesus never said things like, “If you assent to believing x, y and z, you are Christian.”  But Jesus said a lot of things like, “If you want to be my follower, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.”  And, “If you want to inherit eternal life, love God and love your neighbor as you love yourself.”  And, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.”

None of these things are easy.  All of these are things we do and are probably things we will need to practice to do right.

There is an exciting movement in the church today to reclaim this ancient understanding of faith, a movement from seeing Christians as people who believe certain things to seeing Christians as people who do certain things and live in the way of Jesus.

Marcus Borg, Brian McLaren, and Dorothy Butler Bass are some of the most well known voices calling Christians back to a faith of transformation and action, and away from a faith of strict beliefs.(ii)  Borg, McLaren and Bass are more concerned about following Jesus in doing mission and justice rather than getting all the beliefs just right.

            Don’t get me wrong, I think beliefs are important.  Personally, I actually do believe in “God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.  I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sin; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting.”  Amen.

            But believing these things does not necessarily cause me to do anything about the genocide in Darfur, the AIDS crisis in sub-Saharan Africa or the persecution of Christians in the Middle East that has resulted from the US military invasion of Iraq.  But as someone who is trying to live in the way of Jesus, these are things to which I am called to make a difference.

            When the apostles cried out, “Increase our faith!” I am pretty sure they were not requesting that Jesus increase their ability to understand, digest and accept some propositional truths about God.  The disciples request to “Increase our faith!” is tantamount to “Make us faithful people!”  For Jesus, if his disciples have faith the size of mustard seeds they will be able to do what they ought to do as his followers and to do so, according to Jesus’ illustration about the slave, without praise, reward or thanks.

            What does it mean to be a person of faith?  To be a person of faith is to be a person of action, not for the sake of getting honor or reward but simply because doing acts of justice and compassion are the daily practices of those who follow Jesus Christ.              One this day when we celebrate World Communion Sunday, may God pour out the Holy Spirit upon us, make us one with Christ and one with all who minister in his name.  May God increase our faith.  May God make us faithful people.  In the name of the Father, Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Return to Sermons Page | Home Page