By Steve Chambers, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Littlefield
Have you ever asked yourself or made a statement like, “Do I have enough inner strength or faith to get through whatever circumstance might be facing you at the time?” It does not take much. In fact, Jesus tells His apostles this in Luke 17:5-6, when they asked Him to increase their faith, “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”.
And what does Jesus do - how does He answer their prayer? Does He lay His hands upon them and pray and give them more faith? Does He snap His fingers and grant them a double dose of His spirit and faith? Does He give them “mountain moving faith” so that they could remove all obstacles that got in their way? No, He does not – instead He says to them, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you would tell this mulberry tree, be uprooted, and be planted in the sea and it would obey you”. (Luke 17:6) If it is my faith, for example, that helps me move mountains, then the bigger the mountain the more faith I would need to move it. The bigger the obstacle the more strength I would need to climb it. The more serious the illness, a faith even greater would be required to overcome it. The more blatant the sin the more faith I would need to have it forgiven. This kind of thinking sort of makes sense, but that’s not how faith works. In fact, faith does not do the work at all and thank God for that. God is the one doing the work through faith. Think of faith as the key that opens the door to God acting in our lives. The size of the key rings does not matter – key rings do not open the doors. It is that little key on the ring that opens doors. Even a little faith opens the door for God to move the mountains in our lives and open our hearts to Him. A Presbyterian pastor shared this story with me recently and it goes like this. He told this: Years ago, I was asked by the parents of a child who was severely intellectually challenged, whether their child would have enough faith and understanding to come and partake in the Sacrament of Holy Communion. My answer he said: I was not particularly concerned about understanding. Their child may never be able to express what they believed in words, but as far as God is concerned a faith the size of a mustard seed is all that is needed for Him to be able to do great things in their child’s life. What a joy it was for all those at church, especially the parents, to see the outstretched hands of this child, waiting for them to be filled with the love of God through the body and blood of Jesus in the sacrament of Holy Communion. Paul tells the Philippians, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13) God, working through the faith He has given us, will defeat the temptations to sin and He will help us to overcome the obstacles we face when forgiveness is required. Faith, even one that is described as the size of a mustard seed, relies on Jesus, His love and strength. So, I ask you, not how much faith do you have, but rather what are you doing with the faith that God has already given you? AMEN
(Note: This column is written by a different Littlefield pastor for the Leader-News each week. The columns are published on this page on Wednesdays.)