We Have All We Need
Posted on Oct 02, 2016 by David Whetter
Grace and peace to you from God, our Creator, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who abides in each of us.
The journey had been long and the teachings Jesus has been offering were hard. Over the past several weeks as they had been traveling around, Jesus had talked with his followers about the cost of being a disciple. That is, to be a disciple, one must be willing to give their whole life. Jesus had shared with them the joy over one sinner repenting. They had heard him speak about the need to be faithful and honest with all God had entrusted to them. Last week, we heard Jesus challenge his followers, and us, to not ignore the realities and injustices in this world, and then, in the story right before our Gospel text this morning, Jesus said to his followers, if someone sins against you, and they are repentant, you MUST forgive them (Luke 17:3). But he didn’t stop there, no he went on to say, “And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, 'I repent,' you must forgive" (14:4).
Wow! This is hard stuff. To be a disciple one has to be willing to give everything up in their lives, be happy for those they don’t like or trust, they have to be faithful in everything they do, even in a world filled with dishonest people and systems. They also need to be willing to care enough about others, even people they don’t know or like, that they will work to bring about change for those who need their help and now to top all that off, Jesus says and, one more thing, people are going to hurt you, that is sin against you, and if they are repentant, even if they keep hurting you, you MUST keep forgiving them. “Oh, come on, Jesus, you cant be serious!” Oh, but he was and the disciples knew it and they also knew, they needed help, so they ask Jesus for the one thing they know they would need more of to do all this, “Lord, increase or faith!” It is as if they are saying to Jesus, Lord, if you are serious about this, then we need more than what we have to be the followers you want us to be.
But, as I thought about this story and these disciples, I couldn’t believe that they thought they didn’t have enough faith. These are the people who had already left homes and jobs and families in order to follow Jesus. They are the ones who had encountered hostility from many who opposed Jesus (Luke 11:53; 13:31; 16:14) and they had stuck around even when they had received a warning of what was to come (Luke 9:22).
But, at the same time, in our own world’s days of turmoil, hostilities and fear, we can empathize with the disciples when our faith wavers. When the wind and waves rose up as they crossed the Sea of Galilee, even as Jesus slept beside them, they were overwhelmed by terror. “Where is your faith?” Jesus asked, after calming the storm (Luke 8:25). Then later, Jesus questioned their limited trust in God. “If God clothes the grass ... how much more will [God] clothe you -- you of little faith!” (Luke 12:28). Having enough faith to do everything Jesus expects of us seems impossible even when in the very presence of Jesus.
I get it! I understand that notion of being overwhelmed and feeling like I just don’t have what I need. Too often the challenges and needs laid before us seem impossible. In fact, I suspect man of us feel like we just don’t have enough of anything, especially faith. The gospel text last week about the rich man and Lazarus challenged us to stop ignoring the injustices that exist in this world and be willing to do something about them, even at the expense of being willing to give up some of our comforts and our youth challenged us to get out of our comfort zones and get involved with dealing with injustices in this world.
I spoke last week about the need to accept that there are injustices occurring in this world and the situations that lead to using the phrase “Black Lives Matter” are realities that we cannot ignore. And when we were all done last week, the most common phrase I heard was, “Pastor, I agree, but what can we do?” or “Pastor, how can we change these issues?” And I get it! Like the disciples some 2000 years ago, today we are still saying, “Oh, come on, Jesus, you can’t be serious!” Oh, but he is, and today, it might as well be us saying, “Lord, increase our faith!”
In a world that is focused on having more and more and on super-sizing everything we want, it is only normal that we would say “Jesus, if you want us to be able to make a difference in this world, then you need to give us more faith, because as we look around at this broken, dangerous, hate-filled world, we need more to be able to make a difference.
Now you might think Jesus would rejoice in the notion that the disciples, and us, want more faith, but it seems to me he rebukes them, and us, for such a request. Doesn’t Jesus want us to make a difference in this world? Doesn’t Jesus want justice to flow like a river as Amos proclaimed. If he does, why wouldn’t he want to increase our faith?
Well, I would like to suggest that the request misses Jesus’ point completely. You see, what Jesus had been trying to teach his followers all along, and you and I today, is that God has already given us everything we need and that none of this is about us. It is about God and God’s miraculous presence that is in us and works through us. When the prophet Habakkuk said “the righteous live by their faith” (2:4b), he wasn’t talking about an amount of faith that we needed, it was that we are saved by a very special faith, that is God’s faith that is in us. And that faith is already a part of us.
We have all the faith we need to change this world and to work toward justice for all people. We have all we need to work toward justice in the African American community, in the immigrant community, in the communities plagued with poverty and poor education. We have all we need to make a difference and the time is now to use the gifts and the faith God has entrusted to us. The time is now to speak out and not buy into the lies that try to deceive us into believing that the horrible lives that others are living are their problems, not ours. The time is now to come to believe that we have all we need.
Over the next six weeks, you will be hearing from our Stewardship Team about all the incredible ministries that are happening here at Salem and in the world because so many of you are willing to step up and use your gifts and our faith that is the size of a mustard see. WE all will be challenged to continue to see that the time is now for us to be bold and to be willing to move mountains. Yes, we have old facilities! Yes, we have space issues! Yes, we have financial issues! Yes, we have racial issues, and sexuality issues, and economic issues and …. But, we also have a Children’s and Teen ministries that are shaping the lives of our young people in ways that they are challenging the adults here to be active in their faith. We have ministries that are attempting to make a difference for the poor through the Pantry Pack program and Children’s Memorial. We have ministries that are focused on making sure all are welcome here and that seek to serve as needed.
Instead of thinking we are owed more in order to do more, today we are challenged to move the mountains before us with what we have, and what we have is more than enough. Now is the time to see that we have what we need. Amen.