Kalamazoo Mennonite Fellowship
February 28, 2009
Today, we're going to learn about telekinesis, and what makes Jesus mad.
Luke 17:5f 5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 The Lord replied, “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.
These two verses stand alone as a little story in Luke. In my Bible, it's listed under "Some sayings of Jesus." We are not given the reason the apostles want Jesus to increase their faith--but more about that later. Instead, we just get a bare request: Increase our faith!
Faith is one of those religious words that is so hard to pin down. We Christians and other religious believers are often criticized for believing in things without evidence, or despite the evidence. We're thought to be like the audience watching Peter Pan clapping their hands to show that we believe in fairies so that Tinkerbell will live. Or we're like someone holding their hands over their ears and shouting 'la-la-la' so we won't hear some bad news. Sadly, of course, this criticism is often true.
For example, if I said to you, if you had enough faith, could you throw a pine tree into Lake Superior using your faith alone? Or send the Sleeping Bear Sand Dune into Lake Michigan using your faith alone? And you'd probably say ... yes, because Jesus says you could. But you'd have to have "enough" faith or "sufficient" faith to do so. But I think this just makes us look silly.
Granted, I'd say something different if we commonly saw such things happen. If I expected Jason to send Isaac up the sledding hill by faith alone next week on Isaac's birthday, because I saw Jason normally picking up Isaac via mind control every week, then maybe I'd feel bad about not being able to do myself. But here's the facts: no one has ever cast a mulberry tree or a mountain into the sea by faith alone. The Christian faith doesn't give us telekinetic powers.
So, we have to ask, why did Jesus say this? I think we have to consider that Jesus is telling his disciples, his apostles, a joke, or perhaps showing his ironic side. Think about it: Jesus is saying that if they had faith the size of a mustard seed, they could do this marvelous thing. We know that mustard seeds "are the smallest of seeds." In other words, about as small a thing that you can see. If a mustard seed is about as small as you can get, Jesus must mean either they are completely faithless--which seems very unlikely--or something else altogether.
I think Jesus is simply saying this: they don't have to increase their faith. They have enough faith already. Here's a nice quote, from the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament:
In reality, however, [Jesus] is showing that faith should cease to think about itself. He is pointing to the kingdom of God, which is not proportionate to the faith of the disciples.
In other words, it's not that more faith leads to bigger miracles. Asking Jesus to increase our faith is the wrong thing to ask.
It might be helpful to get the backstory of this little saying. In the other gospels, this saying is attached to the story about the healing of an epileptic boy. Here's the story as Mark tells it. Usually, Mark has the sparest version of the gospel stories, but, in this case, it's the longest. In Mark's telling, Jesus, James, John and Peter have just come down from the mountain, where Jesus met with Elijah and Moses, and Jesus, made dazzling white, had been called God's Son, God's beloved:
Mark 9:14-29: When they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them. 15 When the whole crowd saw him, they were immediately overcome with awe, and they ran forward to greet him. 16 He asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” 17 Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought you my son; he has a spirit that makes him unable to speak; 18 and whenever it seizes him, it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid; and I asked your disciples to cast it out, but they could not do so.” 19 He answered them, “You faithless generation, how much longer must I be among you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him to me.” 20 And they brought the boyto him. When the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy,and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. 21 Jesusasked the father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22 It has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.” 23 Jesus said to him, “If you are able!—All things can be done for the one who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out [with tears], “I believe; help my unbelief!” 25 When Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You spirit that keeps this boy from speaking and hearing, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!” 26 After crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he was able to stand. 28 When he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” 29 He said to them, “This kind can come out only through prayer [and fasting].”
After Jesus's amazing transfiguration, he comes down from the mountain, just as Moses had done, once upon a time. He, like Moses, fills the people with awe, and he finds them in a controversial situation. A man's son suffers from what appears to be epilepsy, and Jesus's disciples are unable to heal him. Note that the father wishes he believed more than he did, just as the disciples in Luke's story. Jesus rebuke's the evil spirit, which leaves the boy, and the disciples ask what had gone wrong. It seems likely to me (especially given the parallel version in Matthew [see below]), that it is this context that the disciples, echoing the father, ask Jesus to increase their faith.
One thing that's immediately noticeable is Jesus's anger: "You faithless generation! How much longer must I put with you?" Yikes. What makes Jesus so upset?
I would like to suggest that it is the same thing that drives Jesus's irony. He wants them to know that the problem isn't how much belief or how much faith they have; in some sense, any amount of trust is enough. Jesus wants to see the spread of the Kingdom of God, not marvelous acts for their own sakes.
I think of it this way. One advantage we have as people in the 21st century over the people of Jesus's time is that we can see ways in which God seems to have worked, and ways God seems not to have worked, in expanding the Kingdom of God over the centuries. When we do so, what we find is that the church has not been known for powerful superheroes. We don't see people casting mountains, or flying, or use their amazing spider senses. When we ask what good the church has brought into the world over the centuries (along with the bad, I'm afraid) what would we say? It would be things like compassion, freedom, education, love, medical care, overcoming economic, racial and cultural barriers. It is things like worship, music, liturgy, and culture creation. As the church has fulfilled its two great commandments: to love its neighbors and love its God, we have seen the Kingdom spread.
In another parable where Jesus talks of “mustard seeds,” Jesus likens the kingdom of God to a mustard seed that is planted and grows into a great tree “where birds can come and find shelter in its branches.” Jesus doesn’t call us so much to be workers of physical miracles, but to be part of his growing, sheltering kingdom. This does require faith, and even more so, faithfulness. Though the church has never been good at tree-throwing, it has, at times, been good at nurturing changed lives, providing shelter for those in need, worshipping God in purity, and seeing God’s kingdom grow in love.
Now to be clear, God does continue to work wonders. We have seen some of this ourselves this week, in Abby's recovery. And many of us have seen that God, at times, provides miraculous healing of bodies and souls. But it is not our primary mission, which is to act in faith to spread the kingdom through love. We have enough faith for this, Jesus says. Focusing on "wonders" likely made Jesus upset during his earthly ministry, and it's likely to upset Jesus now. So, let's focus on what Jesus calls us to do. We don't need to ask Jesus to increase our faith; we have enough faith.
The superheroes that the Kingdom of God creates perform works of extraordinary love. How will God’s love shine through you this week? Do you believe you have enough faith for this? You know, it doesn’t really matter; Jesus reminds you that you already have enough faith to love.
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Matt 17:14-21 14 When they came to the crowd, a man came to him, knelt before him, 15 and said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly; he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 And I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.” 17 Jesus answered, “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.” 18 And Jesus rebuked the demon,and itcame out of him, and the boy was cured instantly. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 20 He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”[Other ancient authorities add verse 21, But this kind does not come out except by prayer and fasting.]