Vs. 5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”

Luke 17: 1- 10
1:  And he said to his disciples, "Temptations to sin are sure to come; but woe to him by whom they come!
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2: It would be better for him if a millstone were hung round his neck and he were cast into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.
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3: Take heed to yourselves; if your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him;
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4: and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven
times, and says, `I repent,' you must forgive him."
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5: The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"
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6: And the Lord said, "If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you could
say to this mulberry tree, `Be rooted up, and be planted in the sea,' and it would
obey you.
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7: "Will any one of you, who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep, say to him when he has come in from the field, `Come at once and sit down at table'?
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8: Will he not rather say to him, `Prepare supper for me, and gird yourself and serve me, till I eat and drink; and afterward you shall eat and drink'?
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9: Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded?
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10: So you also, when you have done all that is commanded you, say, `We are
unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.'"

“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the certainty of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

What does this mean as you relate it to God, to life?

The Bible teaches that we are saved by faith and we are to walk in faith.  In this morning’s reading from Luke, Jesus said,

Elsewhere Jesus said you could move mountains with your faith.

Faith, what is faith?

Simply stated faith is trusting God is who God is and God will do what God promises. It is total dependence on God and a willingness to do His will. It is complete humble obedience to God’s will. It is a readiness to do whatever God calls you to do. When Jesus told the apostles,

”The apostles said to the Lord,

The apostle’s request to Jesus to increase their faith reminds me of going to the fish store when I was young.  You would tell the shopkeeper what kind of fish you wanted and how many people you were going to feed.  He would take the fish out of the display counter and put it on the scale and then ask, “Is this big enough.” The customer would reply, “Yes or No, add another piece of fish.”

We can’t add to our faith, we must grow it. Wanting more faith is like a child who wants to be a professional ball player or musician or a doctor.  Just wishing it will not make it happen.  One must study and train and practice and practice some more. We look at an athlete like Tiger Woods and admire his accomplishments, but chances are if anyone of us made golf their life since age five we would be on the pro circuit.

The apostles said to Jesus,

A mustard seed is small, but it is alive and growing.  Like a tiny seed, a small amount of genuine faith in God will take root and grow. Almost invisible at first, it will begin to spread. Although each change will be gradual and imperceptible, soon this faith will have produced major results that will uproot and destroy competing loyalties.  The answer Jesus gave the apostles is that you don’t need more faith; a tiny seed of faith is enough, if it is alive and growing.

Steven and Elana Kircher have a pumpkin vine spread out across the front of their house.  This pumpkin vine is not something they planted.  It is the result of last year’s jack o lantern, which fell off the porch and landed in the dirt in front of their home.

Apparently a seed from the pumpkin became planted into the ground and this summer they found to their surprise a pumpkin vine.   Over the course of the summer this vine has stretched across the front of their house.  The leaves have grown so that they have actually over shadowed their impatiens.  The vine has produced flowers and now those flowers are pumpkins.

The amount of faith isn’t important as the right kind of faith - faith in our all-powerful God.

Faith means:

In light of September 11, faith may mean accepting what God has allowed into our lives and relying on His grace.

A growing faith produces major results. Faith can uproot and destroy competing loyalties. We don’t need more faith we simply need a mustard seed size faith.