Year C

Luke 17:5-10

The Very Rev. Denise Vaughn

Rekindle the Gift

A priest at a small town church had a kitten that climbed up a tree in her backyard and then was afraid to come down. She did everything she knew to bring the kitten down. She coaxed and offered it warm milk, but the kitty would not come down. The tree was not sturdy enough to climb, so she decided that if she tied a rope to the tree and her car and pulled it until the tree bent down, she could then reach up and get the kitten. That’s what she did but when she got the tree almost to the point for her to reach the kitten. The tree went “boing” and the kitten sailed through the air—out of sight.

The priest felt terrible. She walked all over the neighborhood asking people if they had seen the kitten. Nobody had seen a stray kitten so she prayed, “Lord, I give you this kitten for safe keeping,” and went about her business. A few days later she was at the grocery store, and met one of her church members. She happened to look into his shopping cart and was amazed to see cat food. She knew this man was allergic to cats, so she asked him, “Why are you buying cat food when you are allergic to them?” He replied, “You won’t believe this.” A few days ago my little girl begged me for a cat, and I refused. But she would not give up so I told her, “Well, if God gives you a cat, I’ll let you keep it.”

I watched my child go out in the yard, get on her knees, and ask God for a cat. And you won’t believe this but I saw it with my own eyes. A kitten suddenly came flying out of the blue sky, with its paws outspread, and landed right in front of her.” See what prayer and faith can do! It’s hard to hear a story like the gospel today and not think that God must have a good sense of humor. No one will ever need to move a mulberry tree and plant it in the sea. But the point is simple: faith is a gift from God. It is not a thing that can, through exercise and study, increase or change. God gives it and God can then use the faith we have for the sake of building the kingdom of God.

Yet, who among us at times does not believe they need or want more faith? We hang our heads with the disciples after hearing Jesus’ reply today. This whole section of Luke’s gospel is full of very uncomfortable readings. It starts in chapter 9, when Jesus ‘sets his face to go to Jerusalem.’ Now everything he says and does is being scrutinized with suspicion and hostility by the religious authorities, and he is constantly in the spotlight. The stories he tells in chapter 9 and in the next ten chapters, including the gospel today, have an edge to them. Conflict and the expectation of worse are the setting. How do the disciples cope with this situation? They must have picked up on the tension and heard the note of urgency in everything Jesus says to them.

So, perhaps not unnaturally, the disciples ask Jesus to ‘increase our faith.’ If they are going to have to face such conflict they will need all the faith they can get. And we hear Jesus reply, that they don’t need more faith, they just need to use what they already have. The smallest possible amount of faith can work wonders, Jesus tells them. Why would they need more? He then puts to them the question of the slave. Today, it is difficult to hear Jesus speak this way about slavery. If however, we consider the story in the context of a society in which some people work as servants, we see that Jesus is describing a relationship. Does the servant deserve congratulations simply for doing his or her job, he asks? Of course not!

The master expects the servants to perform their duties, and the servants in turn, expect that when their work is done, they will receive food and rest and protection. Getting the job done is the obligation, without any particular recognition. To understand faith in this way, then, is to understand it as a way of life. This kind of faith that lets you get on with what you are there for is at the heart of the opening chapter of Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy. Timothy’s faith is a family heirloom, almost as though he has no choice about inheriting it and passing it on. The question is whether Timothy will remain faithful to his calling in spite of the suffering aspects of Christian life. You see, Christianity, when this letter was written, has become a threat to the Roman establishment as a new religion.

His mother was faithful; Paul was faithful; God is faithful! Timothy must in turn be faithful. Paul reminds Timothy and the Christian community, “to rekindle the gift of God that is within you….for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.” Rather than feeling ashamed about their testimony to Christ they are to join in the suffering, relying on God’s power, and “hold to…the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” Paul’s fear that Timothy will be afraid and ashamed and not tell others of his faith, reminds us that this good news is always one generation away from extinction. Paul needs Timothy to carry on for him while he is in prison.

We, today, are to take this passing on seriously by providing Christian education to all ages passing along the knowledge of the scriptures and our faith. And we hope this learning leads to showing a living faith that moves beyond creeds and memorization of scripture. In a recent survey, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that nearly three-quarters of Americans (72%) now say that religion is losing influence in American life, the highest share to hold this view in Pew Research surveys going back to 2001. As in previous surveys, most people who say religion is losing its influence in American life see this as a negative development, with 56% of the public as a whole saying it is a “bad thing” that religion is losing influence in the U.S.

The challenge for every generation is to hold to this gospel. Paul was appointed “herald,” “apostle” and “teacher” of this gospel. Timothy is called to hold fast to this gospel, to “guard the good treasure entrusted to him and to do so with the help of the Holy Spirit living in him.” Can we not live our lives accordingly?  The question is not whether we have enough faith. The issue at stake is how we live this faith. We are to carefully nurture the God given faith that is within us and act on it. For we will be amazed at how much can be accomplished by a little faith. Maybe it’s not surprising or funny after all that a mustard seed sized portion of faith can move large trees. As it is, one tree the size of a cross moved the boundary of God’s mercy to infinite measure. 

It is God’s gracious action in and through Jesus Christ that gives life and salvation and the faith to trust that the promise of God is a gift of grace. How grace-ful of God to give us the gift of faith so we can reach out in love to our neighbor. We don’t deserve any special recognition for getting the job done.  However, God does provide us with the resources to do great things. Let us “rekindle the gift” of faith, mercy, and love that we have received, “not to be served but to serve.”