Worship > Sermon Archive

The Reverend James Derkits
October 7, 2007

Luke 17. 5-10
Ps 37. 3-10
Practical, Spiritual Arboriculture
Today Jesus teaches us a great party trick: How to make your tree jump up and go for a dip in the ocean. Ok, so maybe it is a bit more complex than doing magic tricks with trees.

But, it seems in Jesus answer to his apostles, there is an intentional hint toward the ridiculous. Not that they couldn't really move a tree, or in Matthew and Mark's gospels a mountain, but really, why would you want a mulberry tree to be planted in the sea? We saw in New Orleans that saltwater isn't too good for most trees.

One key to understanding what is going on here is to notice who is involved in the conversation: In this portion of Luke's gospel, Jesus is speaking to the disciples. It is not the large crowds who are interested in jesus, yet still deciding about Jesus, it is not the Pharisees, and those who are against what Jesus is up to. It is that inner band of followers who believe Jesus is the ultimate prophet of God, and the Christ. Those who are dedicated, disciplined to following him. They are the ones who stick with him, and to whom he directs his most important teaching. Jesus has just warned them about some of the abuses of power by the religious leaders of his day, and he has taught them how terrible it would be to make another believer stumble on their journey.

Then comes this portion of the gospel, and Luke is clear that it is now not just disciples, but the apostles who ask the question. The apostles are those disciples who are sent out to continue the teaching. These are the ones who, after Jesus death, resurrection, and ascension, carry on the ministry of Jesus in the world. These apostles, who are to be the leaders of the church come to the Lord and ask him to increase their faith. It's not recorded but I can almost hear between the words of the gospel a sigh from Jesus: sigh that expresses his understanding, and his wanting them to understand.

He answers them in metaphor, so that they can understand. He uses the image of a mustard seed, or a grain of mustard seed. This same seed he referenced earlier in the gospel as the example of what the kingdom of God is like. This tiny seed can be planted, and it grows large enough that many birds can perch in it. The faith that can lead to the kingdom of God begins very small as small as that tiny seed that grows into a great tree. Then there is the mulberry tree: a tree which grows quickly at first, then slows down dramatically once it is established: a bit like a Christian, who is on fire at the beginning of her belief, but as so many of us slows down later in the journey.

Jesus is telling those apostles that have what it takes to make a great difference in the world, a difference for the other disciples, for the crowds that follow Jesus, and for all they encounter, but they don't' seem to trust themselves yet, they think they need more faith, they seem to want more before they go out and do such great ministry in the world.

I often long for Jesus to increase my faith. I want God to make me feel complete, or holy, and for life and my faith journey to come easily. The truth is that it is a journey, it is something that is a challenge at times, but it is the daily work of the faithful that we are called to. We are expected to do great things with our faith, no matter how small, because that small faith was given to us by God. We are expected to act out our faith in the world through our dealings with others, in our interaction with people: our family and neighbors. It is the ordinary, expected life of Christians that expresses the faith we have to the world. In case you would like a starting point on what that looks like, reread the psalm:

Put your trust in the Lord and do good…take delight in the Lord…commit your way to the Lord and put your trust in him…be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him…do not fret yourself over the one who prospers, the one who succeeds in evil schemes…refrain from anger, leave rage along; do not fret yourself; it leads only to evil…

That is the advice of a sage who has been on the journey with God, who knows, as Jesus warns his apostles, that there may not be a quick reward for these expected tasks, but that in the end, again from the psalm:

we will dwell in the land and feed on its riches…we shall be given our heart's desire…he will make our righteous as clear as the light and our just dealing as the noonday…and the evildoer shall be cut off, but we who wait upon the Lord shall posses the land.

For Jesus and for the psalmist, it is our ordinary, day to day lives: acting like Christians act, that shows the fruit of the Kingdom of God. It is in the small actions and interactions of our day-in-and day-out, the day by day by day life we live that shows how a tiny little mustard seed size faith can grow into a great tree, and even uproot and move other trees.

Hear the massage of Jesus to his apostles and to us today: we have faith enough, now let's go out and live out that truth in the world, and see what mulberry trees really do need to be moved to the sea.

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