I once had a conversation with a woman with whom I had certain things in common. She and I were around the same age. We both had children who were young adults, sort of struggling to find their way in life. We both were trying to be the best parents we could be for these adult children, who were not quite adults yet. We were two people feeling a little shipwrecked, trying to find our way on to solid ground.
As we were talking she suddenly made a sound of exasperation, threw up her hands, and said, “Life could be so easy! You know, it could all be so easy. Why do they have to make it hard?”
I laughed, in part because I found the idea so appealing. Yeah, I thought, it really could be easy. Right? Still, it nagged at me, because I suspected she was wrong. I mean, what in her life experience ever led her to believe it could be, or should be, easy?
As much as I wanted to affirm that life can be so easy, I knew deep inside that she was wrong about that. Sure, we will have easy moments, easy days. And we will want those easy days to continue forever, for all our life long. But a string of easy days will come to an end and we will become reacquainted with the hard stuff. And part of growing up is facing down the hard stuff, walking through it, figuring out how to live in the hard days as well as the easy days. I think that was the stage our children were facing in that moment. How to handle the hard stuff when you reach the point in life when you have to handle it yourself.
I know this is not necessarily good news. But, then again, it’s not even news, is it? I am not telling you anything you didn’t already know.
As Jesus said to his disciples, occasions for sin are bound to come. Challenges will show up in our lives and there may be a lot at stake when you meet a challenge. Be mindful, pay attention. Look out for one another, and when there is repentance, by all means, offer forgiveness. Even if this is a repeat offender, a repeat repenter. It doesn’t matter, repeat forgiveness.
This is one of those occasions in the scriptures when the verses don’t seem to hang together in a very cohesive way. It feels like a bunch of disconnected thoughts. But, nonetheless, they are important and true: Do not be a cause for a weaker brother or sister to stumble. Take care that you do not stumble, yourself. Look out for one another and forgive one another – again and again and again. There is no limit on forgiveness.
And it is after Jesus says these things that the disciples throw up their hands and say, “Augh! Life could be so easy!!!”
No, they didn’t. But what they did say was not that different.
“Increase our faith!” These things are hard, very hard. Lord, if only we had enough faith we could do what you ask. Please, Lord, increase our faith.
This is a prayer I have made. At a moment when I felt afraid that I was not enough. A time when I thought that if I only had enough faith I could do this thing right. If only I had enough faith I could rest easy, knowing that everything will be alright. Knowing that I am okay. Increase my faith, God. Give me what I need.
Increase our faith, they cry out to him. And Jesus replies, Faugh! Let me tell you: If you had faith the size of a mustard seed you could tell this tree to be uprooted and be planted in the sea. And the tree would do just that. Faith the size of a mustard seed.
In terms of scale, you know that’s pretty small. It’s not the smallest seed in the world, but small. If we lined up all the different grades of faith, then perhaps we would place next to the mustard seed a sesame seed, which is even smaller; then an orchid seed, which is like a speck of dust. Where is my faith on that scale? Is it even visible?
But when we are asking questions about the size of our faith, we are asking the wrong questions.
I can understand why they ask. Jesus has just reminded them again that kingdom life is, indeed, hard. It is a challenge that they will need to, somehow, rise to meet. All this caring for others, all this forgiveness, all this self-control. We doubt that we can do this. We know from experience that we cannot do it.
Increase my faith, Lord. Make me able to do what you are asking me to do.
Grant me enough faith, O God, to make it easier. Make my faith sufficient so that I can just do the things I need to do, the things I want to do. So that I may always know the right answer, the right next step to take. So that I may embody your peace, your love, your justice. Give me some of that.
Grant me a big enough faith, Lord, so that I am good enough. So that I will no longer need faith, because I will have certainly. Self-sufficiency.
Is that what we really want when we pray, increase my faith?
I know that all of us would like, now and then, for life to be easy. We would love for discipleship living to be something that comes effortlessly. But dear beloved ones, we are simply not equipped to do that on our own.
Disciples must stay close to their teacher, and our teacher is Christ Jesus. Without him we can do nothing. Without him we are lost.
And that is where prayer comes in. Prayer is what draws us near to God, and near to God is where we will always want to be. Therefore, prayer is something we should practice. Regularly. Because every single day we will need to ask again for the things we need. Every single day we will need to put our faith in God to give us what we need.
Our faith will always feel like too little, because we will always need to return to the well and draw again, the source of everything we need. We will need to ask again for the strength we need to walk another day in his footsteps.
And these things he is asking of us – forgiveness, caring for one another – the things that strike us as being too much for us to possibly do, these are the mere fundamentals of kingdom living. As he says in this parable about slaves and masters, you don’t expect thanks each day for doing your job. You don’t expect to be applauded for doing the bare minimum. Pats on the back, praise, and trophies are not going to give us what we need for this life we have entered into. None of us can do it on our own. All of us need the practice of faith.
We don’t need bigger faith. We need the practice of faith.
And one of the important ways we practice our faith is in prayer. Prayer keeps us close to the source of all we need. All we need to be disciples of Jesus, to share his love with the world around us.
We don’t need to pray for more faith. We just need to pray … more.
