When Belief and Faith Connect

Hab1: 1-4, 2:1-4
Luke 17: 5-10

The disciples in this passage of Luke were asking for more faith. They heard all the things Jesus wanted them to do as his disciples and became scared they did not have what it takes, and so they asked for more faith to accomplish these tasks. The disciples had it right in asking Jesus for faith, but wrong in thinking they didn't have enough of it already.

Faith is given to us by God. Faith is a gift given to us through Jesus Christ who's faith strengthens our own. It is my belief that each of us is given a kernel of faith upon being created, when the breath of "life" (God-breathed) was put inside of us we were also given the ability to believe in God and have faith in God's promises. All the faith we need is given to us in that one moment. Every person is given faith. Every person has received all that they need to create a faithful relationship with Jesus.

This passage left me with two big questions. The first was: Why then do we sometimes (often?) feel like we have no faith or not enough? After all, even the disciples begged Jesus for their faith to be increased after they hear everything that is expected of them as his disciple.

The second question was: Why do some people not believe in God if every person is given life/faith by God? Both questions can be answered by understanding the relationship between belief and faith. We often use the words interchangeably, but faith and belief are two different things. They are related which is why so many people treat the words like they mean the same, but they are not. In this passage today, Jesus tells the disciples that faith as small as a mustard seed is all that is needed to do miraculous things, and that was given to them upon their creation. However, the disciples do not believe they have enough faith. Belief is being fully persuaded by a judgment or opinion.

When a person is fully persuaded into believing something, faith can either be a help or a hindrance to that belief. When we look around the world we see enough bad things happening that we can understand why some would choose not to believe in God. It's hard to hear of the horrors of life and what people do to each other, and think that there is such a thing as a kind God who cares about what happens to us.

Belief is different from faith, however. Faith is inside each of us whether we want to acknowledge it or not. Faith is given by God and is not increased or decreased by anything we do or say. However, what we believe affects how we use our faith. If belief is being thoroughly convinced of an idea; then faith can be defined as belief plus action and confidence. James 2:17 tells us "Faith by itself isn't enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless." If faith does not move you to do something, then it is not real faith, it is merely a belief.

When we believe the truth with enough confidence to take action we exercise our faith. And it doesn't take much faith to see huge things happen, even miraculous things. And you can see where unbelief, that is believing things that aren't true - believing lies - completely clogs up the working of our faith. Unbelief prevents us from ever seeing the miraculous in our lives and that is why some people do not believe in God. They have allowed the negativity in the world to create their unbelief, and that has put a stopper on their faith in God.  

Too often we spend time and energy trying to increase our faith when Jesus said that's not really our problem. We pray and plead with God, begging him to give us more faith as the disciples asked Jesus in this passage.

Jesus responds by saying they have enough faith already, and then tells them a story about a master and his servant. In the story he tells them that a servant has a job to do, a specific task which is to help the master with his chores. The master's job is to provide shelter, food, and clothes for his servant. Just as the servant does not thank the master for the things he gives because he is supposed to give them; the master does not thank the servant for the chores he does because that is what he was supposed to do. Jesus then looks at them and the same goes for all of us. Do not expect to be patted on the back and thanked profusely for doing what is your duty.

Why would these two passages be put together in the lectionary? How can a parable about faith and then this parable about the master and servant work together? Jesus is explaining in his own way that faith and belief are two separate things. We believe we do not have enough faith to carry out the works that Jesus has given to us, and so we beg God to give us more faith. If we just had MORE - then obviously we could DO more. Right? The only reason we do not help the homeless, the only reason we do not tithe 10% of our income, the only reason we are not kinder to our enemies, the only reason we do not start taking on a more decisive role in our church and community is because we are waiting on God to give us MORE FAITH.

This is all God's fault. Not ours! Once we get more faith, we will do all these discipleship things that Jesus is always talking about. And Jesus responds that this belief in needing more faith is a bunch of malarkey. You have faith enough, Jesus tell us, to do great things now. There is no need to wait for more because the smallest bit of faith can do miraculous things, but if you do not believe in God and in yourself then nothing will happen. Faith without works is dead and useless faith. It's not real if it does not compel you to act upon it.

And once we accept we have faith enough to do all the things Jesus would have us do as Christian disciples, we must not expect abundant praise and thanksgiving from God. Jesus tells us that faith is what causes these good works. If we have faith, then we will act and do it with confidence and without expecting more from anyone. God gives you what you need and we are to give others what they need just as the master and servant have done in the parable. This is the nature of our relationship to God and how faith works.

But we get into trouble expecting more all the time. More faith. More thanks. More things. We get tied up in this idea that more is better when sometimes less is truly more.

We are tied down and repressed by these mis-beliefs. We are enough as we are. We have enough faith to cause miracles and good things to happen now. When we accept this we are freed to enjoy our faith more fully and act upon it with confidence. When we stop expecting praise for every good deed we do, we are also freed from being hurt when people do not thank and praise us enough to satisfy our egos. For we are merely doing what we should have been doing all along as Christians.

We are not going out of our way, we are doing what is expected and what is necessary to make life better. There is freedom in understanding these things and that is why these two passages are put together, and why Jesus tells us first that we have faith enough and then tells us not to expect excessive gratitude for doing our Christian duty. Jesus wants us to be free and happy, and that freedom and happiness will only be experienced when we let go of our misguided beliefs. This idea that we do not have enough faith, and that when we do something good we should expect gratitude and praise.

It's not about being enough or having enough. Let go of the idea that you need more and freedom will be yours. In this passage we are told that we are perfect as we are in our faith. We believe in Jesus Christ. We believe in God the Father. We believe in the Holy Spirit. We are convinced fully and now it's time to prove that we also have faith in the Father, Son, and Spirit by acting with confidence. It's time we become the disciples that Jesus sees inside of us. It's time to let go of our fears and our doubts and the idea that we need to get something back when we do something good. Once we let go of all of that, we're ready to receive the confidence and conviction that comes when belief and faith act in one accord.

Jesus showed us how. He believed in His Father's promises and went to the cross, giving everything up for all of us. He emptied himself of everything he had so that we could be filled with faith and the promise of eternal life. We follow his example. Let go of whatever it is that holds you back and free yourself.

Amen.