Increased Faith

May 1, 2016 Background Scripture: Luke 17:1 – 10 Lesson Passage: Luke 17:1 – 10 Do I have what it take to be an average Christian? Can I grow spiritually to the point where I can handle the day-to-day character requirements that I believe are expected of me based on the teachings of Jesus? When Jesus said “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;”, do I have the capacity to do this in all sincerity and not just pay lip service to it? I believe that these were some of the questions on the minds of Jesus’ apostles when he taught them about unlimited forgiveness. No matter how many times a person offends you, if they repent and ask for forgiveness, forgive them. It doesn’t take much imagination for me to know that this type behavior is far from my norm in terms of interpersonal relationships. In my “very human” way of thinking, “three strikes and you’re out” is a very lenient response to being offended. I am convinced that when you take the cap off and make forgiveness unlimited, that requires something on the inside that we are not born with. There is no wonder that the apostles responded as they did to Jesus’ standard of forgiveness. They requested that he increase their faith. Today, it would likely sound like this: Lord help me, or Lord give me strength, or Lord you know my heart. All of these responses suggest the same thing: I don’t know how to get from where I am to where the Lord wants me to be but I believe if I had more faith, I would be able to do what the Lord requires of me. On the surface, Jesus’ response to their request seems to ignore the request altogether. First, Jesus talked about what a person with faith can do. Then, Jesus used the example of the expectation a master has of his servant. The master doesn’t suggest trading place with the servant and the master serving him based on the servant’s labor in the field that day. In the evening, the master still expected the servant to serve him in spite of the work the servant had done in the field that day. It was the servant’s duty to work in the field and to serve the master in his house. Then Jesus dismissed the notion that forgiveness should be thought of as a character trait but rather it should be seen as the duty of his servants. The apostles asked for more faith but Jesus responded that their faith in him should be clearly seen by their loyal obedience to him. They had enough faith to move mountains but the challenge of forgiveness is not a challenge of faith but an act of obedience to the Lord. True faith is not intellectual acquiescence but deliberate action as evidence of obedience. Forgiveness may never feel like the right thing to do but obedience to the Lord is always in order. In fact, we demonstrate our faith in the Lord through our acts of obedience. God does not forgive us based on merit. God’s forgiveness of us is always unmerited. And He expects the same behavior from us based on His Spirit living in us. It’s not always a matter of needing more faith. Sometimes we just need to walk in the faith we have already been given. Robert C. Hudson April 6, 2016