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| Faith as much as one of these is enough. |
Enough. What counts as enough? I sit in my office on a sultry fall afternoon in Southern California , trying to catch my breath in the humid air, and ponder the Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday. It is about faith and wanting more of it. Jesus has just laid out some pretty tall responsibilities for his followers, and they now ask him for more faith in order to do as he says.
For some reason this text strikes me differently on this reading. Jesus says (as he has every time I’ve read this passage) that if we but have faith the size of a tiny, tiny seed, we can relocate a large tree.
Hyperbole aside (or perhaps it only seems like hyperbole because I’m not in need of relocating a large tree,) I have always taken this to be a negative comment about how miniscule the disciples’ faith must be. If it only takes a speck of it to move a tree, how little must theirs be?
Reading it this time, however, I see something new. That’s the way it is with me and the Bible. Every time. Something new. So new I would swear it’s been changed since the last time I looked. But, no, it was always there.
The new conclusion for me is this: Disciples ask for more faith. Jesus tells them they have enough. It only takes a little bit to do as he requests, and they have at least a little bit. Enough.
My first response to this is, “Great! I don’t need more. I’m OK the way I am.”
My second response, “Oh, no! I don’t need more. I’ve been given all I need for the tasks at hand. I can do my ministry right now. No need to wait. Oh, no!”
No need to wait. I have enough. Both a blessing and a charge. The blessing: I have all I need. The charge: What am I waiting for? If I don’t need to wait for “more” in order to act, then oughtn’t I to get busy?
The mustard seed comment is not the only remark Jesus makes in this selected passage. The other seemed a disconnect on first reading. Why is this rather harsh story about a slave or servant, depending on translation, needing to be satisfied with doing work that is expected. No need for a thank you. The work is expected. Finishing it should be reward enough. Enough. There’s that idea again. Enough.
Maybe it’s a product of our over-acquisitive culture. Maybe it’s that we’ve grown accustomed to a rewards system (pay) that is based on trying to do more than enough to get more than others get. But when God is the master we serve, I have to remember that the guy who works an hour and the gal who works the whole day are paid the same at the end of shift. Each has fulfilled the expectation of the master. Each has done enough.
If I have been given enough to do the job that God asks of me. And if doing that job is its own reward, that is to say, a job well done is enough, then I’d best get a move on. No more dilly-dallying waiting to be further prepared.
