Lamentations 1:1-6 (Canticle) Lamentations 3:19-26 2 Timothy 1:1-14 Luke 17:5-10

On our family’s visit to Europe in the spring of last year, we journeyed through the rolling fertile hills of Belgium and Germany, following, as best we could determine, the path of the US Army’s 78^th Lightening Division through the Battle of the Bulge.  When WWII ended in Europe in May of 1945, my father was required to remain there for the next 6 months in the areas of Marburg and Nuremburg.  He never told us much about those years, but with a bachelor’s degree in crop science, he apparently filled many of those days guiding the local people to reclaim their bombed-out countryside, converting battlefields to crop-producing fields.

As we travelled by train through the luscious countryside nearly 75 years later, I could not help but think of the healing and forgiveness that must have taken root and sprouted from this simple process of coming together to plant seeds and trusting God to provide the increase.  Surely, this is at least part of the reason my father so loved planting his fields year after year in the decades after returning safely from the war, trusting God to give the increase.

This familiar imagery of the tiny mustard seed illustrating the power of faith is rich fodder for our spiritual reflection.  A tiny seed, taken from the pseudo-safety of its package, entrusted to the soil, where it dies to itself as it sprouts upward toward the beckoning sun, and puts down roots into the nurturing moisture of the fertile soil.  A tiny seed planted, watered, given its increase by the grace of God, growing into an enormous shrub, bearing seed for the next generation – hundreds of seeds, themselves planted to produce hundreds of shrubs, again and again, generation after generation, all given their increase by the grace of God – all glory to God.

Years passing, the tiny mustard seed that died to itself in order to live into God’s grace has the potential to spread throughout the world, eventually covering the earth with its sweeping branches.  Might that be the impact of our faith during our time here on earth.

This is faith that lives into the goodness of God’s grace.  The nurturance of our faith, like the nurturance of the tiny mustard seed, is not from our human effort; our faith and its nurturance are given by God.

The disciples say to Jesus, “increase our faith.”  Those who are bothered by subjective responses to questions must get very frustrated with Jesus’ answers.  Can you imagine Jesus in a congressional hearing?  “Sir, sir, just answer the question!  Yes or no?”  Jesus’ words are being recorded here, and he is well aware that he must make these words applicable to every generation for thousands of years; his answers are, by necessity, timeless and unlimited in depth, requiring our continued searching and never-ending discovery.  What a blessing that Jesus’ words take deep roots and sprout to immeasurable heights without limitation of context.

Oddly, Jesus’ response to the request of the disciples evolves into an analogy describing a slave’s relationship to the master.  That term “slave” jars us with its negative connotations in our country’s history.  But setting that aside, Jesus is speaking in the context of relationship.

Jesus declared himself a slave to all; Jesus sets the model for our faith on this principle.  We have faith in Jesus Christ; our desires and way of life are to reflect the faith of Jesus Christ.  Jesus asks us for just that tiny seed of faith, which, entrusted to the power of the Holy Spirit, miraculously matures into the faith of Christ – spreading, multiplying throughout the earth.  Thus, we are servants of the faith of Christ.

God is faithful to us, not because we are good, but because he is so good; our faith is God’s gift.  When someone gives us a gift, do we expect them to thank us for untying the ribbon and tearing away the wrapping and being blessed by the contents of the package?  I think not.  Our faith is God’s gift; how could we expect God to thank us for our faith when it is God who gives the increase.

Today, we honor St. Francis of Assisi whose feast day falls each year on October 4.  Franciscans are different from many of holy orders because they are called to live in society, bringing their ministry within the people, rather than living apart in relative seclusion as do more traditional holy orders.  We attribute the words of our well-loved hymn (593) to St. Francis of Assisi:  Lord, make us servants of your peace.

The prayer that is the source of the hymn is found of page 833 of the BCP.   The prayer as recorded here replaces the word “servants” with “instruments”; other sources use the term “vessels.”  As slaves or servants to the faith of Christ, we are instruments or vessels.  When we are slaves to the peace of Christ, quite naturally we sow love, forgiveness, faith, hope, light, and joy – fruits of our servanthood to the faith of Christ as listed here in the prayer attributed to St. Francis.

Jesus asks us for just that tiny seed of faith, which, entrusted to the power of the Holy Spirit, miraculously matures into the faith of Christ – spreading, multiplying throughout the earth.  We are servants of the faith of Christ.

The Apostle Paul exhorts his dear friend Timothy, “Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.”  It is the Holy Spirit living in us, rather than any human effort, that is the source of our faith.  As slaves, entrusted with the good treasure, we are the sowers of the seed; we are called to live into the faith of Christ, seeking to be mirrors of that faith.  God gives the increase.

Remembering that the seeds we sow will impact the generations to come, what seeds of faith are you planting; and, are you trusting God to provide the increase?