17 Jesus said to his disciples, “Things that cause people to trip and fall into sin must happen, but how terrible it is for the person through whom they happen. 2 It would be better for them to be thrown into a lake with a large stone hung around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to trip and fall into sin. 3 Watch yourselves! If your brother or sister sins, warn them to stop. If they change their hearts and lives, forgive them. 4 Even if someone sins against you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times and says, ‘I am changing my ways,’ you must forgive that person.”
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
6 The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
Reflection
The disciples had just heard Jesus explain “things that cause people to trip and fall into sin.” Jesus says we are to “Watch ourselves!” And we are to warn our fellow followers of Jesus to stop sinning and to forgive them and to forgive when they change their hearts and lives, even up to seven times a day! No wonder the disciples thought this was an impossible task for them, and they asked Jesus, “Increase our faith!” But Jesus doesn’t give them ‘more faith.’ Instead, Jesus says, “If you had faith as small as a mustard seed,” you would be able to do miraculous things, like ripping up deeply rooted trees and flinging them into the sea. Mustard seed-size faith is all that’s needed for God to transform the world. It isn’t the quantity of faith we have in God through Christ, it’s the quality of faith and trust we have in God’s power to transform, so that we will take action to show others that God loves us and is faithful. Faith isn’t a thing we created and possess, it’s given to us by God’s grace, and it’s responding to Jesus’ call to “Follow me.”
Discipleship isn’t always easy, it’s filled with endless forgiveness, of ourselves and others, it’s caring for the poor, the sick, the immigrant, the prisoner, the widow and orphan. Discipleship is simple daily faith where we show up and show God’s love to others, and pray for our enemies, even when we would rather hate them. Following Jesus means loving our neighbors as ourselves when it’s easier to argue endlessly with them and walk away. Following Jesus requires us to be like Christ, where our discipleship is our lifestyle, in everything we do and say, where we use our resources to show the world God’s love for all of us. Following Jesus is
not easy, but God has given us salvation, grace, and a more abundant transformed life in God’s eternal Kin-dom of peace and love.
by Jeneene Reduker
For Pondering and Prayer
Faith isn’t just a noun, it’s a verb too. Faith isn’t just what we believe, it’s what we live out everyday with the mustard seed-size faith God has given us. We don’t need to worry our faith is enough, we can trust God to do great things with our mustard seed-size faith. God gives us a choice when we follow Jesus, to use our lives and our resources, to make Christ known to the broken of this world, so that we, and all the world will be transformed by grace.
Do you believe that God can use your mustard seed-size faith to transform the world?
Prayer: Holy and Loving God, like the disciples, we feel we lack the faith to follow Jesus. Help us to realize that you have given us powerful mustard seed-size faith to love others, and to make disciples, for the transformation of the world. Amen.
