Teachings About Faith and Humility That We Might Not Like

This Sunday's reading from Luke 17:5-10 contains two lessons, one about faith and the other about humility,

The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’ 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. 

 ‘Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from ploughing or tending sheep in the field, “Come here at once and take your place at the table”? Would you not rather say to him, “Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink”? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, “We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!” ’

 The mustard seed is a tiny thing. When I traveled through India last year, I past acre after acre of mustard plants in bloom, and in the city markets I found large amounts of mustard oil for sale. I wondered how many seeds were needed to make an 8 ounce container of oil and my guide said, "A lot." A jar of our table mustard is made from one thousand seeds. So, faith the size of a mustard seed must be more powerful than enriched uranium. Since most of us need a shovel and manual labor to uproot a mulberry tree and toss it into the sea, our faith must be far less than the size of a mustard seed. In fact, I do not know of one verified instance of someone uprooting a mulberry tree except by manual or mechanical work. None of us likes to hear that our faith is so small.

In the second half of today's reading, Jesus tells us another thing we don't want to hear, that we should remain humble to the point of self deprecation when he recommends us to say, "We are worthless slaves...".

I don't know about you, but Jesus sure put me in my place today.