Nineteenth Pentecost

             October 7, 2007

    Three men of the cloth, a Roman priest, a Jewish rabbi, and an Episcopal priest, were on an airplane together returning from a national ecumenical clergy conference.  The plane ran into the worst turbulence the pilot had ever experienced.  A distress signal had been sent and when the plane finally landed, a TV reporter was there and started to interview the passengers.  She asked the Roman priest if he had been afraid on the flight and he answered, “My dear, I am Roman Catholic and, yes, I was a bit afraid, but I prayed to God and I knew God would see me through it.”

     She thanked the priest for his candor and then asked the rabbi if he had been afraid.  “Madam, I am a Jewish rabbi and, yes, I was a bit afraid, but I prayed to Yahweh and just knew that my work on earth was not complete and I would be alright.”

     She thanked the rabbi and then asked the Episcopal priest whose clothes were all messed up, all wet down the front of his pants and his black clerical shirt all stained with airline lunch, if he had been afraid.  “I’m an Ecopalian.”

     The reporter asked, “Ecopalian, what’s an Ecopalian?”

     The man of the cloth said, “That’s an Episcopalian with you-know-what scared out of him!”

     It has been suggested that courage is simply fear that has said its prayers.  I always repeat Blossom Marmion’s prayer before getting on an airplane: “God, save me from this or through this.”

     The Gospel from Luke, appointed for today, reports a request from the disciples asking that Jesus do something about the doubts that apparently some of the group was experiencing.  Remember that Jesus had been teaching them a new way of understanding life, their place in the universe, and how to approach the tasks they would be expected to complete.  This new ethic was not based on law; it was centered on love and forgiveness.  “Increase our faith!” the disciples demanded.  Jesus’ response to their demand is to say, “Well, your faith will increase when you are willing to jump.”  Use what you have, is another way to put it.

     That is one of the best definitions of faith we may ever find.  Trust God in Christ to be there when we jump.  It is sometimes called the “great leap of faith.”  In response to the request of the disciples, Jesus uses a mustard seed and a mulberry tree.  Now, as I have said many times, the story of the mustard seed is one of my favorites.  Jesus used it as a profound, precious teaching gem.  Mighty growth can come from small beginnings.  Just how small was that seed?

     In a small, back-water country, in an obscure town, and with a stable-cave for a nursery, a baby boy is born.  A solitary teacher standing on a hillside and only three years to get his message delivered; but, raising enough ruckus to get himself in a world of trouble.  A condemned man, slain on a cross and laid out in death in a borrowed tomb; but, an early-morning report from some startled women about it being empty.  Eleven hard-working, confused and frightened men, along with several women who believed in who he was and what he had taught them; but, obedient to staying where he told them to stay until power from on high had been granted.  Those were tiny seeds in a vast field, but look what happened to them.

     This is a teaching about how God chooses to operate in this world.  God is a quiet operator, manifesting a presence in hidden and subtle ways.  God works out the plan of salvation through gradual bursting out from darkness, like a small seed that grows.  We are not necessarily called to do great things in order to demonstrate a huge faith.  Perhaps it is our small gift that will enable a family half-way around the world to move to self-sufficiency.  Maybe our small gift of consistent prayer as a Secret Shepherd will remind a child how precious and important they are to us and to God.  Perhaps giving an hour or two at Bedford Christian Ministries or at the Free Clinic will help a struggling person realize people do care and they shouldn’t give up on life.  Teaching a Christian Formation class just might put the proper teacher with a young person questioning their faith and a word which only that teacher can speak will make all the difference.  Bringing some canned food or a jar of peanut butter might feed a hungry child over the weekend when school is not in session.  I was thrilled when the Vestry met with Bishop Powell last Sunday to hear the members say we do the big event well; we do the small things great.  It is the countless small things, done by unnamed and unsung heroes that make the church effective in its evangelism and ministry.

     Sometimes we search so earnestly for the big events; those so filled with God’s presence that we couldn’t miss it.  We very often fail to live with God’s presence in our lives today in the small things that are so much a part of our everyday lives.  Sometimes we get so involved with dodging deaths in our world that we fail to sense the seeds of birth forever bursting forth within this world.  We become so concerned with finding an already built nest in a mulberry tree that we fail to love the moments of incubation of a mustard seed faith.

     Jesus often taught that discipleship called for an appreciation of seedtime, little beginnings, and promises yet to be fulfilled.  We are invited to think again about small things and not take them for granted.  We are invited to sow seeds, even though we may not see the harvest.  A proper understanding of stewardship asks that we build bridges over which we may never walk.  We are invited to jump, let our faith grow, and trust that the Father of all sees us and will hold our loving arms into which we may nestle.

     So, be of good courage.  We have said our prayers.  It may be hard to believe, but all it takes is faith just the size of a mustard seed.  Amen.

          ~The Rev. G. Thomas Mustard