Go Jump in the Lake

I read something last week that I’ve read a number of times before, I’m sure, but this time it stood out to me. Luke 17:1-10, and verses 5-10 in particular. Jesus had just told his disciples how important it is (a) not to cause anyone else to fall into temptation and (b) to forgive others, even if they repeatedly sin against you. Upon hearing these simple but impossible commands, the disciples exclaim, “Show us how to increase our faith!” (To be fair, I inserted the exclamation point in there; I imagine some exasperation in the disciples’ voices.)

I identify with the disciples’ desire for greater faith. The things Jesus teaches are simple – so why can’t I just get it right?? I understand what they must have been feeling.

Frankly, I never liked Jesus’ response. He tells them that if they had even the tiniest faith, that they could command a mulberry tree to uproot itself and jump into the sea. I always took this as a reprimand to the disciples (and by extension, to me): Wow, you guys have absolutely no faith at all! If you even had a tiny little bit, you could do awesome things! But you got nothin’!

My own interpretation of Jesus’ words, I believe, reflects how I often feel about my own faith, specifically, that it is simply not enough and that I really need to get my act together. How many trees have I uprooted lately? How many?? Huh???

It occurred to me as I thought on this passage that Jesus’ words were more likely meant to encourage rather than convict: Lighten up, fellas, he was saying. Faith is so powerful that even the smallest amount of it can accomplish great things. I like how The Message relates Jesus’ response:

“You don’t need more faith. There is no ‘more’ or ‘less’ in faith. If you have a bare kernel of faith, say the size of a poppy seed, you could say to this sycamore tree, ‘Go jump in the lake,’ and it would do it.” (v. 6)

But Jesus kept going. He then tells a mini-parable about a servant and a master. Does the servant come in from a day’s work and have dinner served to him by his master? Of course not! The servant serves the master’s dinner, then goes and eats his own dinner afterwards. And does the master thank the servant? Nope. The servant should simply say, “I’m an unworthy servant and was just doing my duty.” And that’s how we should obey Jesus.

Is that encouraging? It doesn’t sound that way at first. To our ears, the words “Just do what you’re told and don’t expect any gratitude!” sound heartless and strict.

But Jesus isn’t heartless and strict, so there must be more to it.

I think Jesus was acknowledging that we may often feel as though our faith is small and weak, but that when we feel this way we must simply respond with obedience. Jesus seems to be saying, “Do you want greater faith? Work on obeying.” The irony, then, is that when we obey, we prove the reality of our own faith. If we had no faith, why would we obey?

For me, this truth falls easily into the category of Things I Know Are True But Still Can’t Fully Understand. There are many things in this category. This side of Heaven, there will always be. For now, I should simply focus on being obedient to what I know is true, to what I know Jesus has commanded me to do.

Even if he tells me to go jump in a lake.