Want more faith? First, put on your apron.
When you initially read over today’s gospel, it appears as though we have two quite distinct and different pieces of literature.
First, the disciples come asking for their Faith to be increased. It seems a perfectly logical and commendable question. If only everyone would ask for their faith to be increased, then the Church of God would be sorted out, world peace would settle upon the planet, and the housing crisis would be a thing of the past.
You would think that, being the wise and compassionate, supportive, and encouraging Messiah that Jesus is, he would give his disciples an easy three-step programme, one that anybody can do at home, for all to complete in the comfort of their lounge room.
But No. Instead, they get a verbal rebuke.
“If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this sycamine tree, ‘Be rooted up, and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”
Clearly, chaps, you’ve got a way to go.
And what follows seems a completely unrelated story altogether. Clearly, a dotty old monk, working late at night by a fluttering candlelight, has missed out a connecting paragraph, and we are left with a disjointed and puzzling piece of text.
In classic Jesus style, he answers the disciples' question with his own question.
“Will any one of you, who has a servant ploughing or keeping sheep, say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down at the table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and gird yourself and serve me, till I eat and drink; and afterwards you shall eat and drink’? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that is commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty’
It took me far too long to see it, but I do believe there is a connection between the two.
If you want more faith, gentleman… very well, this is what it will involve.
After you have had a hard day in your day-to-day grind of life, the important work of serving others begins. Gird yourself, put on your apron, peel the spuds, lay the table, pour the wine, scrub the pots and pans, do the dishes, clear away, wipe the benches and put out the breakfast things for tomorrow. Do all of this without seeking any reward, any thanks, no pat on the back or gold stars, except that you know you were doing what was expected of you. It is not just about doing, but it is the attitude with which you do it. Understand that it's not about you. It was never about you, and if you want to increase your faith, really want to increase it, then you dive headfirst into the mundane and the dreary. Increase your faith by embracing your failures and rejections. You will discover that sometimes the most effective prayer is that which feels most ineffective and futile. Or as another really super priest once put it. “He is most intimately present when he seems most bitterly absent.”
You see, part of the fallacy of the disciples’ request is that they expect the master just to dollop out faith as easily as chicken pie. Expecting God to do our faithfulness for us is like a slave expecting to be waited on by his master. I’m terribly sorry to say that attaining more faith does not, in my experience, work like that. More faith and growth in faith is our responsibility. It is hard won, over a stupidly long period of time. It is manufactured and stirred around deep within us with: tears as well as laughter - dreariness as well as excitement - boredom as well as exhilaration. And for some reason, growth in faith is easier to see in others rather than see it in ourselves, and if someone could explain why that is so, boy, I’d really love to hear from you.
Faith is gradually infused into us when we simply rock up, put on our apron, maybe even a pair of rubber gloves, do our work, say our prayers, shed our tears and giggle uncontrollably. We will increase our faith when we sob with those who ask the bitter, hard questions. The ones that only have a cement pylon of silence for an answer. We increase our faith when we incessantly love the grumpy and irritating people into heaven.
It is in the daily grist of simply doing our work that we discover, to our delight, amazement and surprise, that actually, we have come a long way over the past few decades, and our faith has actually increased not because we got a kilo in a quick business transaction, but our faith has increased because of our bruises and skinned knees. Something happened, was happening, is happening at the altar rail Sunday by Sunday. It happened to the bread and wine, it happened in those around us, and it happened to you, and goodness gracious, it even happened to that crazy Fr. David.
So while on the surface of it the two chunks of today’s gospel seem completely unrelated, they are in fact a single unified question and answer session.
Expecting God to do our faithfulness for us is like a slave expecting to be waited on by his master.
Want to increase your faith?
Sure, this is how.
‘Put on your apron, prepare supper for me, and serve me;