“Increase our faith!”

Luke 16:19-17:10 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

“Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. ²⁰ And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, ²¹ and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. ²² Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. ²³ In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. ²⁴ And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ ²⁵ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. ²⁶ And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’ ²⁷ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house— ²⁸ for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ ²⁹ But Abraham *said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ ³⁰ But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ ³¹ But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”

17 He said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come! ² It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble. ³ Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. ⁴ And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”

⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” ⁶ And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would obey you.

⁷ “Which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come immediately and sit down to eat’? ⁸ But will he not say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, and properly clothe yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward you may eat and drink’?⁹ He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he? ¹⁰ So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.’”

In John 14:12-14 Jesus says:  “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”    Who among us would not like to have the faith to do the awesome works that Jesus did.  In today’s text Jesus says: “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would obey you.”  Jesus words were in response to the disciples saying:  “Increase our faith!” Look though at the reason the disciples sought an increase in their faith; it was not to duplicate the great and miraculous works of Jesus. It was because Jesus said:   “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble. Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”   We too, need to ask the Lord to increase our faith. If we would do the works that Jesus did, we must also forgive as Jesus forgave. On the cross, Jesus said: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)  Faith in Christ is demonstrated in our ability to forgive. If we cannot forgive, we cannot expect that we can do the miraculous works of Christ. Even more, if we do not forgive, we become stumbling blocks to those who we hold in unforgiveness. The millstone of unforgiveness drags us down. In Luke 9:23 Jesus says:   "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”  It was on the cross that Jesus died to forgive the sins of the world. In taking up our cross daily, we too, forgive those who sin against us. The weight of the cross of forgiveness is not nearly as heavy a burden as the millstone from which we are freed.

Today’s text ends with Jesus saying:  “Which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come immediately and sit down to eat’? But will he not say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, and properly clothe yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward you may eat and drink’? He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he? So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.’”   We too, when we have forgiven others, should not expect that we would be rewarded. We have only done that which we ought to have done. Our reward is that we live free from the weight of unforgiveness. We are free, not being bound to those we have not forgiven, to follow Jesus. As we walk with Him our faith increases. We become more like the one who we behold; and so we can do the works that Jesus did. In Matthew 16, Jesus says that upon the revelation that He is the Christ, He will build His church. He says He will give us the keys to the kingdom of heaven; that whatever we loose on earth will be loosed in heaven and whatever we bind on earth will be bound in heaven; that the gates of Hell will not stand against us. Christ is revealed on the cross as the one who forgives sin. Forgiveness is one of the keys to the kingdom of heaven that Jesus gives us. We cannot unlock or unleash the power of heaven into the things of earth if we do not use the key of forgiveness.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit; increase my faith. As I daily determine to take up my cross, may I gaze upon Your cross. May the depths of forgiveness be fully revealed to me. May I unburden myself from the millstone of unforgiveness. May I take the key of forgiveness to unlock and unleash the power of the kingdom of heaven on earth. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.   Amen.