I hear myself in the disciples’ cry to Jesus, “Increase our faith” (Luke 17:5, CSB). Jesus had just told the disciples to do what felt impossible to them — forgive a brother or sister as many times as they asked for it. The disciples knew that was a lofty call, and they felt they needed more faith than they already had to do it.
Jesus’ response to His disciples is one that is familiar to us but actually means something different than we think. In the Greek, it’s clear that Jesus responded with a tone of rebuke when He said, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to the mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you” (v. 6, CSB). Jesus rebuked His disciples because they thought they needed more faith in order to obey. But they already had what they needed.
Like the disciples, I often think that if Jesus would just give me a little more faith, then I could be faithful to do the big, impossible things (like forgive) that He has called me to do with ease. I don’t want the struggle! But in reality, Jesus has given me the faith I need to forgive today. And as I continue to rely on Him day-to-day, He’ll continue to give me what I need in order to obey Him.
In order to demonstrate the daily faithfulness and obedience required of His disciples, Jesus told a parable. He told His disciples to imagine that they were slave owners: If their slave came in after a long day in the field, would they invite the slave to sit down and dine with them? Of course not. They would instead expect the slave to make dinner for them, which was his duty. And when he did, they wouldn’t thank him for simply doing his job. Then Jesus said, “In the same way, when you have done all that you were commanded, you should say, ‘We are worthless servants; we’ve only done our duty’” (v. 10, CSB).
I glean two things from this passage: first, faith reveals itself in daily obedience. Obedience isn’t a glamorous word, but Jesus didn’t make it look glamorous in the parable He told His disciples. What they wanted was big faith to uproot mulberry trees and plant them in the ocean! But what God had given them was enough faith to walk in obedience one day at a time. Contrary to what we might feel, we don’t need more faith than what God has already given us in order to obey Him. Sometimes, all we need to do is to will ourselves to obey.
Second, my obedience doesn’t earn me any leverage with God. I cringe at how many times I've said something to this affect: But God, I'm toeing the line here! Why did you bless her with that and not me? I deserve it! Whenever I find myself bargaining with God, thinking I've earned political capital because of my obedience, I have to ask myself, Do I obey God so that I can get things from Him? Do I think He owes me something for my obedience and service?
Faith acted out is a day in, day out choice to obey the Father, expecting nothing in return, and grateful that He has already given us more than we can ever repay in Jesus Christ.
Today, ask yourself: Am I delaying obedience in a certain area of my life because I don’t think I have the faith it takes to obey? When I obey in really difficult areas, am I expecting some sort of reward for it?