Just Do It!

 

While it’s easy to dismiss the disciples’ request (Luke 17: 5-10) for more faith as shallow or self-serving, don’t we sometimes feel as the disciples did? At first glance, it seems like the Jesus’ followers are not getting the message. They think faith is something they can measure and in typically human fashion, want more of it. But can you blame them? Just earlier in Luke Jesus had not only warned them about guarding against making others stumble, and said that they must forgive those who wrong them … again and again and again. Who in the world can live up to Jesus’ expectations we ask. Is it any wonder that they think they need more faith?

And what about us. Don’t we sometimes feel overwhelmed by what it is we think it means to be a “good Christian” Don’t we indulge in self-doubt, not quite sure if we really have what it takes to follow Jesus. It’s only human to think that being a disciple is beyond us and out of reach. Yes, it’s only human. But isn’t that the whole point? We are only human and God loves us for our humanity, reminding us that faith rarely is heroic. Faith, as Jesus describes it, is just living our lives in the Spirit of love as best we can and tending to our roles and responsibilities, not because of any promised reward but simply because they just need doing.

When we feel daunted by discipleship, we need to be reminded that living our lives in faith can be pretty ordinary. It’s what Theresa of Avilla calls the “pots and pans of life.”  I think that’s what Jesus means when he says that faith is like a mustard seed; it grows and develops the power to uproot and move a mulberry tree – and that it’s not about quantity when all God wants is for us to just be. Even the simplest things done in faith can have a huge impact.

Yet, there are a many people who may feel absolutely nothing like the disciples did. It’s not that they’re overwhelmed by the tasks of Christian discipleship, it’s more that they don’t even think about it. For them, going to church and perhaps generally being a good person is pretty much all there is to being a Christian. It would never occur to them that being a good friend, or working at a job to keep food on the table or any of the other ordinary stuff of life we do every day has anything to do with the Christian faith. It just doesn’t occur to them.

 Faith, says David Lose in Working Preacher, isn’t just an idea, it’s like a muscle that must be exercised in order for it to grow and develop. Faith is heading out the door each day looking for opportunities to be God’s partner and co-worker in the world. Faith is imagining that the various challenges we face along the way, whether solving a problem at work or forgiving someone who has wronged us are actually opportunities that invite us to grow as disciples and witness to God’s presence and goodness in the world. 

And so Jesus tells his us that we have all the God-given opportunities to do whatever it is that needs to be done. It’s all the ordinary stuff we do all the time and, taken together and blessed by God, it’s pretty extraordinary!

This is everyday faith, the ordinary, extraordinary faith that we’re invited to practice day in and day out. It’s not heroic, but it is essential. And so maybe, after hearing all these things about faith, all we really need is to reminded, à la Nike, to Just Do It!