It Is Enough

The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of that Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.”
Last summer I told you that there was a key verse in the gospel of Luke (by now you should be pretty tired of this). The verse was 9:51:When the days drew near for him(Jesus) to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.
That was June 27-3 ½ months ago. And each week since then we have listened to stories from that journey. Every week there is a teaching about discipleship, about how to follow Jesus on the way to Jerusalem. These teachings overlap, intersect, and challenge those following Jesus. It is a journey that he uses to grow his disciples, and it is a tool that Luke the gospel writer uses to teach us, his readers.
Today’s gospel is a very short reading that has two important points, faith and humility.
Alyce McKenzie a preacher I really like, wrote this about today’s gospel, “To preach on this parable, I would need to go back to (Luke) 16:14 where Jesus tells us that “God knows our hearts.” (16:15) God knows that some of the Pharisees’ hearts are full of the love of money. God knows that the rich man’s heart in the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (16:19-31) is filled with love of material comfort and a confidence that his wealth is a sign of God’s approval. God knows that some people’s hearts are filled with unforgiveness toward others (17:1-4) that can be a stumbling block to their growth toward God. Who can blame the apostles, after hearing about all these things that God knows are in our hearts, for saying to themselves, “My God, I need more faith to deal with all of this!” and then turning to Jesus and saying in 17: 5 “Increase our faith!”
And Jesus looks at them and says of their faith, “you have enough”. Faith doesn’t come in sizes. We’re always talking about people who have a lot of faith, and people who have a little-but Jesus tells his friends, “you’ve got all you need!” Mother Teresa once said, “Our calling is not to do great things, but to do small things with great love.” Jesus is teaching them-and us-that we don’t need more faith-we just need to use the faith given to us.
There is an old prayer from many years ago (I don’t know who said it), but it goes like this: "O God, I don't pray for enough faith to move mountains. I can get enough dynamite and bulldozers to do that. What I need and ask for is enough faith to move me." The problem wasn’t the size of the disciples’ faith-the problem was the size of the disciples’ hearts. And Jesus told them, you have what you need to change the world. Asking for more puts the responsibility on God. You have enough.
That’s the first teaching- on faith. We have been given enough. Size doesn’t matter.
Years ago Bob Greene, a popular columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, and then the Chicago Tribune, wrote a column in his paper about a doctor in Chicago. He promised that he wouldn’t divulge the doctor’s name or where his office was, but there were enough clues that people could have figured it out. The story about the physician was that this doctor told people to pay only what they could afford. He let people pay him as much-or as little-that they wanted. The story really got around, and a few weeks later, Greene went back to the doctor and did a second story. The doctor told him how much he regretted doing the first interview and becoming well known. Greene asked him,” well, you probably have way too many patients trying to get in to see you now?” “No,” the doctor told him, “I have control over how many patients I take-I know how to say no.” “Are your patients paying you less, now that they know that you’re a newspaper star.” Green asked “No. that’s not it, either,” replied the doctor. Greene kept guessing why the doctor regretted the first story, and finally the doctor held up a hand to stop him. “I guess,” explained the physician, “I’m worried about my own motives. I’m afraid that I will keep doing the right thing just to be admired or respected or whatever by people. I set my own rules for payment by patients because I believed that’s what doctors should do-no, I’m concerned that I might do the right thing for the wrong reasons.”
That column was many years ago but it had a big impact on me. Here was a good person who was concerned about why he was doing the right thing. And he knew himself well enough to know that praise and fame might change him into someone he didn’t like.
In the 1st century Jewish rabbis wrote several commentaries on scriptures. They were collected and called: Pirke Aboth (Sayings of the Fathers). This is one of them: "If you have learned much Torah (Law), do not flatter yourself about it, because it was for this purpose you were created." (2:9)
Jesus is teaching his followers to be careful about why they live a life of faith. when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’”
Does this sound harsh to you? Last night at Mike and Sara’s wedding I told them that some of the most important words in a marriage were “please” and “thank you”, and here is Jesus telling his followers, “you don’t need a reward for being my followers!” ouch
The best way I can understand this harsh teaching is from a story, Rev. Milton Gutierrez of the Methodist Church in Allen Texas told years ago: a woman who came to him with a faith question. “Pastor Milton,” she said, “I want to know ‘What is the reward for the life of faith?’” Being a very wise man, he said, “Let me think about that and I’ll give you an answer next week. ”She didn’t forget. The next week she came to him with an expectant expression on her face. “Pastor Milton, what is the reward for the life of faith?” To which he replied, “The reward for the life of faith is the life of faith.”
The ending for this story could be, “your life as a follower of Jesus is your reward. It is enough.” Jesus doesn’t promise wealth, or fame, or health or even peace. Lots of people do promise those things to Christians- but not Jesus. He’s on his way to Jerusalem with a bunch of people who want more-more faith, more power, more rewards, more….And even though they’ve walked with Jesus all this way, they haven’t got it yet. They keep thinking there’s got to be something in it for them. They’re doing the right thing-Jesus is asking them to do it for the right reason.
Years ago I had a great bishop with a wonderful sense of humor. Now clergy traditionally will say that when they go to a new church that the Spirit was calling them. Bishop Ray used to say, “It’s amazing how the Holy Spirit is always calling me to a church with an increase in salary.”
Jesus is on a journey to the cross. He has been teaching the whole way. Today he shows his frustration with his students who never believe what they have, what they get, is enough. I could be one of them-always wanting, asking for more. Never believing what I have is enough, always aching for approval, recognition, rewards. I was at a wonderful lecture a week ago by a seminary professor. When she finished her 5 hour talk everyone stood and gave her a standing ovation, and she turned and faced the wall in embarrassment. In the small town of Chartres an hour outside of Paris is a magnificent cathedral. There is a tiny winding stairway that takes you up 300 steps to the top of one of its two Gothic spires. There is a small platform that has been built there so you can walk around the spire and see 30-40 miles in every direction. The view is great. But what impressed me more than anything is that the craftsmen, sculptors, and masons who built this incredible building used as much care and love and skill at the top-where no one would ever see their work- as they did at the ground where everyone stands to gaze and admire.
Today we learn that what we have is enough-enough faith, enough recognition, enough rewards. We have been given all we need to be a disciple.“ The reward for the life of faith is the life of faith.” Amen.