77 Seconds

Proper 22C

Luke 17:5-10

October 5, 2019

St. Matthias

           There are certain things you can just always count on.  The earth rotates 1 full turn every 23 hours and 56 minutes.  If 2 balls are dropped from the same height, they will both hit the ground at the same time even if one is heavier or bigger than the other.  I know because this was my 3^rd Grade science project and I must have dropped those balls a hundred times trying to make one go faster than the other.  Old Faithful in Yellowstone erupts every 76 minutes on average, there is no end to Pi, and it takes exactly 77 seconds for the stop light at the end of our street to turn from Red back to Green.  It does not matter what time of day, the season of the year, or how late I am, that red light always lasts 77 seconds.  I know – I’ve timed it a hundred times.

           Now I’ve thought about all this – this week as I have thought about faith.  The disciples come to Jesus to ask if HE will increase their FAITH.  I doubt they REALLY knew what they were asking ANY more than I know.  I’ve been thinking about faith now for I guess most of my life since I have been hearing about it just about every time I go to Church.  You will find the word “FAITH” 242 times in the Book of Common Prayer and 264 times in the Bible.  We pray with the FAITH that God hears us, proclaim our FAITH in the words of the Nicene Creed, and come to this altar rail and somehow through FAITH – bread and wine become to us the Body and Blood of Christ.  You can’t see it, or touch it, but a friend of mine once said that faith smells like incense.  I don’t think so.  But then again what is it?

           Jesus told the disciples that with just the smallest amount of faith - you can plant a mulberry tree in the sea.  I did some research and it would take me way too long to explain why this would make sense to the disciples – so to save time let me just say that it is normally impossible for a mulberry tree to grow in water.  If we read the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says in the same story that Faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains.  Jesus probably said both and a lot more about faith.  The point is - Faith can do the impossible.  And so we gather and proclaim that WE believe in God and probably the best definition of faith is found in the book of Hebrews where it says in the 11^th chapter that Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  It is knowing that God is here when we gather as the St. Matthias family where we know in all certainty that God inspires us and leads us and guides us.  We know what faith is when we come here and see the people we love and you don’t have to explain it or understand it, we just know – God is here and saying that WE BELIEVE makes it real and that’s called faith. 

           But that still leaves us with the question the disciples were asking – how do we increase our faith?  How do we get more?  And you might have noticed that Jesus never tells the disciples the answer.  It would be so easy if we could just order up – MORE faith.  But it doesn’t work that way.  It’s like my 3^rd Grade science project.  We all know gravity is.  You can’t see it but you know it is there.  You can’t describe it, but we know it works.  Two balls hit the ground at the same time.  Whether you are on top of the mountain or at the bottom of the Grand Canyon - your feet are still on the ground. I found out that the force of gravity is constant.  It’s predictable and we don’t spend any time in our day wandering if its on or off or if we might suddenly just float away.  You don’t need any more than you have and there is always enough gravity.

           The same is true about Faith.  Jesus was telling the disciples that day that they already have enough Faith right here and right now.  We don’t need anymore, and we already have all that we need.  It is as constant as Old Faithful.  Bread and wine always become to us spiritual food for our spiritual journey.  Just like Pi never ends - with faith there will always be enough beans and rice and boxes of food.  God always hears our prayers and speaks to us so that through Faith we can know which way to go in life.  Faith is the assurance even when all we have is hope – it is the conviction even when we cannot see.  Faith is God working in and through us and that is always enough. We have enough faith right here and right now.

           Now some of you may have been wondering – wait a minute a whole day is 24 hours long – not just 23 hours and 56 minutes.  What happened to the other 4 minutes? The good news is that – its there.  It’s takes an extra 4 minutes for the earth to return to the exact same place each morning since the earth rotates around the sun.  It always takes 4 more minutes.  Gravity always works, old Faithful will always be faithful, and so will faith.  And I timed that stop light again at the end of the street yesterday – still takes 77 seconds to go from Red to Green.  Just as Regular as FAITH.  AMEN.