Mustard seeds
There are moments in life when the call to follow Jesus feels overwhelming - times when we’d perhaps rather bury our heads and pretend not to have heard… I don’t think it was any different for the early followers of Jesus. His words to the disciples in the gospel from Luke (17:5-10) this morning are not gentle suggestions—they are radical commands: forgive endlessly, rebuke sin, welcome the stranger, seek the lost, and live with integrity. It perhaps isn’t any wonder that the disciples cry out, “Increase our faith!” They weren’t asking for a little boost. They were desperate. Jesus had just laid out a vision of discipleship that felt impossible. And maybe you’ve felt that too at times. Maybe you’ve looked at your own life and thought, “I don’t have enough faith to live like that.” But there’s good news if you have thought that as most of us have at times: Jesus doesn’t say, “You need more.” He says, “You already have enough.” If you have faith the size of a mustard seed—tiny...