A Prosthetic Faith II (Luke 17:5-10)

When we hear the disciples ask Jesus for an increase in faith, we might be tempted to think of faith as some kind of deposit or quantity, something measurable. But, for Luke and for the most of the NT authors, faith is a disposition and not a quantifiable possession. As Joel Green, a commentator on this Gospel says, "Faith leads to faithful behavior; lack of faith leads to anxiety and fear" (Gospel of Luke, 613). Here are some other examples in Luke.

(1) The people who brought the paralyzed man to Jesus brought him up on the roof of the house to let him down to Jesus' presence because of the press of the crowd. How did Jesus respond? "When he saw their faith (5:20)...." In other words, faith is demonstrated in faithful action.

(2) The centurion sent servants to Jesus to urge Jesus to heal another servant "long distance." The centurion's message was to the effect that he, too, was a man under authority, who gave commands (and implicitly obeyed commands too). Jesus' response is, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith" (7:9). Faith led the centurion to act by sending servants to Jesus and by confessing his own being under authority.

(3) While at dinner with a Pharisee, Jesus was interuupted by a woman from the city, a sinner, who bathed his feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. Jesus used this action as an object lesson on gratitude to Simon, his host. Jesus' point was that the woman's sins, which were many, were forgiven her because she "showed great love." As a result Jesus said, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace" (7:50). Faith is, in fact, faithfulness.

(4) Finally, when Jesus was passing through pressing crowds, a woman suffering from hemorrhages for 12 years broke through the crowd, touched Jesus' garment and was healed from her flow of blood. Jesus asked who touched him. The woman was "outed," and she declared what she had done and how it led immediately to her healing. Jesus response? "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace" (8:48).

In all these instances "faith" is something that better rendered as "faithfulness." Faith resides in action, in being willing to expose oneself to ridicule, to take drastic and socially questionable actions (such as removing roofs) in order to act on what one knows to be true. Thus, when the disciples are asking for Jesus to "increase" their faith, we ought not to look at this as a request for "more" faith, as if faith was a product or quantifiable entity. They are asking Jesus for the disposition, maybe even the courage, to act in ways that are worthy of their teacher and Lord. I think it aids our prayers and exhortations immensely if we see our request for "increased faith" as really a request to act faithfully in our daily work, even to the point of personal ridicule or unconventional action.

III. Faith Never Quits (17:7-10)

St. Paul has perhaps the most powerful three-word sentence in the New Testament: "Love never ends" (I Cor. 13:8). But my three-word sentence from the final four verses of our reading this morning is "like unto it"--Faith never quits. Jesus' parable here is the third one he tells about servants and masters (see also 12:35-48; 16:1-9). Jesus uses one of the visible social relationships which all would know about in the ancient world in order to make his points about faith.

But what is the point of these four verses? In the final analysis the point will be that we ought not to think of the obedience of discipleship as the means of gaining something from God. In order to get to this point, however, I need to make a few comments on the parable.

The servant has been working al day in the field. No master, Jesus says, will either say "thank you" to the servant or tell him to "put up your feet" and relax at the end of the long day. Why not? Because if the master did this he would be declaring his indebtedness to the servant. Declaring indebtedness to servant would be tantamount to disrupting the master/servant relationship upon which the ancient world was built. Instead of thanking the servant, then, the master just expects to be fed. And, the servant's response? The translation of the word achreioi in v. 10 is difficult. It can either be rendered "worthless" or "unworthy" or "unnecessary." I think that all of the translations have some truth in them. The servant is "worthless" in the sense that no favor is due him by the master. The servant is "unnecessary" in the sense that he is fungible or easily replaceable. The servant is "unworthy" in the sense that he brings nothing of personal status by which he would be in a position to coerce or even persuade the master to treat him like "one of the boys." The servant only does what he is supposed to and he must keep doing this until the master is satisfied. The implication is that he will have "time for himself" after the master is served.

There is a lot that could be said about this parable, but two points will suffice in conclusion. On the one hand, Jesus doesn't seem to want to overturn all social conventions. This is slightly in tension with his earlier exhortations to disciples (ch. 6, 14) to break through the "patronal" system of ethics by giving without expectation of return. In this instance Jesus is just taking the example of a system which they all know to be inviolate; on other occasions, however, Jesus urges disciples to "push the envelope." We can conclude that Jesus wasn't primarily a social critic or political philosopher, even if some of his statements certainly have political and social implications.

Finally, the upshot of the parable is that, to use Jesus' words from the Gospel of John, "We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work" (John 9:4). So now is the time for work. Now is the time for faithful action. Now is the time for disciples to seek to study the little things and see the big results (the sycamore in the sea). Now is the time for plowing and planting and preparing the master's meal. Our time will come, but not yet. That is the hopeful, but realistic, message of Luke for today.

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