Put your trust in the Lord and do good; * dwell in the land and feed on its riches.
Take delight in the Lord, * and he shall give you your heart’s desire.
Commit your way to the Lord and put your trust in him, * and he will bring it to pass. (Psalm 37: 3-5)
A long time ago, in the northern part of Israel, in the town of Tsvat, the richest man in town was sleeping – as usual – through the Shabbat morning service. Every now and then he would almost wake-up, trying to get comfortable on the hard, wooden bench, and then sink back into a deep sleep. This Shabbat morning he woke up just long enough to hear the chanting of those verses in Leviticus in which God instructs the Israelites to put 12 loaves of challah on a table in the Tabernacle.
When the service ended, not realizing that what he had heard was the Torah reading about the show bread, this rich man thought God had come to him in his sleep and had asked him personally to bring 12 loaves of challah to God. The rich man felt honored that God should single him out, but he also felt a little foolish. Of all the things God could want from a person – 12 loaves of challah did not seem very important. But who was he to argue with God? So he went home and baked the bread.
When he returned to the synagogue he decided that the only proper place for his holy gift was alongside the Torah scrolls in the ark. So he carefully arranged the loaves and said to God: “Thank You for telling me what You want of me. Pleasing You makes me very happy.” And then he left.
No sooner had he gone than the poorest Jew in town, the synagogue caretaker, entered the sanctuary. He was straightening up after services, putting the prayer books and Bibles back in order, and all alone in the sanctuary he spoke to God. He said, “Ribbono shel olam, I am so poor, my family is starving, we have nothing to eat. Unless you perform a miracle for us, we will surely perish.”
Then, as was his custom, tidying up, he ascended the bima and opened the ark to make sure the Torah scrolls were straight before he left, and there before him were 12 loaves of challah. “A miracle!” exclaimed the poor man, “I had no idea You worked so quickly. Blessed are You, O God, who answers our prayers.” And he ran home to share the bread with his family.
A few minutes later, the rich man returned to the sanctuary, curious to know whether or not God ate the challah. He slowly ascended the bima, opened the ark, and saw that the challot were gone. “O God,” he shouted, “You really ate my challot. I thought you were teasing, testing; this is wonderful. You can be sure that I will bring You another 12 loaves next Shabbat – with raisins in them.”
The following week the rich man brought a dozen loaves to the synagogue and put them into the ark again, privately. God had spoken to him alone; he would do this mitzvah without anyone else’s knowledge. Minutes later the sexton entered the sanctuary: “God, I don’t know how to say this, but I am out of food again. The loaves from last week, seven we ate, four we sold and used the money to buy other food, and one we gave to charity, tsedakah. But now nothing is left – again. Unless you do another miracle, my family will surely starve.” With that he approached the ark and slowly opened its doors. “Another miracle,” he said, “12 more loaves – and with raisins. Thank You, God; this is wonderful.”
This challah exchange became a weekly ritual that became routine. After awhile neither man gave it much thought. Then one day the rabbi, remained in the rear of the sanctuary longer than usual, and in doing so saw the rich man place the dozen loaves in the ark and the poor man retrieve them. The rabbi called them together and told them what they had been doing. “I see,” said the rich man very sadly. “God does not really eat my challah.” “I see,” said the poor man sadly. “God has not been baking challah for me after all.”
Both men feared that now God would no longer be present in their lives. The rabbi took them and held the two men together and raised their hands, and he said to the rich man: “Your hands are the hands of God, giving food to the poor.” And then he raised the poor man’s hands: “And your hands are also the hands of God, receiving gifts for the poor and enabling the rich man to do a mitzvah. So you see, God can still be present in your lives – you continue baking and you continue taking, for your hands are the hands of God.”[1]
In our reading this morning from the Gospel according to Luke, we hear the disciples asking Jesus to “increase their faith”—to give them more faith. Jesus has been teaching them about what it will require for them to follow him and these teachings are difficult. In the verses immediately before the ones we hear today, Jesus warns them that causing others to stumble who come in search of Jesus is a fate equal to death. That they must be ever alert to their wrongdoings and the wrongdoing of other disciples. But that they must be ready to forgive those who ask for it over and over and over again. What Jesus was asking them to do felt overwhelming. In light of the needs and challenges before them, they felt ill-equipped and under-qualified.
I get that..they have started bombing Allepo again. Children, women, men are caught inside a living hell with no end in sight. Millions are fleeing their homes looking for anyplace they can be safe. And in countries around the world, the response is, what about our security, what about our space, our jobs, our food? … And our God says to the righteous, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” (Mt 25:35) “Lord, increase our faith!”
At Monument Mountain High School, a young man decides at a football game to register his frustration that unarmed boys, men, and women continue to be killed across our country by the police, and nothing seems to be changing. And at school the next week, a classmate threatens to “lynch” him for his protest. And our God says to us, “love your neighbor.” “Lord, increase our faith!”
Drug and alcohol abuse rages through bodies, breaking relationships, causing despair and sometimes leading to terrible violence. The cycles of addiction seem to hold people captive despite every treatment we devise. But our God says to us, “I give you power and authority over all demons, to cure diseases, to proclaim the Kingdom of God, and to heal.” (Lk 9:1-2) “Lord, increase our faith!”
The depth and breadth of poverty and hunger not only in faraway places but right here in the United States is a shock and disgrace. And we wonder, “where will we get enough food to feed all these people?” And God says, “bring your five loaves and two fish and feed the people.” “Lord, increase our faith!”
Our political and social context is marked by distrust, division, and demonization. We wonder and worry if we will ever again be able to have a respectful conversation and a shared commitment to the common good. It is easy to feel powerless in so broken a system. And we worship a God who says, “Love your enemies… pray for those who persecute you” and “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” “Lord, increase our faith!”
Faith is for times times like these, precisely to help us navigate through storms and trials. This is our time to live by whatever faith we have, those bits of goodness, grace and love given to us, knowing all the while that not everything is up to us. We may never feel as if we have enough, or that we can do enough. It doesn’t matter. We’re here now and we all have an offering to make. Jesus himself assured us that we don’t need very much to move mountains, that a little bit of faith, a little bit of love, a little bit of righteous anger goes a long way.
Faith is doing what needs to be done right in front of you. Faith is about recognizing the God-given opportunities just to show up and do what you can. Faith means doing the simplest things and knowing that God will put them to use in ways that are beyond our imagination.
Faith is driving a friend to church
Faith is listening carefully to a child’s story
Faith is participating in a walk that will raise money to keep the heat on this winter for someone in need or participating in a walk that stands alongside our neighbors saying that when Black lives really matter—all lives will matter.
Faith is calling someone to check in
Faith is spending time praying for someone else.
Faith is the hand that gives and the hand that inspires another to give.
And the heart of the good news is that God has not and will never leave us. Jesus reminds us that even the smallest bit of faith is all that is needed. But does this mean that we are simply “worthless slaves?” No! This reference to the role of a slave (doulos) in a first century agrarian household seems to suggest that those who would be leaders—the disciples—would be best to view themselves as ones who serve.
But we know that Jesus does not think humans are worthless. In fact, humans are what Jesus lives his life for and what he gives his life for. Humans are not worthless. Instead we are deeply valued and loved. Jesus doesn’t enslave people. He sets people free. (Luke 13:16) We are God’s partners in the redemption of this world.
Jesus knows that the work and growth of God’s kingdom will depend on his disciples. Jesus entrusts, in a great act of faith, the ongoing work of the kingdom to you and to me. (Luke 9:1,13; 10:1) As Teresa of Ávila says so beautifully, “Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world.”
God needs each of us to step out in faith. Faith is not too much or too little. Faith is not a matter of how much you have. Even the smallest amount can be overwhelmingly effective. Because it is not faith in our own faith, but faith in God, faith that God is God, that God is able to act in the world. If we have faith the size of a mustard seed, if we have even just a little faith and we act on that faith, it is enough.
[1] Leviticus 24:5 we read: “And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two tenth parts shall be in one cake. And thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the LORD. And thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row, that it may be on the BREAD [“lechem”] for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto the LORD. Every sabbath he shall set it in order before the LORD continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant. And it shall be Aaron’s and his sons; and they shall eat it in the holy place; for it is most holy unto him of the offerings of the LORD made by fire by a perpetual statute” (Lev. 24:5-9).