Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

“If you had faith the size of a mustard seed you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘be uprooted and planted in the sea’ and it would obey you.”

Have you ever wondered what the mulberry tree looked like that Jesus is talking about in our gospel reading today?  I was reading this passage and I suddenly realized that after all the work Sandy Baker has put into planting biblical plants in our gardens outside and learning all about them for us, I had better know something about mulberry trees before preaching about this passage.  I found out that the “ficus sycamorus” translated as the sycamore fig or the fig-mulberry (because the leaves resemble those of a mulberry tree) was very important in Jesus’ time.  It was usually found in rich soils along rivers and had wide spreading branches that offered a delightful shade – very important in a hot climate like that of Israel.  So you see, it is quite likely that Jesus was sitting in the shade of a fig-mulberry with his disciples as they talked.  Perhaps they were disturbed by the story he had just told them about the rich man and Lazarus, and were feeling inadequate for the task before them, like we all do at times.  They wished their faith were stronger so they ask Jesus what they should do to increase their faith.  So Jesus tells them, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed you could uproot this tree and plant it in the sea”, or “if you had the faith size of a mustard seed (so tiny you can hardly see it), which you do, you could pull up this tree we’re sitting under and plant it in the middle of the sea.

Now fig-mulberry trees have enormous deep, spreading roots, so the thought of digging it up with or without a back hoe (which they didn’t have) would have seemed ridiculous, besides which, no-one would ever try to plant a tree in the middle of the sea!  Jesus makes his point well.  We don’t need the faith of giants to carry on Christ’s work in the world, with only a miniscule bit of faith we will find ourselves engaged in the most miraculous works of God, things we wouldn’t even have thought of doing apart from God.  The disciples had no idea of the wonderful things God would do through them.  They had simply responded to Jesus’ invitation to follow him.  They had fallen in love with him as they wandered around from village to village, listening to him teach, watching him reach out lovingly to the sick and the hopeless who came to him for help.  They had experienced God’s love through him, and they had everything they needed for that love to be shared through them, with others.  Because of their friendship with Jesus the disciples had grown to trust God deeply, almost without realizing it.  Almost imperceptivity their faith had grown as a result of that friendship.     

I have a really good friend called Alison.  We met when she and her husband walked across the lawn after church for the lemonade reception.  They had just moved into town and were trying to find a church home.  A year later they experienced a terrible tragedy when their three-month-old little girl died completely unexpectedly.  Over the next few years we struggled together to come to terms with such a horrible thing.  It was so painful to see this wonderful young mother grieve so bitterly that the baby she loved was no longer where it should be in her arms.  After a few years her family decided to move to a different town and they left the church at which I was working.   One day as we were walking down the street together she stopped suddenly and said to me, “Sandy, I want to know if we can be friends.”  I was surprised.  “What are you talking about” I said, “aren’t we already friends?”  “Not properly” she said.  “You’re my priest and I share my struggles with you but you don’t share your struggles with me.”  I knew she was right.  She had been through so much that I never wanted to burden her with my problems.  I wanted to be there for her.  I explained that to her and her response was simple, “But I want you to be my friend as well and friends share their lives with one another?” 

It was a life changing moment for me.  I realized she was saying that in any kind of deep friendship there has to be a certain amount of transparency, a willingness to be vulnerable to the other.  It can’t be all one-sided.  Our friendship has grown and deepened over the years.  We don’t see each other as often as we would like to but we talk often.  I don’t think there’s anything we can’t talk to each other about.  We share so much – our thoughts and feelings, our fears our hopes.  She has been there for me so many times when I have needed her and I hope I will always be there for her when she needs me.

I tell you that story because I believe that it is the kind of relationship Jesus longs to have with each one of us.  In the gospel of John Jesus says “I no longer call you servants but friends because that is what you are.”  He asks us, much as my friend Ali asked me – “will you be my friend?”  Our response to that question will determine the kind of faith we have.  If we allow Jesus to be our friend and enter into a transparent relationship in which we share our deepest thoughts and feelings and allow Jesus to share his life with us through the scriptures, in prayer, as we eat at his table and share our lives with people here at church, we will find our faith growing almost without our realizing it.

When David and I got home from Manhatten on Sep. 11^th, 2001 having been trapped for hours in a high rise building a block from the world trade center, not knowing if we would live to see another day, our first thought was for Matt who was at nursery school in New Haven.  Unbeknownst to us, Ali had seen what was happening on the news, realized we had gone to New York that day and would likely be caught up in the horror that was unfolding.  Without a word she got into the car, drove to New Haven, picked up Matt and brought him to her house.  She didn’t have to ask.  She knew that at this time what we would most want is for Matt to be held safely in the arms of her family.  When we finally escaped the city an by managed to catch a series of rides that finally brought us to her house Matt was in bed asleep having been to her son’s birthday party that night and enjoyed an evening with his Godmother. 

Our friendship with Christ is what will enable us to have the faith to believe that despite all the bad stuff of the world, bad dreams, bad health, terrorists and bad dictators, God knows our every need and desire, that nothing will ever cause us to be abandoned, and that the knowledge of this eternal love means that we can live gladly, know we are accepted and that God wills nothing but good for us.  Faith isn’t artificial optimism it’s the journey of friendship with Jesus.  And building a friendship with Jesus now is what will give you faith to trust that when you are sick or unable to get home for your child or spouse, your mother or father, Jesus will already be there, picking them up in his arms, holding them and you in his care.  It’s the “assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” that Paul talks about in Hebrews (Hebrews 11:1) that allows us to trust God’s love for us even when we can’t see very far down the road.