Looking for a Mustard Seed?

Do you know how big a mustard seed is? The internet tells me it is 1/20 of an inch. I don't even know how to convert that to metric. I just know that it is small. Really, really, really, really very small.

The disciples were a crew of twelve men, chosen by Jesus to be 'apostles' to travel with him and learn on the job. The word apostle was another word for 'messenger' and the grand plan was for the disciples to go off and tell the world about Jesus. As part of this apprenticeship the disciples are sent out by Jesus to do some healing. The disciples knew Jesus, had spent time with him and believed that he was who he said he was ~ the son of God. They knew that Jesus could do miracles. The disciples had been taught by Jesus, first hand. They had seen what impact Jesus had on the world around him.

So you wouldn't think they would have an issue with anything to do with faith. I don't think that the father of a son afflicted with fitting doubted them either. He approached them, probably with some degree of confidence (otherwise why even ask) and presented his son to them for healing.

This is when the disciples realise that they are not having a good day. To know that the disciples failed means that they must have tried. Picture the father, desperate for his son to be healed. Picture the son, desperate for a normal life not falling into water or fires. Picture the disciples desperate to heal. I am guessing there was an audience. A supremely awkward moment for the disciples and devastating for the dad who had put his hope in these men.

All credit to the dad, who probably driven by the desperation to see his son healed goes straight to Jesus... "When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him.‘Lord, have mercy on my son,’ he said. ‘He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.’"

Jesus heals the boy and later the disciples ask him (in private unsurprisingly) why they failed so badly. Jesus replies, “Because you have so little faith."

I would have been gutted if I was a disciple had to call my faith into quesion. Ask myself what faith I had and what it meant ~ in front of Jesus himself. It is bad enough asking myself that question now, a question that is still relevant over 2,000 years later.

Jesus finished his advice with "Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

A mustard seed isn't very big. But it a lot bigger than nothing. I don't think the plan is to go around re-organising the Himalayas, but it doesn't take much faith at all to do something amazing. Time and time again I have seen very ordinary people take extra ordinary steps of faith with incredible results.

If you are an ordinary person, it is ok to question what faith you have and how much faith you possess. It is also not unknown for a faith filled person to set out to do something amazing and fail (as did the disciples!).

The desire of Jesus is for us to recognise when we need to address the issue and most importantly to do something about it.

For the Jesus geeks these verses are from Matthew 17. As Matthew was one of the disciples I imagine this is a bit of cringey account for him to write about. But then he had been a tax collector so was probably used to cringing.

Anyone got a light?

From what I can see, Faith has an inward element to it as well as an outward element. Once we have some sort of handle on what is going on inwardly, we are encouraged to share that proactively and bring it outward. This brings with it all sorts of challenges. Boldness for one. Confidence for another. It is also an open invitation for questioning, and if you aren't confident in what you believe - it is going to be very tricky to convince someone else.

And as what you believe becomes a part of what defines you, it should spill or ooze out of you... like water overflowing in a bath or jam out of a doughnut or a crack of light behind a door.

Light is usually quite a passive sort of noun. It just sort of 'is'. Unless you think about fireworks.

Christian teaching usually associates the light mentioned in the bible with candle light or star light and this imagery is itself quite biblical. But what if we think of the light more in the sense of fireworks - bright, spectacular, showstopping even.

The bible talks a lot about light and I have picked out some some of these mentions below. Holding onto the thought of fireworks:

Genesis 1: 3-4
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.

John 1 : 4-5
In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Matthew 5: 14 - 16
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Isaiah 60:19
The sun will no more be your light by day,
nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you,
for the Lord will be your everlasting light,
and your God will be your glory.

Revelation 22:5
There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

So is faith about fireworks? No. Is it about spectacular living? Mostly not. Although everyone with a faith can probably increase the impact their faith postively has on the world. Is it about lighting up the darkness? Yes.

Light can be a crack behind the door, candlelight, lamplight or fireworks. The important thing about light is not how it shines, but that it cannot be contained.

For the Jesus geeks, Genesis 1 & Revelation 22 are the first chapter of first book and the last chapter of last book. A nice little way to start and finish and not likely a coincidence.

Escape the Dory way ->

In Finding Nemo, Dory [reading a door] says Hey, look. "Esc-a-pay". I wonder what that means? That's funny, it's spelled just like the word "escape."

Sometimes we all need a way out, a break through or a quick exit.

Spiders have a get out of jail free card in this house, they are captured and evicted with a stern warning. Flies are also encouraged to leave of their own accord, rather than being destroyed by a swatter. I once killed a fly, by accident - ninja style, by flicking a teatowel at him as a warning shot. It was no warning shot and the fly dropped to the floor dead. I was stunned at this so far undiscovered talent, and apologised profusely but it was too little too late.

Life often throws us challenges which can put us in a tough position; such as an awkward meeting or difficult presentation of work. Or life can do a worse thing and give you a situation that is relentless. That does not pass after a meeting, or a tough day. A situation that breaks your heart and wears you down, stripping you of all that you believed was good and true and right.

One of the frustrating habits of flies is their reluctance to look further than their situation *bang* against a window, then *bang* again against a window, then *bang* again against the same window, and all the while, just a short distance away there is another window wide open.

Escapes come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Some are marked, others aren't. Sometimes we misread the sign, like Dory. Sometimes we keep banging on at the same shut way out. Then that eats away at our faith, we wonder where God has gone, why he hasn't turned up. Hasn't fixed it.

God does not give us dead ends. He does not take us down a path which is false or labelled incorrectly. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. This verse from Jeremiah 29 shows that we can trust God to have a plan. A good plan.  Although it might not be an ejector seat style plan, it might be a roll up your sleeves and tough it out plan. In each case there is the fact that we need to learn how to realise that plan. How to find the open window, read the signs and find the escape route.

Deuteronomy 31 says "Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.” And this is echoed in Joshua 1:9 ^"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Have a 'Dory' moment. Read the exit signs properly and just keep swimming.
 
(Image from tumblr.com)

Clive Staples Lewis and that famous Lion

"And now a very curious thing happened. None of the children knew who Aslan was any more than you do; but the moment the Beaver had spoken [his name] everyone felt quite different.... At the name of Aslan each one of the children felt something jump in its inside. Edmund felt a sensation of mysterious horror. Peter felt suddenly brave and adventurous. Susan felt as if some delicious smell or some delightful strain of music had just floated by her. And Lucy got the feeling you have when you wake up in the morning and realize that it is the beginning of the holidays or the beginning of summer."
C. S. Lewis from The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe (Chapter 7)

It is a widely accepted fact that the Aslan part of this story is one to reflect the sacrifice made by Jesus.

When you think about faith or a belief what do you feel?

When you think about God are you full of love of full of fear of full of loathing?

Are you an Edmund and scared of the unknown?
Are you a Peter and able to take on the world when you couldn't before?
Are you a Susan and experience a feeling unlike ever before?
Or are you a Lucy and full of a special kind of joy?

Or are you - you? With a unique response? One based on previous experiences, maybe with a bit of baggage attached?

We are all different. We aren't expected to be the same. But God is the same; yesterday, today and forever. Don't worry about what God is or isn't but do take a while to think about who you might be.

btw:

For the Jesus geeks here is the verse from Revelations that associates Christ with the Lion of Judah:

Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.” Revelation 5:5

Every generation stands on the past

So why 'Standing on the Shoulders of Giants'? Well...

Every generation stands on the past. People who stood up for what they believe in. Or didn't.

If we decide to go forward it is much easier to find a path already well trod (trod is an odd word, does anyone actually use it anymore? Apart from me.)

When we look at old people we see slowness, the ageing process, sometimes a burden on society. What we do not see is their youth. Their desire to change the world. To fight for something. To believe in something. To face persecution. Or just social ridicule. Or we might see someone who chose to fight for nothing. To change nothing, to watch the world go by and stand aside spectator style.

If looking back we are standing on the shoulder of others, looking forward who will stand on ours? And what will you have fought for, changed, believed in, made a stand against? Something or nothing?

The hymn Amazing Grace was written by English poet and clergyman John Newton (1725–1807) and published in 1779. Google him and be inspired.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
and Grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promised good to me.
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

God's love is meteoric

God's love is meteoric,
his loyalty astronomic,
his purpose titanic,
his verdicts oceanic.
Yet in his largeness
nothing gets lost;
Not a man, not a mouse,
slips through the cracks.

Ok, so this is the Message version - but read the words. The words are amazing. They are words of God. The Bible is lots of books written by authours who believed they were writing straight from the heart of God. Those booked were compliled into one big book by people who believed they were doing the will of God. This is a big deal. These words are for you. From God. From Psalm 36.

You might feel that it doesn't matter what you believe. Or care what is in your heart. Or want to think about how a speck of life such as one person is important to a God you might not be able to see, or hear, or feel.

For those moments of doubt, these words were written for you. To read, to know.

Learning bible verses might seem like the stuff of deranged Sunday School teachers but there is beauty in knowing something without thinking. You know your way to someplace like the supermarket, or to where a good friend lives without needing a map or even thinking much about it - and sometimes, when get somewhere we know really, really well - we get there without remembering the whole journey even though we drove or walked or biked there. Our brain and body sort of carries on without us! When we know a bible verse, really know it well - it stays there, and then when we are broken, stuck in a confusing place - or even worse, a dark place - without really thinking about it, that verse can come to us and give us an anchor, something to cling to or be something to reassure us, or remind us of what we believe. We have to LEARN it though. It doesn't get in by osmosis. We have to engrave it on our hearts by learning and understanding it, so that when we are on a journey and need some help, those words written from the heart of God lift our own heart.

Staring at your belly button

Someone I love is taking a long hard look at their faith and is really challenged by what they see. And not in a good way.

I asked if they would like me to write something about 'faith' to help them. Surprisingly they said yes.

So this is it.