Faith as a Mustard Seed

“The Apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’  And the Lord said, ‘If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.’”-John 17:5-6 (ESV).

Who among us has not desired an increase in our faith?  In Matthew’s account of the statement about faith as a grain of mustard seed, it was preceded by the story of Jesus’ healing the boy who was an epileptic, described by his father as falling into the fire or water when one of his attacks came upon him.  The boy had first been brought to the disciples for healing, but they could not do it.  Jesus said to them:  “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to bear with you?”(Mt. 17:17).  When.the disciples asked Jesus why they could not cast the demon out of the boy, Jesus told them, “Because of your little faith.”  Then he gave the statement about having faith as a grain of mustard seed.  Is there a meaning behind this statement that we sometimes do not understand fully?

Mustard was a large annual plant in the Holy Land which grew rapidly.  Its seeds were thought to be the smallest of those in the plant world.  Jesus used the mustard seed to symbolize the rapid growth of the kingdom of God as seen in Matthew 13:31-32:  “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.  It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”  As in our focus verses for today, Jesus used the mustard seed to teach a lesson about faith.  When the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith, they were talking as if they expected Him to imbue them with faith.  The truth is that faith must begin within the believer.  And if it is present (as the simile of the small mustard seed shows how small an amount is needed to begin), when present and active,  can flourish and grow.  The small mustard seed brought forth a plant eight to twelve feet tall.  Jesus used y practical and well-known illustrations to drive home His truths.  Just like the little mustard seed produces annually a plant big enough for birds to build nests in, so a little bit of faith can develop and grow in the believer and bear remarkable results.

As I read this passage from both Luke and Matthew, I recalled a time in my life when my faith had to develop from the small seed I had.  I finished my bachelor of arts degree in education from Mercer University in December of 1952, and applied for and received a job teaching fifth grade at Cynthia Weir School in Macon.  In an interview with the principal, I learned that the class had already had five teachers in the short period from the time school had opened in the fall.  She advised me the job would be hard and that I would have to be a strict disciplinarian in order to manage the class together and teach them.  She asked me if I thought I was up to the task.  Needing a job badly, and really wanting to try my skills as a teacher, I told her that I thought I could meet the challenge.  The children in the class were from “the peach orchard section” of Bibb County and were somewhat underprivileged and behind for grade level.  I sensed a bit of belligerence and questioning on my first morning with the class.  I thought it best to talk to them gently, with a few funny stories mixed with my teacherly advice.  We talked about goals and what they would like to accomplish in the half-year of school remaining.  We were well into the first class when suddenly there was a serious interruption.  I realized that one of my students (and the principal had told me one had a serious ailment) was having an epileptic seizure.  Since I had been warned, I had some sterile tongue depressors in my desk, so I quickly went to Peggy Kitchens and began to apply what I knew to do for a child with the affliction, although I had never in my life had an experience of working with one.  I asked one student to go quickly for the principal, who immediately came.  As it happened, with her mother going early to work, Peggy had to get herself ready for school and catch the bus.  She had not taken the medication—or else she was out of it.  With that and the excitement of a new teacher, she had gone into a seizure.  I remembered the incident from Matthew’s gospel and applied it immediately to my situation as a new teacher in a challenging environment.  My principal and I were able to have a conference with Peggy’s mother, and with the nurse who visited several schools within the district.  With proper medication for Peggy, patience on my part, and cooperation from a class room of students who were hungry for a little tender, loving care, that half-year of teaching became a very memorable way to start a thirty-plus year career in education.  You can be assured that I did much praying, even while Peggy was having that epileptic attack on my first day as her teacher.  I am thankful to God that my seed of faith grew stronger just like the small mustard seed grew into a large plant. The issue is not the size of our faith but the presence of it in our heart.  Another metaphor is moving the tree from where it is planted to the sea.  Like us, the Jews had many sayings about accomplishing things that seemed impossible.  We have to apply our faith to the challenges we face in order to move through them and work in them..”Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”  (Hebrews 11:1).