Atomic Faith Sermon Luke 17.5-10

0:00 The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke, the 17th chapter. On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus instructs his followers about the power of faith and the duties of discipleship. He calls his disciples to adopt the attitude of servants whose actions are responses to their identity rather than works seeking reward. The scripture says, the apostles said to the Lord, increase our faith. The Lord replied, 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.

0:49 Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, come here at once and take your place at the table. Would you not rather say to him, prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink. Later you may eat and drink. Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have all done what you were ordered to do, say, we are worthless.

1:15 We have done only what we have ought to have done. The gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Christ. Allow me to pray. Good and gracious God, may the words of my mouth and the meditations upon all our hearts be acceptable to you, our Lord and Savior. Amen. You may be seated. Well, brothers and sisters, I'm excited to be here, as I usually am. And today, a fun sermon, Atomic Faith, is the title of this sermon. And as if you haven't heard me preach here before, I invite participation, usually with saying, are you with me?

1:59 And you'll say, yes. Yes. Or I don't know. Or, well, give me a second. Whatever works for you. But here we go. So the sermon title, Atomic Faith, it might be a little perplexing. What does that mean? Well, do you all know what atoms are? I think you're fairly familiar, probably. I'm not a scientific person, but I did some research, asked ChatGPT, and it taught me a lot. So here's a brief science lesson. First, atoms are the building blocks of all forms of life, from water to the human body.

2:31 They're everywhere. And they're tiny. They're typically around 0.1 nanometers. And for those who are very scientific, that's one ten billionth of a meter. You could fit about 50 million atoms in the thickness of a human hair. So compared to things that we see and touch every day, atoms are incredibly small. And so we'll talk about that a little bit. But for my main point today, I'm encouraging you all that you can grow your faith by starting small. You can grow it and think of it like so small, like atomic.

3:07 And yet it can become so big. And that's what I'm going to offer today. So are you with me? Yes. All right. Well, let's start with a little bit of context here in Jesus. I'm not going to read all the verses. But in chapter 17, verses 1 through 4, Jesus is teaching the disciples some challenging truths. First, he talks about making sure you don't mislead or tempt little ones. This could be, you know, children or impressionable people. You don't want to mislead them. And then Jesus points out to the disciples how you should treat fellow believers.

3:40 I think this applies to all people, but specifically fellow believers. And so Jesus offers a brief but hard teaching on how you need to forgive. And you need to forgive a lot. This is where the seven times seven forgiving comes from. Essentially, he's saying infinitely keep forgiving and forgiving. So I'm going to offer that verses 5 and 6 where we're going to focus mostly on today. They're connected to Jesus' teachings in verse 4 about forgiveness. Because in verse 5, I read the apostles that are saying, in my opinion, they're kind of going, oh, we have to forgive that much?

4:21 That's going to take a miracle. So I hear in their words, increase our faith. Please increase our faith. It's just too much. It's a cry for help. And so that's why in verse 6, Jesus speaks of having faith like a mustard seed, a small little seed that can grow in big ways and do some fascinating things. For example, just recently, I was rather frustrated by someone that they said something to me that made me feel like the disciples. I thought, oh. It wasn't a big thing, but it still hurt.

4:56 It was pointed. And the best part, I just read this passage the day before as I was preparing for my sermon preparation. And I called my wife, and I was a very temperamental tantrum. And I said, you know, this person said this. But I just read this passage, and I guess I have to apply it. I have to forgive them. And my wife laughed, and we talked. But I share this because, as I shared with my wife, I need faith to forgive. In big things or in small things, I need help to forgive others.

5:29 Can you all relate to something like that? Yeah. So Jesus, in this passage, is asking you and I, do you want to increase your faith even when someone slights you with a big thing or a little thing? And Jesus is asking me in my example, that tiny little slighted thing, that mustard seed, what's it going to grow into? Is it going to be something big or small? What are you going to do with it? What are you going to do with big offenses, small offenses, Brian?

5:59 And I said, all right, all right. And so we're like the disciples. I'm like a disciple. Increase my faith with this. And so Jesus says, well, start small. Start like a mustard seed. So, friends, you can grow your faith by starting small. And that's where we're going back to the discussion of atoms. As I shared, atoms are part of all aspects of life. And atom, if you're not so familiar, because I wasn't, at the center of an atom is the nucleus with protons and electrons. And then there's a cloud of space around it with negatively charged electrons orbiting it.

6:37 It's very fascinating. And a word picture that describes this is if an atom was the size of a sports stadium. The nucleus would be at the center and it would be a marble, the size of a marble. And the electrons would be flying around that stadium, buzzing around the stands. And everything in between is empty space. Now, this is why these atoms are so powerful. And this is why nuclear energy is so powerful. Because when you tap into the dense core of that atom, the nucleus, you release massive energy from something so small.

7:13 That's atomic energy. And friends, that impact of energy inside of an atom is what's a huge explosion. And for us as Christians, I would suggest we believe in atomic faith power. And that can be unleashed when Jesus is a part of that process. Are you with me? Okay. So Jesus is the source of our atomic faith. And now you might be like, well, what does this have to do with forgiveness or increasing our faith? Well, to do that a little bit, I want to look at the story.

7:44 In Gospel of Mark, chapter 9, I'm not going to read the whole thing, but I'm going to summarize it. This is a story about Jesus healing a boy who has an unclean spirit. And the quick on it is this. The disciples had attempted to go and cast out this spirit. But it was too big for them in a certain way. And funnily enough, since they couldn't heal, they thought the better plan was to start arguing with each other and the people. And Jesus, as he does, he casually strolls over and he asks, what are you arguing?

8:18 And the father, with the unclean son, with the spirit, he comes over and he tells Jesus what happened. And the father says, well, your disciples couldn't cast them out, couldn't cast out this bad spirit. And Jesus says in an unhappy remark, oh, faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring this son to me. So the man brings the boy to Jesus and Jesus asks the father, how long has this been happening? And the father explains to Jesus, well, if you can do anything, please help.

8:53 To which Jesus responds in a rebuttal of sorts. If you can do anything, all things are possible for one who believes. And this father replies, I believe, help my unbelief. And then we see Jesus cast out this spirit, it's gone. And at the end of the story, Jesus speaks with his disciples privately because they ask, why couldn't we cast out this bad spirit? And I think Jesus is being very, very kind and forgiving because he just says, this kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.

9:33 Very interesting. Friends, I illustrate the story because it gives us a few pieces for us as we consider growing in our faith in small or atomic ways and the way to unleash power within. And the big part here is that this father illustrates the challenge that we have with our faith. The father does not, this father does not understand that the power that Jesus holds, it's that atomic power of faith. And Jesus can unleash it as we saw to what for him was a very small thing, this bad spirit.

10:06 But nothing too, we have to remember, nothing is too small for Jesus, even when it comes to faith. So people can see, I can help you with that too. So we see the father's response, his great quote of, I believe, help me with my unbelief. It is such a powerful statement. And although Jesus is frustrated, he still honors the father in recognizing where this father is coming from because it's just too overwhelming. And his view, the father's view is still very small based on the situation.

10:41 So the problem is not having doubt. The problem is not having little faith. The problem is, is that limiting your view. Is your view of faith leading you to think this is the only place it can go? It can't get bigger. It can't be more. And as we see here, this man, this father has allowed his unbelief, his small faith to become impotent, if you will, to the possibility of potential. Are you with me? And this is why we need Jesus. And that's why we must say, increase our faith to Jesus, because we recognize I can't do it.

11:24 I can't do it. And so Jesus is like, well, do you believe I can? It seems rather straightforward, but that's what's being asked of us. And so we see Jesus teach the disciples, even if something is big in perspective to you, what do you do? Go to prayer. Go to Jesus. Seek him in that thing that we think is big. But in reality, to Jesus, it's nothing. But as we see, these tiny things can have potential for the negative or the positive. So having atomic faith, it's okay to say, if something looks too big, the question is, will it leave you impotent with your faith?

12:09 Or will this big thing or small thing be potential faith to be unlocked with and by Jesus? And that could make it atomic faith. Are you with me? I bring this up for this reason, because we cannot forget that we don't do things through human power alone. It's a part of the process. But we cannot strive ourselves into increasing our faith. But we can be in situations that help us increase our faith. And that's why we have to say Jesus increase our faith. So we go back to Luke chapter 17.

12:52 And this is what disciples are pointing out. How in the world am I supposed to forgive over and over again? That's like a superpower. Oh, because from the human point of view, it's usually not worth it. It's not possible sometimes we feel. It's too much. People are terrible. Same news, different day. Or whatever negative thing we want to comment about. And like that comment that person made, they'll make another one to me. But I need to figure a way out through it. And I tell Jesus, it's hard to forgive.

13:31 I don't have the faith. I don't have the stamina of faith in my faith. And that's why Jesus says, well, you don't have it, but I do. Are you going to ask me to increase your faith in that? And that's why we need Jesus in this process. So we turn now to applying this and how we grow our faith in small ways. I like TV shows. I think you all know that I've shared a few of them already. I'm going to share another show. It's a sitcom.

14:04 It's no longer running anymore, but it's called Mom. It's called Mom. And it's a show. Okay, some of you have seen it. You can actually watch it on Netflix. They have the whole series. But it's a show. It's called Mom. It starts off with a 30-something-year-old mother. And her name is Christy Plunkett. She's a recovering alcoholic with two children. At the same time, while she's going through her recovery process, her mother is also becoming sober as well, Bonnie Plunkett. These moms, they're sober. They're getting better.

14:37 But they are human train wrecks in the show. It's a comical show. But it's beautiful, too. And it's eight seasons long. So I'd encourage you, if you're interested, watch it. And it's good that it takes this long for us to see the development of people in recovery. Because you see the ups and you see the downs of people who are recovering from a substance abuse problem. And you need to see how long it takes for true growth to happen in these characters, these mothers who are recovering.

15:09 And from the show, you start to see, one, it takes a long time for something to develop and grow in a healthy way. And for them, it's to stay sober. And the second part is focusing on small steps. They're literally taking steps. And they're doing this 12-step program. And these are deep steps, meaningful steps. And it takes a lot of intentional work to stay sober. And in the show, there's one quote from a person, not one of these two mothers, but a fellow character. And she says this.

15:43 I'm not the same person I was yesterday. And that's a good thing. I'm leaving that train wreck of a person in my past where she belongs. I'll say it again. I'm not the same person I was yesterday. And that's a good thing. I'm leaving the train wreck of a person in my past where she belongs. Friends, the power of that statement is the way they focus on the day before. The small progress they made just one day at a time. As we come to wrapping up this sermon, I want to encourage you that you can grow your faith in small ways.

16:23 And that's a good place to start. The two ways to remind you to start practicing or rethinking about that this week is a couple quotes in a Bible verse. One is a quote by an ancient Chinese philosopher. You've probably heard this before. It's a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. This week, as you think about yourself as a follower of Jesus, as you think about having to do the hard work of forgiving constantly, how will you see it not as an overwhelming thing, but as a daily step?

17:02 Maybe even little baby steps within the day. Like, okay, I just got to forgive at this point. And it's eight o'clock now, and then nine o'clock, I got to go at this point. Just little baby steps. And also think about how it might be Jesus inviting you to take a step in a small way towards those thousand steps that begin the path to forgiveness, that you begin to go, I can forgive something more because of what I've learned in small things. And that's what Jesus helps us with.

17:35 Are you with me on that? Yes. Good. As a follower of Jesus, take those small steps with him and ask him along the way in the baby step. Okay, it's nine o'clock. I'm going to ten o'clock. I need your help on this. Ask him to increase your faith in that step, whatever it might be. Now, looking at a Bible verse in Zechariah chapter four. Zechariah is a great book, and it's a lot of talk about the temple trying to be rebuilt. And Zechariah is given a vision in chapter four.

18:10 And in the vision, it says this. After that, the word of God came to me. Zerubbabel, start rebuilding this temple, and he will complete it. That will be your confirmation that the God of angel armies sent me to you. Does anyone dare despise this day of small beginnings? They'll change their tune when they see Zerubbabel setting the last stone in place. In this Zechariah scripture, we're told to not despise or discount small beginnings. Friends, to increase your faith, start small. Think atomic. Consider the power of those small beginnings.

18:58 Nothing is too small to Jesus. He's inviting you into something. If you want to have atomic faith, you need Jesus. If you want to take a step with your faith, be honest. Tell Jesus, I lack faith. Help me increase it. I believe. Help my unbelief. To which Jesus is obviously going to encounter you. He did that with that father. Why would he not do it with you? Are you with me? This is what the disciples see, and this is what Jesus says. What are you going to do with that mustard seed?

19:35 It was just perplexing to them as it is to us. But you'll see it has the potential. That small seed has the potential to be nothing or to make an interesting idea of planting it and putting it in the seed. Because there's potential with atomic faith. There's a potential explosion that can happen when you connect that with Jesus. Brothers and sisters, the first step is a small step, and it's up to you. Grow in your atomic faith with that small step. It can be more powerful than you think when Jesus is a part of it.

20:10 Amen, brothers and sisters. Amen.