† Sunday, 3 October 2010
In England and Wales – Thanksgiving for the harvest
Keynote: Jesus expects his disciples to grow in faith and to give witness
Prophet Habakkuk 1: 2-3; 2: 2-4
It is all too easy to blame others when things go wrong or, as here in this reading, for the prophet to lodge complaint directly with God: ‘How long, Lord, am I to cry for help while you will not listen …why do you look on where there is tyranny? Outrage and violence, this is all I see.’ There is a natural frustration when we see sickness, injustice or disasters taking place in our world. But the ‘problem of evil’ will not go away by simply blaming God for the bad things and then taking all the credit to ourselves for the good things that happen. We may need to look again at the ‘problem of good’.
When Habakkuk makes his complaint God responds to the prophet inviting the disciple to be patient, ‘If it comes slowly, wait, for come it will, without fail. See how he flags, he whose soul is not at rights, but the upright man will live by faithfulness.’ The true disciple is invited to persevere in hope, to remain faithful to God’s Promise – God will be faithful ‘if it comes slowly wait, for come it will without fail.’
Responsorial Psalm 94 (95) – A processional hymns of praise and thanksgiving
Second Letter of Paul to Timothy 1: 6-8, 13-14
Writing from prison to his trusted friend Timothy, his close companion on his missionary journeys, Paul reminds him, ‘To fan into a flame the gift that God gave you when I laid my hands on you. God’s gift was not a spirit of timidity, but the Spirit of power and love, and self-control.’ The message is addressed us too – for the gifts of the Spirit we have received are not for hiding away, not talents to be buried. Nor are these gifts of the Spirit for our own private and timid use. ‘So’, writes the apostle, ‘you are never to be ashamed of witnessing to the Lord.’ Instead, the gifts are for sharing, for caring, for giving loving service to others. The true disciple is reminded, ‘You have been trusted to look after something precious; guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.’
Gospel according to Luke 17: 5-10
Being a disciple can be testing and hard at times, they may be attacked or subjected to bad example, they may give scandal, or be tempted to abandon the way of Christ. The true disciple, in contrast, is to persevere, being faithful, with a deepening faith. Jesus when asked by his disciples, ‘Lord increase our faith,’ replies, ‘were your 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.’ Jesus often exaggerated to make his point. The ‘mustard seed’ is very small, a very tiny seed, but even so, faith – even that small – is strong enough that it might move the ‘mulberry tree.’ I like to think of Jesus and his disciples today resting on their journey and sitting in the shade of this great spreading mulberry tree, with its extensive root system. Not only would it not be easy to uproot and move, but also I doubt it would grow well in the sea either! That is just Jesus’ point; faith – even a little faith – is very strong. Maybe we might rest in the shade awhile with the Jesus today, and say: ‘Lord increase our faith.’
© 2010 Peter J Harrison