Mustard and Mulberry
(Rutgers, October 4, 1998; 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C;
World Communion Sunday)
II Timothy 1:1-7 (NT, p. 228); Luke 17:5-6 (NT, p. 82)
Kosciusko-l hope you'll remember the name! Kosciusko.
I so much love this extraordinary brand of spicy brown mustard
that I sometimes put a portion of it directly on my tongue
so that when I press it against the roof of my mouth
I can feel the veritable explosion of tart, tangy flavors
that erupts from its mixture of vinegar and spices
and premium-grade mustard seeds.
Ah yes, the mustard seeds-
as my tongue touches my hard palate,
I can feel the seeds and can roll one along the roof of my mouth,
separating it out from the rest of the mixture.
And I'm always amazed
that the tiny, tiny size of these seeds
is so completely out of proportion to the powerful
eruption of good flavor and taste they inspire.
Mustard seeds-and mulberry trees.
Alas, I have no first-hand experience of mulberry trees to share,
although I'm sure many of you have.
So I've only an encyclopedia-type description to offer.
The mulberry (genus Morus, species nigra) is a long-lived
deciduous tree that attains a height of between 10 and 20 feet.
It has a broad crown of dense branches
whose large, heart-shaped leaves-stiff and rough-
provide wondrous shade from the hot sun.
The tender fruit of the mulberry tree resembles a blackberry
and is eaten both fresh and dried.
From this fruit comes a sweet, dark-red juice
that can be used to make wine.
Mustard seeds, mulberry trees-and the power of faith.
The Twelve Apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"
And Jesus 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."
"Increase our faith, 0 Lord!"
David H. C. Read,
Pastor Emeritus of the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church,
where our own Laura Jervis grew up and was formed in faith-
David Read has said
that the petition, "Increase our faith, 0 Lord!"
is one that every believer brings to every service of worship.
And when we bring this petition,
we're not asking Christ to increase
the number of theological propositions that we believe.
Rather, we're asking Christ to increase
the depth of trust-in-God that we have.
The 20th-century Quaker writer Elton Trueblood
put this thought well when he said,
"Faith is not belief without proof
but trust without reservation."
For "to have faith in God" does not mean "to hold beliefs about
God."
Rather, "to have faith in God" means “to live out of trust in God,"
to live out of the trust that with God nothing is impossible,
that with God life can move beyond bleakness and despair,
that with God life can be opened anew to hope and love.
The 19th-century Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier
put it hauntingly when he wrote:
"Nothing before, nothing behind;
The steps of faith
fall on the seeming void,
And find the rock beneath."
"Increase our faith, 0 Lord!"
Increase the life of trust in God that we lead.
Increase the steps of faith and trust that we take
into the seeming void of life in this world,
so that we may truly find beneath the rock that is God.
"Increase our faith, 0 Lord!"
To which Jesus responded with metaphors of mustard and mulberry.
"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."
In response to our petition,
Jesus offers us this surreal image of a shade tree being
uprooted by the "blast" of a disciple's breathed command
and transplanted from fertile soil into saline sea water.
But you see, Jesus's surreal image is meant not to uproot a tree
but rather to uproot something altogether different.
Through his use of this surreal image, Jesus means to uproot from
our minds our ingrained notions of what is and is not possible.
Through his use of this surreal image, Jesus means to lead us
not more deeply into the world of that which is
but more deeply into the world of that which yet might be.
Through human folly and sin,
this world that God created to be good has fallen
and has become, in Whittier's words, a "seeming void,"
a place of "nothing before" and "nothing behind,"
a place of alienation, loneliness, and despair .
Still, if, by the power of God, trees of every kind
were, in the beginning, created and planted on earth,
then, says Jesus, these same trees, now rooted in a fallen world,
can be uprooted and transplanted, by the power of God,
into a totally new and different reality-
the sea from which came forth primordial life
and all the goodness of the very beginning of time.
Jesus is telling us that by the power of God all things become possible.
Jesus is telling us that with just the tiniest seed of trust in God
we who are Christ's disciples can tap into
the Creator's explosive power
so that "what is" can be transformed into "what might be."
Yes, in Whittier's words, we who are Christ's disciples,
can, with but the tiniest '”steps of faith”
"find the rock beneath."
Or, to build on Jesus's metaphors, we who are Christ's disciples,
can, with but the tiniest seed of trust in God, tap into
the Creator's explosive power to transform this sorry old world
into an altogether different reality,
into a place of the goodness originally intended,
a place burgeoning with hope and love.
How amazing this really is!
Our tiny seeds of trust in God can lead to a powerful eruption
of goodness out of all proportion to their size.
One example of God's amazing ability to build on our seed of faith
to change the world
can be seen in the history of the Salvation Army.
In 1878, the English Methodist minister William Booth
and his wife Catherine Booth organized this new Army of Faith
to trigger an outpouring of God's power to transform.
William Booth served as the Army's first General, and in 1890
he published a book entitled In Darkest England and the Way Out ,
According to Booth, the "way out" of darkness was,
first, to trust in God's power to transform the fallen world
back to its original goodness,
and, second, to lead the kind of life that taps this power
and brings this goodness, hope and love
to the poor and destitute throughout the world.
Following Booth's death in 1912,
the American poet Vachel Lindsay composed a poem entitled
"General William Booth Enters into Heaven."
A memorable couplet in Lindsay’s poem proclaims:
"Booth died blind and still by faith he trod,
Eyes still dazzled by the ways of God”-
the ways of goodness, hope, and love.
Today, the Salvation Army, born of faith the size of a mustard seed,
operates hospitals, community centers, alcohol and drug
rehabilitation programs, emergency and disaster services,
social service centers, and recreational facilities
the world around.
And today, here in the United States, the Salvation Army receives
more benevolence dollars from us Americans
than any other single charity.
The Salvation Army's trust in the power of God has indeed led
to a powerful eruption of world-transforming goodness
out of all proportion to the Army's size.
Today, as we approach the table of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
we come, first, with our mustard seeds of faith in God
and of trust without reservation
and, second, with our dollars for the peacemaking offering,
as signs of our pledge to live by drawing on the power
of this trust in God.
And we come in the confidence
that even our small faith and miniscule action for peace
can, by the power of God, lead to an eruption of
world-transforming goodness out of all proportion to our size.
As we offer our mustard seeds of faith + of trust without reservation,
together with signs of our pledge to live out of this trust in God,
let us offer them in the confidence that this very day,
through our small gifts of faith and peacemaking,
mulberry trees can be uprooted and re-planted in the sea.
Mustard, mulberry, and the power of faith.
Let us pray.
O God, take our faith and use it to transform the earth.
Where there is darkness, let there be light.
Where there is despair, let there be hope.
Where there is hatred, let there be love.
Where there is injury, let there be pardon.
Where there is discord, let there be peace.
This we pray in the name of Christ,
who came that we might have faith
and that the world might be changed.
Amen.
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