Matthew, Mark and Luke all include the parable of the mustard seed in their gospels, but only Luke has this call back to this tiny seed. As Jesus continues his walk toward Jerusalem he continues to teach but here this teaching is prompted by his apostles. Of all the questions that are asked in the bible, this should be an easy one to relate to. Who wouldn’t want to have more faith but, do we know how this happens? 

Jesus uses so many agricultural references in his preaching and teaching because this is something they would have known because they lived it. I worry we have lost touch with these examples because we have very little knowledge or experience with farming. There are many seasons to farming, growth takes time, and we tend to be extremely patient. Are we patient enough to allow our faith to grow or do we desire the same immediacy we have in almost every other aspect of our lives?

Now the second part of this passage may require some reflection to fully understand as well as connect to the initial statement of, “Increase our faith.” Why does Jesus use this example of a slave and a slave master? (Aside from the fact that we do our best to avoid slave language because of our history and practice of slavery.) Even more so the conclusion of, “We are worthless slaves!” What are we to make of this? We may need to do our best to suspend our connection to slavery on this continent to fully understand what Jesus is saying here in Luke’s retelling of his life. In this passage the slave seems to have a very clear understanding of their place and role. This is just what they do. Maybe faith growth happens when we do what we are supposed to do as people of faith. Maybe faith grows through doing.