Moving Mountains

He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20

I don't know about you but after reading what Jesus said to his disciples I feel like I have very little faith. Im not near any mountains but if I were, I feel like I wouldn't be brave enough or would doubt I could move a physical mountain by my command.  

When thinking about how much of something we tend to think in quantity. In this remark by Jesus we can notice that he uses such a small item to describe a faith that can move mountains. If one mustard seed of faith can do that I must have less then a 10th of that kind of faith. The trouble with this thinking is that if I want to gain a larger faith I'd need to somehow add to what faith I already have. I can try to work more, pray more, obey more, sacrifice more but in the end doing all of those things doesn't add to my faith but to my self-righteousness.

James 2 teaches us that faith and works work in unison. They don't feed one another but rather together they compliment each other. Work is our response to Gods word, living as scripture calls us too and faith is our trust in God. So how can we obtain the faith necessary to move mountains? What would that look like?

I believe that sometimes with a theological thought like this one the best way to understand the scripture is to considered all the surrounding scripture and the scenario that the scripture illustrates. This was not just a random teaching from Jesus but his response to the disciples frustration when they could not chase out a demon when Jesus knows they are capable of doing so.

 And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he has seizures and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.” And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.” And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:14-20

Jesus sent his disciples out to heal the sick (Matthew 10). They were doing this while Jesus was still with them, before the Holy Spirit came upon them. The reason they could not isn't clear whether it was because the disciples were afraid or they were confused but what is clear is Jesus points to their faith (or lack of it) as the reason they could not drive the demon out.

If faith isn't measured by an amount then why did Jesus explain it the way he did. This got me thinking and maybe his analogy is more helpful then Ive given credit for. A seed by it self isn't really anything but has the potential to become something. Maybe thats how faith works. Our faith grows similarly to how a mustard seed transforms into a mustard tree.

Faith in Jesus is a gift from the Holy Spirit. Paul puts it this way to the Ephesians:

 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9

As we accept and celebrate that our belief rests entirely on Gods work in us, for us and through us we can start to understand that this one faith is enough. But once we have it what are we doing with it? Are we letting it go to waste? Are we taking credit for it? Are we using it to set ourselves apart from others? Or are we nurturing it? Are we investing it? Are we sharing it? 

If you have never thought about faith as a gift but rather as a blind hope or an optimistic perspective I want to challenge you to ask and receive this free gift from God. Once you have accepted this gift and have given God the credit of your understanding whether he taught you through the people around you, the books you read or even a random thought that seems to come out of no where then you can start to watch your faith grow right in front of you. 

God has blessed us with both being created in his image as well as with his Holy Spirit to help guide, mentor, and encourage us as we continue to grow in our faith. The greatest moment I think we often over look as believers is the moment where we ask God into our hearts and into our lives. That moment is the beginning of our faith. That is when God gives us the power to move mountains.