When Faith Speaks Out
Albert Bogle
October 02, 2022
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Luke 17: 5-10 (NRSVA)
5 The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’ 6 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.
7 ‘Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from ploughing or tending sheep in the field, “Come here at once and take your place at the table”? 8 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”? 9 Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, “We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!”’
This week all our reflections will be viewed through the mustard seed text in Luke 17:6. I find this such a challenging text because when all seems lost and we’ve accepted the reality of the situation, the last thing we want to do is to be challenged to believe that it need not be lost.
I was in that situation many years ago in the early 1990s. It was a Vine Trust board meeting. The future of the Trust and the little shop Branches looked pretty grim. The meeting was called with the intent of closing the project down. Then Douglas one of our directors spoke up. He believed all was not lost and that we could turn the project around. His wise counsel prevailed. He moved us from despair to hope. He saw a bigger picture. He told us the prize was the Vine Trust not simply Branches.
Today, thirty years later, the Vine Trust has two medical ships in the Amazon and one in Lake Victory and at present is building the village of Hope in Kazunzu. Well over a million people have had medical interventions and many lives have been changed for the better. The little shop called Branches in Bo’ness is still open. I often reflect on that meeting and thank God for Douglas’s mustard seed faith.
Is there a hopeless situation you are facing? Perhaps today’s reflection will be an encouragement not to give up, to look at the bigger picture.
PRAYER:
Lord,
When all seem lost
Give us courage
To believe the word of hope
To speak out the word of faith
And give us the imagination
To embrace new perspectives
To believe visions can become realities.
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