Homily for the 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C) (go to readings)
Habakkuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4
Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9
2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14
Luke 17:5-10

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You’ve heard of the 20^th century Catholic social activist Dorothy Day, a woman many considered a living saint. Many admirers came to visit her, to have a look at her, to speak to her, to touch her, if possible. Sometimes they would tell her, “You are a saint,” or she would overhear others saying of her, “She is a saint.” She would get upset, turn to them, and say, “Don’t say that. Don’t make it too easy for yourself. Don’t escape this way. I know why you are saying, ‘she is a saint.’ You say that to convince yourself that you are different from me, that I am different from you. I am like you. You could do what I do. You don’t need any more than you have; get moving!” While that might be a good introduction to our readings, I think a good summary might be a quote from the Old Testament prophet Zechariah: “Do not despise small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin. (Zec 4:10).

We’re blessed with a short gospel reading this week, and in the gospel of Luke it follows right after the parable of Lazarus and the rich man which we heard last week, and then there’s a few verses about radical forgiveness and the danger of leading others astray. And then we have the first part of our gospel reading. The disciples ask Jesus, “Increase our faith,” and he responds “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” Mustard seeds are like black ground pepper, they’re very small, but they yield a surprisingly large bush, which is actually rather invasive like a weed, it spreads very fast. So Jesus more than once has taught his disciples that their faith should be like a mustard seed. A seed of a little faith received by a heart that’s fertile ground can change a person’s whole life, and even those around them! And a little seed of a community of believers can spread and lead to the conversion of the Roman Empire!

So, the mulberry tree is a tree with an expansive underground root system. Ancient Israel actually had regulations that planting trees had to be 30 feet from a well or a building or a road so their roots wouldn’t expand out and ruin the foundations or the well, but mulberry trees couldn’t be planted within 50 feet of anything to allow for their huge root system. They were very firmly planted trees, and they could be moved only with great difficulty. But Jesus says that with faith like a mustard-seed you could say to a mulberry tree to uproot itself and be planted in the salty sea, in sand, and it would do it. So, we might say that when we live by our faith, we should expect God to yield unbelievable outcomes to our prayers and our obedience to faith. We are called to cooperate with grace, and grace will produce results that could never have been anticipated, that defy what we could imagine.

But also, the disciples ask for this gift of increase of faith after Jesus challenges them. And so, another thing we can get out of this image of the mustard seed is that we shouldn’t procrastinate being bold in living out our faith because we don’t think we’re ready. We don’t need big faith, we need little faith, in fact, we need whatever faith we have, and to act on it, and let God yield the increase. To say we need to wait until we have more faith is to say that it depends on us instead of on God. You can’t wait until you’re ready, because you’ll wait the rest of your life, because you’ll never feel ready. You have to just do the thing, to launch, and course correct along the way, like learning to ride a bike. You can’t ride if you’re not moving forward.

On my blog where I post many of my homilies, I have one of my favorite quotes from G. K. Chesterton, “Anything worth doing is worth doing badly.” The meaning is that some things are so important that we cannot put off doing them simply because we’re not the best person, or we don’t have enough time or ability, or all the proper preparations. The simple importance of the thing requires it to be done, and the simple fact of having done it is more important than whether we have done it as well as we would have liked. The problem with mustard-seed sized faith isn’t that our faith isn’t even as big as a mustard seed, it’s that we’re too big. Our faith is too much about what we have to do, or what we have to be. Just say yes to God and start out, get some momentum, and let God show you what he does with that. That will make you humble. Keep going, and he will keep you going the right way.

So then there’s the second part of our gospel reading, about the slave that worked all day, then has to make dinner, before he or she can have dinner themselves. And we might get a little grumpy toward the master there, but remember the master’s an image of God, so get yourself back down to a mustard seed, and try to see what he’s trying to teach you. What he’s saying is that you can never do so much for God that God owes you anything. You can’t do so much good that you have one up on God, or you can manipulate God into your debt. We are unworthy servants. So, the good that we get from God is out of his goodness and his love toward us, not because he owes us. And our work should not be motivated out of trying to get anything out of God.

How many times does our prayer just sound like making wishes we want God to fulfill, like he’s a genie, instead of a dialogue of love with God? Often, we look at prayer as trying to convince God to give us the good things we want. The thing is, God already wants to give us good things, but he’s trying to get us to want to receive the good things he wants to give us. Often the problem is that what we think we really want is far too small compared to what God wants to give us. So God has to wait while he guides and prepares us to receive his superabundant gifts. And it seems in that time that he’s just not answering our prayers, it might seem like he’s not even listening.

That’s where the Old Testament prophet Habakuk is in our first reading. It’s a very small book, only three chapters, and Habakuk is complaining that God is allowing his people to see such destruction and suffering. “How long, O LORD? I cry for help, but you do not listen! I cry out to you, ‘Violence!’ but you do not intervene.” This is a terrible experience, and we’ve all been there, and depending on what we’re asking, it seems like forever. And many people lose their faith in suffering and grief, and it seems like prayers are useless and God is not even there listening.

But God responds to Habakuk, “Then the LORD answered me and said: ‘Write down the vision clearly upon the tablets, so that one can read it readily. For the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint; if it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late. The rash one has no integrity; but the just one, because of his faith, shall live.” The vision is of course the rescue of Israel from their oppression and suffering. And Habakuk is to write it down clearly because it is not only for him, but for all to see that God has been preparing this vision and will fulfill it, and all will see how God has made and fulfilled his promise of redemption for his people. And of course, the ultimate fulfillment of this promise is in Christ, the true and perfect redemption of God’s people from the oppression of sin, their call to conversion, and the lasting peace through the open gates of heaven.

And this ties back to our gospel reading, teaching the kind of faith we are to have. It cannot be a demanding faith, or a weak faith, but a powerful faith. Paul tells Timothy in our second reading, “For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control. So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord…” and then he says, “but bear your share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God.” So, God is working and preparing his gifts, even when we cannot sense it. So yes, we do have to suffer, as Christ our Lord suffered, with great faith in God. And God gives us the grace and strength to persevere in waiting in confident faith, in sure and certain hope. God said to Habakuk, “if it delays, wait for it… The rash one has no integrity; but the just one, because of his faith, shall live.”

So, the one who is impatient loses their faith, but the one who perseveres, who relies on God to supply his grace and an increase of faith, shall live and see the goodness of God. There’s a very loose but beautiful interpretation of this that says, “There will come a time when your tears will fall not because of your troubles, but because God has answered your prayers.”

And so, we can end on the high note of our responsorial psalm, Psalm 95, which, if you pray the liturgy of the hours, you pray at the beginning of every day. “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts. Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD; let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation. Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us joyfully sing psalms to him. Come, let us bow down in worship; let us kneel before the LORD who made us. For he is our God, and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.” How beautiful is the life God invites us to, even redeeming our suffering, our tears, our patient waiting on him, and our privilege to eagerly to serve him in love and joy.