Reading: Luke 17:5-10
'Mr Darwin you will not get well until you recover your faith.' These words were spoken to Charles Darwin by his Doctor in the film Creation in response to the chronic ill health he suffered from the stress of publishing his revolutionary Theory of Evolution. The faith to which his Doctor referred, was not the religious beliefs of Emma his wife and their Church that were making Darwin deeply stressed, but to faith in his own scientific integrity.

Overawed by the task before them the disciples say to Jesus: 'Increase our faith.' A miniscule mustard seed of faith is enough Jesus responds 'to uproot a mulberry tree and plant it in the sea'. BUT as verse 7-10 suggests, such faith only moves mulberry trees when exercised not for selfish ends, but as a servant to the needs of others. This appears to be the context of Luke’s version of this saying by Jesus that appears 6 times in various forms in the New Testament.

What is meant by this faith? Is it belief that God suspends the laws of nature in response to our faith? Atheist Sam Harris (2001) attacks this type of religion in his best seller: The End of Faith: Religion, Terror and the Future of Reason. However this is not the faith emeritus theologian Harvey Cox (2009) writes about in the The Future of Faith. He understands faith as trust in God’s role in history of bringing about a just and compassionate world. Same word but radically different understandings of religious faith, from those that dismiss it as irrelevant and downright dangerous to those who see it as intrinsic to the flourishing of every human life and the global community.

The Romans must have seen the problem. They have two words in Latin for faith: fides and fiducia. Most people today understand faith as, fides, allegiance to a set of supernatural beliefs or Creeds (Credo = I believe). A less common understanding and the one that characterised early Christianity is fiducia which we experience as trust, which brings forth hope and love. However as the Church is slowly discovering, its historical beliefs (fides) are being increasingly abandoned, but Trust (fiducia) which is essential for human existence and civilised community persists. Was Jesus talking about fides or fiducia? Scholars of the Jesus seminar translating this passage in Luke use trust and not faith.

Cox says: 'Without understanding this distinction between faith and belief we will not understand what is happening in the Church today, as we experience its dying to antiquated beliefs so that once more it may live by faith in the spirit of Christ.'

Now back to the practical reality of our biblical text: Luke 17:5-10. I have attempted both forms of faith - belief and trust (Fides and Fiducia) during my life’s journey.

Soon after our second son was born in 1970, he required urgent neuro-surgery to avoid brain damage. In our angst we asked God for a miracle to save him from the operation. Then, as Insurance we accepted the inevitability of surgery. But our search for a miracle continued, while living in America the following year, where we regularly watched TV evangelist Katherine Khulman’s show I Believe in Miracles' each Sunday. Then we heard Katherine was coming to town and with many parents and their sick children we went in high expectation to her healing service. Alas none of the voiceless little children were healed, but some adults dropped their crutches.

From a literal reading of this passage I had formed, with help from the Church, a belief (fides) that God would intervene and reverse the laws of nature for my personal benefit. I had grasped a belief system that would serve my self interest and make God in my own image. Eventually I came to understand our prayers were being answered by God’s twin gifts of modern medicine and compassion, which have enabled our son, despite his disability, to live a happy life.
Ten years later I came to appreciate Luke 17:5-10 from the perspective of trust (Fiducia)

Moving to Griffith NSW in 1980, in the aftermath of the murder of Donald MacKay a member of the Uniting Church. He was murdered by the Mafia for his opposition to their Marijuana growing and laundering of illegal profits in the town. As MacKay’s body was not found the Government refused to hold a coronial inquiry and Don’s widow, a devout Christian, was distressed. Many did nothing. It seemed as if they believed (Fides) in waiting for the second coming of Christ, when God would cleanse their town. But a handful of seven people called the Concerned Citizens of Griffith, raised the unresolved issues with the Government. They met with the Premier with due publicity, gave many interviews, spoke to Rotary and Lions Clubs, Local Governments, held public meetings, and successfully raised funds for a Donald MacKay Churchill Fellowship for the study of organised crime. They triggered the Nagle Special Commission of Inquiry into the police investigation of MacKay’s murder and indirectly the Stewart Royal Commission into Drug Trafficking which brought about sweeping reforms.

At this time I was studying to be a Lay Preacher and came to see the actions of the Concerned Citizens as a simple act of faith (Fiducia) in the power of goodness and truth to move the mountain of corruption that was oppressing the MacKay family and the wider community. Such truth I realised had to be widely distributed via the Media and public forums to realise God’s power.

Support for this theology comes from the much greater struggles against injustice in South America and SE Asia. These theologies of Liberation and Struggle inform us that when the faith of a few in Jesus’ Mission for the oppressed spreads like an epidemic, becoming the faith of many it has the power to move the mountains of vested interests that preserves the status quo. Some recent examples of such epidemics of faith in Jesus’ Mission of non-violent confrontation of injustice that have and continue to change our world are:

Wilberforce overcoming slavery in the UK
Ghandi’s faith in non-violent resistance freed India.
Martin Luther King – non-violent civil rights in America.
Nelson Mandela – defeat of apartheid in South Africa
The RC Church - fall of the Berlin Wall and Communism.
Mary Stopes and Mary Wollstonecraft and the emancipation of women.

We now face the complex and interrelated problems of global warming, vast disparities in global wealth (Karen’s sermon, last week), over population and a seriously degrading Earth. These problems will not be solved by politicians alone, but only when the faith of the people reaches the critical level to move aside the mountains of vested interests. This is what Jesus was telling his disciples about with their mustard seeds of faith. It is not just our historical beliefs, but our faith when combined with others in the service of God’s dream of justice and compassion that will save the world. It is not the faith of one, it is the faith of many that moves the mountain. This theology can be summarised by the saying: 'The pen is mightier than the sword' – that a powerful idea will ultimately triumph over violence. So the Bible’s story of God’s dream of justice, expressed in Jesus’ mission has down the years transformed our world.

Such faith gets traction in communities such as the Church when we share in the significance of Jesus’ stand against the power structures of this world. Such faith spreads when our worship seeks not to confirm us in the comfort of our beliefs, but instead empowers us to follow God’s dream of a just and compassionate world. This faith instinct is hardwired into human nature (Wade, 2009), but needs awakening by a renewal of religious faith. Then in the words of Amos (5:24) God’s justice will roll like a mighty river, and his righteousness like a never-failing stream.
AMEN

References:
George Yancy – for Fiducia and Fides http://www.duq.edu/philosophy/faculty-and-staff/george-yancy.cfm

Harvey Cox, 2009, The Future of Faith. Harper Collins 345pp

Sam Harris, 2001, The End of Faith: religion, terror and the future of reason. Simon and Schuster. 336pp.

Kathryn Kulman (1907-1976) for her healing ministry. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathryn_Kuhlman

Dalbert Hallenstein,1984, The Town called Hashville. The Sunday Times Magazine (UK), November 11, 1984, p32-39. For the photos on Griffith and the Concerned Citizens.

John Dominic Crossan, 2009, First Light: Jesus and the Kingdom of God. Living the Questions, Participant reader. 55pp.

Nicholas Wade, 2009, The Faith Instinct: How religion evolved and why it endures. Penguin Books. 310pp.

Alvin J Schmidt, 2004, How Christianity Changed the World. Zondervan. 441pp.

Lloyd Geering, 2010, Such is Life: A close encounter with Ecclesiastes. 214pp.

Robert W. Funk et al., 1997, The Five Gospels: What did Jesus really say? Harper Collins. 553pp.