A whole lotta faith!

Matthew 21:21-22New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Jesus answered them, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will be done. Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.”

When I started writing these meditations on the daily lectionary, and then other parts of scripture, I approached them as I did in my very first Bible class in Seminary.  I wanted to reflect without other commentary, unless it was commentary I remembered having read before.  Or commentary that had already been absorbed into my thought processes about the text.

Every so often, however, a text comes along where I really wish I wasn't going in without a net, so to speak.  This text is one of those.

These two verses come at the end of one of the most difficult stories about Jesus.  He has just cursed a fig tree because it wouldn't bear fruit.  It withered and died, and would never bear fruit again.

And these comments from Jesus on faith close that passage out.

There are two difficult strains of thought.  First, the fact that Jesus is linking faith to the destruction of the fig tree (and also the violence that would come from moving a mountain into the sea)!

The second, however, is the notion that if we have faith and not doubt, that we too can make such destructive and supernatural feats!

If indeed, that's what Jesus is saying...

It occurred to me this time as I read the passage, however, that the very notion of faith - of hope even in the midst of doubt and absent of any certainty - IS in and of itself a supernatural feat!

That most likely 100 times a week you find yourself in a circumstance that feels like moving mountains, and yet you still come out to the other side.

That's faith.

That every day, despite the 24 hour news cycle showing us terrors and tragedies all day long, the little tiny bit of faith you have, gets you through the day, sometimes dropping to your knees in prayer just to say "help" or "please" or "Lord have mercy."  

That's faith.

That despite living in an often cynical and sometimes nihilistic world, you feel compelled to be with other folks in community - whether in church or in another group - just so you can be with them and provide support and love and comfort and sometimes even just plain fun!  

That's some faith right there too.

That sometimes the doubt that has haunted you becomes less of a burden and more of a point of growth and curiosity and hope.

That is faith blooming and blossoming!

There's much else to wonder about as to why Jesus cursed the fig tree to begin with, but perhaps that nudge of doubt might be OK to just sit with.  Might be OK to pray about.

Might be something to just know that we can't have certainty about, but can have perfectly supernatural, super-sized hope about.

God of mystery and hope, help us to cling to the faith you have created in us. Amen.