The Secret to Strengthening Your Faith

Rev. Kevin Ireland – Grace Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) October 5, 2025

Luke 17:1–6
Our gospel lesson this morning directly follows Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus.
Jesus is no longer addressing the crowds or the Pharisees. He is with his disciples. And he
continues his hard teaching with two proverbs that prompt the Apostles to exclaim,
“Increase our faith!”

Hear now Jesus’ words as recorded in the Gospel of Luke, chapter seventeen verses one
through six. The Greek is translated into English this way. Listen for God’s word for you.
Luke 17:1–6

Jesus said to his disciples, “Occasions for sin are bound to come, but woe to anyone
through whom they come! It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your
neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to sin.
Be on your guard! If a brother or sister sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is
repentance, you must forgive. And if the same person sins against you seven times a day
and turns back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive.”
The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 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.”

This is the Word of our Lord. Thanks be to God.

I can imagine the Apostles, those who will spread Jesus’ message, thinking, “Are you
serious?” How could anyone meet this standard? There are so many occasions for sin
(Jesus admits as much) and we are all bound to be caught up in it. What’s up with the
millstone and being thrown in the sea? I thought we were about love.

Then Jesus ups the ante, calling them to call each other to account. And I can see them all
nodding, “Sure, sure, rebuke others. Ok, we can do that.” But then comes the hard part. If
they sin against you again and again and again, you must forgive and forgive and forgive for
as many times as it takes. Really? Maybe once, maybe twice, but every time?
Jesus is being dramatic, hyperbolic, grabbing our attention with intentional exaggeration to
make his teachings more memorable and meaningful. The vivid imagery sparks the
imagination and shocks us into recognizing the severity and consequence of our own sin,
our need for forgiveness, and our need to forgive others.
Rev. Kevin Ireland – Grace Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) October 5, 2025 2
It is not surprising that when faced with this daunting challenge, the disciples implore their
spiritual teacher, “Increase our faith!” Add to our faith, grow our faith.
Have you ever prayed, “Lord, increase my faith”? I have.

In the darkness of sleepless nights as a young parent, wondering if things are going to work
out, praying, “Lord, increase my faith.” In the midst of discerning difficult choices about
schools, careers, buying a new house, or knowing when it is time to leave your beloved
home, “Lord, increase my faith.” In the turmoil of unreconciled relationships with those we
love, “Lord, increase my faith.” After receiving news of the loss of a loved one or hearing a
diXicult prognosis, “Lord, increase my faith.”
As we confront the growing needs in our community, with our Federal government
shuttered and rancor and divisiveness expanding, “Lord, increase my faith.” As people of
faith, challenged to continue to work in hopeful expectation of the coming kingdom, “Lord,
increase my faith.”
Jesus responds to this plea with, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed.” Now, that “if”
in Greek can mean, “Suppose you did have faith—even the tiniest bit.” It is not about
measuring how much faith you have. It is about knowing you have enough. Faith is not a
commodity to be tallied or stored up like coins in a jar.
Now a warning before we go any further. These can be dangerous words. Dangerous,
because Christians have been tempted to think:
If I just have enough faith I will be healed.
If I just have enough faith relationships will be reconciled.
If I only have enough faith, I will get that job, house, or child.
But that is not how faith works. Faith is not something that can be commodified, banked, or
tallied on a score card. It is not something you increase. It is something you strengthen.
The secret to strengthening your faith is understanding that faith is not something you have,
it is something you do. Faith is a choice when you are in the miry pit of doubt. Faith is an
action when it is risky and the stakes are high. Faith is a way of life that trusts in God’s
abundance, mercy, and justice.
Rev. Kevin Ireland – Grace Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) October 5, 2025 3
Jesus did not choose the mustard seed simply because it was small, but because it was
everywhere. People used its tender greens in stews and its sharp little seeds to spice their
meals. Hardy and stubborn, mustard thrived where other plants failed, its deep roots and
countless seeds spreading almost anywhere.
Mustard shows up all through history. It was cultivated in the Indus Valley more than four
thousand years ago. Egyptians placed seeds in tombs for the afterlife. Roman soldiers
carried them in their packs, planting them as they marched across Europe. In India today,
the seeds still crackle in hot oil to begin a curry. In Africa, mustard greens simmer with
garlic and onions, filling kitchens with their earthy aroma.
A seed so small, yet spread so wide. Faith, Jesus says, works the same way.
On this World Communion Sunday, we celebrate how the faith that Jesus shared in his
teaching, his living, and his loving has spread across the world. Like the mustard plant, the
way faith is cultivated, used, and celebrated looks diXerent around the world. It is the same
source, the same seed, the same faith.
Last year, I was blessed with the opportunity to travel with pastors from Zambia and
Zimbabwe, visiting schools, seminaries, and community organizations in the two countries.
The theme of our time together was “one in Christ.” At the end of our day we would gather
around a large table, taking turns reading scripture and sharing devotionals about what
being “one in Christ” looked like in our lives, our congregations, our communities, and our
countries. We did not always agree and sometimes we struggled to understand, but we
were made one around that table by God’s Spirit and united in Christ.
What struck me most was the strength and character of the faith: pastors who continued to
teach and preach even when they could not be paid, church elders planting new
worshiping communities and building prayer houses with little more than the promise that
God would provide, community leaders organizing through drought and power outages, and
PC(USA) liaisons working to connect communities of faith despite shrinking staX and
budgets. Amidst dwindling resources and scarcity, faith continues to spread.
Faith is not something that you collect and increase. It is something that you exercise and
strengthen. Faith is strengthened when we live into it, in the choices we make with our
time, our talents, and our money. Faith is strengthened when we choose compassion for
others and for ourselves. Faith is strengthened when we are connected in community,
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when we share the times and places that God has been working in our lives and in our
world.
Because faith is meant to be shared, passed from person to person, from generation to
generation. We see this in the first Christian community at Ephesus, where women like
Eunice and Lois handed their faith down, shaping new leaders for the gospel.
And we see it here at Grace. I am grateful for the stories many of you have shared—of
growing up in this church, of how this community formed your faith, of how grandmothers
and great-grandmothers, some still among us today, made sure that faith was planted in
the next generation.
Last week I had a lovely visit with Ralph and Lois Fairman. Lois shared memories of some
of you running through these halls as children. And when I asked what first brought them to
Grace, I heard the same answer I have heard from so many of you: a simple invitation from
a friend, a neighbor, a colleague. That is how faith spreads, through example, through
witness.
This week I joined Tricia, our new Director of Operations, and Cheryl, our Preschool
Chaplain, to help judge the Halloween door decorating contest. The competition was
spook-tacular, each door creative and colorful, filled with student artwork. What struck me
most was how every display included the children’s faces and drawings, a daily reminder
that this is a place where they belong.
And here is the best part: as I met the teachers, I discovered that several of them had once
been students at Jacob’s Learning Ladder, one now teaching in the very room where she
was taught. What a joy to see faith and community come full circle, seeds planted long ago
now bearing fruit in a new generation of teachers and children. It reminds us that faith
grows not just in big moments, but in the small daily acts of love and belonging we share.
Often it is in the smallest of things: the words we choose, the welcome we extend, the
kindness and empathy we offer. These are the seeds of faith that take root and grow.
So what would it look like if we truly lived as though we are one in Christ? Would it change
the way we speak to one another, the way we listen to one another, the way we forgive one
another? Would it change how we share our resources, how we welcome strangers, how
we embody compassion?
At this Table, we catch a glimpse of that vision. Here there is no male or female, slave or
free, insider or outsider, no red or blue, no citizen or immigrant. Here the barriers come
Rev. Kevin Ireland – Grace Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) October 5, 2025 5
down. Here the divisions lose their power. Here all are welcomed, all are fed, all are made
one.
And perhaps you are thinking, even now: Lord, increase my faith.
So hear the good news: Christ tells us that even the smallest seed of faith is enough.
Enough to forgive. Enough to heal. Enough to reconcile. Enough to change a heart, a
household, a community, even a world. Because faith is not measured by size, but by trust.
Not stored away, but lived out. It is strengthened each time we choose hope over despair,
compassion over indiXerence, love over fear.
So come to the Table. Be nourished. Be strengthened. Be made one in Christ. For in Christ,
even a mustard seed is more than enough.
May it be so in your lives, in the life of your family, in the life of this congregation, and in the
life of Christ’s church.