Faith the size of a mustard seed

A Victorian pendant in silver containing a single, symbolic mustard seed.

Jesus says that if our faith were the size of a mustard seed (and you can see from the picture how tiny that is) then would could perform miracles like telling trees to uproot themselves and throw themselves into the sea..

I cannot imagine anyone wanting to do that. And, for certain, it is not at all like the sort of wonders that Jesus worked. And, what is more, it cannot be right that just believing something hard enough can make it happen - after all this is real life, not a Hollywood movie.

Well let us be clear about one thing... It is not our confidence that Jesus is talking about. It is our faith in our heavenly father. This faith, this trust, is not the source of magical power; it is related explicitly to God’s holy will, and his goodness.

Our faith is an acknowledgment that God is all powerful, all wise, and all loving. It shows itself in us in the quality of our obedience and attentiveness to the Lord’s word. Jesus said that anyone who loves him will keep his commandments. And he humbly prayed to be a channel of his Father’s will in the world in the prayer he taught us (the Our Father) and in his own prayer, even in Gethsemane.

Jesus’ was not a ‘Magic Man’, inviting trees to tip themselves into the ocean as a power stunt, but he was a visible and wonderful witness to God’s love for the world. That he came not to condemn the world but to save it, is proof. That he came healing and freeing people from the power of devils is a great sign of what his mission is. And faith is always related to mission. We become believers in order to share the work of God in the world. And to this day the Church still heals and frees her children from the power of the devil.

In other words, faith is not a way of getting things done magically. It is a way of working with God in the world, expressing his power, wisdom and love in all that we say and do. If that were one day to include a saltwater bath for a forest, then no doubt that would happen. But it is more realistic to see that faith, as a sharing in God’s goodness, will express itself in the repentance of sinners, in forgiveness, in teaching the truth and bearing witness to it, in peacemaking and in establishing justice between people and communities, in praise and prayer. And if our faith is only the size of the mustardseed pictured above, we can do these things.

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