Brief synopsis of the readings: The prophet Habakkuk begins by complaining that God has abandoned him and left him in misery. God answered him by saying that “the vision still has its time” and “if it delays, wait for it.” The apostles in Luke’s Gospel ask Jesus to increase their faith. Jesus tells them that if they had the faith the size of a mustard seed they could uproot a mulberry tree and plant it in the sea. He then told them a parable about a master and servant. After laboring all day the master tells the servant to serve him (the master) dinner. Furthermore the servant shouldn’t believe that he did something laudable because he only did what was expected of him.

At first glance I suspect that the writer in the first reading is the one whose faith needs to be increased. If asked, everyone I know would agree that they need more faith, but we tend to ask for it only when we are in the middle of a crisis and that’s the case in both our first reading and our Gospel. Habakkuk wrote when Israel was on the brink of invasion, conquest and exile and cried out for mercy. In Luke’s Gospel the apostles asked for more faith after the parables of the unjust steward and the wealthy man from the last two weeks. Little wonder they felt a little targeted and wanted assurance of their salvation.

This will cause great wailing and gnashing of teeth among those who taught me religion as a child, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with asking for more faith in times of crisis. I don’t believe that God causes crises to test us but I also don’t believe God waits with annoyance (“Oh sure, NOW you want more faith!”) for us to ask. Difficult times can and should focus us on the need to grow in recognition of God’s love and mercy.

But when the apostles ask for more faith, Jesus does not automatically grant it to them. Instead he tells them that their faith is smaller than a mustard seed. But I think there’s something there we can notice. Sometimes our faith consists of simply waiting for God’s action to appear. Twelve Step spirituality talks about not leaving before the miracle happens; in other words the end of the story isn’t when we decide but when God decides. So often in my work I heard my hospice patients decide that they were no longer useful and couldn’t figure out why God hadn’t called them home. I would often suggest that there may be an action or an encounter that they wouldn’t see coming but God did. I read a story about patience that I love; though it’s not true I love the parable of the Toll House cookies.

The legend claims that a baker wanted to make chocolate cookies but realized too late that she forgot to melt the chocolate chips. She poured the chips into the batter hoping they would melt and dissolve into the rest of the dough during the baking process, but that didn’t happen. Instead the chips stayed intact when she took the cookies out of the oven. Had she given up and thrown away the cookies none of us would today have the joy of Toll House cookies. She had just enough faith to try one out. Now, as I said, this is an urban legend, but it’s a good one.

So what about the master and servant? Clearly plowing, tending and serving were part of his job description. Is that a way in to understand how our faith increases? I think so. The parable Jesus tells us about the master and servant isn’t necessarily about the class system or the relationship between the master and servant. My first few readings of this bothered me because after a day of plowing and tending the servant is then expected to serve the master who likely did nothing all day. Was this another chapter in Lazarus and the rich man? I don’t think so.

Perhaps recognizing his place is tied up with an increase of faith. Because if we are the servant and God is the master we shouldn’t believe that simple obedience to our job description is enough to increase our faith. Increasing our faith requires that we look anew at the world around us. I don’t thing any of us are interested in uprooting and transplanting a mulberry tree but increasing our faith calls us to increase our faith in God and each other. And it often means not giving up on ourselves or each other.

We can all run out of patience with ourselves and others but we need to remember that God doesn’t. We all find ourselves, from time to time, caught up in patterns, habits or addictions we can’t shake and it’s easy to get discouraged. When we think we’re not strong enough to break these patterns we need to ask for help, from each other and from God. My sister used to help people quit smoking and she told me that every time a smoker tries to quit, his chances of success increase. Maybe not by much, but they do. Unless, of course, the smoker got discouraged and stopped trying.

And it’s true with others. That doesn’t mean we need to keep giving money to a compulsive gambler and it’s OK to show our frustration. But if we give up on someone we only increase the doubt they feel in themselves. conversely if we continue to be a cheerleader or a prayer warrior we stand up to their doubt.

This isn’t easy stuff, but as I’ve often said, easy has never been our call. But if we resist the desire to give up we open ourselves and those around us we open ourselves up to events and even miracles that we never saw coming. I picked up this habit when I worked for hospice but I often tell people I’ll pray for them “until I get other instructions.” That’s always good for a laugh, but I’m really serious about it.