And the Apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
This is always a good prayer. We say it with the Apostles today. But what is it that makes them ask? Why do they realize their faith is weak?
If your brother sins, rebuke him;
and if he repents, forgive him.
And if he wrongs you seven times in one day
and returns to you seven times saying, ‘I am sorry,’
you should forgive him.”
Forgiveness is one thing. This seems to be something else. It is almost like Jesus is asking them to be suckers. It is like the quote attributed to Einstein that "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results". We forgive always in hope that things will be different this time. But when we are consistently proven wrong by the other we are not excused from our duty to keep forgiving. We become less and less able to forgive on a human level. We have to rely on faith. We rely on supernatural hope. We rely on the charity that does not want to see a millstone around any neck, nor anyone thrown into the see.
We become like the author of Ecclesiastes, convinced that there is nothing new under the sun. But Christianity is precisely that. It is the story of grace finally breaking through. It is the story of repentance after a life of hardened sinning. It is change even after all human efforts at change fail. That is why we can't stop hoping. And that is why we can't stop forgiving.
This is beautiful because it means that we can change as well. We can even be free of the most habitual sins. But if we don't forgive others and allow ourselves to believe the worldly lie that other people don't change we will find ourselves believing that lie about ourselves, too.
But we are called to be "blameless" this morning. We are called to be "temperate, just, holy and self-controlled". The call to not be "irritable" or "aggressive" may seem impossible to one who is predisposed to those things. But with God all things are possible! Even the drunkard can experience freedom and renewal by God's power.
And after all both we are are brothers are "the people that longs to see your face." We all desire God, no matter how deeply that desire is buried inside of us. And we all need grace and forgiveness to have that desire fulfilled.
Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD?
or who may stand in his holy place?
He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean,
who desires not what is vain.
Our brother who sins against us and we ourselves both need transformation if we are to be "blameless" and "sinless". In spite of all the circumstances set against us, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you." It doesn't matter how long those trees have been there. It doesn't matter how deep their roots are. It doesn't matter that we don't even have an axe. Our faith in Jesus will make them jump out of our way as we hold "fast to the true message as taught".
God makes impossible change possible. And so, again, we pray with the Apostles, "Increase our faith" confident that he will do it.
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