Doubt with a dab of mustard

Some foods just need a dab of good mustard in order to have any oomph to them. A good infusion of mustard can transform an otherwise bland dish into something with pizzazz, vitality, life. Even a tasty roast beef can be given extra spark with a bit of good mustard. Sometimes I even purchase a particular kind of meat as much for the mustard that I will use to enhance it, as for the sausage itself.

And so it is with our faith lives. Most of us would benefit from a dab of mustard there. In addressing his disciples’ inability to cure an epileptic child, Jesus said “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there”, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matt 17:20) Jesus was making more a point of the tiny size of the mustard seed and how little real faith it takes to accomplish great things than he was the spiciness of mustard. But the transforming power of mustard is a good reminder of the transforming power of mustard seed faith.

In spite of all that we hear in the New Testament about our power in Christ, a tendency to doubt God’s providence is an unfortunate reality of the human condition. That condition is a gift from the Evil One, Satan. He convinced Eve to doubt what God had told her and Adam about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And humankind has had a history of doubting God since.

Untold energy and opportunity have been wasted, in our individual lives and throughout the history of humankind, wrestling with doubts about God’s promises. Much of Scripture chronicles people doubting God’s word, and then God, or God-inspired people (Moses, Daniel, David, and Mary, to name a few) proving the doubt wrong.

Were it not for doubt this would be a much different world. It would be more like heaven than the earth with which we are familiar. God’s will would be done much more frequently, to the ultimate benefit of all creation.

Our doubt of and faith in the importance of God’s primacy in our lives tend to be selective. Some people are insistent about having their children baptized. Then they don’t bring them to church regularly. Others believe and pray that God will heal them or a loved one. Healing takes place. And then they disconnect from their faith community. Yet others turn to God in times of financial crisis but then give little to God’s work once the crisis has passed. The examples abound.

Our selective doubt and faith extend to money and the church. God says he will provide what we need. And, in return, he calls on us to give back a portion of what he provides us to his work first, in thanksgiving. He calls on us to tithe. God says, “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts; see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing.” (Mal 3:10) We hear many similar promises in Scripture, and then doubt takes over and we say we can’t afford to do as God expects.

When completing your pledge card for the coming year, apply some mustard seed faith to your consideration. You might even take a jar of mustard, open it, and savor the flavor and aroma as a reminder that a little faith goes a long way. “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Phil 4:13) The flourishing of God’s kingdom on earth is limited only by our doubt- the doubt of our own ability to contribute to it.