Mustard Seeds and Mulberry Trees

Luke 17:5-10

5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

6 He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

7 “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? 8 Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? 9 Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”

Faith the size of a mustard seed. Oh, we’ve heard this sermon before, Pastor! All you need is a little faith, faith the size of that itty, bitty mustard seed, and you can verbally uproot a tree and throw it in the sea. Oh yes, we’ve heard this sermon before. Probably a few too many times for our own good.

I say that because this is one of those verses that are often twisted into something that Jesus never intended to say. This is a verse that is often used when someone is sick, perhaps with a terminal diagnosis. Or someone’s child has gotten caught up in substance abuse. Or someone’s job is on the line, the factory is closing, jobs are leaving. All you need is faith the size of a mustard seed and you can do the impossible. And of course, the message, either spoken or unspoken, when the family member dies, continues to abuse substances, or that job goes overseas, the message is that evidently you didn’t have enough faith.

Here’s the thing, I believe God can move trees, heal cancer, and save your relatives and our jobs. But that’s not what this passage is talking about. Rather, Jesus is telling his disciples and by extension us, that the power to do the unimaginable is already within you. But we’ll get to that shortly.

Let’s start with some of the agricultural references that Jesus is using here. We may not be overly familiar with the items Jesus is referring to, and he is specific, so we should be too. Jesus doesn’t just refer to any seed, he refers to a mustard seed. Seeds come in all shapes and sizes. Tree seeds, like coconuts, can be quite large. The mustard seed is quite small. Jesus contrasts the size of a mustard seed to a mulberry tree. I don’t know if the mulberry tree was the largest tree in Jesus’s region at the time, but it was a well-known tree. We might speak of a mighty oak or giant redwood in the US. The mulberry tree is an interesting choice for a number of reasons. I searched online for pictures of mulberry trees, and some of the websites came back with lists of trees you should never plant in your yard. Walnut trees, Bradford Pear trees, and mulberry trees were commonly on the list. Mulberry trees have an extensive leaf canopy, which can be so dense that it kills all the grass underneath it because no sunlight can get through. Also, mulberry trees are known to cause damage to sewer lines, underground plumbing, and home foundations because of their extensive root systems. Remember, any time you see wide-stretching branches, there needs to be a similar root system below to keep the tree upright.

So when Jesus refers to the mustard seed and the mulberry tree, he is taking something tiny and comparing it to something that is sprawling, sprawling in places you can see (the branches) and places you can’t see (in the ground). To uproot and move an entire mulberry tree is quite an endeavor.

A very important reminder this morning before we move forward. What is rule number one of biblical interpretation? You do not talk about biblical interpretation. Wait, no, that’s some other club. Rule number one of biblical interpretation is that you must always read scripture in context. Our text for this morning began in verse 5, but the interaction between Jesus and the disciples goes back a little further.

Ready to have your interpretation of this scripture rocked? Let’s look at verses 3b-4, where Jesus says, “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”

The context of this passage about mustard seeds and mulberry trees has to do with forgiveness, particularly forgiving a brother or sister who has hurt you, even hurt you multiple times in one day. When the disciples realize just how difficult it is to actually do what Jesus is telling them, they ask for more faith.

Reading in context also means reading what comes after text. And after the mustard seed and mulberry tree, Jesus starts talking about a servant watching sheep or working in the field. This story is a little confusing, but Jesus mentions that these workers in the field don’t expect their master to say, “Hey, this is hard work, and I know you’ll never be able to do it all. Why don’t you just come in and join me for lunch? Leave the sheep out there; forget about the plow. Let’s relax a bit.”

No, a servant does what their master says. That’s their job; that’s what’s expected of you. Jesus ends this passage with verse 10, “So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”

Now, let’s put it all together. Jesus tells his disciples they must forgive brothers and sisters who sin against them. The disciples say, “We can’t. Give us more faith, more power, more strength. Then maybe we can.”

But how does Jesus respond? He says no. “No, this is your duty. As my servant, your duty is to forgive, like a servant out watching the sheep or plowing the field, your job is to offer grace.” And this is where the whole comparison between the mustard seed and the mulberry tree comes in. Forgiving this person my seem impossible. It may seem as impossible as uprooting a sprawling tree using nothing but your voice, but you can do it. You can do it, because all you really need is faith the size of a mustard seed. And that faith is already within you.

Earlier in our church service we read the Old Testament Lectionary passage for today. The readings are chosen to go together, but this one seems a little out of place. We might know this Psalm first from contemporary music, including a recording by the Melodians. This is sometimes sang in an upbeat manner with a definite bounce to it. Even I will dance to this one…so you better watch out!

But when you read this passage, this is about the Israelites being taken from their land, from Zion, and forced to live in a strange land. This is the Babylonian Exile. And the Babylonians—the captors—tell the Israelites to sing a song, sing to Zion. But the Israelites can’t sing now. They hang their bows and their harps up in the poplars because this is not time or place to sing songs of joy.

Then we come to the end of Psalm 137, which the Melodians kindly left out of their version of the song. Verses 8-9, “Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is the one who repays you according to what you have done to us. Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.”

Why is that last line included in our Bibles? Well, I don’t think it captures the heart of God, but it must capture the thoughts of the Israelites in captivity. I read an African-American Pastor reflect on these closing verses once, and he said something along the lines of, “If you don’t understand these verses, then you don’t know what it means to be enslaved.”

I don’t know what it is like to be enslaved. I am a white man living in North America. Sure, there are things that I get angry about. I was pretty worked up the other day while I was waiting at the pharmacy for the prescription that was only going to take 20 minutes to fill. And on Tuesday, I lost my favorite pen. Obviously, I’m trying to make a point through humor. I’ve been hurt, but really, compared to what others have endured, I don’t know what it is like to suffer. Unlike the Israelites during the Babylonian Captivity, I’ve never been forced from my home, my family, my place of worship, and my life. I don’t know what the disciples were experiencing at the hands of the Romans, nor do I fully understand what the Israelites were going through and their desire to smash the Babylonian babies against the rocks. But what I do understand is that Jesus commands us all to forgive. He never said it would be easy, but he did promise us that we have the strength to do so. All we need is faith the size of a mustard seed.

I woke up Thursday morning to an interesting story running across my social media feed. It was the story of Brandt Jean, an 18-year-old, African-American man offering forgiveness to Amber Guyger, the off-duty police officer who shot and killed Jean’s older brother. Guyger was convicted of murder for shooting Botham Jean when she mistakenly entered the wrong apartment and thought that Jean was a burglar. Guyger’s apartment was on the third floor, Botham’s on the fourth, right above Guyger’s.

For sure, there was is much ugliness in this story, and I don’t pretend to know all that happened. Did race have something to do with it? Was Guyger impaired in some way? What I do know is that Botham Jean was shot while sitting in his own apartment and Guyger was found guilty of murder. The day after Guyger was convicted, Brandt Jean was given the opportunity to address the court in what is called the “victim-impact statement,” which I believe is meant to affect the sentencing. This is when Brandt Jean, speaking from his convictions as a Christian, offered forgiveness to Guyger and told her that if she was truly sorry, God too would forgive her.

Then, in an unorthodox move, Brandt Jean asked the judge for permission to come down from the platform and offer Amber Guyger a hug. He whispered something in her ear, yet all you can hear on the recording is open sobs.

Like I said, this story was shared across many social media platforms. It was shared…by my white friends. There was pushback from various minority leaders who made a number of claims, some of which I think were valid. But yet I want to lift this story up as a beautiful example of grace, of forgiveness, and love. I have no idea what Brandt Jean was going through, nor do I know what the Israelites in Babylon or the disciples under the Romans were experiencing. But what I do know is that Jesus commanded his disciples to forgive.

Jesus didn’t give a timeline for forgiveness. He didn’t give limitations to forgiveness. Though I think the leaders who raised concern following the act of grace from Brandt Jean brought a number of points to our attention that still need to be address, I just want to remind you that forgiveness is not to be limited by race, social class, religion, or background. Forgiveness isn’t about justice. Our leader, a homeless, Jewish, Arabic man told us to forgive one another.

I know I speak a lot about forgiveness. But my friends, forgiveness is central to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If I was forced to define the Gospel in one word, I would say that the Gospel is reconciliation. If I could push that out more, I’d say that the Gospel message is that through Jesus Christ, we can be reconciled to God, to one another, and to all of creation. And that starts with forgiveness.

My friends, we gain nothing by withhold forgiveness. Forgiveness doesn’t mean we allow others to continue to harm us or commit injustices. Forgiveness means we want to work together to make something right. And no, it won’t be easy. But you have the power within you already. All it takes is faith the size of a mustard seed.