Mustard seed moments. Mustard seed moments in our lives, seemingly small moments that end up being incredibly big and important, having to do with faith, faith that maybe we didn’t know we had. Does it come from within us? Does it come from outside of us? The question is, does faith come from within us and/or does it come from outside of us? Somebody say, “Yes.” Yeah. I think that’s what the answer to that question is. Does it come from within us, does it come from outside of us? Yes. Mustard seed moments.

I was 18 years old, and I was going to college. I was that day becoming a freshman at Mount Union College. If you would’ve come up to me and asked me, “Jay, how are things going?” I would’ve said, “Great. Going to college. No problem.” One hundred and twelve years later, I was so afraid. I was afraid. I was emotionally unstable. That summer my girlfriend in high school very maturely said to me – however an 18-year-old can be in love, I was in love, and I was very much in love with my girlfriend. She was going to Ohio State, and she was really very mature, and she said, “You know, Jay, I think we should break up. I think it’s the natural thing to do. We’re going to different schools. We can still see each other and go out on dates over breaks.” She said, “That’s what we should do, that’s the thing to do.” And I said to her, “Of course, yes.” Called her by name, “Yeah, of course. That’s the mature thing to do.” Inside, I was screaming, “No!” That’s not what I wanted to do.

Looking back, I can see I was losing so much. I wasn’t focused on what I was gaining. I was losing the security of the family, I was losing the security of my friends, I was losing the security of my girlfriend. Oh – and maybe this is too much information – oh, I have acne on my face. Thank God I recently had my braces taken off, so I at least had that going for me. I can take you to the spot on campus, and I didn’t know it at the time. I do believe in angels, and I’m sure there were angels with me, but none of the angels talked to me that I can recall, that I can perceive. None of them said, “Jay, this is going to be a mustard suit moment of your life. You’re just a little, zit-faced 18-year-old, and you and your mom and dad are taking up about five square feet of land in God’s incredible cosmos. And you don’t know it, but this is a mustard seed moment. Pay attention to it. It’s going to be a little microcosm for faith for the rest of your life.” I can take you to the spot on campus. And by the way, as I was preparing this message, I smiled to myself, and Jackson and Bree are here this morning. I smiled to myself. This is another sermon for another day. I could also take you on the campus of the College of Worcester, the exact spot where I said goodbye to our son when we sent him off to college. I could take you to the exact spot.

So, there I was standing with my mom and dad. We were doing all those things that students and parents do during orientation, and then it was ultimately inevitable they were going to turn and walk away. We were there on campus. My mother started to cry. I think my dad wanted to cry but he didn’t. And I wanted to cry, but I fought it as best I could. Then my dad said – and the mustard seed moment isn’t really about what he said, although I can remember it. The mustard seed moment was what was coming later because of course that’s what seeds do, right? They’re planted and something grows. They were going to turn and go back to their car and drive back to Marysville. My dad smiled at me and said, “Here’s my words of advice.” He borrowed – I even knew it at the time, he borrowed from a popular armed forces TV commercial, which is fine. “Here’s what I want you to do in college.” And I thought it was really great advice. He said, “Work hard and play hard.” Isn’t that great? This Presbyterian minister, this Calvinist, went against his instincts, told his son, “Here’s what you do at college, work hard and play hard. And I did.

Turns out I just didn’t fit in in my dorm. I just didn’t fit in. It was a guy’s dorm and all the guys liked to do things that I didn’t want to do. I felt utterly alone, and I felt emotionally isolated during fall and during winter. I went home as much as I could. I didn’t go home every weekend. I got through to the spring. I had been recruited to play baseball on the baseball team. Baseball, the sport, ended up being my salvation. I ended up making friends that were more like me on the baseball team. So, I got through the experience. The mustard seed of faith grew. It made me a better person. I realize now I had just enough faith to get through it. I believe faith is believing in ourselves as much as we believe in God. If we feel like we need more faith today, try believing more in God and try believing more in yourself at the same time. I didn’t know I had faith until I needed it. Did it come from something beyond me or maybe it was there all the time? And I think the answer to that is yes.

The disciples this morning – did you notice that? They said to Jesus, “Increase our faith.” Increase our faith, Jesus. Who here wants more faith? Don’t raise your hand. I hope you see it in a few moments; it’s a trick question. Who wouldn’t say, “Yeah, I want more faith. I need more faith?” The disciples say, “Increase our faith.” They ask the question in such a way that obviously they feel they need more faith. They don’t have enough. And Jesus’ answer reveals that they have misunderstood the nature of genuine faith. Is it possible that we have misunderstood it at times as well? Psalm 37, that I read a few minutes ago, quote, “Do not fret because of the wicked. Trust in God and do good.” And then at the end that verse says, “Be still.” In other words, the psalmist says, “Stop. Be patient. Let the mustard seed grow. Work with this. Work with this. Wait patiently for God. “The disciples assumed that they had some faith, but needed greater faith, more faith, in order to measure up to Jesus’ challenges. But instead, Jesus shatters their illusions about faith. He says, paraphrasing, “Hey, you guys don’t even have faith comparable to a tiny mustard seed.” Once again, the disciples are looking for some warm, fuzzy moments from Jesus, and Jesus says, “Hey, you guys don’t even have the faith of a mustard seed, because if you did, you could tell a sycamore tree, a tree that grows up to 80 feet high, that has very deep roots, you could tell a sycamore tree to be uprooted and planted in the sea.”

Does anybody remember another reference to a sycamore tree in Luke? It’s actually coming two chapters later. This is Chapter 17 and Chapter 19. Anybody remember a sycamore tree? Right? Zacchaeus. Remember? It said that he was short; so, he climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus. I want to tell you, and I’m the only preacher I’ve ever heard say this, I want to tell you that in the original reading that pronoun that says, “He was short; so, he climbed a sycamore tree.” Did you know that there’s some ambiguity there? It’s possible that “he was short” was referencing Jesus. Jesus was short. This is great news. That’s it, that’s the end of the sermon. Jesus was short. Go tell everybody. Now, the American sycamore – and I know this because I found the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, website last week – the American sycamore is considered a massive tree as defined by its circumference, in the entire eastern half of the United States where it is native, including to Ohio. The American sycamore is native to Ohio. We should listen to the sycamore trees. They have things to teach us. They were here a long time before we were. They’ve seen kings come and go. They’ve seen presidents come and go. Standing in the midst of a church, standing with you in the midst of Christianity, standing with you in the midst of a discussion about faith of a mustard seed, maybe one of the things that we can accrue from this conversation is, on one hand, doing all we can to preserve our precious democracy, and on the other hand asking God for the grace to live long enough to see what happens to every dictator. We should listen to the sycamore trees. They’ve seen presidents come and go.

Jesus is telling his disciples, and his spirit is telling us, we don’t need more faith. Right? Go tell everybody. Our preacher today said I don’t need more faith. We don’t need more faith. We need to understand that just a little mustard seed of faith enables God to work in our lives in ways that defy ordinary human experience. This narrative, using tiny mustard seeds and huge sycamore trees, is hyperbole to make a point, and the point is a little bit of God is not just enough. You can substitute Christ for God, and you can substitute Spirit for God. A little bit of God is not just enough; a little bit of God is everything. A little bit of God can get a lonely, fearful college freshman with acne on his face not only through the experience, but that freshman can come out on the other end a better person because of it. Sometimes we don’t even know we have enough faith until we need it. Mustard seed moment.

I want to conclude with this. It’s a mustard seed moment that I shared with you about nine months ago, and I want to conclude with it again today. Many of you have been attending church every Sunday for a while now. This is another story that falls under the heading of “The Gospel According to Costco.” Here’s what happened, and it’s a mustard seed moment. I was at Costco; I was at the food court. I was sitting here minding my own business, eating my slice of pizza, and that’s when it happened. A couple walked by in front of me. The table beside me was empty, they went to it. They were old, and I’ve reached the point in my life where when I say they were old, they were older than me. He was in a wheelchair. She walked like this (crouches down). She was carrying both of their plates of food. She walked over and she put the food down. She grabbed their soda cups, and she walked over to get their soda. He had probably about 50 percent use of his hands, and I sat and watched. She walked over, put the sodas down, and they began to eat. I was just sitting there, it was just another day, I was minding my own business. I looked over there; I looked over here. I enjoy people-watching, and I looked over, and they were praying. They had their heads bowed, and I could hear what they were saying. She was praying, she was saying things like, “God, thank you for this wonderful bounty. Thank you for this wonderful lunch. Thank you for this wonderful life.” I started to weep. I didn’t think of it at the time, but I realized they were welling up my faith. I got to the point where I was almost ready to sob, it affected me so profoundly. I felt I was in the presence of greatness, and I also felt ashamed. I’m a preacher. I’m ordained. I was ordained by the Presbyterian Church USA. I’m not godless. I hadn’t prayed. I hadn’t thanked God for this wonderful bounty. I hadn’t thanked God for this wonderful life in that moment. It’s a mustard seed moment. I hope I never forget it. It was just a little thing that happened in God’s great cosmos. And a little bit of God is not just enough. A little bit of God is everything. What mustard seed moments are waiting for us today? Amen? Amen.