Increase our faith!

“If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents forgive him. If he sins seven times, and repents seven times, forgive him.” To which the disciples reply 'Increase our faith!'

It is unarguable that one of the most central and important strands in the teaching of Jesus concerns forgiveness. How often must I forgive my brother, as many as seven times? As many as seven times seven times says Jesus elsewhere – in other words, always. Where there is repentance, then forgiveness follows. And this teaching is knitted together with that about refusing to judge each other, and about being perfect like God in heaven is perfect, pouring down rain upon the just and the unjust alike. And the measure that we give shall be the measure that we receive, that is, if we don't extend forgiveness to others then we shall not receive forgiveness ourselves, in this world and in the next. In other words, to forgive is simply what it means to be a Christian, and in so far as we do not forgive, then that far have we failed in our faith.

Which is the point that I believe Christ is emphasising today. When the disciples say, in response to this emphasis upon the necessity of forgiveness for salvation, 'increase our faith!' they are not asking to have their opinions changed, to start believing one thing rather than another. They are asking for a greater strength of character. To which Jesus responds by teaching them about the role of a servant, 'would you thank the servant simply because they did what they were told?' In the same way, when we forgive, it is nothing about which we can boast – we are simply doing our duty, and that duty IS our faith – for faith IS a doing.

For various historical reasons, the church has managed to tie itself up into all sorts of knots about the nature of faith, of salvation, of the contrast between grace and works. It is an argument that carries a great deal of energy even now, simply because several hundred years ago people in this country, in this county, possibly in this town were hating and killing each other because of disagreements about the nature of faith.

Quite clearly we are not saved by our actions – that is called salvation by works, as if we could earn our way into heaven. Not only can we not do that – for the simple reason that when we do good things we are only doing our duty, as Jesus teaches – but in fact, if this doctrine were true, what a monstrous and frightening position to be placed in. For it would mean that eternal salvation would rest upon our decisions and actions and, frankly, I can't cope with them being that important. But thanks be to God, for that is not Christianity.

In Christian faith, grace comes first, which means God comes first, which means that we rely not upon our own strength but upon the prior action and desires of God. We trust that God is love, that the God revealed in the life, death and resurrection of Christ is the true God, and that in following him we have life. All that we do is rooted and founded in grace; to use the language of the BCP “LORD, we pray thee that thy grace may always prevent and follow us, and make us continually to be given to all good works...”

For whilst it is true that we are justified by faith – in other words, faith in Christ is what makes us part of the Body of Christ, the community of Christians, those who are saved and redeemed by him – it is also true that, as repeated throughout Scripture in Old and New Testaments, we will be judged according to our deeds. It matters what we do.

The other day, when the family were sat around the dinner table, faith came up in conversation, and I had to explain to Barnabas what faith was. I used this image: when I drive, I act on the assumption that other drivers will keep to their side of the road. I don't know for absolutely certain that they will do so – sometimes, no doubt, that is not true – but I act on the basis that this is true. I have faith that this is true, and this is shown by my actions, in keeping to the left hand side of the road and not being paranoid about whether drivers coming from the opposite direction will crash in to me.

In the same way our faith is shown by what we do. Do we act on the basis of trust in a loving and gracious God – and therefore forgive our brothers and sisters seven times a day? Or do we act on the basis of one trying to safeguard a position, trying to earn our way to heaven, and therefore not developing the moral courage required to seek and pursue the life of forgiveness.

It is hard and a wearying of the soul to sustain the position of self-righteousness. I am sometimes reminded of a comment – I can't remember where I first came across it, but the image has remained in my mind – that a human being defending their pride and their sense of righteousness is like a dog standing on its hind legs: it is temporarily impressive, but you can't escape the feeling that it is neither natural nor sustainable.

Our faith is shown by what we do. As James puts it in his Epistle, “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.”

It is our duty to forgive each other. This is not a matter of how we feel. It is not a question of trying to get to a place where our hearts have been completely converted and we can with sheer joy and simplicity of heart start singing the Sound of Music whilst wandering in the mountains. No, this is simply a case of doing our duty, of being obedient to our Lord's commands, wherein, even when we can by grace achieve it, we can only say 'We are unworthy servants'. No, forgiveness is the choice not to be offended or scandalised by the sin of someone else, however much it hurts us. It is to bear one another's burdens. Forgiveness is the decision and action to continue in relationship with others, to take our place as one sinner amongst a community of sinners.

Let us then not be distracted by the contemporary gods of narcissism and navel-gazing and simply get on with the job of being a forgiving and reconciling community – and may Gods grace go before us to increase our faith, enabling us to continue in all the good works that he has prepared for us to walk in. Amen.