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And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, 'I repent,' you shall forgive him." The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" But the Lord said, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and be planted in the sea'; and it would obey you. "Now which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him after he comes in from the field, 'Come immediately and recline at the table to eat'? On the contrary, will he not say to him, 'Prepare something for me to eat, and properly clothe yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward you may eat and drink'? He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he? So you too, when you do all the things which were commanded you, say, 'We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.'"

(Luke 17:4-10 NASB)

There are two places in the gospels where Jesus talks about faith "the size of a mustard seed" being able to move a mountain or a tree. The first is in Matthew 17, where the disciples are asking why they couldn't cast out a particular spirit, and Jesus tells them it was because of their small faith. (Ouch!) The other place is found in our passage above. But when you read the context of this passage, Jesus isn't criticizing the size of his disciples' faith, but rather their unwillingness to remember their place in the big scheme of things.

Jesus starts out by telling his disciples to forgive and forgive and forgive, even if someone keeps sinning against you over and over within the span of 24 hours, if they return and repent, forgive them. The disciples then ask Jesus to increase their faith, thinking that if they had more faith it would empower them to perform this difficult task of continuing to forgive their neighbor.

But Jesus goes on to tell them that a lack of faith isn't their problem; after all, even faith as small as a mustard seed is enough to command a tree to go jump into the sea. He explains their problem using the analogy of a master and a servant. After a long, hard day of working in the field, the servant should not expect to be invited in and treated like a son. There's no "put your feet up" or "take a load off". When a servant finishes his first job, he obediently goes on to the next job, and the next. He takes care of all his master's needs, then he can rest.

Many Christians today think they can negotiate which of God's commands they must keep, and which they can excuse themselves from. But even though in Christ we are God's children, when it comes to carrying out God's commands, we should still consider ourselves His servants. We don't have a right to tell our master that something is too difficult or unfair. Despite our having been so highly honored, let us maintain our humility and give God all the obedience that He is due.