Mustard Seed Faith: Small, Real, and Enough

Last Tuesday morning, as I stood in my kitchen staring at my coffee maker, I realized something profound about faith. I pressed the button, expecting coffee to brew. I did not pray over it. I did not wonder if maybe today the machine would refuse to work. I just pressed the button and walked away, completely confident that when I returned, there would be coffee. That is trust. That is faith. Small, ordinary, unconscious, and absolutely real. 

The apostles come to Jesus in Luke chapter 17 with a request to “Increase our faith!”  They have been watching Jesus heal the sick and cast out demons and speak truth that turns the world upside down, and they are thinking, whatever he has, we need more of it. I understand them completely. I have stood at bedsides and prayed for healing that did not come. I have counselled marriages that fell apart anyway. I have baptized babies and buried them far too young. I have whispered the same prayer: “Lord, increase my faith. Give me more. What I have is not working.” 

But Jesus does not give them what they ask for. He never does when we are asking the wrong question. He says 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. A mustard seed. I held one in my hand once during a children’s sermon, and a five-year-old girl said, “Father, I think you dropped it.” It was so small she could not even see it against my palm. That is the point Jesus is making. You do not need more faith. You need real faith. Authentic faith. Faith is the size of something barely visible that trusts in a God who is infinite. 

My father is not a religious man by most standards. He does not quote scripture or lead family devotions. But I have watched him live with a quiet confidence in God that shaped everything he did. When he retired from his job, he did not panic. When my mother got sick, he did not rage. He just kept showing up. Kept praying in his own simple way. Kept trusting that God was good even when life was hard. Someone told me, “Your dad has the strongest faith of anyone I know.” I realized then that they were right. He had mustard seed faith. Small. Quiet. Unshakeable. 

That is what Jesus is trying to tell the apostles. They are focused on quantity. God cares about quality. They want to feel more certain, more powerful, more spiritual. Jesus tells them that even the smallest genuine faith contains the full power of God himself. Think about what a mustard seed actually is. It is not impressive. You cannot build with it or eat it, or trade it for anything valuable. But plant it in the ground, and something miraculous happens. Without any help from you, that seed knows exactly what to do. It breaks open. It sends roots down and shoots up. It becomes a tree that provides shelter and shade and a home for birds. Real faith does the same thing in a human soul. 

Then Jesus tells this parable that makes us uncomfortable. A servant comes in from working all day in the fields. Does the master thank him profusely? No. The servant prepares dinner, serves his master, and only then takes care of himself. Jesus says, “So you also, when you have done all you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’” This is not about God being cruel or demanding. This is about understanding reality. This is about knowing who we are and who God is and how the universe actually works. 

I learned this lesson from Mrs. Jackson, a woman in my first parish who cleaned the church every Saturday for twenty-three years. She never missed a week unless she was hospitalized. When I tried to thank her once, she looked genuinely confused. “Father,” she said, “this is God’s house. It is my privilege to care for it.” She did not want recognition. 

We serve because we are servants. Not because God is keeping score. Not because we are earning our way into heaven. We serve because that is what children of God do. That is what people with mustard seed faith do. Writing to the Philippians, Paul says that we work out our salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in us to will and to act according to his good purpose. We work, yes. We serve, yes. But it is God working through us. Our mustard seed faith simply opens us up to let God’s power flow through our lives. 

In my office, I keep a small glass bottle with a mustard seed inside. People come to me desperate and doubting. They tell me their faith is too small, too weak, too broken to matter. I show them that seed, and I tell them what Jesus told the apostles: “You do not need more. You just need something real.” Real faith shows up even when you are scared. Real faith prays even when heaven seems silent. Real faith serves even when nobody notices. Real faith keeps loving when love is not returned. 

Jesus connects these two teachings because they are really the same truth. Faith is not about our adequacy. It is about God. And service is not about our worthiness. It is about God’s invitation. You are invited into God’s story. Your small faith is enough because God is infinite. Your imperfect service matters because God is perfect. Bring your mustard seed faith. Just trust. Just serve. Just show up. Press the button and walk away expecting coffee. That is faith. Small. Real. Enough. 

(Dr. John Singarayar, SVD, a priest of the Society of the Divine Word from the Mumbai Province in western India, holds a doctorate in Anthropology. He contributes regularly to journals and publications focusing on sociology, anthropology, tribal studies, spirituality, and mission.)