5 Oct 2025, Luke 17:1-10, The Greatest Blessing: Increase Our Faith

Daylight saving started today, so if you’re a bit sleepy, that’s why God made coffee. When I finished high school and moved to Seoul for university, it was a massive turning point in my life. I studied at PUTS, Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary. As you can guess from the name, I was born and raised in the Presbyterian church. I’m Presbyterian to the core. At eighteen, a city of twenty million was more than I could manage on my own. I never looked up at the sky. I had to pretend I was a city boy. I had new dreams, but also real worries. The first was finding somewhere to live.

That’s when I began to learn what grace looks like in everyday life. For the first month, I stayed with a distant relative. But it was far, and I had to change buses twice to get to class. It was pretty stressful. Then a friend told me about a dormitory run by the Methodist Church. It had been built about seventy years earlier by early American Methodist missionaries. Its purpose was to serve the children of country Methodist ministers, Methodist theology students, and country students who were studying at universities in Seoul. I wasn’t Methodist, and I was studying at a Presbyterian seminary. It seemed unlikely I’d be accepted, but I applied and went to the interview anyway. Thankfully, they were gracious, perhaps because I’d travelled the longest distance of anyone there. Life there was good. The food was great, and I even enjoyed the Wednesday night worship each week. It was a small space, but in a strange city I was grateful just to have a roof over my head. The students were a mix of ordinary university students and dozens of theology students from the Methodist seminary, there for ministry training. Every time I was introduced, I got the same question: “Why is a Presbyterian here? How did a Presbyterian end up in a Methodist dorm?” You can feel the tension already.

Then one ordinary evening, a casual chat took a sharp turn. Small talk like “Where are you from?” and “How’s class?” suddenly narrowed to “Alright then, what about predestination?” The core, the classic center, of Presbyterian theology. And just like that, everyone was looking at me. I was eighteen, barely through my first semester. How much theology could I possibly know? I wasn’t ready. Still, the questions kept coming, one after another. “If God has already decided everything, what’s the point? Why go to church? Why pray, do missions, or worship at all? That sounds unfair. Some are in and some are out. If it’s already decided, it doesn’t make sense.”

Because Methodists generally put more emphasis on human free will, I remember thinking to myself, “I was born Presbyterian. What am I supposed to do about it?” I pushed back, defensively. But honestly, their question was justified. I don’t remember everything we debated, but I do remember this: I went back to my room determined to study and to retire my “I was born Presbyterian” defense.

Looking back now, they were just college kids who didn’t know the first thing about theology, and so was I. But we were very serious then. It’s a bit like my ten-year-old daughter saying, “Well, Dad, this is what life’s about,” or “Dad, you shouldn’t do ministry like that; ministry is really about this.” If I could step back into that moment, I’d say it simply: “Hold on. Let’s set the complicated word “predestination” aside for a moment. Let me ask you this: Did we come to believe in Jesus purely by our free choice, or because God first came to us, adopted us, and led us to salvation?”

Here’s my confession. No matter how far back I trace my life, the beginning of my faith is always on God’s side. It might look like I just happened to be born into a Christian family or by chance came to know the church. But looking back, those coincidences were God’s prior love. God extended his hand first, and I simply said yes. That’s why the starting point of my faith isn’t my decision. It’s God’s absolute grace and invitation. Don’t misunderstand me, this isn’t about denying human free will. It’s that this grace, this mystery, is so immense and beyond our words and knowledge that we can’t find any reason in ourselves. So we find ourselves using words like total grace or predestination. The message is not, “Since it’s all decided, we don’t have to do anything.” The message is, “God loved us first, called us, and will carry us to the end.” That’s why the church has used the word predestined.

Scripture says:Ephesians 1:4–5, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ.”Romans 8:29–30, “For those God foreknew he also predestined.”

I believe today’s passage begins with this very understanding: “Lord, increase our faith.” In verse 1, Jesus teaches his disciples: do not cause others to stumble, forgive your brother and keep on forgiving. He likely taught them even more. Then, in verse 5, they respond, “Lord, increase our faith.” Other translations say, “Give us more faith.” Why did they say that? Why ask for more faith so suddenly?

Imagine the scene. Jesus’ standard was impossible for them to meet. They must have thought, “Jesus, how can you ask us to do something this impossible? We can’t do that. Unending forgiveness? We’re not that advanced in faith.” So they did the most honest and mature thing. They acknowledged their limits and humbly prayed, “Lord, give us more faith.” I would say this request is incredibly impressive. When we read the Gospels, we often see the disciples’ weaknesses, their ambitions, their arguments, and their hearts missing what Jesus is really saying. We can feel negative. But here, something different happens. They are serious, humble, and deeply mature.

Then comes a striking shift. Look closely at the title the Bible uses for them. In verse 1 it reads, “Jesus said to his disciples.” By verse 5 it says, “The apostles said to the Lord.” Do you feel that turn? It’s no typo and no accident. It signals a change in identity, a new direction for life, and a rising of Jesus’ expectations over them. I have to say it this way. The moment they recognized that faith is God’s gift, not their achievement, they were ready to be sent. Disciples became apostles. That is a tremendous change, and it’s the message. When they realized that faith is given by God, everything changed. And with the faith God supplies, they could step out day by day into their journey, led not by their ego or effort, but by the One who sends them. Each morning, the gift of faith becomes the strength to live their lives.

My dear friends, October is our Month of Blessing. Through the newsletter, during our announcements, and even in the word “Blessing” on the cross, we’ve all come with a sense of expectation. It’s a time to bless our own hearts, to bless one another, and to give thanks to God, the source of every blessing. It’s also a month to pour out what we’ve received into the places that need it most. I pray that throughout October, every word from our mouths would be a word of blessing. May every song on our lips be a song of blessing. And may blessing be felt in every gesture, even in our smallest breath. Sing blessings freely. Speak blessings freely. Share blessings freely.

So let me ask you: What is the greatest blessing you’ve received so far? And what blessing are you most longing for these days? It might be a good life, your family, your children’s well-being, financial comfort, or the quiet, ordinary days you share with those you love. Please take a moment. What rises in your heart? As I prepared this message from Luke 17, the greatest blessing is simply faith.

The more I look back, the more I realise I cannot imagine my life without Jesus. I don’t even want to think about a life without him. How did I become a Christian? How did I come to have faith? How did I become a minister? Why would Christ welcome a sinner like me and keep filling me with faith day after day? I hadn’t asked for it. It had already happened. I don’t have a human answer. Think about it. How are we here today, worshipping God? How are we woven together as a community, loving, helping, encouraging, and sharing life? Your quiet commitments—driving

in from near and far, preparing the music, setting the communion, arranging the chairs, giving lifts, placing the flowers, all the seen and unseen sacrifices. Did that desire just appear on its own? Can we do it by our own strength?

Perhaps we’ve already received this immense blessing. Our loving God keeps adding to it day by day. Even when our circumstances feel far from what we would call blessing, we have already received the greatest blessing, faith as a gift, and God has planted the seed of faith in hearts that did not deserve it. That’s why, like little children, we hold out our hands and pray, “Lord, increase our faith. Give us more faith.” Pray this every day. Our good and unchanging God delights to increase our faith. And as he does, whatever you face, you’ll find you’re already standing inside his blessing.

So this October, our Month of Blessing, may the blessing of faith overflow among us. And may God, in his goodness, weave us into a shared journey of blessing, in mysterious and wonderful ways. Amen.