Faith and Faithlessness

I have been reading in Matthew lately, because I am co-teaching that gospel in our Sunday School.  Matthew mentions faith, or the lack thereof, quite a bit.  There seems to be a pattern in this Gospel.  The Centurion and the Canaanite are commended for their faith, as are the friends who lowered their buddy and got him healed.  The disciples were often rebuked for their little faith.

One of my questions for the class will be, “How does one increase their faith?”

I am not very strong in faith.  I worry, I design, I figure.  In the end though, worrying, designing, figuring are never enough.  One cannot plan for every contingency or steer clear of every pothole.

Faith is important in every aspect of life.  The greatest faith I have seen has not been exercised by Christians, but by my biologist friends, who, mostly on faith, accept neo-Darwinism.  If I just had a mustard seed of their faith I could move mountains.

But, faithless as I am, I still have come a ways.  I have a little faith.  My little faith has come to be typically because I was willing to act on what I believed to be true.  I took a “chance” and acted.  I made the trip, made the commitment, filed the lawsuit, or did something that wasn’t necessarily cleverly calculated for optimal logical outcomes.  James said it this way, “But someone may well say, "You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works."  In the roll-call of faith in Hebrews 11, the Holy Spirit tells mostly of what folks did. 

In Luke 17:5 The disciples beg, “Lord increase our faith.”  We can do no better. 

So, what am I doing by faith now?  What are you doing by faith?