In the movie "Field of Dreams", a struggling Iowa farmer named Ray Kinsella builds a baseball field in the middle of his corn field. Soon, the ghosts of famous baseball players of long ago arrive to play the great American game once again. Then a voice and a series of visions send Ray on a journey of several thousands of miles to collect 2 persons to come to his baseball field while at the same time his farm falls into bankruptcy. He's answered a call, maybe from God - who knows - but he doesn't know why he has been called to do what he has done. He doesn't know what the purpose of his journey and actions has been all about.

Video "Field of Dreams"

What's in it for me? Why do we do the things that we do? What is our motivation for why we serve Christ? I can't tell you the answer that Ray Kinsella discovers because that would spoil the end of the film for those who haven't seen it. But we can discover our own answers when we seek the answer to "What's in it for me?"

In our scripture lesson today, it appears that Luke has put two unrelated teachings together that just don't make sense. But in fact, they are closely related and help to explain each other. In verse 6, Jesus makes an outrageous statement. "If you had the faith of an almost microscopic mustard seed, you could take a tree out of the ground, plant it in the ocean, and it would grow." Now who in their right mind could believe that? Jesus can't be serious, can he?

I don't know if you literally could do that to a tree, uproot it from the ground and plant it in the sea (I rather doubt it, although to clarify this image, Jesus is probably speaking of the fresh water of the Sea of Galilee and not the salt water of the Mediterranean Sea), but the meaning of the story is quite clear to me. One commentator has put it this way: "Faith alters the essential nature of things." (1) Faith dramatically changes how life is lived and how life is perceived to be lived. What wasn't possible before is possible now. Faith in the saving grace of Christ Jesus has the power to change relationships, both our relationship with God and our relationships with our fellow human beings. What lives appeared to be healthy and thriving in the dirt and underbelly of our communities can find refreshing calm and healthiness and growth in the cleansing purity of water. If we have faith, the impossible life in Christ becomes possible and desirable.

Because new life is a result of the power of faith, we no longer live life in the same way, and we no longer have any arrogance in this new life that we live. We no longer ask, "What's in it for me?" That's where the second teaching of the parable comes into play.

In one way this is not a very admirable story. We have a master who is not considerate to his slaves. But the emphasis isn't on the master; it's on the slaves. The slaves have been working hard, long hours out in the fields, and yet at the end of the day the master demands more service from them. "Feed me and serve me my supper." After all the hard work they have done, this doesn't seem fair. However, the slaves don't dare say, "What's in it for me if I work this extra task?" Why? Because slaves are supposed to serve their master. That's their job. There's nothing extra, because that's their job. Whatever the master wants, they have to provide, and whenever he asks, they must respond. That's their job.

My wife Jean owns her own company that manages personal care homes. And there are times when she gets exasperated with some of her management staff as they perform their job responsibilities. Now they aren't slaves (and neither are we slaves who work ourseles to death without rest and renewal), they are employees who work 40 hours per week and they have definite job responsibilities. For instance, the job of the marketing director is to bring new residents into the personal care home. It's as simple as that. His or her job is to meet with people and make arrangements to fill the rooms. Yet invariably she has a marketing director who not only asks but expects, "What kind of bonus will you give me when I bring in new residents?" Hello. This is their job. Their job description is primarily to bring in new residents. They don't get a bonus for doing the job for which they were hired.

That's what Jesus is saying to his disciples through this parable. "You have been given faith to live a different kind of life, and in living that different kind of life, you serve me. Service or discipleship goes with this new kind of life; it's a part of your new identity or job description as a Christian. So why do you expect a bonus or praise or thanks for doing your job as a disciple?" The new life and the life of discipleship that Christ has given us is a gift from God. And with all gifts, our response is always to give thanks, not "Is that all there is?" or "What's in it for me?"

Now it is hospitality and proper for you and me to say thank you and to show gratitude to others for the service they have given to us. When I go out to eat at a restaurant, I always try to say "thank you" whenever the waitress or waiter brings something to the table. I don't have to because it's their job, but I do it to show respect and hospitality. But the waitress and waiter should never expect a thank you from the diners for doing their job, and it is never proper for us to expect or to look for thanks and gratitude for living out our discipleship. Discipleship is our job of faith. So we need to give thanks to our Lord for what he has done for us and for how he has included us in his ministry of salvation.

As you come to Holy Communion today, don't think about how tired you are or whether or not you have been appreciated. Come to give thanks, and come to offer yourself anew to Christ so that God's power of grace and love might work through you to change lives and to transform our communities. After all, that's our job as Christians; that's our responsibility as Christ's disciples. Let us thank Christ for the gifts of salvation and discipleship as we fulfill our call.

(1) Quotes and ideas for this sermon were taken from Marion Soards, Thomas Dozeman, and Kendall McCabe, Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C: After Pentecost 2 (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994), pp. 66-68.