Throwing Trees in the Ocean

What was the point of Jesus saying to his disciples that if they had as much faith as a mustard seed, they could uproot a tree and throw it into the sea? (See Luke 17.) Was he saying that if they had an infinitesimal amount of faith, they could perform incredible signs and wonders? But since they obviously couldn't throw trees in the sea, their faith was basically at level zero?

Prior to this, Jesus has been telling his disciples to forgive each other. The conversation goes something like this:

Jesus: Forgive a lot. In fact, forgive everyone everything.

Disciples: Gosh, that's hard. We need more faith to do that! Give us more faith!

Jesus: You don't need more. You just need some. A little can go a long way.

Next Jesus tells them a parable about how improper it would be for a servant to return from the fields and expect his master to reward him for his work. The servant's work is just what's expected of him. It's what the servant owes his master. When the servant returns from the fields, he serves his master, continuing to put the master's desires above his own. That is the proper order of things. End of story.

I think Jesus is telling his disciples that forgiving others isn't some sort of unreasonable request from God. It's just what we owe our master. Not only that, but we don't need an extra portion of faith to do this. Forgiving others for the things they do against us—even if they do it seven times a day—can be done with the smallest portion of faith imaginable.

This means that the WWII Christian-Jews who forgave their German captors weren't some sort of super-Christians. They were just doing their duty to God.  

This also means that when Stephen in Acts 7 asked God not to hold his murderers' sin—the stoning of himself—against them, he hadn't reached some unattainable level of holiness. He was just operating on a mustard-seed amount of faith. 

This also means that my seemingly insurmountable troubles, impossible relationships, and haunting fears are not places where I need more faith, but rather, just an infinitesimal amount of faith. Faith doesn't come in degrees. Either we trust the Lord in a particular area or we don't. There's no such thing as sorta trusting in the Lord. 

I suppose this might seem confusing because as our lives progress, our faith is tested in various scenarios and seems to grow. We get to see if our faith works at different times and at different places and with different people. This is the working out of our salvation or the kingdom of heaven being worked into our lives. When we encounter new circumstances, we get to find out if our faith is going to work here too. In fact, every circumstance in life is like that. There's never a time when our faith gets to rest or take a break.

In that parable of the servant returning from the field, Jesus was telling his disciples just this. There's not a time when we've finished serving the Lord and can sit back and live for ourselves. Serving the Lord is a 24-hour-7-days-a-week sort of life. And every day we get a chance to work out our faith in a new situation. 

Do I still believe that Christ has already made me good even when I fail to do everything perfectly?

Do I still believe the God loves to hear my requests even when others' needs seem so much more important than mine? 

Do I still believe that God accepts me as his glorious creation even if I can't complete projects as I'd like or a relationship ends badly?

Do I still believe that Jesus has experienced all that I'm feeling even when those closest to me get tired of listening to me?

Do I still believe that what Jesus' knows about the world is enough for me to enter a new activity even if I don't know exactly how it will turn out?

Do I still believe that what God has planned my future for my good and his glory even when I don't like the direction my life has taken?

Do I still believe that God will be my comfort even when I must examine a hurtful or difficult problem?

Do I still believe that God's power is behind every authority on earth even when the government tells me to do things I don't want to do?

Do I still believe that the Holy Spirit wants to move me into action even when that action could disrupt others or myself?

Do I believe that with Christ in me and through me and around me, all these things are as simple to do as it was for the Lord God to speak trees and oceans into existence?

More parables:  Equal Pay, The Shrewd Manager, Our Talents, Put on the Fancy Smancy Clothes, Who Owes What to Whom, Trees of Heaven, Hell, and Earth, Wanting Ships