“Living as Unworthy Servants”
(Luke 17:1-10)
Series: Certainty in Uncertain Times
Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD
Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson
- Take your Bibles and join me in Luke, chapter 17. (page 705; YouVersion).
While you’re finding that…Christmas at the Fine Arts Center…check out this video:
[Promo video]
These bags are available for a couple more days. Come the church office to get a few for your neighbors.
- Stand in honor of the reading of the Word.
1 Then He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come!
2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.
3 Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.
4 And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, “I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”
5 And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
6 So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
7 And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, “Come at once and sit down to eat’?
8 But will he not rather say to him, “Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’?
9 Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not.
10 So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, “We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’ ”
- Pray.
Introduction:
Several weeks ago in my quiet time I came across this quote by Harry Blamires (bla-MY-ers). Harry Blamires is a writer who began writing at the suggestion of his friend at Oxford, CS Lewis. In this quote, Blamires is responding to the statement sometimes made by Christians who say something like, “Oh, I could never do that. I am not worthy for such a task.” Here’s what Blamires writes. He says, “To ask, ‘Am I worthy to perform this Christian task?’ is really the peak of pride and presumption. For the very question carries the implication that we spend most of our time doing things we are worthy to do. We simply do not have that kind of worth.”
Now, I want to read that again and before I do I want to ask you to consider whether you ever reasoned this way. When asked to do something at work or at school, take on a special project, perform a certain task, or, when asked to do something at church, teach a class, serve on a committee, preach a sermon, volunteer for something, have you ever responded this way: “Well, I am really not worthy to do that”?
Blamires writes, “To ask, ‘Am I worthy to perform this Christian task?’ is really the peak of pride and presumption. For the very question carries the implication that we spend most of our time doing things we are worthy to do. We simply do not have that kind of worth.”
Blamires exposes the flaw in our thinking. None of us is worthy to do anything. We do not spend the majority of our time doing things we are worthy to do. We are not “worthy” to do anything. This is the point the Apostle Paul makes in 1 Corinthians 3:7, when addressing the similarities between Christians who “plant” the evangelistic message and those who “water” the evangelistic message. He writes, “So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.” Neither he who plants, nor he who waters “is anything.” None of us is worthy to do anything.
Why? Because we are sinners by nature and sinners by choice. Because apart from God’s regenerative grace that awakens us from the death of our spiritual condition, dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1), we are without hope. We are wholly dependent upon God’s grace to come to us and to make us alive. So for the rest of our days we will always and forever be dependent upon that grace of God. None of us is worthy to do anything. We are unworthy servants.
This is thrust of our Lord’s teaching here in the opening verses of Luke 17. We are unworthy servants, wholly dependent upon God to do anything. Now, this passage addresses Christians. It is one of those passages given to self-inquiry and the material may be arranged under four main questions we’re each to ask of ourselves. You may study the passage further this week by opening up this passage again Monday, Tuesday, and so forth and ask one question each day. Number one:
I. Am I Causing Anyone to Sin? (1-2)
1 Then He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come!
Jesus said this “to the disciples,” to Christians. He says, “It is impossible that no offenses should come.” The word, “offenses” there translates a Greek word that means, “things that cause people to sin.” The original word is ska¿ndala, from which we get scandal or scandalous. Broadly used it means, “Anything that would cause another person to sin.” The idea is, “Don’t be a stumbling block to another, don’t cause another person to stumble in his or her faith.”
Jesus says, “It is impossible that no offenses should come.” That is, “We live in a fallen world and there are stumbling blocks everywhere and we’re all tripping over them”–BUT–and note this, “BUT,” it is emphatic, that means it should be in all caps or we should underline it, “But woe to him through whom they do come!” In other words, “If you cause anyone to sin it is really bad news. How bad? Verse 2:
2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.
The “little ones” there at the end of verse 2 is a reference to believers, particularly new believers. In the parallel passage in Mark 9, Jesus says, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea (Mark 9:42).”
Of course a millstone was used for grinding grain and they varied in size. They had a hole in the middle of them so Jesus says, “If you cause anyone to sin it would be better for you to have one of these big stones placed around your neck and for you to be thrown into the ocean.” In other words, if you cause someone to sin it’s better for you to die suddenly, better for you to die suddenly, suffering merely immediate physical consequences than to have to stand before God and face eternal spiritual consequences. The point: Anything is better than doing harm to souls.
It is no wonder James warns in James 3:1, “Let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment,” because you can do harm to souls by misusing Scripture. Are you a teacher of the Word? Has a friend asked you about a matter the Scriptures address? Are you counseling your friend correctly, based upon the clear teaching of Scripture? A friend asks you for counsel about abortion, homosexuality, or divorce & remarriage, are you counseling them according to the Scriptures? Or are you harming their soul by causing them to sin? It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck, and you were thrown into the sea, than that you should cause anyone to sin. Strong language? That’s what Jesus says.
Even indifference to the training of new Christians can harm their souls. If our church does not take seriously the matter of strengthening the family through proper Christian discipleship our passivity may harm their souls by leaving them theologically vulnerable. We must continue to challenge Christians here at Henderson’s First Baptist to not think of Sundays as merely an event or an entertaining get-together, but as a reminder that we are to be in the Word every single day, growing theologically in our families and in our places of work and school, learning and becoming more like Jesus Christ.
Indifference to the training and treatment of new Christians can leave them theologically vulnerable.
Now what is true about our influence upon Christians is also true about our influence upon non-Christians. Are we causing them to sin? Is our behavior pushing people further away from Christ or drawing them closer to Christ? Does the language we use at work or school serve to build people up or tear them down? Are we consistently the same person Monday through Saturday that we are on Sunday? Question one: Am I Causing Anyone to Sin? Question two:
II. Am I Forgiving Others Limitlessly? (3-4)
3 Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.
“Take heed to yourselves” may also be translated, “Watch yourselves.” It points both back to the verses preceding as well as forward to the statements Jesus makes next. Take heed to yourselves. Watch yourself. Don’t watch someone else’s self. Watch YOUR self.
“If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents forgive him.” If a Christian brother or sister sins against you, what are you to do? You are to go to that Christian brother or sister privately and rebuke him.
Now that phrase “rebuke Him,” does not mean, “Hey, buddy! You’re a jerk! Of all the jerks I know you’re the jerkiest jerk of them all–King of the Jerks!” That’s not what it means.
It is a rebuke that is tied to forgiveness. Read it again there in verse 3, “If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.” The rebuke is tied to forgiveness. Unless your rebuke is tied to forgiveness, it is an unbiblical rebuke.
So if someone sins against you, hurts your feelings, speaks ill of you, or in some other way offends you, what are you to do? First, check your attitude. “Take heed to yourself.” Ask yourself, “Am I a Christian? If so, do I love that person? Am I willing to forgive that person? Unless your rebuke is tied to forgiveness it will not help.
The next thing you do is to approach your brother or sister privately. This is implied here in verse 3: “If your brother sins against you, rebuke him;” that is, “Go to him, not to someone else.”
It is helpful here to read Jesus’ words in Matthew’s Gospel as they are germane to this discussion. Matthew 18:15, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone (and I would suggest underlining “alone” about 25 times)…”
Much of the trouble in churches today is because of the failure to do this. If your brother or sister sins against you, go and tell him or her their fault between you and your brother or sister alone. Rather than doing what is biblical, people are running off all offended and telling others how they have been offended. Christian, if another believer hurts you, upsets you, or does you wrongly, don’t you go telling someone else. Lovingly approach the person who wronged you. It’s what Christians do.
JC Ryle, “To say that of a brother behind his back which we are not prepared, if needful, to say before his face, is not the conduct of a true servant of Christ.”
Perhaps one of the disciples would say, “Well, this is all fine and good if someone sins against me once in a blue moon. I think I’m probably spiritual enough to forgive anyone once.” Hold on. Verse 4:
4 And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, “I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”
That is, we must forgive others without limit. We must forgive others limitlessly. That’s the point behind this idiomatic way of speaking. Jesus says, “If he sins against you seven times in a day you forgive him.” In Matthew 18:22 He says, “Seventy times seven.” Both mean the same thing, “There is no limit to forgiveness.”
And note that there is no option here. Jesus says in the last four words there in verse 4, “You SHALL forgive him.” In other words, you WILL forgive if you are My disciple. You WILL forgive if you’re a Christian.
So Christian wife, if your husband sins against you, you SHALL forgive him. Christian husband, if your wife sins against you, you SHALL forgive her. If your fellow church-member sins against you, you SHALL forgive him or her. Quit running around like a child whose feelings are always hurt, crying to everyone else. Go lovingly to the person who caused you the hurt, honor that person by talking to that person ALONE and forgive that person.
How? As God in Christ forgave you, that’s how. Ephesians 4:32, “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”
We must be prepared to forgive others the way the father forgave the prodigal son two chapters ago. Too many professing Christians are more like the elder brother in the parable. They really don’t want to forgive.
Someone said forgiveness is not a feeling, it’s a promise. Forgiveness is not a feeling, it’s a promise. It is a promise not to bring it up again, not to bring it up to others, and not to bring it up to myself (Alistair Begg). See you can’t always forgive and “forget.” You may forget, but you may not. Forgiveness is not a feeling, forgiveness is a promise.
I would encourage you to write those three things down:
1) Forgiveness is a promise not to bring it up again (to the person)
2) Forgiveness is a promise not to bring it up to others
3) Forgiveness is a promise not to bring it up to myself
Question 1: Am I Causing Anyone to Sin? Question 2: Am I Forgiving Others Limitlessly? Question 3:
III. Am I Living by Faith? (5-6)
5 And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
It’s like this talk about forgiveness has really struck a chord with the Twelve! “Jesus, please, increase our faith!”
But the amount of faith is not as important as the right kind of faith—faith in an all-powerful God. We studied this several chapters ago when we were studying “Great Faith.” Great faith is not, “I’m going to close my eyes, clench my jaw, and really, really, really believe so that I’ll have great faith.” That’s not great faith; that’s just great energy! Great faith is not faith inside me, but faith outside me. It’s not the size of your faith that matters; what matters is the size of the One in Whom your faith rests. It’s not that we must have great faith so much as it is that our faith is in a great God.
So, “Am I living by faith?” Does my faith rest in the great God who has made Himself known to me in the Person of Jesus Christ. If I believe in Him, the size of my faith does not matter. I can have faith as small as a mustard seed and I’m going to be okay. That’s what Jesus says in verse 6:
6 So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
Why would someone want to uproot a mulberry tree and plant it in the ocean? Beside the point. I suspect Jesus turned to the first thing He saw and used it to illustrate His point. The size of one’s faith doesn’t matter, the size of the One in Whom your faith rests is what matters. We don’t need “more” faith. A tiny seed of faith is more than enough if it is alive and growing.
And remember that the immediate context here is the matter of forgiveness. You need only believe in Jesus Christ to be able to forgive others. So we’re not to read verse 6 as though faith were to be used to put on a show for others. “Watch me magically uproot this tree and throw it into the ocean!” Faith is not something we use to put on a show for others. Faith is complete and humble obedience to God’s will, a readiness to do whatever he calls us to do, such as forgiving others limitlessly. You can do that; you will do that.
Question 1: Am I Causing Anyone to Sin? Question 2: Am I Forgiving Others Limitlessly? Question 3: Am I Living by Faith? Question 4:
IV. Am I Serving the Lord Dutifully? (7-10)
And the whole point of these last four verses is to illustrate that we are merely servants doing what Jesus calls us to do. We don’t deserve anything for doing these things. We don’t deserve special recognition for not causing others to sin, we don’t deserve special recognition for forgiving others limitlessly, and we don’t deserve special recognition for living by faith. We are merely doing our duty. We are Christians. This is what we do. Jesus says in verses 7 and following:
7 And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, “Come at once and sit down to eat’?
8 But will he not rather say to him, “Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’?
9 Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not.
10 So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, “We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’ ”
You see, if we forgive others limitlessly, if we live by faith, if we love, if we witness, if we evangelize, if we tithe, we deserve no special recognition for these things. We are servants. It is our duty to do these things.
So there is no room in the Christian life for boasting. There is no room for self-exaltation or self-righteousness. We are servants of Christ. We are merely doing our duty. It’s not that God does what WE say, we do what HE says. Many professing Christians insist that God do what THEY say, “Lord, do this for me and do that for me, answer my prayer this way and that way or you are not really God.” We are the slaves and He is the Master. We do as He says. He rescued us from sin. We do what HE says. He granted to us eternal life. We do what HE says. We are merely servants.
Conclusion:
Last May I and Rich and Matt went up to Cleveland Ohio for the annual Pastors Conference at Parkside Church. One of the speakers was a man named Rico Tice, a minister on staff at All-Souls Church in London England. Rico worked for the previous rector of the church–rector; we would say pastor–and the previous rector was Richard Bewes, a man who retired a few years ago. If you have not heard of Richard Bewes, just know that Billy Graham has asked him to conduct his funeral when he dies. That will probably tell you all you really need to know about him.
So Rico was telling the story about how Richard Bewes had been invited by Billy Graham to speak at Amsterdam 2000, a 9-day conference that would to conclude with Richard Bewes’ preaching a send-off message to some 10,000 evangelists from 200 countries all over the world.
Rico said that this was the high point of Richard Bewes’ ministry. He had prepared for months, memorizing his sermon and was prepared to send off these pastors. When the time came for the conference and the music played preceding Bewes’ mesage, Rico said the music group was supposed to take only 8 minutes and they had taken 21 minutes. So Richard’s time was just gone. He could not preach the message he had worked so hard to preach.
Rico said that he himself was there at the conference and he was livid that this musical group had robbed Richard Bewes of his preaching time. He said he went around the platform afterwards to see Richard Bewes and found him having a cup of tea. And referencing the way the music group took up all his preaching time, Rico said, “Richard, what they did was appalling!” And Rico said, “Richard looked at me and said, ‘Oh no, no, Rico. We’re servants. No, no, no, we just do what we are asked.’” Rico said he himself marveled that this great man of God had just dismissed the whole thing. “No, no, no, we’re servants. We just do what we’re asked.”
Reflecting back on the event, Rico said that while he himself recognized that Richard Bewes had many weaknesses, he said he himself would have walked under a bus for him because of that statement. He said, “I thank God for that (experience) and I think God allowed that just to show me what it means to serve.”
We’re only servants. We just do what we’re asked.
- Stand for prayer.
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