Luke 17:1-10
“The Implications of Faith”
Faith is great. We know that we Christians are saved by
grace, through faith in Christ. Faith is
the assurance of things hoped for and the certainty of things unseen. Faith is a gift. Faith, hope and love – three great Christian
virtues. And faith, even the size of a
mustard seed, can move mountains.
Today, as Jesus teaches his
disciples on the way to Jerusalem, we hear him delving deeper into just what
this faith means for our life together as Christians. For living in the faith means a different
kind of life than outside the faith, with the unbelievers. If we believe in Jesus, if we follow Jesus,
then certain things are to be expected; certain things will follow. Let’s look at this passage which may seem at
first to be an eclectic mix of disjointed ideas – but really has St. Luke, and
Jesus, teaching us some of the implications of faith in Christ.
For starters, a warning. Temptations to sin are sure to come – even to
those of us in the faith! And while we
are not enslaved to sin any longer, Jesus concedes that we can still fall into
temptation. So that’s the first warning
– to watch not only for sin, but the very temptation to sin.
Even more sternly, Jesus
warns us about being a temptation to others.
Causing others to sin. Woe to
that one! It’s one thing to sin all by
yourself, but sinners love company in their sin. It may make you feel less culpable. “Hey, look, everyone else is doing it! I’m not the only one, it must not be so bad!” And whether the sin that you’re recruiting others for is gossip or laziness or despising of God’s word or any other sin –
don’t be fooled. Sin is worse when you
lead others to it, especially little ones – either children, or those who are
weak in the faith. Watch yourselves! Jesus warns.
Tempting others to sin is no small matter. It brings woe. It would be better to be tied to a millstone
and cast into the sea. It is, truly,
damnable.
And if that pokes some holes
in your conscience today, well it probably should. For which of us shouldn’t be lined up for our
own millstone? Who doesn’t, by their
sin, deserve their own measure of woes? But
the same Jesus who dishes out the woe came to take it. The same Jesus who warns of sin’s great
consequences is the Jesus who absorbs them into himself. Woe to the one who causes another to
sin. But thanks be to the One, who by
his death, frees us from the woe of sin and judgment.
Next, Jesus talks about
forgiving our brothers. If he sins,
rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.
It sounds so simple, doesn’t it?
But hard to practice. Hard to
have the courage to speak a word of rebuke.
Rebuking isn’t for polite society.
It’s not good dinner conversation.
But life in the faith is different. Christians march to a different tune
than the world. And so we are called by
Jesus to rebuke – though, gently if possible, as Paul encourages Timothy. And the goal, of course, is not to demean and
drive away the sinner, but to elicit repentance and reconciliation. “If he repents, forgive him”. That’s the goal. That’s the desire. Even seven times in a day – or in other
places Jesus says 70x7 – forgiveness is unlimited. Christians don’t keep score against each
other. For we know how the score stands
with ourselves.
How many times, how many sins
does God above forgive you each day, dear Christian? Certainly more than 7. Certainly without demanding you enumerate and
verbally confess each and every sin of thought word and deed. If we did that, or even tried, we’d never do
anything else but confess! So deep and
thorough is our own sin. But so high and
all-encompassing is God’s forgiveness in Christ. That all our sins are covered – 7, 70x7, 7
trillion zillion. All washed away in
baptism, and in the blood of Christ. And
so how can we not forgive so freely? How
can we hold our brother’s sins over him?
We saw a beautiful example of
this in this week’s news – when the brother of a murder victim spoke words of
forgiveness in Christ to the woman who killed his brother. He even embraced her in a hug before she was
taken off to serve her sentence. Now
here we see the implications of faith in a most poignant way – forgiving what
some would think unforgivable. But
that’s just a shade of Christ’s forgiveness for each of us.
Sounds pretty difficult,
though. Avoiding sin, not tempting
others, rebuking and forgiving our brothers who sin. Jesus sets the bar so high. And you get the idea that the disciples were
feeling the same. Who can live up to
these expectations, Lord? Who has such a
great faith? And so they pray, “Lord,
increase our faith!” Not a bad prayer.
Much like the prayer of the
man whose son was plagued by a demon – the one who prayed, “I believe, Lord,
help my unbelief!” Friends, it is these
kinds of prayers that God always answers with a yes. For we know his will, he has revealed it to
us – and it is just that – that we would have faith, and more of it.
We pray similarly after
communion, “…that of your mercy you would strengthen us through the same (that
is, through this sacrament), in faith toward you…. And in fervent love toward
one another”. Strengthen our faith,
Lord! And he does!
And to what end? What does faith do when it grasps on, ever so
tightly, to the promises of God? I does
amazing things. Things you’d never
expect. Jesus here must have been
walking by a mulberry bush, and used it as a handy example – “if you had faith
– even a little faith – like the grain of a mustard seed - you could say to
this bush to be uprooted and planted in the sea, and it would obey you!” Ah, but that’s not what faith is interested
in, showing off, doing tricks. Rather
something even more amazing – saving sinners.
Grasping grace. Making the words
and promises of God our own. Even saving
us, to life eternal.
Nor is faith about measuring
faith. Faith trusts not in itself, but
in its object, Christ and his word.
Faith doesn’t look inward, but outward.
Faith looks to Christ and him crucified, and there finds its assurance,
its hope, its fulfillment.
And finally faith has fruits. Faith produces works. Faith prompts and effects in us the fulfillment of our duty as the servants of God.
Of course we are always careful to say, as scripture does, we are not
saved by those works, but by grace through faith. But we also know that faith without works is
dead.
But in much the same way that
faith doesn’t look inwardly at itself, faith also doesn’t keep score about
one’s good works. It’s like the servants
in Jesus’ example. They do their duty –
without care or concern, without thought of gain or reward. They do all that is asked of them, and then
simply say, “look, we’ve only done our duty”.
In a world of entitlement
mentality, what a breath of fresh air are the good works that flow from
faith. In a milieu of “what’s-in-it-for-me?”,
the Christian faith asks a radically different, “How can I serve God and my
neighbor?”
Consider the story Jesus
tells of the sheep and the goats – in which he praises the sheep for their good
works – visiting the prisoner, the sick, clothing the naked, feeding the
hungry, doing all this good to the least of these, and in essence, doing it
unto Christ himself. But the sheep
answer in bewilderment, “when did we do all this to you?” You see they weren’t keeping score. Their deeds flowed from faith. Their works weren’t some spectacle for the
world to see, but they were simply doing their duty.
So you, dear Christian, go
and do likewise. Live out all the
implications of faith – avoiding temptation, and never causing others to
stumble. Confessing your own sins, and
receiving Christ’s forgiveness, only to forgive also those who trespass against
you. Grow in your faith, and pray that
you would ever more. And in all you good
deeds, simply do your duty, to the glory of God and good of your neighbor. All
for the sake of faith, faith in Christ, that great gift and blessing. Amen.
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