St. Luke 17:1-10
Divine Service
Pentecost 19 (Proper 22)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

“So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”

So concludes our Gospel lesson today, with the Lord calling us unworthy slaves.  When we obey His commands, we are to call ourselves unworthy servants who have only done our duty.  Somehow, this doesn’t do a whole lot to inspire, as it is so easy for us to hear this in the way of the Law: “Do your best, and you’re still unworthy.”  But remember who the Master is who speaks to you this day and you will find that the news of your unworthy servanthood is some very Good News indeed.

As Jesus speaks to the crowds that day, the apostles are listening in.  He says: “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!  It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.  Pay attention to yourselves!  If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

With these words, our Lord makes two important points of Law clear.

The first is this: Scandals; Temptations – false teachings that leads people astray – will come, and the one responsible is in big trouble.  People will teach doctrine that will lead others away from Jesus and His saving grace; and it does not matter whether it is done intentionally or unintentionally.  Either way, the victim is led astray; and either way, the one who brings scandal faces the wrath of God.  If one is tempted to believe that false teaching is a “little sin,” then note the Lord’s pronouncement: It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea, millstone around his neck and all, than to commit such a sin.

The second point of Law is this: Be faithful in rebuking and forgiving sin.  Christians are to confront those who sin and urge them to repent and then to be forgiven.  To fail to rebuke a sinner is to fail to keep God’s command.  Furthermore, when a sinner repents, Christians are to forgive him: again and again and again, no matter how long the sinner suffers from – and falls into – that temptation, no matter how ‘bad’ the sin is and no matter how irritating that person is.  Rebuke the unrepentant sinner, Jesus commands; and forgive the repentant sinner.  Always.  Every time.

The disciples hear this Law as Jesus preaches it, and their immediate reaction is abundantly clear: they feel their own inadequacy.  They hear what Jesus commands for all Christians, and they realize that they have been called – and will be sent – as the Lord’s apostles; as His ambassadors.  They will be public ministers, their labors more apparent than those of others.  Their teaching will be examined under a microscope.  Their interaction with sinners, repentant or not, will be an example to all who watch.  These are not easy commands for anyone, and the apostles have no desire to scandalize and wear that millstone necklace.  They see themselves in the fish bowl and know they cannot keep the Lord’s commands.

Therefore, they plead: "Increase our faith!”

To the apostles, then, Jesus goes on to say: “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.  ‘Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down at table.’  Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink?’  Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded?  So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants, we have only done what was our duty.’”

If we hear these words only according to the Law of God, they sting; for it sounds as if our Lord has said to His anxious disciples, “Hey!  Get some faith and get to work!  And even if you work hard and do all those things you already said you couldn’t do, you’ve only accomplished what you were supposed to be doing anyway.  You’re supposed to teach the truth.  You’re supposed to confront sinners and forgive those who repent.  You may find these tasks difficult or unpleasant, but it’s your job.  It’s not like you’re going to get extra credit or a merit badge or something.  It’s what a Christian is supposed to do.”  Even if the apostles work the field and sow the seed of God’s Word, shepherd the flock and feed His lambs and wait on the tables of the people of God, it doesn’t earn them bonus points with the Lord.  It’s what He called them to do.

Ouch.  It’s bad enough when the boss at work sums up the excellent job you’ve done with “Well done – that’s what we pay you for.”  To hear that same sentiment from this Master would be difficult indeed.  Except we know that this is a different Master than all the rest.  The Master who is speaking is the Son of God in human flesh.  He is in human flesh because this Master has come to serve.  He has not come to make new demands; God’s Law is already sufficient, and man’s obedience woefully deficient.  No, this Master does not come to add to our burden; He came to relieve it.

Therefore, consider these words that Jesus speaks to His apostles, knowing that He is the Master who goes to the cross for them.  He says to them, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”  This would sound like a criticism, save for this one important truth: this Master has come to give them faith and forgiveness.  When the apostles implore, “Increase our faith,” they are making a faithful confession: They are confessing their sin – that they know that they cannot do all that is expected of them, and they are trusting the Lord to forgive them and give them what they need.  Jesus is there to do just that; He is present to forgive sins and strengthen faith.  The fact that they have made this confession shows that they trust in Him.  Therefore, He confirms His mercy and forgiveness.  By the faith Jesus gives and maintains, they will be able to do what they could not do: they will believe, confess, enter heaven, speak the truth, rebuke the sinner and forgive the penitent.

Because Jesus forgives them their sins and gives them faith, they are released from sin and can go about the will of God.  They teach the truth because the Truth has set them free.  They preach the Gospel because the Lord gives them the grace and the call to do so.  And when they stumble and sin, by faith they trust in His forgiveness; after all, He is about to bear the weight of their sin around His neck as He is thrown into the depth of God’s wrath on the cross.

Consider as well the Lord’s words about the apostles as unworthy servants.  What He says is absolutely true: all of the faithful work that the apostles will do in His name will not earn them any extra merit before God.  They should not grow proud of what they do, and what they do will certainly not save them.  They will not get to heaven because they do what they are supposed to do.  Salvation is neither about doing a good job nor about earning extra credit or bonus points before the Lord.  And by His words, Jesus tells His apostles that He knows this.  He knows they are not saved because they do their duty; they are not redeemed by their works.  No, they are saved by His work.

Jesus asks: What sort of master, having a slave, commands the slave to sit down and then serves him?  This Master does.  He dons that human flesh to serve the apostles and all of the world.  Soon, at the Last Supper, it is He who has His disciples sit down; and it is He who takes off His robes, dresses as a servant and washes their feet.  It is He who feeds them with His body and blood – in, with and under bread and wine at that Supper.  And it is He who will then give His body and shed His blood on the cross for the sins of the world.

This is the Master who speaks to the disciples.  With any other master, the message would be, “Even if you do your best, you’ve only done your job.  And if you mess up, you’re a dead man.”  This Master tells His apostles, “While you are unworthy servants, you are forgiven and you are saved.  You are saved because I go to the cross to die for your sins.  You are not saved by your labors, for those are simply what God gives you to do because you are saved.  Your work counts nothing toward paying for your salvation because your salvation is already paid in full.  You can’t add to it, because I’ve finished the job.  Therefore, attend to your tasks.  But you don’t need to go about them as men who are fearful that they must be perfect to earn their salvation; go about as joyful citizens, confident that salvation is already yours, thankful to proclaim that Gospel to others.”

What Good News our Lord declares to His apostles, for He speaks to them words of forgiveness, faith and life.  He does so because He is the Master who serves His servants.  He is the one who redeems us by His death.

The Law and Gospel of our text still holds true for us today.  It is still so terribly true that “temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!  It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.”  God commands us in His Law that we are to hold fast to His Word.  We are faithfully to hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.  We are to speak the truth without compromise, lest for any reason we would lead people away from the Savior and to direct them to a god who cannot save.

It is still true that we are commanded to rebuke the sinner, to show him his sin and call him to repentance.  And it is still true that the Lord commands us to forgives all who repent, again and again and again if need be.  There is no room for bearing grudges.  There is no room to put political spin on sin to make it acceptable in some special situation.  There is no allowance for the whitewashing of transgression to make it appear a good thing.

And the Law that Jesus lays down here is enough to damn us all.  We are far from perfect; we do not have a perfect grasp on the Word of God; nor are we particularly dedicated to gladly hearing and learning it.  Furthermore, our sinful lives often contradict the truth that we proclaim; therefore, intentionally or unintentionally – and even with the best of intentions – we may cause others to stumble.  And, it is not an easy thing to confront one who is guilty of sin, and to call them to repentance: such an act of love is usually met with anger and with harsh words.  Therefore, it is far more agreeable to live and let live, to ignore the fact that others are condemning themselves by their refusal to repent.  And forgive the repeat offender?  Grudges come much more easily to us than forgiving a sinner again and again – and yet again!

No, we hardly keep the Law that God commands in our text for today.  I think it’s safe to say that we are unworthy servants, who haven’t even come close to doing what we ought to do.  Truly, therefore, we throw ourselves before the Lord this day, praying that He would forgive our sins and increase our faith.

Take heart.  The Master gives faith.  It may be much like a mustard seed in that it is often small and overlooked, but the Lord gives you faith that is full of promise.  You see, by faith you know that error and sin are fearful things.  By faith you know that the Savior has borne the weight of your sin around His neck as He was thrown into the depths of God’s wrath at the cross.  By faith, you confess your sin, trusting – by faith – that God forgives you.  By faith, you know that you are set free by the Truth to tell the Truth, to proclaim the news of Christ and cross to all who will hear.  By faith, you are confident of something far bigger than a transplanted mulberry tree; for the sake of Jesus, you have been uprooted from this sinful world, grafted into Christ the vine, and transplanted into the Kingdom of Heaven for eternal life.

You have faith, because the Master has come and died to forgive your sins and give you faith.

Because you are freed from sin, and because you have faith, you know that Christ has done all the work for your salvation.  Therefore, you have the comfort of knowing that you aren’t saved by your servanthood.  It is still taught so frequently that you are saved by the good works that you do.  Jesus defeats this doctrine with the news that the one who does good works is only doing what he’s supposed to, and hardly earns extra credit toward heaven.  His message, however, does not end there: He announces that, despite your unworthy sinfulness, your salvation is already won.  Your redemption is sure because of the work of the Master.  He has taken on human flesh, and He has suffered and died on the cross for you.  He is risen again, and the Master serves you even now.

You come here today from your labors of the week, into the presence of the risen Lord Jesus Christ.  Your Master does not call you here so that you must now work and serve Him for this hour.  The Master calls you here so that He might serve you!  “Come!”  He calls.  “Sit down immediately,” He instructs, and then He ministers to you.  He speaks to you words of healing as He forgives your sins in His absolution.  As He washed the disciples’ feet and pronounced them clean, He washes you and pronounces you clean in your Baptism.  He seats you at His table and feeds you with His body and blood.

There is, then, no room for pride which would try to earn points toward heaven; nor need you sink in despair because of your sin.  No, you rejoice this day that the Lord has accomplished that victory for you already.  There is no fear of being unworthy, for the Master has made you worthy.  You are not a worthless slave, because the Master declares you to be His beloved child.  He comes to serve, to cleanse and sanctify you, declaring that you are forgiven for all of your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen!!!!

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