Luke 17:1-10 NIV
17 Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to
stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. 2 It would be better for them
to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause
one of these little ones to stumble. 3 So watch yourselves.
“If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke
them; and if they repent, forgive them. 4 Even if they sin against you
seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you
must forgive them.”
5 The apostles said to the
Lord, “Increase our faith!”
6 He replied, “If you have faith as small
as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and
planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.
7 “Suppose one of you has a servant
plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in
from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? 8 Won’t he rather say,
‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and
drink; after that you may eat and drink’? 9 Will he thank the servant
because he did what he was told to do? 10 So you also, when you have
done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we
have only done our duty.’”
Stumbling
I stumble all the
time. I can stumble right over myself. I hate it when I stumble and bump into
someone else and hurt that person. Yep! I stumble all the time and I hate it!
So, what’s the deal
here with these few verses of Scripture?
This passage is
Jesus teaching His disciples. Most of it is about forgiving one another. About
being unwilling to forgive. In this attitude of unwillingness to forgive, it’s
easy to lose yourself into an attitude of revenge, hate, and blatant neglect of
the 8th Commandment.
I fall into this
trap all of the time. So, may I review the 8th Commandment for
myself and you as well?
“You shall not bear
false witness against your neighbor”
And as Luther puts
his explanation to this…
What does this mean?
We are to fear and
love God so that we do not betray, slander, or lie about our neighbor, but
defend him, speak well of him, and explain his actions in the kindest way.
Well, when I fail to
be empathetic and understanding of someone’s sin against me, I tend to strike
out in revenge. I form a hate for the person with whom I have been offended or
ever just disagree with and speak to betray, slander and lie about them to harm
them. Why? Because I feel better about it when I do.
Oh, how sinful I am.
I’m a sinner and cannot free myself. That’s the awful truth of it. So, in my
unwillingness to forgive, I lose myself.
Here’s a real- life
case. Just this past week, as I asked for help from my wife, Sue, I got upset
when I asked her to get me a tape measure. First off, I didn’t explain myself
very well, secondly, when she was slow to respond I yelled at her, telling her
that she was incompetent. Man, what an Ass I was! It was all my own fault.
Every bit of it! And I sinned, and no doubt sinned boldly. Sure, I sought her
forgiveness. But did I really expect that to come instantly from her? I hoped so,
but how could that ever happen?
So, I spent the rest
of the day depressed, praying, and realizing how sinful I was. What had I just
put my wife of almost 50 years through? How could I ever expect her to fully
forgive me? What could I do to make it up?
Did I have faith the
God or even my wife could forgive me? I was even studying this passage of Scripture
daily and ended up living it out. I wanted more faith.
Faith comes from God’s
eternal power. Faith does NOT come from some effort or thing that I can muster
up or gut out from inside myself. I realized that I was in bondage to sin and
cannot free myself. I kept hearing this over and over and over. When I prayed
it became so apparent that it turned my stomach and wounded my soul.
Stumbling blocks and
sins are inevitable in this world and my life. BUT, when I stumble against one
close to me, I need them to point to my sin and call me out, before I can
expect forgiveness.
And if the shoe, in
this case the sin, is against me; I need to heed Jesus’ advice to point out the
offender’s sin and forgive them. Over and over and over again. For me? Well,
this sin of mine was not the first time I had shouted out meanness. To my wife
and to other’s as well. Each time I hate it and want to do better, but then, it
slips out again.
Even when I ponder
the Post-it notes next to my recliner that remind me how to act…
I’m reminded of the
Fruits of the Spirit…
Love-Joy-Peace-Patience-Kindness-Goodness-Faithfulness-Gentleness-Self
Control
And again, in the
second Post-it note from 1 Timothy 6:11
1
Timothy 6:11 NIV
11 But you, man of God, flee from
all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance
and gentleness.
Boy, oh
boy, have I ever stumbled all over myself and hurt my wife, and God!
My heart
is wicked and I trap the weak in my sin. As other’s witness my responses in this
manner, I hurt them as well. Forgive me, I pray!
It’s
just as bad and probably worse, when Church leaders who trap the weak are full
of false ambition, intolerant, assertive and indifferent to new people of faith,
that act in this sinful manner, to be unforgiving. Who do we think we are? We
are all in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves, the new Christian, the
fresh in understanding convert, even the elder of the Elders. We all are in
bondage to sin and stumble all over ourselves and into one another. Forgive us
Lord, forgive us! Lord, God, cast these sins out!
I turn
to the face of God and my wife to forgive me.
At this
point faith is in control. I look for forgiveness and blessing.
Ephesians
4:32
32 Be kind and compassionate to one
another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
And in
this passage, and in Jesus words, I learn, no matter at which end of the sin I
am on, my response, and the response I wait upon.
For me
and for all of us, forgiveness must follow repentance… constantly. I, we, are
in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves.
I am
called to forgive others constantly. And when I forgive, to lay aside revenge.
Lay aside rebuke and repayment AND live with each other in healing and love,
and forgetting about getting even.
When I
fail to forgive, I’m trapped in a circle of fight on fight, bringing forth hate
and revenge in me AND all, I’m with or against.
But,
when I forgive, or am forgiven, all doors open to loving one another.
We, like
the Apostles, are taught by Jesus. It’s Jesus that joyfully gives us all the
faith we need.
And with
Jesus, living in His grace and love, we serve God. Lord, I pray, that you would
cure us of our imagined reward that we think we are due for serving You. May I
and all of us see what God does.
God deals
with me and you on law and duty NOT grace and faith. We need not feel proud of
our works of faith. After all Faith and Grace are gifts, NOT works.
With the
gifts of Grace and Faith from God, we disciples, serve in a spontaneous
response to how God has forgiven us, over and over and over.
I am in
bondage to sin, and cannot free myself. But God can! And God does! Through
Jesus in my world and in my life as he came to give forgiveness to me and you…
over and over again and even once and for all time. I’ll leave you to ponder
that for a while.
May I
hear and see the message of God in Jesus. Through God alone grace has been
given in Jesus.
Forgive
me Lord Jesus for my stumbling sins. Forgive me Sue for my stumbling sins… both
today… tomorrow… and forever. And I ask God to help and guide me all along this
way.
Never
thought I would post a Jelly Roll song but this one speaks to how I feel…
“Forgive
Me, Lord”
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