Pentecost 17 (4)

Luke 17:1–10 NIV84

1 Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. 2 It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. 3 So watch yourselves. “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. 4 If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.” 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 had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? 8 Would he not 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 Would 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.’ ”

Jesus example of having a millstone tied around your neck and being thrown into the sea can’t help but remind me of an alleged practice of how the “Mob” would deal with those who had betrayed it. The victim would have his feet encased in cement and then thrown into the river. Imagine the terror and despair of sinking to the depths and drowning with no possibility of escape. I wonder if this happened in biblical times with mill stone or if Jesus is just being very vivid.

Jesus teaches us how to deal with the sins of a fellow believer. We are to rebuke them. Note how in polite society this is seldom done anymore. Those things that people did a generation or two ago that were privately and publicly condemned are now explained away, excused, or even flaunted. (Examples). And yet, even in this we have consistency. Some sins are considered to be particularly heinous while others are publicly embraced. Jesus makes no such distinction.

The goal of rebuking a sinner is that he/she will repent. But Jesus knows the frailty of the human condition and that we are often repeat offenders. He teaches his disciples to be repeat forgivers regardless of how many times the sin is repeated.

Why did the apostles ask Jesus to increase their faith? Was it to give them strength to be forgiving? RESEARCH

Luke Homiletical Suggestions

HOMILETICAL SUGGESTIONS

See also at the end of 17:19.

How Do We Care for Fellow Believers? (17:1–6)

1. We watch ourselves that we don’t cause them to sin (17:1–3a).

2. We warn them when they sin (17:3).

3. We forgive them when they sin against us and repent (17:3–4).

4. We rely in faith on the Lord’s help to do this (17:5–6).