Increase Our Faith!

Generous In Spirit

9.14.22 [Luke 17:1-10] River of Life (10th Sunday after Pentecost)

Last Sunday, we studied one of Jesus’ finest teaching stories—the story of the rich man & poor Lazarus. In that story, Jesus vividly revealed the nature and purpose of temporal blessings. In so doing, he exposed the Pharisees’ arrogance & selfishness. The Pharisees believed their good lives were God’s reward for their good behavior. And because they believed they had earned these things, they struggled to be generous with all the good things God had given them. Why share with those who haven’t been as good as me? Why should I suffer, when I go to great lengths to be good?

Seeing this self-seeking materialism in the Pharisees was good for us. There are far too many times that we think and behave in their ways.

But there is also a danger for us. Because the Pharisees were so extremely arrogant, greedy, and selfish, we can begin to view their transgressions like we might the local police blotter—juicy gossip, spiritual schadenfreude rather than a wakeup call. We should be generous in things, but the Christian life is more than just cutting a check to a local charity or donating to families in need. Jesus’ teaching today, in Luke 17, clarifies that believers are not just to be generous in material things, but also generous in spirit.

Jesus says two particular things are as difficult for his disciples, as it was for the Pharisees to be generous in material goods. 1) Not causing little ones to stumble & 2) forgiving repeat offenders. The two examples Jesus provides seem to be random, arbitrary, and almost totally unconnected. But remember who is teaching. Jesus.

But Jesus knows these men better than they knew themselves. (Lk. 9:47; 22:24) They repeatedly argued amongst themselves which of them was the greatest. In the very next chapter, Luke 18, the disciples will (Lk. 18:15) rebuke those who are bringing babies to Jesus to place his hands on them (Mt. 19:13) and pray for them. (Mt. 18:21) One time, Peter asks Jesus if forgiving his brother seven times is good enough. (Lk. 9:54-55) Another time James and John want to call fire down from heaven on a whole village who didn’t want to welcome Jesus. Jesus recognized it was challenging for his disciples to be generous in spirit. That’s the commonality between these two cases. (Lk. 17:2) Don’t cause little ones to stumble. (Lk. 17:3-4) Forgive a fellow Christian who sins against you seven times in a single day each and every time. Doing these things demands a generous spirit—humility & patience. The apostles recognized that & cried out: (Lk. 17:5) Increase our faith!

When we take an honest look at what Jesus demands we come to the same conclusion. Jesus says (Lk. 17:1-2) Woe to anyone through whom stumbling blocks come to these little ones. Adults must not say or do things that force children to act spiritually "wise beyond their years. Kids talk as they hear you talk. They value what you value. Your children shouldn’t have to rebuke you for lying, cursing, or gossiping.

But it’s more than being a poor example of Christian living. We can place stumbling blocks in the lives of our kids when we clutter their lives with things that block their view of Christ and his Word.

If we, as parents, are filling up their weekends with recitals, tournaments, fishing trips, or time in the mountains, we're cheating our kids out of getting to know their Savior. If we are working such long hours that we are too busy or too tired to lead devotions or pray with them or answer their questions about God & life, we're causing little ones to stumble.

Think of this way. Some children of divorce only get to spend weekends at dad’s. Think about why you’ve taken them away from Sundays in their Heavenly Father’s house. If you had split custody and someone kept your kids away from you for the same reasons you’ve neglected to bring your kids to God’s house, how would you react?

Telling ourselves that our children are old enough to make their own spiritual decisions is no better. The devil himself devised this fine-sounding deception. If your child cannot put a roof over their own head, food on their own table, how long will you watch them suffer? If they still need your guidance in temporal things, they need it spiritually, too!

But, for many of us, the days of raising kids are long gone. There are still little ones you must care for. When you go home & grumble about the noisy kid in church, you've created hurdles for little ones the Lord loves.

Little ones also includes the spiritually immature. Sometimes, we create obstacles when we demand things that God does not. Maybe we expect that people get their lives together before we will offer them our spiritual encouragement or support. Or we burden them with all the things that must be done at church. Or we unload on them all the problems we've seen.

When you minimize the importance of your being in church each week, you are leaving legos on a dark floor for your fellow Christians. No one has ever come up to me and said you know what, I wish there were less people in church. It’s getting too crowded. Yet, time and again, we wonder where so-and-so is this Sunday, and they wonder the same about us the next week. We are not meant to worship like ships passing in the night.

When we skip Bible class because it’s too basic or we determine it's not challenging enough, we are fashioning stumbling blocks for those who are still finding their footing, spiritually speaking. Picking up your cross and following Christ is hard enough, but sometimes we make it harder.

Of course, the more time you spend with God’s people, the more likely they are to sin against you. Multiple times. Jesus tackles that, too. He describes this almost impossible-to-imagine situation where the same person sins against you seven times in a single day. Our gut tells us we are a fool if we believe they are really sorry for what they’ve done after the second time. But our Savior tells us to forgive them every single time. How?

When we let the full weight of what Jesus is really saying come down on us, we can’t help but react the way the disciples did. Increase our faith!

In a sense, the disciples were asking for the right thing. But based on how Jesus responds to them, I think there’s something more going on. God gives faith freely. And God’s gifts are good and perfect, never inadequate or insufficient. That’s the point Jesus makes in the whole faith the size of a mustard seed thing. When the disciples cry out Increase our faith! they’re saying We can’t do this hard thing you’re asking us to do, yet.

And maybe we feel that way, too. And we’re right. On our own, we cannot do this. We can’t help but let our weaknesses, our selfishness, our personal preferences create obstacles and injure others. We know we should be helping little ones mature in their faith. We know we should be eager to forgive as we have been forgiven. But we can’t!

We struggle because we have lost sight of how our Lord has dealt with us while we were still taking spiritual baby steps. We are reluctant to forgive freely because we have forgotten the tremendous sin debt that Christ erased. We need an increase in our faith. So how do we do that?

(Rom. 10:17) Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. Every single time we struggle to be generous in spirit, to be patient with little ones, persistent in rebuking, and earnest in forgiving it is because we have lost sight of the message about our Master Jesus Christ.

The very things that Christ commands his disciples to do, he has already done for them. Christ was generous in spirit with all sinners.

When little ones came to him—even though he had a busy day—he welcomed them with open arms. Literally. He blessed them. When Jesus came across people who were still taking baby steps in the faith, Jesus was gentle & kind, merciful & tender-hearted. Jesus never told a blind person or paralytic they’d have to reschedule.

He didn't tell the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, listen you're living in sin and until you get that fixed and worship in the right place, I can’t share the good news with you. He offered her living water, the full forgiveness of sin, God’s unconditional love & rebuked her sin.

He did the same with his disciples. Think about how many times they acted with little faith. Jesus never told them, hey I’d love to help you out but you just don't believe in me enough. No, he calmed the storm. He reached out his hand and saved Peter from drowning. He acted powerfully even when they were overcome with weakness.

Not only that, but God forgave repeat offenders. How many times did Israel forget about God in the book of Judges? How many times did Jerusalem kill the Lord’s prophets? Yet God kept sending them judges and prophets because he loved sinners and longed for them to turn from their evil ways. Jesus did the same. Peter denied even knowing Jesus three times in a few hours. But Jesus restored Peter gently and called him to be his apostle.

Jesus is generous in spirit beyond all that we could ask or imagine. Our Lord, our Master, became our servant. Jesus has always been generous in spirit in dealing with sinners like us. He catches us when we are stumbling, he is gentle when we walk like wobbly toddlers, and he is more eager to forgive than we are to repent. His patience and love for us is incredibly generous, beyond all that we can ask or imagine. He met our obligations to the Law, doing what was right, and assumed our sin debt. Jesus redeemed us—bought us back from our unrighteousness. We are his own. We are his servants.

That is a strange picture for us modern Christians. We love to talk about being God’s child, but a servant or a slave is not our cup of tea. But this picture is one we ought not ignore.

In Jesus’ day, the primary way you became a slave was bankruptcy. You owed someone and you couldn’t pay them back so you became their servant until your debt was repaid. And you were appreciative! (Mt. 18:30) Because they could have you thrown into a debtor’s prison.

That is a bit like what Christ has done for us. He has paid a debt we could never repay. We would have died there. Instead he purchased and won us and now calls us his servants. He gives us work to do.

Work? That seems like the last thing we want. But do understand how important and good work is? People who wake up without a purpose often struggle with depression. In the Garden of Eden, God gave Adam work to do—even though the world was perfect. Work is good for us.

A life without a purpose is dispiriting. What is also frustrating is to be given a task to do and not have what you need to get it done. Maybe you don’t have the budget, you don’t have the manpower, you don’t have the experience, expertise, or time to get it done. That’s exhausting.

But that’s not what is going on here. Jesus has sent you out into the world to lead those who are following behind you. He doesn’t call you to figure out where they need to go on your own. You are not called by God to be anyone’s spiritual Sacagawea. Take up your cross and follow me, Jesus says. You see where he is. You know his steps. Encourage one another as you follow your Savior.

When Jesus tells you to forgive your repeat offending brother, he is not sending you into the grocery store with five bucks and telling you to feed a family for the day. He has given you the unlimited resources of his mercy and grace. He just tells you, as his servant, to cut the check.

And our work has eternal meaning and significance. When we lead little ones in the footsteps of Christ, we are leading them to see Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. When we pronounce forgiveness to the one who has sinned against us, we are announcing Christ’s victory over sin.

He commits us to his most important tasks. Leading little ones rightly. Forgiving freely. Being generous in spirit. He strengthens and equips us for these tasks through his Word and he forgives us when we fall short in any and every way. We are his servants. And when we have the right attitude about it, when we are humble and patient and generous in spirit it is engaging and captivating to the world around us.

Every so often, there are attacks, accidents, or medical emergencies when the police, the fire department, or EMTs cannot get there as quickly as anyone would like. It is so heartwarming and encouraging when the Lord provides a johnny on the spot. Maybe it’s an off-duty officer, a former military medic, or a 25 year old pizza delivery man. You heard this story, right? Nick Bostic who ran into a burning building and saved five children. The kids’ Dad who was out on a date with his wife, said: I feel like he was God sent. He saved something priceless. It’s an awesome story. You know what Nick said? I’m not some superstar hero. II was at the right place, the right time, and, I guess, the right person.

Awesome, right? You don’t have to be a superstar hero, either. But God has called you, he has empowered, enabled, and equipped you to lead people to eternal safety and to snatch sinners from the fires of hell. And when we have done what God has positioned us to do, we will say: We have only done our duty. Amen.