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Faith is a powerful gift.
Faith opens the door for God to move in a powerful way.
That is Jesus’ message about faith:
If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. (Luke 17:6)
Faith is powerful.
The thing with faith is, you don’t need a lot of it. Because it’s not faith itself that does the powerful thing, it is God.
A little bit of faith opens the door for God to do powerful things. It’s not about your faith, but about God who works through it.
What we need is that little bit of faith – of trust in God. With that faith, people have been able to overcome the greatest odds. With that faith, people have created new futures and changed history.
In today’s passage, Jesus addresses an important question: what makes faith possible?
Since faith is such a precious gift, we should reflect seriously on that question.
Jesus uses an example that sounds strange to our modern ears:
Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’? Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me; put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? (Luke 17:7-9)
This is a strange story for us because we are uncomfortable with the power dynamics. Our history of slavery makes us very uncomfortable with this language.
The term slave is doulos in Greek. It can also mean servant. This was different from slaves who were captured and forcibly taken to another land.
Doulos were servants or people bonded to their master. Some fell into debt and had to serve the master to pay off those debts. Others entered into a contract to provide service for pay and food.
For Jesus’ listeners, this was an everyday relationship they were familiar with. They were normal for their day. The slave was simply doing what was expected of him.
Our mentality today is different. Your reaction to Jesus’ question was probably: yes, he SHOULD come here at once and take his place at the table!
The story makes modern listeners uncomfortable because we don’t like being indebted to anyone or being obligated to anyone.
We live in a transactional world. If I pay you, you should give me the value of that payment. If I provide something to you, you should give me what I’m owed. It needs to be fair – there can be no power imbalance.
In a transactional world, a closely related characteristic is entitlement. I have the right to get what I deserve. Everything has a value, and everything is calculated.
If we’re not careful, this mentality can influence faith too. If I’m good, God should be good to me. If I do good things, God should do good things for me.
The thing with entitlement mentality is that once you start receiving, the more you start expecting. The more you get, the more you think you deserve. It’s a bad cycle.
The moment that stops and you stop getting what you feel you deserve, then you get angry or unhappy.
In the end, an entitlement mentality doesn’t make you more happy. It leads to less gratitude, less appreciation, and less happiness.
If the slave had an entitlement mentality, he would have thought: I’ve worked really hard in the field, I deserve to have a seat at the table. He could easily forget what led to the situation in the first place – his indebtedness to the master.
Jesus said we should respond like the slave:
So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done! (Luke 17:10)
He’s not saying we debase ourselves. The original word for “worthless” means more like unprofitable. It’s saying that I’m not so special and indispensable. I only did what I should have done.
What is behind this response? What sort of attitude is behind this?
It is humility that comes from an indebted heart. I owe so much so of course I did all of that – it was only what I ought to do.
What makes faith possible is an indebted heart.
The cold reality is that God doesn’t owe you anything. This world doesn’t owe you anything. Entitled people cannot accept that.
But the thing is, God gave us everything.
We are beginning our study of Genesis this week. In the beginning, the world was not a blank slate. It was chaos and darkness.
When God began to create the heavens and the earth, the earth was complete chaos, and darkness covered the face of the deep. (Genesis 1:1-2)
The first thing God did was to create light.
Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. (Genesis 1:3)
Right from the beginning, God took us out of the chaos and darkness and created light. (Great insight from Rev. Kim)
God doesn’t owe us anything, but he gave us everything. He took us from the darkness and chaos into the light. He gave us life.
It was us who rejected God and turned back to darkness and chaos. It is us who succumb to hate, pride, selfishness and greed.
But God in his mercy showed grace and love. He gave us everything, including his own life, despite who we are. Not because we deserve it, but because that’s how much God loves us.
When you realize this, there is only humility and indebtedness.
This is how St. Paul’s life was transformed.
Before meeting Christ, he felt entitled. Entitled to use his power. Entitled to defend what he thought was truth. Entitled to persecute and punish those who polluted the faith.
But after meeting Christ, he changed.
This is his testimony:
Last of all, as to one untimely born, he (Jesus) appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I but the grace of God that is with me. (1 Corinthians 15:9-10)
You see his indebted heart in this testimony. He was unfit to be called an apostle, yet saved by grace.
He owed all of who he was to God. He worked harder than everyone else, but in his mind, he only did what he ought to do because of the grace of God.
I am who I am by the grace of God – that is a beautiful revelation.
His indebted heart made faith possible. Through his faith, God did powerful things through him. We are still reading and talking about it today, 2000 years later.
When I look back on my younger self, I wince at how immature I was.
I was so entitled. I felt so wronged by the world. I was the victim of unjust treatment. Injustice is wrong and should be resisted.
But when you feel like a victim, it can develop into an entitlement mentality. You feel like the world owes you. I felt the world owed me.
That entitlement mentality made me unhappy and bitter.
But somehow, by God’s grace, I began to see things differently. Just how good God has been to me. So, so good.
God gave me parents who loved me. They were far from perfect, but they loved me and sacrificed so much for me and my brother. I would be nowhere without them.
God gave me amazing people who helped me throughout my life. God surrounds me with people who help me now. Where would I be without them?
God gave me the church growing up. It shaped me into who I am. It gave me God’s love.
God saved me and rescued me from the depths when I was at my lowest points.
He lifted me out of the fog of depression and despair. He healed my soul. He gave me new vision.
God has blessed me with a beautiful family. God has blessed me with this congregation.
Even the difficult things I experienced, the injustices I felt, God has used them to give me greater perspective so I can relate better with others.
I am who I am by God’s grace. I owe God everything.
With that indebted heart, I put my trust in God. My faith is not great, but it is enough. God will do the rest.
How has God been good to you? What do you owe to God?
What makes faith possible is an indebted heart.
If you feel wronged; If you feel like you got the short end of the stick; If you feel victimized by forces beyond your control; Don’t fall into the temptation of developing an entitlement mentality.
Turn instead to God. See all that God has done for you. See what God is doing for you now.
With an indebted heart, put your trust in God. God will do powerful things in your life and through you.
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