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Luke 17:1-10
1 Jesus said to his disciples, “Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come! 2 It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble. 3 Be on your guard! If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive. 4 And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive.”
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 The Lord replied, “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.
7 “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’? 8 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’? 9 Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? 10 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!’”
I’ve often said that writing a sermon is a little bit like doing a jigsaw puzzle. A 500-piece puzzle with 1000 pieces on the table. When the puzzle is complete, you are left with extra pieces that at one point you thought might fit, but just didn’t make the cut.
It turns out, gospel writing might be a bit like that, too, because scholars and preachers are mostly a bit perplexed by this section of Luke, and the general consensus seems to be that this might be some of those extra puzzle pieces that are good pieces, but they get grouped here together because Luke couldn’t bear to cast them aside. Some Bibles even title this section: “Other Sayings of Jesus.”[1]
It starts with forgiveness. Jesus has just shared some pretty fierce parables. The lost coin. The lost sheep. The prodigal son. The manager of injustice. Lazarus and the rich man. I imagine those hearing it were feeling a bit tender. There wasn’t a soul listening who didn’t get called out called in- by Jesus’ words.
So this section starts with forgiveness. A word of comfort. A word of reassurance. Jesus forgives. Not just once, but seven times. Seven times a day. And the number seven would have been understood as completeness- so, in other words, you didn’t have a limit. You were supposed to keep forgiving.
Repentance, which is different from reconciliation, of course. Forgiveness, setting ourselves free from the burden of carrying someone else’s weight. Just as God sets us free. Without proof. Without a letter of recommendation. Without passing a test. Jesus promises forgiveness. And while the language here is about forgiving others, the message also reminds us that we are forgiven. As many times as needed.
It must have been a word of comfort for the disciples who had just heard some challenging words, a reminder that God’s love is not predicated on performance. God’s love is not predicated on performance.
What Jesus has been preaching and instructing, I’m sure felt like a tall order, and so it makes sense that the next question would be a request for Jesus to increase their faith. I get it. We are accustomed to thinking that just about any problem we have can be solved with “more.” More money. More time off. More help.
I’m pretty sure that one of the biggest lessons I learned in church growing up was that there isn’t a problem that more casserole and dessert can’t make better- even if they can’t fix the problem.
And how much cowbell do you need? Always more. [2]
I believe that’s one of the mentalities Jesus is trying to reverse with the disciples. He tells them. Even faith the size of a mustard seed is enough to uproot trees and move them. A mustard seed. It’s not the amount of your faith that matters, it’s the power of God that’s behind it. Your ability to trust it that will lead you and guide you.
What would look different in your world if you valued enough instead of more?
This idea of enough is likely the foundation of the passage that concludes our reading for today- one that just falls flat on our ears, talking about servants or slaves and the work that they are expected to do. I can talk to you about how the experience and practice of slavery in Jesus’ time, which doesn’t make that okay, is so very different from what we have known in this nation, a sin from which we have not yet recovered. I can tell you that the language of Luke is describing not thanking someone for their work but creating a situation where the master would be indebted to the servant. That worthless might be better translated as undeserving and creates a context where we are not being chided but encouraged to see what God is capable of doing with us as we are. I can tell you these things, but I’m not sure we will ever be able to hear this passage clearly, beyond knowing that it continues the themes already established.
How would my world be different if I valued enough instead of more – even and especially when it comes to how I view myself? Consider these words from Brene Brown:[3]
Stop walking through the world looking for confirmation that you don't belong. You will always find it because you've made that your mission. Stop scouring people's faces for evidence that you're not enough. You will always find it because you've made that your goal. True belonging and self-worth are not goods; we don't negotiate their value with the world. The truth about who we are lives in our hearts. Our call to courage is to protect our wild heart against constant evaluation, especially our own. No one belongs here more than you.
Or, as we prepare to gather at the table where we will celebrate communion with a piece of bread and a sip of juice, consider these words from Jan Richardson.[4]
Blessing of Enough
I know how small
this blessing seems;
just a morsel
that hardly matches
the sharp hunger
you carry inside you.
But trust me
when I say―
though I can scarcely
believe it myself―
that between
and behind
and beneath
these words
there is a space
where a table
has been laid
a feast
has been prepared
all has been
made ready
for you
and it will be
enough.
A piece of bread and a sip of juice are enough. There would not be more Jesus if we had a whole loaf, a barrel of juice, or even the finest wine. This bread. This juice. You, answering Jesus’ invitation, it is enough. What would look different in our world if we valued enough if we knew we were enough, instead of wanting to be more?
The disciples didn’t, at this point, feel as though they could measure up. That they didn’t have what it took. Jesus knew differently. We know differently. These are the ones, after all, who made sure that the story was told, that Jesus’ saving love was shared. We know that they were enough. They just didn’t know it yet.
I suspect that their desire for more faith was wrapped up in feeling like they needed to get everything perfect before they began to act on what Jesus was teaching, leader.
They let perfection become the enemy of good. And none of us is perfect.
But it’s where we have been and the roads we have traveled, the tears we have shed and the laughter that has been experienced that has made us who we are, the people God loves and calls.
On the 15th of April, 2019 something terrible happened. A fire broke out at Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, and the whole world watched as that sacred space went up in flames. We saw the spire topple and walls crumble. But as the dust cleared, something else was discovered. Some of the most spectacular stained glass windows had not been destroyed. Including the large rose glass window. And do you know what saved them? The layer of dirt that covered them.[5] If they had been pristine. Perfect. Without blemish, the fire would have destroyed them. Imperfect, they were just what they needed to be. Enough.
And so are we, friends. So are we all.
Beloved children of God, you are enough. Imperfect. Beautiful. Love by God. You are Enough to be children of faith who can see what we have and how God is calling us. Into this place and out into the world. To be the Good News and to go where there is a need. God just needs you, and the faith that is already within you. Lean on that. It is, you are, enough.
Thanks be to God. Thanks be to God. Amen.
[1] Not directly quoted, but studied in preparation for this sermon:
https://www.pulpitfiction.com/notes/proper22c/#Luke=
https://leftbehindandlovingit.blogspot.com/2013/09/increasing-faith-and-undeserving-slaves.html
https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-27-3/commentary-on-luke-175-10-2
James L. Mays, Series Editor. Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching. “Luke” by Fred Craddock. [Louisville: John Knox Press, 1990].
Leander Keck, New Testament Editor, R. Alan Culpepper, “Luke” in the New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary. Volume IX, (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995).
[2] I fully recognize that not everyone will understand this reference- it is to a Saturday Night Live skit that aired in 200. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/More_Cowbell
[3] Brené Brown, Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone
[4] https://paintedprayerbook.com/2011/07/24/enough/
[5] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52280511?fbclid=IwAR2B-8CkRplxlOJpT0RUDx6cYNitnFoEUpW0ltZOjXqErFixE2kSQsISgQc
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