May 24, 2015-Luke 17:1-10
Today’s passage follows the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. The parable was given to the Pharisees, but at this point Jesus turns back to his disciples to instruct them on obedience in these matters. It is easy to treat the instructions of Jesus as optional, and only for those who want to move to higher levels of discipleship. But in this passage Jesus drives home the importance of listening to him. When people live for themselves and without thought for others, we end up sinning against each other. Eventually those sins heap up on top of each other and create large separations between us. In the last chapter Jesus spoke of how wealth could be used to bless people around us in His name. But in this chapter Jesus deals with the other side of the equation: when you are the one being overlooked or sinned against.
It is very easy in this area to only focus on the sin of other people. But Jesus warns against causing each other to stumble. In 1 John 2:10 it says, “He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.” When we truly love one another we will rid ourselves of those things that get in each other’s way. Yet, when something does happen, we can let it bother us so much that it impacts our ability to trust God and obey Him. Thus Jesus puts this in very strong terms; as a command and as a warning.
So what is meant by “offense” in this passage? In verse 4 it is to sin against your brother. The word that is translated “offense” here is more than just being offended by someone. It is used to refer to anything that causes a person to be trapped or to fall. It was used to refer to the stick that triggers a trap. The Bible also refers to a “stone of offense (or stumbling)” in which the same word is used in regards to causing someone to fall and be injured. Here it is being used of spiritual matters. When we sin against each other we are causing a situation where the other person is tempted to fall into a trap of sin with us. Jesus says that it is impossible for these offenses not to happen. In fact it is impossible for us to live in this world without being an offense to others. Some are an offense because they could care less about pleasing God and living for Him. However, we can be an offense even when we want to please God, simply because we have a heart of flesh. Christ is calling those who want to follow him to learn to deal with sins that inevitably crop up between them and others.
Jesus then pronounces a woe upon those who offend others. This is a warning that when we walk this way (offending each other) we are headed for grief. Like the Rich Man we will wake up one day to find ourselves weeping and crying for mercy. Jesus gives very stern warning to those who do not take these matters seriously and learn to restrain themselves. Even though Jesus does not flesh out what the woe would detail, it is clear that it can involve a number of things. How we treat one another can affect our eternal destinies. But, it can also affect our lives in the here and now. It can bring grief to every one of our relationships and spoil the good it is intended for. In fact, many times people who reject being a part of Christ’s Church do so out of hurt and bitterness. They see Christians sinning against each other without dealing with it and it causes them to reject Jesus. What a woeful condition we can find ourselves in when we reject God’s way and follow our own.
Ultimately Jesus is challenging us to pay attention to ourselves. It is our tendency to be so focused on the sin of others that we pay little attention to our own. We are told to “pay attention” to ourselves. Inspect, and analyze how you treat others and how you respond to them. Make sure there is no cause for stumbling within you. It would be good to recognize that even if someone sins against us, there is a secondary temptation for us to sin against them. Thus, especially in this situation we need to watch ourselves carefully.
Now the way Jesus lays this out, it doesn’t seem that there is much mercy. I believe he puts it so sternly because our pride does not need coddled. Yet, we know that God does not just warn us of woes, but also calls us to take advantage of the grace He has provided in order for us to deal with our sin correctly. The heart of this instruction is that we work on not sinning against each other and that we exercise mercy with each other regardless of what side of the problem we find ourselves. When we think of the rich man and Lazarus we clearly see the warning for the rich man. But, Lazarus was being tempted to fall and to be trapped in the sin of bitterness and unbelief. He could have refused to serve a God who would allow such a horrible life to happen to him, and yet, he clearly kept his faith in God. What a sad turn to this story it would be if Lazarus would have been filled with such bitterness and hatred that he found himself right beside the rich man in the fires of Hell.
Though Jesus doesn’t use the word reconcile here, the two instructions he does give to those who are sinned against are what help believers overcome the separating influence of sin and keep themselves tied together in relationship. Sins separate, but forgiveness overcomes that separation. Thus God does not give us any excuses to pull away from working things out with each other.
So, verse 3 gives the first instruction to you when someone sins against you. Rebuke them. Now that word sounds pretty harsh, but it simply means to correct them. It is easy when we are hurt to lash out angrily or to retreat silently. Neither one is a godly response to sin. The believer is under a command from the Lord to face it when others sin against us and to deal with it. Yet, correcting someone is a skill that needs to be honed. Just as you were not born able to walk, so you are not born able to correct. Sure you can do it, but are you causing more damage than good? In this case we can be so right, in that we were sinned against, and yet so wrong, in that we rebuke harshly and angrily.
Now let me remind us that not all things are big enough to merit a rebuke. We cannot expect people to speak and act perfectly all the time. Little things that are merely aggravations can be and should be overlooked. 1 Peter 4:8 reminds us, “Above all things have fervent love for one another, for ‘love will cover a multitude of sins.’” Now that doesn’t mean we are covering up sins. But rather we cover it much like we would cover a bill for which someone else is short the money. Also in Proverbs 19:11 it is said this way, “The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, and his glory is to overlook a transgression.” Thus discretion is found in thinking about ourselves and how we need to give mercy to others that we expect from them.
So how do we properly correct each other? Ephesians 4:15 tells us to speak the truth in love with one another. Love is that guiding principle that should surround our decision to correct someone. This takes some serious time spent in prayer asking for wisdom as to what to say and for control over our own spirit. I can sin against my brother in how I rebuke him.
Thus we are to correct and then forgive our brother. Now forgiveness is a skill that needs to be honed as well. We all have emotional barriers to overcome in order to truly forgive someone. When we truly forgive someone we release them from the desire for justice we could hold over them. When I see them their sin is no longer a part of the picture because I have released them from it. Now this passage assumes a brother repents. What do you do if he won’t repent? You have to go to Matthew 18 for that information. But let me just say that it follows the same spirit of this passage. You must reconcile with your brother as far as is possible from your side. There is no choice, if you are going to follow Jesus, and you are never free to flee from reconciliation. Thus in Matthew 18 we first correct our brother in private and without telling others what happened. If the brother rejects us then we widen the circle and bring in one or two others to try and help us reconcile. If he still refuses to repent then we take it before the Church and its elders. If a person still refuses to repent even when faced with a whole church that is calling him to repentance he would be treated as if he wasn’t a believer. Of course at any time he could repent and rejoin the assembly. But, until then, he would not be received as a brother. Why? If he was truly following Jesus he would have no problem repenting. Today we can get offended and go down the street to another church. This is a weakness in the church today. Instead of being reconciled and becoming more like Christ, we are fractured and become more like the spirit of this world. God forgive us for running from reconciliation, repentance, and forgiveness.
In fact Jesus goes on to instruct us not to limit our forgiveness. Even if your brother sins 7 times in one day and continues to ask forgiveness, we must forgive him. There is no wiggle room to deny the repentant forgiveness. We are under a command. Now seven times is amazing to us. We would question such a person’s sincerity. However, the truth is that our flesh questions their sincerity on time number one. If he is not sincere then his master (Jesus) will take care of that. The rich man did all manner of religious things in his life, but eventually his lack of sincerity caught up with him. Quit worrying about a person’s sincerity and start worrying about your own soul. Yes, we can even rebuke a person regarding their sincerity or lack thereof. But we still must do so in order to reconcile and out of love. Now, seven is not some lucky number that allows us to quit forgiving. Elsewhere, Jesus gives the number 70X7, i.e. 490. The numbers are really meant to be so incredulous so as to cure us from counting. Love keeps no record of wrongs, i.e. it doesn’t keep count. Instead it speaks the truth in love and forgives. If you limit your forgiveness to others, do you not limit it to yourself? If you are merciless to others are you not asking God to be merciless to you? Think on this.
Now Jesus ends on a note of duty. He does so particularly because his disciples are amazed at what he expects of them. “Increase our faith.” Now surely this is a prayer we all should pray. However, that is not what they are doing. It is the equivalent of saying, how in the world do you expect us to do that! Lord, I don’t have enough faith to do that! Now before we talk about duty let us all understand that God wants us to do the right thing for more than duty. He would rather we obey Him out of love for Him and also a love for His character, and the way that He does things. Our obedience is best when it is the cry of faith, “I want to be like you, Lord!” Yet, underlying this higher motivation must be a foundation understanding that I am also duty bound. Like a foundation is to a building, so duty is to our desire to be like God. When a hurricane strikes and wipes out a house, it leaves behind a foundation. So, there are times when our desire to be like God and our love for him is wiped away in the storm and trial of temptation. Yet, there must always be a foundational response of duty before God. If you are a follower of Jesus then you have become a servant of God, duty-bound to Him. Duty can save us when our own love fails us. But, we must never settle for duty as the sole motivation. We must build upon this foundation a whole structure of love and desire to be like Jesus.
Now the instructions of Jesus make it clear that the disciples do not need their faith increased. You do not need great faith to follow these commands. You need only a small amount of faith. The amount of faith is not the problem. It is my own stubborn pride. The problem isn’t that I can’t believe and do it, it is that I don’t want to do it. It is simple to do and yet hard because my flesh fights it so.
Yet, even our pride and wounds can be overcome. The mulberry bush in this passage represents the root and bush of the sin of unforgiveness and bitterness that can grow in our hearts. If we even have a mustard seed of faith in Jesus we can send our own bitterness into the sea of God’s forgiveness. If we even trust Jesus one speck we could free our brother from his sins against us. It is only our pride that stands in the way of forgiving another person. So why am I so prideful? And, if it causes me to reject the command of Jesus, am I truly trusting and believing upon Him?
Thus, the call to duty is given by Christ. There is a reward for those who will serve him in this matter. Yes, a reward in the life to come, for sure. However, there is a reward in this life. We will be enabled to become one with a spouse, and to raise a family. We will be enabled to build a church body that brings honor to God. We will be able to be a peaceful influence everywhere we go and enjoy the fruits of brotherly love rather than the bitterness of selfish endeavors. We will be rewarded according to what masters us. So who is your master, your own fleshly pride or Jesus?