Jesus offers several teachings that don’t seem related. But one thing that connects them is we don’t want to embody them.
For Sunday
Proper 22C
Collect
Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Reading
From Luke 17:5-10
“Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded?”
Reflection
Compilers of the Bible translation we use (NRSV) label this section: “Some Sayings of Jesus” which is kind of hilarious. Obviously they think its a small grab bag of teachings which are probably less than significant. In other words, too small and disparate to rate a heading.
Given that this passage contains the teaching of the mustard seed, this is quite ironic.
There is a teaching which is not included for the day, making this group of “some sayings” into a total of three.
The first saying (Luke 17:1-4) describes how we relate to one another. That we ought not cause another to stumble and likewise, we must prepare to forgive another who repents.
Jesus doesn’t use the phrase here, but I’m really fond of the language of “the stumbling block”. In a related teaching in Matthew, Jesus says not to be a stumbling block, which is funny to think about anthropomorphizing an object one trips on.
But in saying that we should avoid becoming a stumbling block, Jesus is essentially saying, stop throwing yourself down in front of other people’s feet to make them trip.
The most obvious examples of this are those who enable an alcoholic to drink. But that is almost too obvious. A better example might be when we fuel another’s outrage.
Jesus follows that up by speaking of forgiveness: forgiving the repentant.
Both of these are things we take as obvious and yet struggle to embody.
How often do we tell each other it’s OK to cheat? Do what we want? Demand our way? And how often do we pretend it is virtuous not to forgive? That the right answer is to condemn? How easy it is to make others stumble and refuse to forgive!
Jesus then teaches that the tiniest speck of faith is enough to do great things.
And then, when he finishes here, Jesus reminds us of how we relate to the ordered world. How we expect servants and slaves to serve. Not for reward and encouragement, but because it is their place. And that is our place with God.
It is a bit of a grab bag of sayings, but it is undeniable that there is a theme. And that we struggle to relate to what Jesus is saying, mostly because we don’t want to, shows how much we struggle. And how important forgiveness and a speck of faith truly are.