Sermon: A Strange Pep Talk

Luke 17:5-10

A Strange Pep Talk

James Sledge                                                                                       October 6, 2013

Think for a moment about a time in your life when you were asked to do something that you weren’t sure you could accomplish. Or think of a time when you were considering a big change in your life, but you just didn’t know if you had what was needed to pull it off.

There are all sort of such events in my life, some big and some small. I remember how I would thumb through my new math book each year at the start of school, horrified at the problems I could not understand, wondering how I would make it through the year. I vividly recall the first time I took the controls of a jet aircraft and found it much more difficult than the planes I was familiar with. And I wondered if I would be able to progress any further. And I remember many times when I felt totally inadequate as a parent.

There are probably many of you who know that last one well. A lot of people put off having children because they’re not sure if they’re “ready.” Of course, no matter how many books you read or classes you take or financially secure you become, you’re never quite ready.

To a much greater degree than in Jesus’ day, we live in a culture of experts. Name any field or activity, and there are experts who will teach you how to do it better, more efficiently, and with improved results. And in this culture of experts, a fear of failure often prevails. We’re never sure if we have enough training, enough advice, enough carefully laid plans that take into account every possible contingency. I have a hard time imagining many of us responding the way those first disciples did when Jesus said, “Follow me.” Not until we did a lot of checking, a lot of planning, a lot of calculations, and maybe some career counseling.

But Peter and James and John and the others had simply gone with Jesus. But if they were not nearly so risk averse as us, they still had their limits, and today, the magnitude of what they’d gotten themselves into seems to hit home. The straw that breaks the camel’s back is Jesus telling them that they must not cause any of those in their care to stumble, and they must forgive over and over and over. It’s all too much, and they cry out. “We can’t do all that. We don’t have enough faith. You’ve got to help us, Jesus!” At least that’s how I hear their cry, “Increase our faith!”

The disciples are feeling totally overwhelmed. If ever there was a time for Jesus to be sensitive and pastoral, to boost their self-esteem, this is it. But Jesus doesn’t exactly pat them on the heads and assure them that everything will be okay.

I guess the mustard seed thing could be seen as encouragement, a colorful way of saying, “If you have any faith, that’s enough. If you trust me at all, you can do great things.” But then Jesus goes and does that bit about being worthless slaves.

It seems unnecessarily harsh, which is perhaps an indication that we don’t hear it quite like those first disciples did. The very notion of slaves is offensive to us, but in Jesus’ time it was the norm. It was hardly benign, but it wasn't racially based, and it was fluid, not necessarily a lifelong thing. For that matter, Greek language of the gospels uses the same word for "slave" and "servant." Besides, Jesus isn’t commenting on the institution of slavery. He is simply drawing on an image that all his followers would understand.

Middle Eastern speech is often filled with hyperbole, and Jesus engages in a bit of that here. This slave tills the field then comes in and prepares a meal and then serves it? That’s hardly worthless. But Jesus’ point is more about the nature of a slave's work. It is about serving and obedience. Jesus is saying to his followers that their work is far from impossible. It merely requires the pose of a servant, which is exactly how Jesus describes himself later in Luke’s gospel when he says, “I am among you as one who serves.”

______________________________________________________________________________

It is common in churches to hear people say things like, “Oh, I could never teach a class; I don’t know the Bible well enough,” or “I could never share my faith; I don’t understand it well enough,” or “I’m flattered, but I couldn’t be an elder; I don’t know enough about how the church works or have a deep enough faith.” Sometimes it’s false modesty, but often it’s more genuine, a bit like the disciples in our reading who don’t think they have what it takes.

It’s also common for churches to say things like, “We can’t start a new ministry because we don’t have enough volunteers or enough money.” And it’s common for churches to study and talk and plan and study and talk and plan and study and talk and plan without ever actually doing much. Too often, worries about what could go wrong keep things on hold. People need more assurances, more certainty. Like those first disciples, we need Jesus to increase our faith.

But Jesus says to those disciples, and to us, “You’ve got it all wrong. You don’t need more faith. Any will do. All you need is the pose of a servant: a desire to serve others and obedience, the willingness to do as I say. Then there is no end to what you can do.”

______________________________________________________________________________

Jesus has called us to be God’s love to the world, to be the living body of Christ here in this little corner of God’s new day, and each one of us is called to play our part. But that sounds to us like way more than we can handle. “It’s too much, Jesus.

But Jesus says, “You have more than enough. You have enough faith, enough resources, enough money. You can be and do all I call you to be and do, if only you will obey my voice.

You see, Jesus is not squashing his disciples’ self-esteem with his comments about a slave; quite the opposite. He is telling them and us that we are up to the task. We just have to lose our fear, give our time, open our wallets, listen for the voice of our master, and do as he says.

And it’s not like Jesus simply leaves us on our own. He sends the Spirit to strengthen and guide and encourage us. And he nourishes us at this table. He waits on us and serves us with the bread of life and the cup of salvation, filling us with grace upon grace that overflows into new life, whenever we hear and obey his voice.