Of Christian Faith and Duty
We give thee but thine own,
whate’er the gift may be;
all that we have is thine alone,
a trust, O Lord, from thee.
May we thy bounties thus
as stewards true receive,
and gladly, as thou blessest us,
to thee our firstfruits give.
The captive to release,
to God the lost to bring,
to teach the way of life and peace
it is a Christ-like thing.
And we believe thy Word,
though dim our faith may be;
whate’er for thine we do, O Lord,
we do it unto thee.
Words: William Walsham How (1823-1897), 1858
Jesus said in Luke 17: 7 "And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ’Come at once and sit down to eat’?
8 "But will he not rather say to him, ’Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’?
9 "Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not.
10 "So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ’We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’"
This story lesson from Jesus follows on the heels of the disciples asking for Jesus to increase their faith. I take it that this is probably a faith building story. How many of us here would like to have greater faith? Raise your hands.
Why do you want more faith? Would it be to benefit yourself or others or perhaps both?
Most of us know the verse in Romans 10:17 that talks about faith, don’t we? Faith comes by… hearing and… hearing by the word of Christ. Right? That may be how faith comes, but how does it increase and grow? What does the Bible tell us helps our faith to grow?
Of all the things the Bible tells us that will increase our faith, the lesson within these verses may be the most difficult, or at least perhaps the most needed.
How many of you have seen or read Charlottes Web? Remember the rat? He was a very resourceful fellow, but do you remember what he always wanted to know whenever he was asked to contribute to saving the pig? “What’s in it for me?” He didn’t care about others so much as he cared about himself. He was only interested in helping if he could get something out of it that made it worth while for himself. Christian faith grows us into a different direction than that.
Many Christians begin their walk with Christ because of the benefits. In Christ we have freedom from sin, we are given a new name and adopted into God’s family, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and the hope of eternal life in glory with all who are saved. We are added to the church family and receive the love and encouragement of the fellowship of our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are empowered by God for living new life in Christ and enjoy the immeasurable grace that Jesus pours out for us in abundance from the cross. On and on the spiritual benefits and blessings go, because as a Christian I walk in this world as a son of God, the king of the universe, who holds all things in his hands.
Is that true? Are we actually that blessed as Christians? Absolutely! Who wouldn’t want to be in Christ? How can anyone even think of resisting the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness and self-control that the Holy Spirit bears as fruit in the life of God’s children? What’s the catch?
While we are indeed children of God, we are also servants of God with work and responsibilities here in this fallen world. Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, our Savior and mentor came here. What did he come for? Look at Matthew 20:25 But Jesus called them to Himself, and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them.
26 "It is not so among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant,
27 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave;
28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."
We are to imitate Him. We are not saved in Christ so that we can have access to the Father’s unspeakable power and treasure and kick back on spiritual easy street. That’s not what Jesus did and as long as we live in this world we are the body of Jesus Christ called and commanded to do what Jesus would do. We are to represent Jesus and our Father in this world. This requires faith and endurance of struggle, sometimes without seeing or hearing anyone cheer for us. This is faith increasing. Following the will of our Father without expecting to be cheered for or entertained along the way with cushy perks. We may get some, but increasing faith does not expect it and is not disappointed if they don’t come as a right.
We read nothing of Christian rights in the New Testament. Did you know that?
When we lived in New Hampshire I was working with some of the men there to help them develop their skills in preaching and teaching. We had several men who were capable teachers like we do here. But almost every one in that church was a first generation Christian. None of them had any experience getting up before a congregation to lead in any way. We had to start from scratch. I’ll never forget Mark Vincent’s experience in this. He was so afraid of doing anything before a crowd, but he was determined to try. And he was really talented. His first couple of times doing devotionals everyone flocked around him and encouraged him. It helped. He began to do more and finally taught a class. After one class he told me almost nobody said anything to him, but someone had come up to him and disagreed with what he had said. He was so shocked. He asked, “What happened to all the support?” I said, “Welcome Mark!” You are finally experienced enough that you don’t have to be coddled. You are maturing in your faith and ministry.
Hear Jesus words again: 9 "Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not.
10 "So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ’We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’"
Here is the heart of increasing faith. When we do for God because we know God deserves all we have to give, not because we expect a pat on the back or a perk from the top. Increasing faith understands duty before God.
Increasing faith serves well.
Increasing faith expects no applause for service rendered.
Increasing faith understands what we are as servants.
Increasing faith understands duty and does it and keeps a humble attitude all the while.
I remember speaking with a young man a while ago who was looking for a job. He had applied at the hospital and they wanted to hire him but, as he said, for only $26,000 a year. This guy was young and single and he didn’t need more, but he wanted and expected more. He said, “If they only pay me $26,000, I’ll only give them $26,000 worth of work.” I thought, “What a sorry attitude.”
God’s word says, Eph. 6:7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men. And, Eccles. 9: 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…
Jesus isn’t telling us not to take a better opportunity if one comes along, but God wants us to consider what we do as unto him, because, as his sons and daughters here, we are actually doing what we do to honor him. As we do, God increases our faith and builds up our Christ-like character and we shine like lights as we hold out the word of life. Those things are worth much more than we can imagine.
Has anyone here seen the old movie: No Time for Sergeants? It’s a 1958 Andy Griffith movie. At one point in the movie the Sergeant puts Andy in charge of the Latrine. Andy goes in and turns the Latrine into a sparkling clean place. No matter what job the Sergeant gave him, he always gave it his best because he seemed to think it was an honor.
God’s people throughout time have faced amazing trials and struggles. We’ve got to get over the thinking that says we don’t have to do anything uncomfortable as a Christian. Comfortable Christianity is not in the New Testament. Oh, God gives comfort to the Christian, but he often uses very uncomfortable means to bring it to us. Was Jesus comfortable? Did Jesus come here to be comfortable? Did he live a comfortable life? Did he die a comfortable death? No! And the Bible says Jesus Christ is our example.
When Jesus taught us about blessedness, he began with blessed are the poor in spirit, but as we grow in faith we end up with blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. Those beatitudes are faith increasing attitudes and actions. When Jesus got to the top he commented on that last one, didn’t he? He said… and this is personal now… blessed are YOU when men persecute YOU and say all manner of evil against YOU falsely because of ME. Then what did Jesus say? Rejoice and be exceedingly glad! Why? Because great is your reward… when? Great is your reward… where? Great is your reward… IN HEAVEN! And by the way, that’s how they treated the prophets who were before you. Are we any better than they? Are we any better than Jesus who was crucified? Are we? Then let’s settle in to the idea that we are not here for comforts. We are here to keep the faith and carry forward the cause of Christ… no matter what happens. Amen?
Jesus has a great promise for all who endure to the end. But the end of the day is not the end of our duty. Increasing faith sees the eternal goal and keeps that in mind while facing the temporal problems and pain.
Paul tells us: 2 Cor. 4:
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
5:1 Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling,
3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.
4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
5 Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.
7 We walk by faith, not by sight.
So let us keep our eyes on Jesus. Let us determine to become more and more like him. He gave us his all, knowing many would not receive him, but knowing it was the Father’s will and that through his suffering the door of heaven is opened to all. May we receive hearts like his and give our all to the glory of God.
