Dakota Community Church
April 26, 2009
Better a Millstone
Luke 17:1-10
Jesus said to his disciples: "Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. So watch yourselves.
"If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ’I repent,’ forgive him."
The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"
He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ’Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.
"Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ’Come along now and sit down to eat’? Would he not rather say, ’Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ’We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’ "
It never ceases to amaze me how much Jesus can say in just a few words.
What a communicator! No wonder Peter said, “Where will we go? You have the words of life.”
I want to break this little passage down into three sections:
A.) Sin happens
Jesus said to his disciples: "Things that cause people to sin are bound to come…
First of all I want us to think about things that cause people to sin.
Jesus said that these things were going to happen – AND THEY ARE!
I promise you, though I do not typically move in the prophetic gifts, I promise you that an opportunity to sin is going to come your way in the very near future.
Somebody is out there right now, planning to do something, which is going to give you a horrible “cause” to sin.
Right this minute a sweet little old lady is skipping church somewhere this morning in order to clip coupons out of the flyer so that she can arrive at the checkout counter a split second before me on my way home today from this wonderful meeting and thus she will take a ridiculous amount of time out of my too hurried schedule in order to save $2.57 thereby tempting me to explode in an embarrassingly sinful display of non-pastoral anger that will see me plagued with guilt for the rest of the day not to mention the additional consequences if Kathy happens to witness the whole sordid affair.
i. Can you name anything that happens that “causes” you to sin?
I think that this is a tough question because we all know deep down that we are ultimately responsible for our own sinning.
Things do come however that help the process – don’t they.
Do slow witted Winnipeg drivers help cause you to give in to road rage?
How many young men are helped to discover the pleasures of sin by the pornographers?
How many self-righteous pietists “cause” others to think they are doing God a service in their sins of judgment and gossip?
Who gives the addict his first hit?
Who gives the alcoholic her first drink?
Who abuses the abuser, and how far back does it go, for how many generations?
Jesus said to his disciples: "Things that cause people to sin are bound to come…
ii. Have you ever been the tempter?
"Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.
Have you ever been the person “Through whom they come”?
Jesus gives us some insight here into just how serious the consequences of sin are.
“better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck”
When I was young my parents put me in swimming lessons very early and I was pretty good at it. In those days they had little badges that were awarded at the various levels of ability as you became a better and better swimmer.
I was still very young when I reached the level below lifeguard status, if my memory serves me correctly I believe it was called “bronze medallion”. I was in grade 7 when I tested for that badge but I did not pass the test.
I was easily able to do all the treading water times, the swimming of laps was no problem, I could do all of the various strokes in near perfect form and I passed the mouth to mouth resuscitation test with ease. What failed me was the drowning victim test.
A weight was tossed to the bottom of the pool that simulated the dead weight of a person’s head. I was expected to dive to the pool floor, pick up the weight, swim to the surface and then holding the weight on my chest swim on my back to the side of the pool, keeping the person’s head above water.
I was not strong enough.
The weight kept pulling me beneath the surface.
I wanted that badge, I kicked and kicked, but finally the panic overtook me and I dropped the weight and saved myself. It was a terrifying experience.
“better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck”
I cannot tell you how glad I am that that weight was not “tied around my neck”.
Jesus said that that would be BETTER than what will actually be done to those found guilty of causing other to sin.
Do you realize how desperate our need of a savior is?
It is a concept that is growing in popularity these days that everyone will be saved, that there is no eternal consequence for sin, and certainly there is no hell. If this is true then Jesus was seriously mistaken in almost every sermon he preached, almost all of the parables are misspoken.
Luke 16:19-31
"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
"The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ’Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
"But Abraham replied, ’Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
"He answered, ’Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
"Abraham replied, ’They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
" ’No, father Abraham,’ he said, ’but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
"He said to him, ’If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ "
Who is the chief victim, the one chiefly offended by every sin?
Have you ever been offended by someone else’s sin? Seen something so objectionable that it makes you feel sick?
Yet you too are a sinner.
What does your sin deserve?
Isaiah 53:5-6
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Our punishment was upon him.
Matthew 26:36-39
Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me."
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
What cup? The cup of God’s wrath – the sin of the world was punished sufficiently in Christ.
Matthew 27:46
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
To be continued next Sunday…
PowerPoint available (Free of charge) on request dcormie@mts.net
