WHY DID JESUS SAY THAT? Who wants a flying mulberry tree?
- Luke 17:6.
- This verse is generally taken as a generic injunction to have more faith, but let’s think about it for a moment. It’s a peculiar request when you think about it. Why exactly would anyone want to watch a mulberry tree come out of the ground, go flying across the sky, and then splash down? How often is that an actual need someone has in their life? It never happens anywhere in the Bible and I certainly haven’t seen it happen in my life.
- Let’s consider for a moment whether Jesus might have something else in mind here.
- First, I think that Jesus may be speaking here as He did in Luke 6:41-42 when He spoke of having a plank in your eye. Obviously none of us can literally have a plank in our eye – He was using hyperbole to make a point. I think something similar may be at work here.
- Thinking about this idea led me to take a deeper look at this passage and ask whether something else might be going on. I think there is. In fact, I think this passage is not an encouragement from Jesus to have more faith. Let’s dig in and see if we can understand it better.
JESUS' REBUKE TO THE DISCIPLES: “You don’t have a faith problem – you have an obedience problem.”
- Luke 17:3-10.
- Let’s unpack this piece by piece and see if we can get the big picture.
a. Verses 5-6 are normally understood as the disciples’ asking for increased faith in response to the challenging “forgive seven times” teaching (v. 4) and Jesus affirming their cry with an encouraging statement that even a little faith can do miracles.
- In fact, I think this is just about the opposite of what is actually happening here.
b. First, Jesus gives the challenging teaching about forgiving someone seven times.
- It is something that most of us would find difficult to do.
c. Second, because the disciples do find it a difficult teaching, they cry out to Jesus that He would increase their faith so that they could do something that hard.
d. Jesus, though, does not response with an encouraging word, but with a rebuke.
- Verse 6 is a rebuke. The disciples are requesting more faith and Jesus says in effect, “More faith? You could do something as incredible as making a mulberry tree fly into the ocean if you just had a tiny mustard seed of faith. More faith is not the problem!”
e. What is the problem, then? Obedience.
- What follows in vv. 7-10 is key. After rebuking their request for more faith, Jesus then tells a parable about obedience.
- The main point of the parable is that obedience is simply part of what it means to be a servant. It’s nothing unusual, but business as usual. More on this in a moment.
- Also note that v. 6 includes a reference to obedience, saying that the tree would obey.
- Jesus is telling them, “You don’t have a faith problem – you have an obedience problem.”
- More faith is not what would get them where God wanted them to be. They needed more obedience to get them there.
- Some examples:
a. You wouldn’t expect a call from the IRS: “Mr. Butcher, we just wanted to call and thank you so much for sending your taxes in on time.”
- They just expect that.
b. I think of the wonderful American phrase used in the White House: “I serve at the pleasure of the president.”
- That speaks to the idea that the president has the authority and you are merely his helper.
c. Imagine me starting the sermon this morning and saying, “Look, everyone! I’m wearing a tie this morning! And shoes! And I’m wrote a sermon!”
- None of that should be considered impressive. It’s part of my job to show up each week ready to give a message from the Bible.
- Too often we’re too impressed by our own obedience.
AN AMERICAN CHURCH PROBLEM: We have created a two-tier religious system – “believers” and “followers.”
- The way that we do church these days looks something like this.
- You have “believers,” who are people who state a belief in Christ. They believe He died on the cross for their sins. They believe they’ve been saved. They believe they’ll go to heaven someday.
- This “belief” requires no life change, no change in behavior, or no transformation. It merely requires a stated set of beliefs. This is considered enough to make you a Christian and get you to heaven.
- There is then a second set of people: “followers” (or “super-Christians”). They take seriously the commands of Christ and try to do them. They serve in the church and in the world. They want to be transformed into Christlikeness.
- These pursuits are considered noble and admirable, but completely optional. You don’t have to obey the teaching of Christ to be a Christian.
- This is widely accepted in the contemporary American church as the way that church is supposed to be. In many quarters, it’s not questioned at all.
- In fact, it’s decidedly unbiblical. What’s the Biblical standard? We find it in the parable.
THE PARABLE'S POINT: Obeying the master is not exceptional but expected.
- Luke 17:7-10.
- Verses 7-8 share a hard truth about the nature of a servant: it’s his job to work and then work some more.
- Verse 9 adds another layer of challenge onto it: when he’s done all that work, it’s not as though he’s done anything exceptional, but rather he’s just done the job of a servant.
- Verse 10 drives home the point by explicitly stating that doing all those things is just doing your duty.
- This takes things a step further than my previous point about the fabricated two-tier system of American Christianity. That point was that there really is no two-tier system but rather that all Christians are to be followers.
- This parable makes that point even more stringently. Not only are all Christians to be followers, but the inherent servant nature of that endeavor is nothing worthy of praise or attention, but rather it’s just doing your duty.
A CLOSING QUESTION: How often do we blame a lack of faith when in fact it’s a lack of obedience?
- Luke 17:5-6.
- As we close, let’s return to the point I made earlier and drill down on it. The heart of the message this morning is that the apostles cry for help with more faith was a misdirected attempt to mask their lack of obedience.
- Do we do something similar? Are there times when we blame a lack of faith when that’s not the real problem? I believe we do.
- I think the heart of this teaching is that sometimes we blame a lack of faith when we just don’t want to obey. We read a challenging teaching from Christ and we reply, “God, I need more faith to follow that!” Well, there are things that we do need more faith to be able to do – especially when it’s a situation where we do not understand the larger situation.
- There are many more situations, though, where the issue really doesn’t require more faith – it simply requires our obedience. We may not like the teaching, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t obey it.
- When the teaching is clear, the issue is often simply an obedience issue. We may try to insert faith into it as cover for our failure to do what Jesus said, but it’s just a smokescreen.
- Let’s look at a few examples here in Luke:
a. Fasting.
- Luke 5:33-35.
- “God, how do you move through fasting? How does that move be closer to you? Give me faith to believe that You can do something through it.” No, just do it.
b. Turning the other cheek.
- Luke 6:29.
- “God, give me the faith to be able to love him instead of wanting to get even.” No, just do it.
c. Denying yourself.
- Luke 9:24.
- “God, I know it’s my nature tendency to put myself first, so give me the faith to deny my own desires and do what You’ve asked.” No, just do it.
d. Rejecting the American Dream.
- Luke 12:16-21.
- “God, I need more faith to put aside these material possessions and put the Kingdom first.” No, just do it.
e. Dining with the struggling.
- Luke 14:12-14.
- “God, eating with the struggling and the lowest is something I’ve never done before. I need more faith to be able to actually do that.” No, just do it.
- “Needing more faith” can easily become an excuse for inaction. If we understand what we’re being asked to do, you don’t need more faith – you just need to do it.
- Jesus here rejects the disciples’’ request for more faith and tells them that a servant does what he is asked to do without fanfare or even expectation of thanks.
- An additional factor here is how much positive reinforcement that many of us expect these days. While it’s nice to hear words of gratitude or encouragement, it can become something that we expect.
- This passage points us toward seeing that as unnecessary. We do our jobs because that’s what’s expected of us.
