A Study of the Book of Luke
Sermon # 44
“Don’t Be A Stumbling Block”
Luke 17:1-6
What I choose to do is my business!!!
Is that true or not??? In Luke chapter seventeen and verse one, Jesus said to his disciples "… It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come!”
Jesus is answering the common attitude, “What I do is my own business.” It is an attitude we frequently have, the idea that we are not responsible to anyone else, and no one else has the right to make demands or claims upon us with regard to our behavior. Don’t be fooled by this idea, We do not live in isolation. Jesus did free his followers from the burden of the law, but freedom carries responsibility. Jesus said we have to answer to him if we cause someone else to sin. One can not be a Christian and fail to recognize that his life has an influence upon other lives around him.
As Christians we are family, we have entered into a new kind of interconnected relationship with one another. As such we have certain obligations or responsibilities to fulfill within this relationship. In today’s text, Jesus gives us a twofold instruction regarding our responsibilities.
First, be careful that you’re not a negative spiritual influence. Luke 17:1-3a
In verse one is says,"… It is impossible that no offenses should come..” the word “offenses” can also be translated “stumbling blocks” and is in the Greek (skandalon) from which we get the English word “scandal.”
Jesus recognizes that this is a sinful world in which we live, and temptations will come, but we do not have to be the channel for someone’s downfall. Jesus very bluntly tells the reader how serious this situation is. Jesus says in verse two, “It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.” Jesus did not say that the woe upon the offender is that he will have a millstone tied around his neck and be tossed into the sea. In fact in the Greek this can also be read, “It is better for him to hang a millstone about his own neck and cast himself into the sea” (middle voice).
The point is that it is such a grave offense that it would be better to end their lives, than to be the cause of someone else stumbling in their spiritual walk or possibly even turning away from Jesus and thus missing Heaven.
What does he mean by this reference to "little ones" in verse two? I think there is an application to children; every parent here has felt the awesome responsibility in realizing that their children are going to reflect their lives and their values.
”World War II produced many heroes. One
was Butch O’Hare. He was a fighter pilot assigned to an aircraft carrier in the South Pacific.
One day while on a mission, he looked at his fuel gauge and realized someone had forgotten to top off his fuel tank. Unable to complete his mission, he turned around and headed back for the aircraft carrier. As he headed back, he saw a squadron of Japanese Zeroes heading straight for the American fleet. All the American fighters were out on a sortie, leaving the fleet virtually defenseless.
He dove into the formation of Japanese planes in a desperate move to divert them away from the fleet. After a frightening air battle, the Japanese airplanes broke off their assault on the fleet. Butch O’Hare’s tattered fighter limped back to the carrier. He was recognized as a hero and given one of the nation’s highest military honors. O’Hare International Airport in Chicago is named after him.
Some years earlier, there was a man in Chicago called Easy Eddie. In those days, Al Capone virtually owned the city. Capone’s mob was involved in bootlegging booze, murder, and prostitution. Easy Eddie was Al Capone’s lawyer and kept Big Al out of jail. In return, Easy Eddie earned big money and lived like a king on an estate so large it filled an entire city block.
But Easy Eddie had one soft spot—a son whom he loved dearly. Eddie saw that his son had the best of everything: clothes, cars, and a good education. Despite Eddie’s involvement with the mob, he tried to teach his son right from wrong. Eddie wanted his son to be a better man than he was.
But there were two things Eddie could not give his son—a good name and a good example. Deciding that giving his son these two things was more important than lavishing him with riches, Eddie had to rectify the wrong he had done. He went to the authorities and told them the truth about Al Capone.
Easy Eddie eventually testified in court against Al Capone and the mob. He knew the cost would be great, but he wanted to be an example to his son and leave him with a good name.
Within a year of testifying against the Mob, Easy Eddie’s life ended in a blaze of gunfire on a lonely Chicago street. He had given his son the greatest gift he had to offer at the greatest price he would ever pay.
What do these stories have to do with one another? Butch O’Hare was Easy Eddie’s son. [Source: Bruce Cecil, Coachella, California]
Easy Eddie realized the truth that he was going to have an influence upon his son one way or the other. And he decided to do whatever was necessary to be a good one.
The phrase “little ones” also probably has a wider application and also refers to spiritually young believers since they are the ones most likely to be negatively influenced by other’s actions and attitudes.
Every one of us will influence other Christians so as Jesus said in verse three, "Take heed to yourselves or Watch yourselves!" (v.3a)
Jesus is not just warning Christians against enticing other Christians to sin. He is warning them against doing anything that could cause them to stumble in their spiritual walk.
There will always be things that will cause people to question a belief in God, or to become neglectful in following God. Things like the teaching of evolution in school, the reality of good people suffering, or things that tempt Christians toward immoral behavior such as Internet pornography are examples of the kinds of spiritual obstacles that will always be there.
We cannot avoid this truth in a fallen world but Jesus wants us to make sure that our lives, behaviors, and attitudes are not part of the problem. This is why Jesus says, "Watch your-selves" and "Woe to the person through whom they (hindrances, negative influences) come."
There are of course many ways that we can be obstacles or negative spiritual influences.
One way is through our moral choices and
behaviors. Your decision about whether to engage or not to engage in certain acts does influence both believers and non-believers. Many thousands have been turned off by the actions of people who claim to be followers of Jesus.
There also ways that we can cause people to stumble in their walk with God such as negative attitudes and criticism of our church and its leadership that causes people to question the goodness of God or the value of the church.
If by my carelessness or less-than-Christ-like attitudes or even the unloving exercise of my legitimate spiritual freedom, I give my brother or sister a rationale for sinning, I share the responsibility for that sin.
Now let’s look at the second responsibility Jesus speaks of in these verses.
Second, be willing to forgive those who have hurt you but have repented. (vv. 3b-6)
”… If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.”
It seems that most humans are prone to making mistakes; but that isn’t true in the lives of Christians, right? Isn’t it wonderful how Christians never hurt one another? Isn’t it great how Christians never make mistakes but rather always show love, support, loyalty, and kindness to one another? Why are you looking at my like that? We all laugh at this because we know that this is not true. The truth is that within the Christian community there will be times when you are hurt by other Christians. You may be betrayed, a confidence may be broken, you may be gossiped about, treated unkindly, be deceived and cheated, and so forth. Since this is true we need to know what our responsibility is when we’re hurt by another Christian. What are we to do? Jesus gives us instructions for handling just such a situation.
Closely linked to the responsibility of not causing others to stumble into sin is the responsibility to help them when they do fall. There are four particular things Jesus emphasizes in these three verses in regard to handling the hurts caused by another Christian.
First, By being willing to lovingly confront the person who sinned against you. (v. 3b)
Jesus says in verse three, “If your brother sins against you, rebuke him…” Before I explain the word "rebuke", I want to emphasize that Jesus is discussing personal offenses, i.e. sins against you in particular, not sins in general. Jesus is clearly talking about personal hurts done to you by another Christian as the phrase; "sins against you" makes clear.
How are we to deal or respond to those who have personally hurt us? Jesus says that we are to go to them and rebuke them. The truth is that most of us tend to go the other way, by choosing to say nothing. We cut each other off, refusing to speak to one another, or to have anything to do with the one who has offended us, because of some trivial irritant. Our tendency may be to feel hurt, to nurse a grudge, and to tell everyone who will listen (except the one who hurt us) how we have been hurt, but this is the wrong approach.
In so doing we exist in comfortable, but culpable silence. However, Jesus says that we are to lovingly confront the person who sinned against us. We are the ones who are to take the initiative. We often wait for the offender to take the first steps, but Jesus says that the offended person is to take the first steps toward reconciliation. Jesus says that we’re to go to that person and let them know personally how much they have hurt us.
Now the word “rebuke” here does not mean you need to be harsh in your confrontation. You don’t go to a person and say, "You no good unchristian scoundrel, you hurt me!" No you lovingly confront the person who sinned against you. You go to that person and say, "You probably don’t even know it, but you really hurt me when you did this or you said that."
Lovingly confront the person who sinned against you.
HOW ARE WE TO HANDLE BEING HURT BY OTHER CHRISTIANS….
Secondly, By extending forgiveness immediately to the person who hurt you, if they repent. (v. 3c)
Jesus says in verse three "If he repents, forgive him." The “rebuke” part comes more naturally than the “forgive” part doesn’t it? If the truth is told sometimes we want to make people pay for their sins before forgiveness comes but Jesus gives us different instructions. Jesus says you are to... “ Be willing to immediately forgive the person who hurt you if they repent.”
We need to recognize that forgiveness is as much for our benefit as it is for the offender, when we let the offender “off the hook” we un-hook ourselves from the bitterness and anger that can sour our lives and turn us into stumbling blocks to the people around us.
HOW ARE WE TO HANDLE BEING HURT BY OTHER CHRISTIANS….
Third, By being ready to forgive repeated failures. (v. 4)
True repentance means there is no intent to commit the offense again, not that a person won’t ever fail again in the same area. In verse four Jesus acknowledges that even with genuine repentance there can be repeated failures when he says, “And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, "I repent,’ you shall forgive him."
This really should not surprise us since it is obvious in our own lives we have repented for the same type of sins repeatedly.
So regardless of the personal nature of the offense or even in the event of the repetition of the offense, if the other person repents, your are to forgive them.
This admittedly is difficult stuff. We must rebuke sin whether we want to or not and we must forgive sin, even though we do not want to. I want you to notice the disciples’ response to Jesus’ teaching on forgiving those who hurt us repeatedly. In my mind’s eye I can see the disciple’s look at each other, and perhaps all of them turning to look at a Peter who must have constantly been offending someone and then turning to the Lord saying in verse five, ”Increase our faith."
If I am reading this correctly they’re basically saying, "Lord this is too much, I just can’t forgive others like this, it’s beyond my abilities and I’d need more faith to do this." They felt incapable of adhering or living up to the high standards Jesus had on forgiveness but notice how Jesus responded to them in verse six, “So the Lord said, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, "Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”
Jesus is basically saying that there should be no problem in forgiving others because even a little mustard seed size faith can do great things. The problem was not the size of their faith but their willingness to forgive. This leads us to the fourth thing Jesus was emphasizing about forgiveness.
HOW ARE WE TO HANDLE BEING HURT BY OTHER CHRISTIANS….
Fourth, By Recognizing that forgiveness is not a matter of ability but of willingness.
Recognize that there is no legitimate reason you cannot repeatedly forgive those who hurt you but have repented.
In an article entitled “The High Cost of Unforgiveness” Lynda Hunter tells the story of woman struggling through a divorce this woman says, “After my husband left, I rehearsed every detail of all he had done to break up our marriage. I could recount times, places, and details—and I did. But as I tried to move on, no matter what successes and new directions I found, I felt like I was tethered to a stake from the past.
I pulled to try to loosen its hold, all the while grasping onto the continuing affronts from my husband. While the past and present feelings restrained me, they did nothing to hold my husband back. It finally dawned on me: I had to forgive, let go. It didn’t happen in a day or a week or even a year. Instead, it is still happening every day—as I make the decision to forgive.
I realized that though the cost of forgiveness was high, the cost of unforgiveness for both me and my children was higher and exacted an even greater toll. I chose to forgive….
You and only you hold the key that opens the future to forgiveness. But its worth it – whatever the cost....” [Lynda Hunter. “The High Cost of Unforgiveness.” The Family Room. A Publication of Family Life. (www.familylife.com/familyroom/article)
The disciples are right in understanding that the kind of forgiveness that Jesus is calling for can not happen apart from a work of the Holy Spirit, but they are wrong in their understanding of the nature of faith. We don’t need some supernatural infusion of miracle working faith to forgive others; we just need to obey Jesus. Forgiveness is not a matter of ability but of willingness. The problem is not that we cannot forgive others but that we will not forgive others. You can forgive! You may struggle to get past the memories and the hurt of those who really caused you pain but you can choose not to hold their sin against them, and that’s what forgiveness is. Jesus reveals that the amount of faith in not the issue. “It is not so much great faith in God that is required as faith in a Great God.” [Leon Morris. The Gospel according to St. Luke . p. 26]
Conclusion: Let’s review the two basic things Jesus taught us in regard to Christian relationships.
1.Be careful that you’re not a negative spiritual influence.
Paul reminds us in Romans 12:12-13, “So then each
of us shall give account of himself to God. (13) Therefore
let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve
this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our
brother’s way.”
2. Be forgiving of those who have hurt you but have repented.
•By Being willing to lovingly confront the person who sinned against you
•By Extending forgiveness to those who have hurt you but have repented.
•By Being ready to forgive repeated failures.
•By Recognizing that forgiveness is not a matter of ability but of willingness.
