A Study of the Book of Luke
Sermon # 45
“What Does God Owe Me?”
Luke 17:7-10
I suppose that we all have driven by people standing on the corner of an entrance or exit ramp to the freeway holding a sign, "Will Work For Food" or something similar. I heard of one man who was more honest than most, his sign read, "I Need A Beer, Not Work."
Many of the others in reality only wanted a handout or money for something to drink, but tried to appear to have a genuine need and thus the offer to work if given the opportunity. If you were to stop and offer many of them a job I suspect that you would get many excuses why they needed cash and could not work right at that moment.
In America, we have gotten our work ethic a little twisted we don’t just work to make a living; we work for perks. We want regular bonuses, appreciation awards and for sure yearly raises. We want a corner office with a window; and an expense account and a company car are not bad either. I realize of course, that these perks are associated with the corporate world, but you know what they are in your particular line of work.
Now, what happens if we do not get these perks? Well, we moan and we grumble, then we may start having to take more sick time and the projects assigned to us somehow just do not get finished as timely as they once did. All sorts of other negative behaviors that we may manifest are justified by the lack of perks and getting what we deserved. Isn’t it amazing that somehow, having a job and a paycheck are not enough any more.
Now, let’s translate this into to our Christian service. The same attitude seems to have crossed over from the secular world and into our church work. Just the fact that we are saved from Hell and on our way to Heaven are not enough. The pastor better pat me on the back regularly or he is not getting much out of me. I think everyone should recognize that I should be a teacher. And If I do teach I think that my giftedness should be recognized. I would like for it to be quietly and tastefully noted that I am the best giver in the congregation. If I am a singer then I want to be asked to sing a solo as often as I would like. If am a man, then I should be in a leadership position, preferable a Deacon. The list could go on for a long time, but you get the picture.
What happens when lose our perspective of being servants? First, we have a little roast preacher at every opportunity. Our giving and our attendance become sporadic. Of course, that means that our responsibilities that we took on are carried out by someone else, while we pout at home or are out looking for a church where we are more appreciated. If things don’t go our way then; all of a sudden the deacons are lazy and the teachers dull and boring. We just do not “feel” the love or Spirit in the church anymore. We suddenly outgrew the preacher and we just aren’t being fed anymore. He must be backslidden and “really” preaching anymore.
Even worse, this attitude begins to affect how we look at God; He is just not blessing us like we deserve. He just does not understand our needs or what we have to put up with to serve at that ungrateful church. He has forgotten that we are the most spiritual persons in that church and that neither our giftedness nor our wisdom is truly appreciated. God is just so fortunate to have us in that church to keep that pastor and deacons straight. I just do not know what He would do without us there. Oh, really? Let’s look at God’s viewpoint. [I am indebted to Ronald Shultz’s sermon “Will work for Perks” - www. Sermoncentral. Com]
In last week’s message we saw that as Christians we have two-fold responsibility to others; first, a responsibility to not be a stumbling block and secondly, a responsibility to forgive those who have sinned against us.
When the disciples realized that Jesus was teaching that we must forgiving those who hurt us, even repeatedly, they were overwhelmed. Their response (v. 5) was basically, "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. The disciples thought that they lacked sufficient faith and Jesus responded that they lacked a accurate understanding of faith. Jesus told them that it was not so much a matter of great faith as it was obedience to a great God.
Given the immense requirements Jesus has given to his disciples – not to cause another to stumble, to rebuke those who sin, and to extend unlimited forgiveness – a disciple might presume that in doing so he or she merits God’s approval.
Jesus explodes such thinking with a mini-
parable (The Parable of the Unworthy Servant) in verses 7 through 10. This text is one of those passages that we tend to want to skip over and get on to more interesting matters. But what we find beginning in verse seven is a very important teaching of Jesus on how we are to relate to our heavenly Father.
At first glance this story seems to hardly be the kind of story that Jesus would tell. The plot line is simple, there is a demanding master who works his servant from sunup to sundown until he is dead tired and then expects the fellow to make supper for him. But rightly seen this story has the potential to help us to adjust our attitude toward serving from self-pity and entitlement to gratitude and humility.
I want you to notice four things with me:
1. We are Called to Faithfulness in Ordinary Tasks. (v. 7a)
The first part of verse seven serves as the introduction to this story, “And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep..” Notice that the task given the servant, in today’s terminology it would be “doing manual labor for minimum wage.”
Fred Craddock, in an address to ministers, caught the practical implications of consecration. "To give my life for Christ appears glorious," he said. "To pour myself out for others. . . to pay the ultimate price of martyrdom -- I’ll do it. I’m ready, Lord, to go out in a blaze of glory. "We think giving our all to the Lord is like taking $l,000 bill and laying it on the table-- ’Here’s my life, Lord. I’m giving it all.’ But the reality for most of us is that he sends us to the bank and has us cash in the $l,000 for quarters. We go through life putting out 25 cents here and 50 cents there. Listening to the neighbor kid’s troubles instead of saying, ’Get lost.’ Go to a committee meeting. Give a cup of water to a shaky old man in a nursing home. Usually giving our life to Christ isn’t glorious. It’s done in all those little acts of love, 25 cents at at time. It would be easy to go out in a flash of glory; it’s harder to live the Christian life little by little over the long haul." [Darryl Bell. www.christianglobe.com /illustrations/faithfulness.]
We are Called to Faithfulness in Ordinary Tasks…. And
2. Our Service is Only the Humble Fulfillment of Our Lord’s Legitimate Expectation. (7b-9)
As we continue with the story in the reminder of verse seven, (v.7b) we will find that it is divided by three rhetorical questions.
Question One (v. 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’?”
Jesus first of all appeals to our own common sense. If we had a slave and he was working in the field all day and came in at dinnertime we would not tell him to sit down so that we could prepare him something to eat.
The question is “who would?” and the anticipated answer is, “No one.”
Question Two (v. 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’?”
The anticipated answer is, Yes!!! If it were part of this servants job to cook for us; we would expect him/her to get busy and prepare our meal in a timely fashion. We would expect them to prepare the meal, wait on us and when we were finished, then they could eat.
Question Three (v. 9)
“Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not.”
While this treatment may seem harsh and even unreasonable to us today, it was a fair description of the normal master/servant relationship. Jesus did not comment on the relationship, He neither approved it nor condemned it. He merely used it to illustrate His teaching on the life of faith.
The anticipated answer to this question is,
No! In fact, it is a strong negative in the Greek, that you would not thank your servant for doing this. Why? because they are only fulfilling their responsibilities. The slave received and deserved no special treatment or thanks for doing his assigned task; they were his duties.
Our Service is Only the Humble Fulfillment of Our Lord’s Legitimate Expectation….and
3. We Must Never Have The Attitude That God Owes Us Or Be Upset That God Did Not Do Something We Asked. (v. 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."
We are God’s servant’s, or to make it even more politically incorrect, the Greek word is (doulos) and it literally means “slave.” Today we are consumed in this country with our “rights,” but slaves have no rights.
God owns us through the right of creation and through the price he paid to redeem us from sin, he thus owns us twice.
A modern illustration can be seen for this principle in the fact that we as American citizens are expected to pay our taxes. By April 15th of this year you will be expected to fill out an income tax form and submit it along with all the supporting facts and figures. Along with this form you will be expected to send a check for any additional taxes that you might owe. If Jesus were using this as an example he would ask, “Should the person who has completed his tax form and sent it in expect a thank-you card from the IRS or a phone call from the President of the United States, thanking them for doing their duty?” The answer is, NO!!, of course not! Paying our taxes is our duty, one to which we do not expect any expression of gratitude, but one that we can expect punishment for it we fail to perform it.
The word “unprofitable” can be troublesome to us (achreioi) “means without needs- that is, no one owes us anything…. The statement means that the master does not owe me anything extra.” (Wiersbe p. 52)
We forget our status, as servants. We are bought with a price and we are not our own. Paul says it this way in 1 Corinthians 6, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? (20) For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
Jesus is telling us that we have nothing to get puffed up about, when we actually do as He has asked, this is the way we are suppose to live. And when we do, we have only done our duty.
The argument is this, if a common servant is faithful to obey the orders given of his master who does not reward or thank him how much more ought we to love our Master because he has promised to reward us graciously.
We Must Never Have The Attitude That God Owes Us Or Be Upset That God Did Not Do Something We Asked…and
4. God Rewards Faithfulness Not Because He Has To But Because He Wants Too.
I don’t want to end with recognition that although God owes you nothing for your service, he intends to reward you richly.
The Bible speaks of rewards in terms of crowns. Paul wrote of a crown of righteousness, (2 Tim. 4:8) which would be awarded to the faithful. Peter wrote of a crown of glory (1 Peter 5:4). And John recorded Jesus’ promise that he would bring his reward with him when he comes, “Behold I come quickly and my reward is with me.” (Rev. 22:12).
Ray Stedman tells the story of the Faithful Missionary that illustrates this point very well.
“Years ago I heard of a missionary couple returning from Africa in the days of Teddy Roosevelt. It happened that after years of service they came back on the same ship as President Roosevelt, who was returning from a big-game hunting expedition in Africa. … When they pulled into New York harbor there was a band playing Teddy Roosevelt’s favorite songs, and all the high officials of the city were there to meet him. But the missionary couple slipped off the ship unnoticed, and rented a run-down flat on the East Side of New York. The man was utterly crushed, and said to his wife, "It isn’t fair, it just isn’t fair! Here we are, we haven’t any money, we don’t know who is going to take care of us or where we are going. God has promised great things, but nothing’s happened. We’ve given him everything we’ve got, and what has he done for us? But just look at what happens when the president goes on a big-game hunt! It isn’t fair!"
His wife said, "Dear, I know it isn’t fair, but this isn’t the right attitude. You mustn’t think this way. Why don’t you go into the bedroom and talk to the Lord about it, and see what he has to say?" So he did. He went in and knelt by the bed, alone. He was there a long time, but when he came out his face was alight, and his wife saw that something had happened. She said, "What happened?" And he said, "I got down on my knees and poured out the whole story to the Lord. I told him that I thought it was so unfair and especially that when we came home the president got this big welcome but no one cared about us. I told him that he was treating us all wrong. But you know what the Lord said to me? It was almost as though I could hear the voice, he leaned down and said, ’But you’re not home yet.’"
Is it not gloriously true?
[Ray Stedman. Sermon entitled “On Living Together” www.pbc.org/dp/stedman/misc/0284.html
Conclusion
In closing let me just say one word of caution, some of you may be thinking that I am believe that it is wrong to show appreciation or give rewards here on earth for service rendered. And that is not it at all. What I am saying is that it is dangerous to expect it, and wrong to let it be the motivation for our service.
1. We are Called to Faithfulness in Ordinary Tasks.
2. Our Service is Only the Humble Fulfillment of Our Lord’s Legimate Expectation.
3. We Must Never Have The Attitude That God Owes Us Or Be Upset That God Did Not Do Something We Asked.
4. God Rewards Faithfulness Not Because He Has To But Because He Wants Too.
