The Parable Of The Master & The Servant: Humility Increases Faith Series

“William Beebe, the naturalist, used to tell this story about Teddy Roosevelt. At Sagamore Hill, after an evening of talk, the two would go out on the lawn and search the skies for a certain spot of star-like light near the lower left-hand corner of the Great Square of Pegasus. Then Roosevelt would recite: "That is

the Spiral Galaxy in Andromeda. It is as large as our Milky Way. It is one of a hundred million galaxies. It consists of one hundred billion suns, each larger than our sun."

Then Roosevelt would grin and say, "Now I think we are small enough! Let's go to bed." -Source Unknown.

And the Apostle Paul said

“I am the least of the apostles. 1 Corinthians 15:9

I am the very least of all the saints. Ephesians 3:8

I am the foremost of sinners. 1 Timothy 1:15

At his three descriptions of himself, dating respectively from around A.D. 59, 63, and 64. As the years pass he goes lower; he grows downward! And as his self-esteem sinks, so his rapture of praise and adoration for the God who so wonderfully saved him rises.

Undoubtedly, learning to praise God at all times for all that is good is a mark that we are growing in grace. One of my predecessors in my first parochial appointment died exceedingly painfully of cancer. But between fearful bouts of agony, in which he had to stuff his mouth with bedclothes to avoid biting his tongue, he would say aloud over and over again: "I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth" (Ps. 34:1). That was a passion for praise asserting itself in the most poignant extremity imaginable.

Cultivate humility and a passion for praise if you want to grow in grace.” -James Packer, Your Father Loves You, Harold Shaw Publishers, 1986.

Today we examine the parable of the master and the servant. We keep getting all these fascinating angles on how God sees truth, and how God’s kingdom operates. Today we find an incredibly important aspect of the kingdom of God.

But first let’s consider the context of this parable today. The context was difficult for me, because normally surrounding a particular portion of scripture you’ll see various elements that seem to tie into the general theme of what’s going on here.

But in this parable, at first you might think, how does any of this connect? This parable we only find in Luke’s gospel, it’s in Luke chapter 17, if you want to turn there in your Bibles. Just prior in Luke 16, Jesus had just shared the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, a parable of an arrogant rich man who refused to help a poor man who laid homeless near his house, and later ended up in torment in hell over it.

Then in chapter 17, first Jesus talks about how important it is to not cause children to stumble into sin, and to not tempt others into sin. And talks about the terrible punishment for those who tempt others to sin.

Then Jesus gives us an example of how often to forgive someone who comes to us and repents. He says even if they come 7 times in one day having sinned, then repenting honestly to you, you must forgive them. And one side note, I’ve always taking that to be true in our relationship with God. If we sin 7 times in one day, and keep coming to God honestly seeking his forgiveness and repenting he will forgive us over and over and over. Isn’t that wonderful? Now, that’s not an excuse to live in sin either. Repent quickly.

In any case, let’s take a look at the context. It says in Luke 17, “One day Jesus said to his disciples, “There will always be temptations to sin, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting! 2 It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to fall into sin. 3 So watch yourselves!”

So Jesus tells us, watch yourself. Be careful what you say to others. Be careful what you post on social media. Be careful about your actions, and how they speak to others. Then he continues:

“If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive. 4 Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.”

5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Show us how to increase our faith.”

6 The Lord answered, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you!”