Sermon OUTLINE 10.07.07

Luke 17:1-10

When two or more are gathered in Jesus’ Name, what do you have?

JESUS! (see The Lord’s promise in Matthew 18: ) And that’s a good thing. Because when you have two or more people gathered together in His Name—do you know what else you have?

SIN! Isn’t that a fact? You put any two people together and you are bound to have sin. Hey---you don’t even need two---all you have to do is show up---and there’s the latent potential for sinful thoughts, words and actions. It’s part of our corrupted nature.

You see, sin and the conflicts it breeds are an unfortunate part of reality….reality in a fallen, broken world. So we best know how to deal with it when sin rears its ugly head. Jesus teaches us just that in the Gospel reading this morning.

^ESV Luke 17:1 And he said to his disciples, "Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! ² It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. ³ Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, ⁴ and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, 'I repent,' you must forgive him." ⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" ⁶ And the Lord said, "If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. ⁷ "Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and recline at table'? ⁸ Will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink'? ⁹ Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? ¹⁰ So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.'"

With these words, Jesus helps us deal with sin in our relationships. Where does he start?

Where do we like to start? We like to start with “him” with “her” with “them.” Jesus teaches us in vs. 1-3—it starts with ME.

I. Pay attention/guard/watch yourself.

Be vigilant against si in your own heart.

Get the Plank out of your own eye. (see Luke 6:41-42)

Luke 6:41 "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴² How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

We cannot see another’s sin when we are blinded by our own. We will only make things worse. We so want to point out the other’s faults—that we ignore our own. With what attitude, words, actions (done and undone) have I contributed to this conflict? Repent and find forgiveness. Confess your sins to one another. Pay attention to YOURSELF—to the sin in your own heart---first.

II. Rebuke sin/ repent of sin.

Don’t let bitterness take root; a relationship crumble: Face Sin.

(and take it seriously when another points it out in you---search your heart and REPENT!)

In verse 3, Jesus teaches us that there is a time to point out sin in another. We dare not let sin fester in our relationships. After we have attended to our own sins—then (and only then) should we help another see her sin and repent of it.

III. Forgive, forgive, forgive, forgive, forgive, forgive, FORGIVE!

When our brother or sister repents and comes to us saying: “I’m sorry,” “I repent” what do we do? We FORGIVE! How many times? EVERY time. (seven = number of completion.) This is what we do. You will forgive, Jesus says.

To which the disciples reply: “Increase our faith!” We can’t do this! We don’t have enough faith, power, strength. We don’t have it in us.

To which Jesus says: Ah….but you do! The tiniest speck of faith (mustard seed—see verse 5-6) is enough to do great things---even to forgive.

Peter after hearing this teaching came to Jesus and said Lord—how many times am I to forgive—up to seven times? Jesus blows it out of the box—“No! up to Seventy-Seven times!” EVERY TIME! And then, to help us understand he told this parable:

(Matthew 18---King and the two servants.

"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. ²⁴ As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents [the modern equivalent of millions of dollars] was brought to him. ²⁵ Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. ²⁶ "The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' ²⁷ The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. ²⁸ "But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii.[The modern equivalent of a few lousy bucks] He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded. ²⁹ "His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.' ³⁰ "But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. ³¹ When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. ³² "Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. ³³ Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' ³⁴ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. ³⁵ "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."

It’s the speck and the plank. No matter how much another person has done to you—it does not compare to the plank in your own eye, to the millions of dollars worth of your own sin against God. And what has God done with your sin? He has wiped them all away in the blood of Jesus! Every. Last. One. You are forgiven. Completely. How then can we refuse to forgive another person when their sins (though still real, and still painful) never-the-less pale in comparison to the mountain of our own sins against God.

JESUS! His model, his power, his grace in the midst of our relationships. Is this not what Jesus himself has done? Tortured, mocked, nailed to the cross and what does he say as he hangs there dying? Father---FORGIVE them. Father Forgive them.

A servant obeys. It’s what we do. “we are unworthy servants who have only done our duty.” May God grant us the grace to forgive even as he has forgiven us.

Amen.