A MERE SERVANT’S FAITH

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on June 2, 2021 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group: June 2, 2021 from Luke 17:5-10

Theme: Our prayers should be offered as servants who should only expect to receive grace—not those who have earned reward.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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We have just finished studying a section of Luke’s Gospel in which our Lord Jesus dealt with some very hostile opponents. The Pharisees and scribes had looked with contempt upon those humble sinners who came to Jesus in repentance. And they also looked with disdain upon our Lord Himself, because He welcomed those sinners and loved them. And Jesus had finished off that whole encounter—in Luke 17:1-4—by telling His disciples that they need to be very careful not to hinder anyone from coming to Him—or in any way causing them to stumble in their tender faith in Him.

Now; given all that they had seen of our Lord’s miraculous works, and having had their hearts deeply moved by His teaching, and seeing the way He loved those who humbly sought Him, and even knowing their own desire—fallible as they were—to serve Him as they should, it’s understandable that they would want to have their own faith increased. In fact, this would have been especially so, given the way He had warned them not to ever hinder the faith of others. And so, Luke tells us about the conversation Jesus had with His disciples in Luke 17:5-10—a conversation that only Luke tells us about:

And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” 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. 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’? 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’? Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. 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’” (Luke 17:5-10).

And in these words, we are being given a significant lesson on the nature of faith. It’s not so much a lesson about the faith we are to exercise as about the attitude of ourselves we’re to have when we exercise that faith. Jesus teaches us that our prayers should be offered as servants who should only expect to receive grace—not who have earned reward.

Only when we pray that way are we praying as we should.

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Think of how we often pray. Or more specifically, think about how we often think of ourselves when we pray. We often think in terms of whether or not our prayers deserve an answer—that somehow, if we have been good and faithful Christians, God owes it to us to give us what we ask.

Perhaps you’ve met some people who believe that way. Very often—sadly—they end up disillusioned with the Christian faith altogether because they expected an answer to prayer that they thought they had a right to be given. After all, they were good people. They went to church. They gave. They cared about others. Hadn’t they earned the right to be heard by God? Hadn’t that all counted for something? And when they don’t receive the answers to prayer that they feel they’ve earned the right to receive, they very often become disappointed with God. In the words of this morning’s passage, the Lord shows us—very tenderly—that that’s a mistaken way to approach this whole matter of faith.

Think of what we’re told in Hebrews 11:1. The writer of Hebrews says,

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1)

To say that faith is the ‘substance’ of things hoped for and the ‘evidence’ of things not seen indicates that faith has its value in something other than itself. There is not a magic power in faith as ‘faith’ alone. To have lots of faith in the wrong thing will accomplish nothing. It’s a thing that is only as effective as that in which it is placed—or better, in Whom it is placed. If we are thinking that, somehow, our faith is meritorious, or that the more of it we have the better chance we have of being heard, then we’re misunderstanding the nature of faith itself. It comes from forgetting that our faith is how we place our trust in the promises of a divine and sovereign Person, rather than as a thing that has value in and of itself.

The key to faith is not the amount of it we have, but rather our obedient submission and trust in the One who is the proper object of our faith. On a completely different occasion, the Lord Jesus had been making His way into the city of Jerusalem. He saw a fig tree that had lots of leaves; but when He came to it, it bore no fruit. So, He cursed the fig tree. And then, in Mark 11, we read this:

Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.” So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them” (Mark 11:20-24).

Do you see it? Jesus didn’t simply say to have faith; but specifically told them, “Have faith in God.” It wasn’t ‘faith’ itself that did anything. It could be very small faith indeed … so long as it had the almighty God as its object of trust. It’s not that God looks to us to see if we have greater amounts of faith as a thing by itself. It’s God alone who can move mountains. And if He tells us to command the mountain to be removed and cast into the sea, then—if our faith is in Him to do what He commands us to trust Him for—then it will happen. He wants to see if our faith is focused on Him so much that we trust Him and obey Him.

The question is not one of how much faith we have. Rather, it’s a question of whether or not we will have the faith of a faithful servant and obedient servant. Even a little faith will do.

Look then at this morning’s passage. First, we see that …

1. ONLY A SMALL AMOUNT OF FAITH IS NECESSARY TO SERVE OUR LORD (vv. 5-6).

Verse 5 tells us, “And the apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith.’” In the original language, it reads a little more like this: “Increase faith to us.” They looked upon faith as a commodity to have in quantity—and the more of it, the better. But the Lord corrected their misunderstanding. Verse 6 tells us, “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.’”

The seed that Jesus spoke of was a very tiny seed. It was something that He referred to more than once in His teaching. It would have stood out in people’s minds at that time as the smallest of seeds that produced the largest of plants in proportion to the tiny seed’s size. Jesus used this same analogy in Luke 13:18-19; when He said;

“What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and put in his garden; and it grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches” (Luke 13:18-19).

It was a tiny thing; and it gave us a picture of the potential of a tiny faith placed in the proper object. But think of the other thing He spoke of—a mulberry tree. That’s how it’s translated in the New King James Version. In the original language, it’s a sycamore tree. It’s the same tree that we find in Luke 19:4—the one that the man Zacchaeus climbed up in order to see Jesus. It would have had to be a sturdy kind of tree. And consider what Jesus is telling us. A faith so small as a mustard seed—a tiny thing; but rightly placed in humble submission to God’s word—is enough to command a strong sycamore tree to be pulled up by the roots and not just thrown into the sea … but actually planted in it! “And it would obey you.” Why? Because the faith was mighty and large? No; but rather, because the God who would command that we so speak to the tree is Himself mighty to do it.

You and I can go outside and command trees to be plucked up all we want. But such a command is only effective if God Himself has commanded us to issue it. As the apostle John put it;

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him (1 John 5:14-15).

So the question is not whether or not we have much faith or little faith. The important question is, “Will we have the kind of faith that yields itself in trust to God and faithfully obeys His word?” Because only a small amount of that kind of faith is sufficient for our mighty God.

And that leads our Lord to another point about the nature of that faith—or really, the nature of our own heart when it comes to faith. And that’s to remember that …

2. OUR FAITH IS RESPONDED TO BY GRACE … NOT BY REWARD (vv. 7-10).

God is not our servant. We are His servants. He is not obligated to obey us. We are obligated to obey Him. That puts a whole new attitude to our faith when we pray.

Jesus went on to explain this through a parable in verses 7-8; “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’?” Ordinarily, a farmer who had a servant working out in his field, wouldn’t treat his servant that way. He might do so however if he was a particularly kind master. But if he did such a thing—if his servant came in from the field and found that his master had worked hard and cooked a large dinner for him, and put on his apron and served him—it certainly wouldn’t be from out of a sense of obligation. The servant would have no right to expect such a thing. Instead, the relationship would ordinarily be expressed by what Jesus went on to say; “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’?” That’s how a master/servant relationship works.

Now; in the case of our Lord Jesus, He is a gracious Master who prepares a meal for His obedient and faithful servants. In Luke 12:35-37, Jesus said;

“Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them” (Luke 12:35-37).

On the day of His return, Jesus will sit us down at His table as His faithful servants; and He will Himself come and serve us. But it won’t be because He’s obligated to. It wouldn’t be because that’s the nature of the master/servant relationship—because it isn’t. Rather, it will be only because of His grace that He would do such a thing. It will be because of love. And that emphasizes the point that the Lord is making to us. God the Father is not obligated to respond to our faith. And yet, He does. And the reason is because of grace—and not reward.

In verse 9, Jesus went on to say this about the master in His parable: “Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not.” It is not an obligation in the master/servant relationship that the master express a hearty thanks to the servant for obeying his commands to him. It might be that some masters would thank their servant; but if they did, it would have been because of grace—not because of obligation. Jesus went on in verse 10 to say, “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.’” When all you have done is obey the commandment that was given to you, then you don’t deserve a medal. You just did what you should have done.

If God shows us His favor in response to your faith, it’s not because we deserved it. It wasn’t because He was—in any way—indebted to us for obeying Him. If we receive His favor, it’s because of love.

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It’s interesting to read on to the next story in Luke’s Gospel. We read of ten lepers who met Jesus and who cried out to Him for healing. They had faith in Him. And He told them to go on their way and—in obedience to the law of Moses—show themselves to the priests. And along the way, they were healed. But only one came back and gave Him thanks.

But even that shows us the right relationship of things; doesn’t it? Our God does not owe us an answer. He does not need to thank us for obeying Him. And yet, He does answer our prayers and He does give us favor. And it’s because of His grace. It’s because of His love for us. We owe thanks to Him—and not the other way around!

Let’s remember that proper relationship in our prayers. Our faith does not earn us anything from God. But even the smallest amount of obedient faith from us—as His servants—does great things. And that’s because He Himself does those things by His grace—not because we have earned them as a reward.

EA