A Communion Meditation
Presented by Rev. Merlin T. Batt
Intentional Interim Pastor
St. Matthews United Church of Christ
Maiden, North Carolina
Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
World Communion Sunday
October 7, 2007
Scripture Lesson: Luke 17:1-10
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As many of you are aware, the church has been operating without the services of a paid Office Assistant since Christa Scronce ended her employment over a week ago. During this period of transition, we’ve been getting along quite well with volunteers taking on office duties and with Lealta’s adding to her work the production of the worship bulletin. And, by the way, a hearty “thank you” to all those who have lent a hand to getting the work of the church office accomplished this past week.
You should know that the Personnel Committee has been hard at work over these weeks and will soon be interviewing people who have applied for the position. Looking through the many resumes which have been sent to the church in response to our local newspaper ads, the committee members and I have been thinking a good bit about the issue of qualifications. What qualifies a person to do well this particular job?
When I turned to the Gospel lesson for this Sunday and read it through several times, I began to realize that, in this passage from Luke’s Gospel, both the disciples and Jesus were doing much the same thing. That is, they were dealing with the matter of qualifications for living in a way that Jesus both demonstrated in his own life and commanded his followers.
This is how the scene develops. First Jesus says to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come; but woe to him by whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung round his neck and he were cast into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.”
Here we have Jesus warning his disciples about tripping each other up, inappropriately and unnecessarily testing the faith of others. You see, these disciples, as they went about the countryside speaking and healing, were representatives of Jesus himself; and also Jesus knew that the day would come when these same disciples would be leaders of his Church. They would be the ones through whom the story of God’s redeeming work in Jesus Christ would be told and spread round the world.
So Jesus warned his disciples about the seriousness of the responsibility they carried. He told them it would be better to have a millstone hung around their neck and be thrown into the sea to drown than to act in such a way as to undermine the faith of those who put their trust in Jesus. You may recall the text refers to causing “these little ones” to sin. Here Jesus doesn’t have children in mind so much as he does those outcasts whom he is welcoming home, bringing back into the fold of God’s people.
As a pastor I often think of Jesus’ warning to his disciples. It tells me that I will be held accountable for what I say and do as an “under-shepherd” of Jesus’ flock. In other words, if, as a pastor, I act in such a way as to undermine the faith of those who trust in Jesus, I will be held accountable by the Lord. If, by my words or deeds, I trip up others in their walk of faith, I will be held to account. Lord, have mercy!
And when it comes to this warning, you’re not off the hook either! How many of you are church leaders or teachers of adults, youth, or children? How many of you are raising children or helping to shape the lives of grandchildren and great-grandchildren? How many of you are known by your neighbors and co-workers as a Christian, as a member of St. Matthews? By my figuring, there’s no one here today who escapes Jesus’ warning. You see, to the extent that you and I are in position to impact the faith of another person, we are held to a higher standard by our Lord.
Then, on the heels of this warning, Jesus goes on to talk to his disciples about another important aspect of following him. It has to do with forgiving. This is what he said, “Take heed to yourselves; if your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him; and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”
Now, as they say, “Jesus has stopped preaching, and now he’s started meddling.” He’s getting personal, intruding into the private business of our relationships with one another. He’s calling for repeated forgiveness, which makes no sense in human relationships…unless you understand that, if you are a Christian, the Lord expects you to give to other persons the same generous and welcoming forgiveness that God has shown you in the first place.
Only now are we in a position to understand better the meaning and feeling tone of the very next sentence in today’s Gospel text, which is: “The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’” In other words, the disciples felt inadequate, unable to do as Jesus expected. They knew instinctively they weren’t up to the task of being role models of faith in Jesus. They knew only too well how difficult it was for them to forgive even once someone who sinned against them and then repented of it. Forgiving others was hard enough without having to forgive repeatedly!
You see what’s going on here? The disciples misdiagnosed their spiritual limitations. They assumed their inadequacy was a case of small faith, so naturally they pleaded with Jesus, “Increase our faith,” with the implied consequence, “then we’ll be able to do as you command.”
So the disciples saw their problem as a case of inadequately small faith, but notice how Jesus diagnoses their problem, “If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this sycamine tree, ‘Be rooted up, and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” In other words, Jesus tells them that they have all the faith they need, no matter how small it is, even as small as the proverbial mustard seed! Here’s the point. It is not great faith you need. It is faith in a great God!
Think of it this way. I got this analogy from something Bishop Tom Wright wrote. He said that faith is like a window through which you can see something. What matters is not whether the window is six inches or six feet high; what matters is the God that your faith is looking out on. If it’s the creator God, the God active in Jesus and the Spirit, then the tiniest, little peep-hole of a window will give you access to power like you never dreamed of. Of course, that power is not to be used at your own whim or pleasure, but to accomplish what God wants to do in and through your life.
Here’s the bottom line. In this congregation, you already have all the necessary qualifications you need to be God’s people in and for the world. You don’t have to have your faith increased in order to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself. All you need is to realize that the little-bitty faith you may have is faith in a great God! And once you begin to do as Jesus commands, once you begin to step out, take a first step, trusting in this great God, you will be amazed at what God can do in and through you for the world.
Now to the One who by the power at work within us
is able to do far more abundantly than all we can ask or imagine,
to God be glory in the church
and in Christ Jesus
to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
