Turns Out, the Older Brother Was Right

Luke 17:1-10
Remember the older brother in the parable of the prodigal son? Remember how, when his younger brother had come crawling back from a life of dissipation, their father threw the young man a party? The older brother was furious. “Listen!” he told his father. “For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!” (Luke 15:29-30). If, like me, you have always felt a sense of solidarity with the older brother, then you will probably be challenged by Jesus’ words from today’s gospel reading. “Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, 'We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!'" (17:9-10). To me this sounds a lot like what was expected of the older brother. And this is where the gospel––good news that it is––becomes very difficult for some people––even Christians––to accept.

When have we done enough? Is doing what we are told the limit of God’s expectations for us? Well, as the people of God we are told to go the extra mile, turn the other cheek, give up our coats as well as our shirts (Matthew 5:38-41). The older brother may have worked like a slave, but that was his job description. And it is ours as well. To live lives of faithful obedience as disciples of Jesus Christ is to put all we are into doing the work of the kingdom, is to recognize that everything we have belongs God and to God’s purpose for it, is to accept the challenge of doing for others regardless of the personal cost. In short, it is hard work. But it is what Jesus did, and it is what our Lord challenges us to do as we follow him. Why would anyone accept such conditions? The simple answer is that we have been called to serve and set aside by God to do things that not everyone can or will do. We’d love to have the party, but it waits for another day. Now our joy comes from realizing that what we do serves the greatest purpose imaginable. We are agents of God’s word set to work in a world that desperately needs good news. We might think of it in terms of slavery, but we might also see ourselves as doing God’s work simply because it needs to be done.

The older brother was right in what he said to his father. But the father spoke a greater truth, one to which Jesus returns later in Luke. If we are to serve God faithfully, we must find our joy in that work. For that work itself produces greater joy than we could ever find on our own.

Prayer: Lord, give us the strength we need to serve you all the days of our lives with everything we are and everything that we have. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Sown in Peace

James 3:12-4:12
Luke 17:11-19
I wish there was a way to convey the words of our reading from James to those in positions of leadership, especially the ones who have participated in so badly polarizing American and international politics. James already takes a dim view of “the world” (meaning, I believe, those who choose to live outside God’s covenant), but we should experience added distress when we read two verses in particular. “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruit, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace” (James 3:17-18). According to James, God’s wisdom is that which leads us toward all of the blessings we find in true community: purity, peace, gentleness, willingness to yield, mercy, and good fruit. This is how God’s people are called to live, “without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.” In other words, openly, lovingly, with genuine concern for the other. And in the end those who make peace will harvest the righteousness sown in that peace.

Jesus already knew that one of the ten lepers who approached him was a Samaritan, but he healed all of them, including the foreigner (Luke 17:14). Jesus reached across many lines of division: from health to illness, from purity to uncleanliness, from the people of Israel to a foreigner. There was no attempt to exclude, berate, convert, or otherwise dismiss the Samaritan leper. In doing so he demonstrated a community built not on the normal vestiges of nation, culture, etc., but in peace and mercy, gentleness and a willingness to yield, and in a very, very real sense, purity. How blessed our lives would be if we were to follow suit and to live in peace with others, displaying the love of God for all people, and looking forward to the day when righteousness becomes the norm, not the exception.

Prayer: Lord, heal us of our sins so that we may help to share your good news and the promise of your coming kingdom with others. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Faith In What?

Luke 17:1-10
According to Luke Jesus’ followers made what most of us would consider to be a fair request: “Increase our faith” (Luke 17:5). We can’t know for certain what the apostles meant by this, but as usual Jesus presents the whole matter in a new light reminding us that faith requires an object and that if we intend to follow Jesus the object of our faith must be God.

Jesus is clear. Faith isn’t about heading out on our own or trusting in ourselves and our own perspectives. In Luke’s gospel faith says, “not my will, but yours be done” (22:42). Faith says, “your kingdom come” (11:2). Faith is not a spiritual ATM ready to dispense whatever we want. It is the harmony that results when we add our voices to those of the courts of heaven, praising God, and that we find on earth when our actions are those that God wills for us.

Jesus’ reply to the apostles might actually have been this: “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed (and God willed it), you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you (as agents of God’s will)” (17:6 with additions). To whom or to what then are we faithful, ourselves or God, our desires or what God seeks from us? That may be the most important question we ever have to wrestle with.

Prayer: O Lord, increase our faith in you and help us to do your will. In Jesus’ name. Amen.