Even a Small Faith Does Great Things!

20th Sunday after Pentecost, 10/6/13
Luke 17:1-10


Even a Small Faith Does Great Things!
I. It lovingly confronts sin.
II. It willingly forgives.
III. It realizes doing your duty doesn’t earn merit.


Chloe was a bright, three-year-old. Being an only child so far enabled her mother to spend a good portion of quality time with her and her mother made sure that playtime was also a learning experience. On this particular day Chloe’s mom displayed a new toy that involved correctly identifying several shapes and colors combinations. The toy was manufactured so that certain shapes and colors only fitted in certain places. Chloe’s mother demonstrated the entire procedure to her and then said, “Now it’s your turn,” knowing that it would be difficult for her.

Chloe took the various colors and shapes into her chubby hands and tried to replicate what her mother had just done. But as smart as she was, she had little success. Quickly becoming frustrated she cried out, “Help me, Mommy!” And her mother obliged, not doing it for her completely, but helping her make progress so that Chloe learned how to do it on her own little by little.

If you read through the gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—you’ll notice how frequently Jesus suggests and even commands his followers to do some difficult things. For instance, he commanded one man to give away everything he had and to come and follow him. He repeatedly stated that our relationship with our family members cannot get in the way of our relationship with him. He told us to turn the other cheek and to love our enemies.

In today’s text, he adds a few more. And when the disciples hear them and realize how difficult these things are, they ask Jesus to give them a stronger faith so that they can accomplish them. And Jesus does that not only by encouraging by their faith, but also by telling them in no uncertain terms that even a small faith can accomplish great things.

Do you realize what that means for you and me? None of us can claim that we don’t have enough faith in Jesus to do what he’s telling us. He’s speaking these words to each and every one of us—young or old, longtime Christian or newbie to the faith. He encourages us with the truth that even a small faith can do great things. Even a small faith can do great things! Join me in seeing what great things our Savior wants us to do as his followers.

Part I.

In my experience as a pastor, one of the most frequently misapplied statements of Jesus is this one from his Sermon on the Mount, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged” (Mt. 7:1). People quote those words either to tell an accuser they are wrong to point out another person’s sins or to deflect the responsibility for doing so. When Jesus told us not to judge others, he meant that we are not to presume to know what’s in their hearts.

In these words of our text, Jesus actually commands his followers to point out sin when they see and hear it. He begins by pointing out the inevitable, “Things that cause people to sin are bound to come.” The Greek words here are actually much stronger and much more serious. Jesus refers to causing someone to lose their faith in him as their Savior. For instance, if I give a child the impression that hearing God’s word isn’t so important, in fact, it’s fairly low on my list of things to do, then I might lead that child to think the same thing and they might lose their faith. My sin has contributed to their loss of saving faith. May that never happen!

So that it doesn’t, Jesus suggests a rather extreme alternative. He says it would be better if that person had a heavy stone tied around his neck and for him to be drowned. What he says is true. The worst thing we could do is to help Satan rob someone of their faith in Jesus. That’s why Jesus warns, “So watch yourselves.”

But he doesn’t stop there. If we see someone sinning, we have a responsibility, and it’s not easy. “If your brother sins, rebuke him.” That’s not judging him. We just witnessed something sinful that they said or did. We aren’t presuming to know what’s in their hearts. We just heard it or saw it. Jesus calls on us as his followers to point that sin out in a loving way. And the reason? So that he or she repents. They realize and confess their sin and they hear us tell them that God forgives them. That activity attains the exact opposite of doing something that causes them to lose their faith. Confronting them with their sin might actually lead to their salvation.

That’s not easy to do, but even a small faith does great things. It lovingly confronts sin.

No, it’s not easy to lovingly confront sin. And one of the reasons for it is that our society preaches toleration, even of sin. In fact, it encourages it. Let people do what they want to do. If we point sin out even in a loving way, we’re going to get all sorts of push-back. And that’s not all. Some of the push-back comes from inside. We’re afraid of what might happen to our relationship with that person if we point out their sin. We’re afraid they might turn around and accuse us. After all, we’re not perfect. No, but we’re forgiven because we confess our sins and trust in Jesus for forgiveness. And that faith in Jesus, even if it’s a small faith, can do great things. It relies on the promise of Jesus to be with us as we speak and to give us words to say and the strength to say them. We’re using his word to help them see their sin and their Savior from sin. I can’t think of anything greater that we could do for someone else. And it can be done even with a small faith.

Part II.

Back to my story about little Chloe. In short order, she mastered that toy and what it was designed to teach her. So her mother raised the bar. She set the timer that was part of the toy to see if she could do it before they toy automatically broke apart.
Jesus did the same thing with his disciples. Pointing out when someone sins is hard enough. But pointing it out and forgiving them when they sin against you no matter how often that occurs, is even harder.

Jesus stated, “If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.” First, realize that Jesus isn’t setting a limit when he talks about seven times. On another day when the disciples used that same number as the upper limit for their willingness to forgive, Jesus told them, “Not seven times, but seventy-seven times” (Mt. 18:22). Jesus was teaching the truth that our forgiveness shouldn’t be limited. It should be like his—limitless.

But also realize that true repentance is required. The person must be sorry for their sin against us and against God. And notice that the situation Jesus describes doesn’t state that this is the same sin each of the seven times; it’s just the same person committing the seven sins.

But forgiving such a person might not be easy to do. We might begin to doubt their sincerity. Our anger with their blatant disregard for us and for our feelings can easily get in the way of doing what Jesus says. We begin to wonder if we’re just being taken advantage of. We don’t feel like forgiving them. We’d rather hold a grudge.
But Jesus’ words are clear. If he repents, forgive him. And that doesn’t take a great faith. Even a small faith does great things. It willingly forgives.

How do we fight the urge, however, to withhold forgiveness? To hold a grudge? Look to the cross of Christ. Every time you have gone to your Savior for forgiveness, even for the same sins committed over and over again, this is what you heard, “Your sins are forgiven. Go in peace.” Jesus won full forgiveness for you by his life lived perfectly for you and by his death died innocently for you on the cross. We are assured of that forgiveness by his resurrection. If that’s the forgiveness he extends to me each day, then even my small faith can do great things by willingly forgiving others.

Part III.

Have you ever done something nice for someone and thought to yourself, “I wonder if they’ll ever thank me or pay me back”? Those thoughts come easily into our minds. It’s because of our sinful nature. It always wants to know what’s in it for us.

Jesus presents what sounds like a rather harsh and unloving scenario. He tells us to imagine that we own a servant who spends the day working for us. When he’s finished with his work, we don’t tell him to take it easy. We tell him he still has one more thing to do—make our dinner and serve us.

Wow, sounds cold-hearted, doesn’t it? Is that really how Jesus wants us to be?

Not at all. He told this story to make one point, and this is it, “So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’” When even our small faith does great things—the very things Jesus pointed to here in our text—this isn’t reason for us to be filled with sinful pride and wonder how Jesus is going to repay us for being so wonderful. We need to remember who we are—we’re sinners who deserve eternal death. But Jesus has won eternal life for us and it’s ours by faith in him. So now we can work in his kingdom, doing the things he commands us to do as his followers, and expect nothing in return. As his followers we know that we live by grace—God’s favor which we don’t deserve. We should expect no good thing from him and yet he promises to give us eternal riches. So now go, even if you only have faith as small as a mustard seed, and accomplish great things in God’s kingdom out of love for him. I can’t wait to see what great things your faith is going to do for others this week! May your week be filled with them by the power of your risen Savior, Jesus Christ! Amen.