12.07 | Unworthy

Luke 17

“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.”

Luke 17:10

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Why would Jesus teach us to call ourselves ‘unworthy servants’? 

So much of what we reflect on in our Christian faith—from the verses we memorise to the sermons we hear to the songs that we sing—emphasise how God has affirmed great worth upon us, through the death of His Son. We so often live our days under the wounds and weight of words that have stripped us of worth—words of criticism, racism, sexism, and a basic lack of love. We experience the God we meet Jesus of Nazareth as the great restorer of dignity, and the ultimate expression of our unimaginable worth to the Father.

So why does Jesus tell us this mini-parable today? 

Look closely at what’s been happening.

He’s just given them three instructions.

Put no stumbling block in from of one of these ‘little ones’ (by which He probably means His disciples).

Be a people of relentless forgiveness of one another.

The smallest amount of faith can work extraordinary miracles.

In short, He’s teaching them some essentials about how to operate in His Kingdom.

And then we get this parable, about a servant coming in from a hard day’s work.

Jesus is getting to the motives of the heart behind the kind of activity He’s described above.

Because something can happen to us, when we think we’re doing things for God. Something toxic. Something that robs us of the ways of grace and freedom and life and beauty. Something that lifts us out of the ways of the Kingdom and plants us firmly in the broken down ways of the world. 

Entitlement.

Jesus, after instructing His followers about protecting one another from temptation, forgiveness, and great works of faith, wants them to know that this should not—in no way and under no circumstances—lead to them being entitled.

Because when the servant comes in from the field, having protected the vulnerable and forgiven their neighbour and worked the miracles, there is a danger that we then expect a reward. We think we’re owed something. We think God, therefore, is bound to answer our prayers, in gratitude for our marvellous service. We become entitled.

But here’s the problem.

Entitlement denies love, for love can only operate through giving freely.

Entitlement turns a relationship of mutual and freely-offered service into a clinical relationship of transaction.

Entitlement warps the motive of the giver, from the desire to please and bless the other, to the expectation of reward for the self.

But the Kingdom of God never works like this.

In the Kingdom, it is always freedom. In the Kingdom, it is always love. In the Kingdom it is always Him freely giving all of Himself for me and me freely giving all of myself for Him. He took up His cross for me; I take up my cross for Him.

In the Kingdom, nobody is counting what they are entitled to, because love is never counting.

Does He serve me? Beyond all reason and sense, the King of the Universe washes our feet.¹ Does He want me fed and well? He prepares a table before us, even in the presence of our greatest enemies.² Does He desire my good? He works for our good in every circumstance.³

And yet, when we are done with our guarding one another, forgiving one another, and when we perform the greatest miracles on our tiny-but-mighty amounts of faith, we do not come to Him entitled, banging on the table and expecting our reward for our marvellous service.

Rather, we come low, in great love, to the King who served me first, willing, ready, and generous. All that I am for all that He is, in the endless beauty of a relationship that operates entirely on the basis of willing, serving, and freely given

Love.

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Reflect:

Consider my motives. Do I find entitlement in my approach to God? 

Spend some time with how this might be warping your motives, or warping your view of God.

Bring this to Him, laying down your entitlement. Ask Him to take you deeper into the ways of willing, generous, and endlessly generous love.

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Pray:

Lord Jesus,

It seems to me,

That this learning requires me

To greatly trust your goodness.

Because serving you is vulnerable:

I do not have any guarantees of a reward.

I cannot know whether it will make my life easier and more successful,

Or whether it will be harder this way—

Comforts forsaken and reputation bruised.

And yet, my Lord,

I choose you.

I choose to put my comforts to one side;

Seeking your glory,

Seeking your honour,

Seeking to live your way—

Not for the sake of reward,

But for the sake of willing love.

And so, 

Would you take entitlement far from my heart,

That I may operate only and ever more fully

In the interactions of grace;

And that I may do all things

From love,

And know that in all things,

I have your endless love.

I serve you,

My servant King.

In Your Name,

Lord Jesus,

Amen

Old Testament: 

For those also reading the Old Testament this year, your additional readings are here:

Isaiah 58-59 | Proverbs 18:16-24

1. John 13:1-20

2. Psalm 23:5

3. Romans 8:28