Twenty-seventh Sunday In Ordinary Time

On this Sunday both Luke and the liturgy give us a break from the theme of Christians and wealth. The author seems to have returned to miscellaneous material which does not fit any particular context. This part of Luke's gospel is still under the framework of the "Journey to Jerusalem," a long section of the gospel under which Luke places some of his most difficult instruction. He writes on two levels: Jesus instructing his immediate disciples as they were on the road to Jerusalem, and secondly Luke is instructing his Christian Community. Chapter seventeen begins with a brief instruction on temptation, assuring Christians that temptation will come, plus radical "termination" of those who bring on temptation - the "millstone solution." Next comes a note about fraternal correction and forgiveness. No matter how often a sinner repents, even "seven times in the day," Christians must forgive those who offend them.

The insistence on forgiveness may serve as an introduction to this Sunday's gospel reading. Luke writes, "The apostles said to Jesus, 'Increase our faith.'" Why does the author insert this brief instruction on faith after insistence on forgiveness? Possibly because it is so difficult to forgive those who offend us. In other words, it takes faith, faith in the One who continually forgives us and demands that we forgive even repeat offenders. Luke next adds a very unusual saying of Jesus, a saying that seems contrary to reality. "If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea, and it would obey you.'" Really? What can possibly be the meaning of this strange saying attributed to Jesus? Perhaps this: It is as naturally impossible to perform this "trick" as it is naturally impossible to keep on forgiving someone who offends us "seven times a day." It takes faith.

But like a grain of mustard seed? Does mustard seed have faith? Obviously not, but mustard seed is extremely small, but it sprouts and the plant grows invasively by spreading throughout a field or garden. Therefore a person who has even a tiny grain of faith is on the way to an invasion of faith so strong that it could move a mulberry tree into the sea by the mere intention of the one having faith. The saying should not be understood literally but as hyperbole, an exaggeration. Exaggeration is a great tool to make a point of the power of faith. Everyone with any common sense would recognize immediately that the Lucan Jesus is using the literary tool of exaggeration. Faith becomes so invasive, like the mustard plant, that forgiving one who keeps offending us becomes easy.

Next Luke throws in a parable of Jesus. A servant (or slave) works all day plowing or tending the sheep of his boss or master. If he comes into the house in the evening, does the boss say, "Sit down at the table, Mensch?” No way! Instead the boss will say, "Clean up. Cook my supper. Serve me. Afterwards you too can eat." He won't even thank the tired workingman who has to wait on him after toiling all day in the fields. Luke draws a principle, an instruction from this little parable. "So you also, when you have done all that you have been commanded, say to yourselves, 'We are unworthy servants. We have only done what was our duty.'" That's severe and seems cruel. This application of the parable is not for people depressed or of low self-esteem. Luke's catechesis: When we have done all that we are supposed to do as Christians, we still have no claim on God. Another way to phrase this teaching: Salvation is always a free gift of God. St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:6-7, "I planted. Apollos watered. But God gives the growth. So neither the one who plants, nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth."

There are other scriptural references reinforcing Luke's teaching in the application of Jesus' parable. Ephesians 2:8, "By grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not because of (your) works, so that no one can boast." It is true that Paul wrote in Philippians 2:12-13,"...work out your salvation in fear and trembling." This seems contrary to Luke's teaching of the worthlessness of the servant who so faithfully did his work and received no gratitude. But Paul added the following,"... for God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his own chosen purpose." Further meditation on this point: Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 9:16, "Even if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting, for that is my duty. A curse on me if I do not preach the gospel." At the end of Paul's long discussion of why his own people did not en masse accept Jesus as Messiah, he asks, "Who has first given to him (God) that recompense should be made? For from him and through him and unto him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen."

Now the "rest of the story": Earlier in his gospel Luke has a somewhat different emphasis. In 12:37 we read, "Blessed are those servants whom the Master finds awake when he returns. Amen, I say to you. He will put on his apron and have them sit at the table and be present to serve them." But what about Job 22:3, "Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are righteous, or is it gain to him if you make your way blameless?" Should we answer, "NO and YES?" First the answer is No, but if God freely obligated himself to owe us, as he did, for example in the pact or treaty he made with Abraham in Genesis 15:1-20, then the answer is Yes. The same affirmative answer is Luke 12:37 quoted above. The Master by his own free choice decides to reward his faithful servants who have kept watching. God has adopted us into the divine family and by his own initiative obligated himself to reward his faithful daughters and sons. An illustration: Jesus was not obligated to wash his disciples' feet at the Last Supper, but he freely chose to do so.