It’s not about you
Readings: Luke 17. 5-10
Life, it’s all about you. Isn’t it?
We’re nearing the end of a big block of teaching, most of which is exclusive to Luke. But as this section draws to a close he rather fittingly brings in the response of the Apostle’s to all of this. There’s just been the parable of the rich man and Lazarus which we heard last week, then there’s just been some teaching on not causing others to stumble and the need to forgive, and do so freely. And what do the Apostle’s say to all of this challenging and difficult teaching? Lord, increase our faith.
Faced with the mammoth task, the challenge of living out what Jesus teaches, living as he commands, they realise they can’t do this alone. Lord increase our faith. What a prayer, what a response. Oh that we, when facing challenges in our lives, or reading a passage of the Bible which we know we’ll find hard to do, oh that those words would be our response; Lord increase our faith. That we wouldn’t despair in those moments, or decide it’s too hard so best not to try, or beat ourselves up, but turn to Jesus and say, Lord I believe, yet increase my faith to do as you call.
But Jesus’ response to this request is interesting. If you had faith the size of a mustard seed you could simply speak and this Mulberry tree would be uprooted. We often think of the mountain that Jesus says this about, which he does elsewhere in Luke, and in Mark and Matthew. But here it’s a Mulberry tree. Mulberry trees have a vast and rather tenacious root system, they’re rooted in tight. In fact the Jewish Mishnah prohibited them from being planted within 23m of a water cistern for exactly this reason, they’d destroy it. Whatever could uproot and move such a tree must be mighty indeed. And yet it’s faith as small as a mustard seed. Faith as tiny as a mustard seed that sits like a spec in your hand, that will be enough to shift that tree.
And the way this and the teaching about the mountain is often treated is it being about our faith, our trust in God. If you just have faith God will do it. But what Jesus is saying here is that, actually, it’s not about you. Yes we should long for bigger, deeper, more trusting faith, absolutely. But it’s not about the depth or size of our faith, it’s about the one who our faith is in. If it’s faith as small as a mustard seed that can shift Mulberry trees and plant them in the ocean, it’s not really about the power of our faith, it’s about the power of the one our faith is in.
Picture this, imagine faith is like a tow rope used by one car to pull another car up a hill. If the second car won’t move, you don’t get it to move by attaching a stronger rope between the cars do you. What matters isn’t the rope, but the vehicle the rope is attached to. If we, by faith, have taken hold of God and his promises, what matters isn’t the strength of that faith, what matters is the strength of the God we have put our faith in. In other words it’s not about you, the output of your faith, it’s about God. And this is why Jesus then goes on to talk about slaves and masters. It feels like a bit of a kick to our self-esteem, our sense of worth that Jesus seems to call us worthless slaves, but what he’s getting at is again that point, it’s not about you.
We can very easily fall into main character syndrome. What do I mean by that? It means life is all about us, we’re the main character in our story and everyone else is just a part in the story of our life. And so then everyone else becomes a means to an end, not in an exploitative way, but if they aren’t adding to the overall good we are aiming for, if they become a drain or if we decide we want to go in a different direction we can just drop them because they don’t matter, we’re what matters. Life is about what we want to make it, our choices, our style, do things your way. If life is a story, you’re the main character, and don’t let anyone get in the way of you telling your story your way. Main character syndrome.
But that’s not the Christian way, the Christian life. We’re not the main character, that’s what Jesus tells us. We’re not the master, we’re not the lead, Jesus is. And actually far from being a massive let down and a crushing realisation, this is actually immensely freeing. If the story is all about us, that seems like it would be great, but actually then everything relies on us, us getting stuff right, doing the right thing. We’ll either be crushed under the weight or become mini tyrants, picking up and dropping people at will as it suits us. No, instead our part is to serve the one who the story really is about, the true master. Everything doesn’t revolve around you, it revolves around Jesus.
And if everything revolves around Jesus that means that everything is there to serve him, not to serve us. And suddenly we’re all on a level footing. We’re no longer competing to be the star, we instead come into orbit around Jesus. And what this should instil in us isn’t self loathing, we’re worthless, we’re just bit parts, we’re nothing. That’s to misunderstand what Jesus is saying. It should instead lead us into true humility.
If we’re not the main character we’re freed to serve, to live as he calls. If we’re not the main character then actually church isn’t about what we get from it, what our preferences and requirements are, but how we can serve one another through it and worship God in it. Our faith becomes not about what God is going to do for us, or how we can fit God into our already packed schedules, but about how we can better meet him and serve him in our daily lives. Because if we’re not the main character, not the master, then we’d better be listening to the one who is. Because it’s not about you, it’s about Jesus.
And this is a particular challenge for those called to leadership in the Church. Whether Ordained or lay roles. Worship leaders, intercessors, small group leaders, wardens, Priests and Bishops. The temptation in all of those roles and others is to make it about us. It’s about my role, my ministry. I’m now the Vicar here so now I can enforce my preferences, now get my way. But it’s not about me.
There’s a reason this teaching is directed at the Apostle’s. They’re about to be the leaders of the fledgling Church, they’re about to play an incredibly significant role with a huge amount of power and influence in that early community. And Jesus doesn’t want them led astray in that and so he’s reminding them it’s not about them, they’re slaves, servants like the rest. They have only done what has been required, seeking to serve him as best as they can.
And we should pray for our leaders in our day to have that same humility, to truly see themselves not as leaders and influencers, but as slaves of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. A prayer well worth praying for Bishop Sarah Mullally as she prepares to become Archbishop of Canterbury, for our own Archbishop Cherry, our Bishop Dorrien, and for our local clergy and leaders including me. A humility that see’s things as not about us, but about Jesus. It’s not about me, it’s about him and his Church.
There’s a reason this is the only place in Luke’s Gospel, whilst he refers to the Apostle’s quite a few times, and he refers to Jesus as Lord all over his Gospel, this is the only place where they’re put next to each other. Yes, they’re the Apostle’s, but they’re the Apostle’s of the Lord. It’s about him.
Whilst Jesus words are harsh here, they are deliberately so. He knows how much damage is caused when leaders in the Church, and those who long to have influence in the Church, make it all about themselves. So he’s quick to remind us that we are servants, slaves for his sake. And yet our master is not cruel, he is not a tyrant.
He is the one who laid down his life for us. The master who dies for his slaves, the King for his people. He is the one who called God Father, and by his Spirit has adopted us such that we too can join our voice to his in crying out Father in the same way. He is the one who longs to gather us to himself like a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. This is no ruthless or cruel master. Paul is probably the author in the New Testament who speaks most often of being a slave of and for Jesus. Yet he does so joyfully, there’s a freedom in it. And how does he speak of his master? In Galatians 2.20 he calls him the ‘Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me’.
My brothers and sisters, true life and freedom isn’t found by making ourselves the main character, it’s by realising we’re not, Jesus is. There true freedom in faith is found for it is not about the depth of our faith but the one in whom our faith has been placed. And there true humility can grow, for it is not about our reward, our impressive achievements, but about Jesus who loved us so much that he died for us. And now all our life is lived simply trying to repay the great gift we have been given in him. And so Lord, in the face of this challenge, increase our faith.
Amen.