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Then He said to the disciples, "It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, 'I repent,' you shall forgive him.
And the apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith." So the Lord said, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you."
"And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and sit down to eat'? But will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink'? Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise you, when you have done all those things which are commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.' "
- Luke 17:1-10
In Saturday's reading, Jesus taught the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus: "There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Then he cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.' But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.' Then he said, 'I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.' Abraham said to him, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.' And he said, 'No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.' "
Then He said to the disciples, "It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones." Jesus has just finished teaching a parable about a rich man who cared for little but his own pleasures. Here He begins to teach them about leadership in His Church, His "model," if you will. The first consideration is for the "little ones." My study bible says that little ones refers primarily to children, but also by extension to anyone whose "heart is humble and dependent on God." In other words, it applies to all the "little ones" in the Church, the ones who will be dependent upon their leadership. We can also think of this phrase in terms of what power an individual holds in a particular social structure, like poor Lazarus.
"Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, 'I repent,' you shall forgive him." If we look closely at this statement in context, we can see it as another teaching about power in the particular structure of His Church. Those who sin against us (and we remember that He is speaking to His disciples, who are the future leaders of that Church) must be spoken to. This is an "open" structure of not just correction but also justice in the sense of speaking up where there is an offense. But equal weight is given to repentance, and this action of identifying an offense or sin, and also of repentance, must be allowed freely. "Seven" is a number of completeness. Seven times in a day is an unlimited amount; it's a kind of model of interaction which secures a repeated focus on repentance and forgiveness.
And the apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith." So the Lord said, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you." My study bible says that the mulberry tree here is symbolic of the works of the devil. Silkworms feed on mulberry leaves, and worms are an image of hell (see Mark 9:42-48). This is a patristic interpretation, which my study bible says is "confirmed by numerous scriptural images of evil being destroyed in the sea (Luke 8:33; Exodus 14:27; Matthew 21:21; Revelation 20:10).
"And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and sit down to eat'?" My study bible points out that the servant is named as first plowing and second tending sheep, indicating that "one must first work out his own salvation (Philippians 2:12) before he can become a shepherd of others."
"But will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink'? Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise you, when you have done all those things which are commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.' " My study bible notes the word translated as "unprofitable." This word (ἀχρεῖος) means "without merit" or in some more strict sense, describes action that is not needed, or without usefulness. My study bible notes, however, that it doesn't mean there is no intrinsic value -- rather it means "everything we have comes from God and is owed back to Him. There is nothing we can offer God that is not already His."
Jesus gives commands that recommend a structure of humility, one that is based on a use of power rooted in the value of humility. We are first taught about the value in this structure or hierarchy of the "little ones." That is, those who wield the least power, like children. They are the ones who are entrusted to the care of these disciples who will become the leaders and shepherds of His Church. This is the root of the rest of His teachings on leadership. They are to avoid at all costs offense to the little ones, abuses of power, sinning against those who are vulnerable in all sorts of ways, who come for teaching and instruction and leadership. Offense between one another is to be handled in a particular way, not suppressing offense and when it occurs, but rather making an opening to repentance and forgiveness, as a constant and steady process, repeated endlessly, demanding humility and patience. Power comes via faith, as illustrated in the parable of the mustard seed and the mulberry tree, and this power is against works of evil in the world. If then power comes via faith (even faith so small as a tiny mustard seed), then what we do see of power illustrated here is a power that works within the will of God. This is not a worldly autocratic kind of destructive power; rather, it's the "power" to be allied in faith to God's desires, God's prerogatives. And with this understanding as background to all else, we come to see this model of faith and structure in the works of His Church. The servants are those allied to the Master's will, via faith, and in this we also get a model of what is to truly be a powerful person of prayer. Prayer that is truly effective is not a statement of wishes or desires; it's something powerful because it is allied to the will of God. In the Eastern Church, today is the day of Pentecost, and we would do well to remember here Christ's true model of power: it is in the power of the Spirit, the One in whom we are always to pray, the One who truly builds the fullness of the Church and is the power within and through all things. In St. Basil's treatise "On the Holy Spirit," he quotes from Psalm 33: "By the Word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host by the Spirit of His mouth." This is the power in which the Church is rooted, the power that turned common men into great Apostles via faith, the kind of power that truly models the Church and how it must be shaped and function. Jesus speaks even of what I would call the humility of the Spirit: "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come" (John 16:13 NKJV). Let us remember the true power we're rooted in, how it works, how it loves, how we seek to pray within it, and how it will always surprise us. This is our real foundation in life and in His service.
