This morning I’d like to talk about the foundation for decision making. If you are building a house and the foundation is solid the house will stand. If you have a great home design and buy the best lumber and the most expensive fixtures, and then build the house on sand, it will fall quickly.

What we are really talking about here is, understanding God’s individual will. What should I do in this situation? Should I go to college? Which college should I go too? Who should I marry?

The Bible speaks of God’s will in other way as well. God has a sovereign will – All that happens is designed by God to serve his good purposes.

God’s moral will – This is the clear biblical instruction as to what’s right and what’s wrong.

God’s individual will – I don’t believe God hides this from his children.

Colossians 1:9 (ESV)
⁹ And so, from the day we heard [of your faith in Christ and your love for the saints], we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding…

Romans 12:2 (ESV)
² Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God,…

Psalm 32:8 (ESV)
⁸ I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.

I’d like you to think about the question, “What is God’s will for me in this situation?” What are we really asking? This is very important. Are we actually approaching God like a genie – “O genie what school should I attend? O genie, what car should I buy?” Asking a question like that does not center on a desire for God to be lifted up, for Jesus to be glorified – is a bad question because we are simply using God for our own ends. The question may be very important to us, and we may want God to answer, but we’re approaching God like a crystal ball – and God is NO crystal ball.

So, I assume we’re asking like this, “God I long to be the person you want me to be. I long to live for you in everything I do. It’s my heart’s desire that everything I do, I do for you. So please, would you lead me to the right school. That is a different question, right?

Psalm 25:12 (ESV)
¹² Who is the man who fears the Lord? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.

Psalm 73:23-26 (ESV)
²³ …I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. ²⁴ You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. ²⁵ Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. ²⁶ My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

John 15:7 (ESV)
⁷ If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

[Listen to this sermon]

Many of us have heard or read Luke 17:6, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea.’ and it will obey you.” Here’s an opening question for you this morning. What do you think when you hear those words?

Many, if not most of us think something like, “It would be so cool if I could do things like this with my faith!” Some use the miraculous to dismiss the truth of Scripture. Some relegate it to something unique to the time of Jesus. What do you think when you read a verse like this.

We humans tend to approach things from a perspective that is very limited and self-serving. My conclusions are often “bent” toward my own self interest and not God’s glory. Not only do we tend to view things from our perspective and not God’s, often the verse and chapter devisions we’ve placed in our Bibles disrupt the reading or break the context or encourage “proof-texting”.

Today we’re going to look at this verse in its context to see if we might understand it correctly.

Luke 17:1-10 (NIV)
Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to sin (stumbling blocks) are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. ² It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little (young ones or weak followers) ones to sin. ³ So watch yourselves. “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. ⁴ If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”

⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” ⁶ He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

⁷“Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? ⁸ Would he not rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? ⁹ Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? ¹⁰ 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.’”

Verse 1-4

How we live in a sinful world is a VERY big deal. Jesus mentions two aspects of this that are important. First – the seriousness of our conduct and the reality of our sin causing others to sin. Second – how we respond to those who sin. These four verses are about living faithfully and the impact our lives have on those around us.

Romans 14:13 (NIV)
Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.

1 Corinthians 10:31-33 (NIV)
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God- even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.

1 John 2:10 (NIV)
Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble.

Then we see Jesus focus on two specific things we should do in our role as ambassadors of Jesus. First, he says that when we see a brother (or sister) sin, we should connect with them about it. We should not just let it slide. This isn’t loving or in the person’s best interest. Lovingly, caringly come along side them and make sure they know you are for them – help them. Pray with them.

The second thing Jesus mentions here is forgiveness. We must not break fellowship while those who sin are repentant. God is patient and forgiving to us. We must be patient and forgiving as well.

Matthew 18:21-22 (NIV)
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

Verses 5-6

Now, after Jesus shares this very important instruction with them, the disciples respond. They come to the conclusion that they must have a faith-increase in order to do what Jesus was, in a sence, requiring of them. So they say, “Increase our faith” (notice how this wasn’t a request but more of a demand). Jesus then says, “If you have the faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planded in the sea, and it will obey you.’” So the BIG question is, what did Jesus mean by this?

Well I would suggest that after what Jesus said in verses 1-4, the disciples didn’t have the right response. In fact, I think their response was VERY wrong. And so Jesus’ response was actually a rebuke. It’s as if he was saying, “I just told you something VERY, VERY important. Be careful not to cause younger followers to stumble! Make sure you help others with their sin! Make sure you forgive each other! And you respond with, ‘We need more faith’. If you had any faith at all you could do amazing things. Additional faith is not the answer.”

Now, as Jesus so often does, he moves to a story to drive home his point.

Verses 7-10

The disciples had lost their way in the relationship with Jesus. He was their friend. He was also God asking them to obey. The point of the story is that we are still subservient to the God that created everything that exists and gives us every breath we receive. We must not forget that God is God – I am not.

Matthew 11:30 (NIV)
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

1 John 2:3 (NIV)
We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.

Revelation 12:17 (NIV)
Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring-those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

1 John 5:3 (NIV)
This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,

Lessons:

Without faith we cannot be saved. Faith is the connection to Jesus that we must have. Faith is that trust that recognizes Jesus as the One who is our only hope if we are to survive God’s judgement. Our rebellion is too deep. Our sin is too massive. We cannot make it right. Jesus came to make it right for us. Saving faith, within the context of my desperate need, believes in Jesus as my only hope in life and in death.

With faith comes obedience. “Jesus, I will trust you in life. I will trust you in death. You are now the One I respond too. You are the one I follow. You are the one I will obey.”

Obediance is faith in action. We must not use a lack of faith as an excuse for disobedience – that’s sin. We must not use a lack of faith as an excuse for being a stumbling block to anyone. We must not use a lack of faith as an excuse to not forgive. We must not put off obedience because we don’t “feel it”. It does not work to search for deeper faith while refusing to obey God’s clear instruction.

This culture would love to see Jesus as friend only. If he is only our friend we can easily not obey. After all he is friend and not master. And he is our deepest friend. Jesus He is also the sovereign God who reigns over everything that exists.

Jesus as Lord will ask for obedience when we may not full understand.