Shalom,
We need to be grateful that we are still alive and have a chance to worship Him. May the Holy Spirit guide us and give us wisdom to understand the Lord’s will that we may live a life pleasing to Him.
What is the Lord’s will that we must understand? He wants us to understand what it is to be a servant and his duty as it is written in Luke 17:10, “So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, “We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.””
The root word of ‘servant’ is ‘doulos’ which means a slave. A slave has no right at all though he ought to do many kinds of work. He must give up his will, aspiration and anything he has to his master. We can find the evidence in vv. 7-9: After shepherding his master’s flock, the slave was assigned to serve his master by preparing him food and the master did not necessarily thank him for his service. Even after he had done everything what his master told him to do, he should say that he was useless and unworthy to receive any compliment.
Introspection: Do we seek for compliment, recognition, or acknowledgement after doing our ministry? A repented person does not bother to care whether or not he will receive any acknowledgement. Rather, he will always make himself busy working for the Lord without worrying whether others may praise or criticize him. This is the true servant.
Romans 6:16 writes there are two types of servant which we can choose to be: servant of sin that will lead to perdition and servant of truth. We were slaves of sin but we have been set free from sin to be servants of God that will lead us to sanctification and to be rewarded eternal life (v. 22).
After thousands of years, doulos concept is still highly relevant up to this day. What should a servant be watchful about? They must be aware of any kind of offences that will surely take place (Luke 17:1). Offences against what?
- Repentance (Luke 15:7,10,32)
The stories about the lost sheep, the lost silver coin and the prodigal son point to repentance. There will be joy in heaven when one person repents. The story of Lazarus who was in the bosom of Abraham and the rich man who was in Hades also speaks about repentance. It was said that if the living would not listen to Moses and the prophets, they would not be persuaded even if someone rose from the dead (Luke 16:30-31). In other words, they had to believe in what was written in the Old Testament. As for us now, the Bible consisting of the Old Testament and the New Testament that were written by the inspiration of God is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for instruction in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16). Is it not clear enough that Bible teaches us about repentance? Unfortunately, people prefer hearing the story of apreacher who was taken to hell or heaven and then came back; whereas, the Bible is indeed enough to make people repent.
Application: We should know that perversion inevitably takes place, disguising as a servant of truth. Let us not be easily charmed by any phenomenal news, lest we belittle the truth of the Bible. It is true that the Bible is written in static physical letters, but if we ponder on and live out the Bible, it will become the living word of God that is powerful to make us repent and to educate us to be the servant of truth.
- Devotion (Luke 16:13)
A doulos should know exactly who his master is: the Lord or Mammon. The Pharisees were notoriously known as lovers of money as it is written in verse 14. How do we identify a lover of money? It is reflected in his daily life. Yes, everyone needs money but Mammon must not be our master.
Question: In our twenty-four-hour daily life, how many hours do we spend for the Lord? How many percent is it compared to the time we use to make money? The Bible clearly says there will be difficult times. People will love themselves and become lover of money (1 Tim. 3:1-5). How do we face the challenging economy nowadays especially during pandemic?
- Marriage (Luke 16:18)
Are we aware that same-sex marriage is now approved worldwide? The churches in Europe even give their blessing. Many Christians nowadays are astute to find a loophole concerning marriage, but we should hold firm to what the Bible says, “Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Matt. 19:6).
We are well known as “the church of Bride Tidings”. But in fact, in the midst of the good tidings of holiness, there are many divorces and affairs among the congregation. If we ponder, someone’s strength could also be his weakness.
Luke 17:2 says about a deceiver: it is better for him that a milestone is hung on his neck and he is cast into the sea than to deceive one of the little ones. Concerning deception, Jesus gave some solutions:
⊕ Watch ourselves (v. 3) that we may not be a deceiver in repentance, finance and and marriage.
⊕ Rebuke those who do sin and forgive them if they feel remorse.
As long as we are still breathing, as a doulos we have no right to refuse forgiving those who are deeply repentant. Don’t be like the older son who scorned and envied his repented little brother! The way out of repentance is through forgiveness.
Introspection: Are we willing to forgive our spouse, children or parents who have hurt us? If we are still unable to forgive them, we are not a true doulos because we do not give up our will.
What is the correct way to rebuke someone? Do it privately! If he does not listen, take one or two persons as the witnesses. If he still refuses to listen to them, we should address the case to the congregation. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, consider him as someone who does not know the Lord (Matt. 18:15-17). It is not our position to judge him. We should pray that someday God will eventually touch his heart.
National Commission for Women recorded that in 2020 the main reasons of divorce in Indonesia are: unsettled conflicts, financial problems, infidelity, and domestic abuse. Why are there conflicts between husband and wife? Because everyone, including Christians, still have desires (James 4:1). We want what we do not have then we envy and fight and quarrel because we do not ask for it in prayer (v. 2). Lust without self-control will surely lead to fight. It often happens that the wife’s (mother) words become the “law” of the family while the husband (father) has no time for his family with an excuse of being busy making money. Honestly speaking, the severest suffering in this world stems from a dysfunctional family where peace no longer exists, causing the family members to as if live in hell.
Forgiveness is crucially needed in repentance. When we repent, God forgives us. And if we forgive others, our Heavenly Father will also forgive us. But if we refuse to forgive others, our Heavenly Father will not forgive us either (Matt. 6:14-15). Forgiving is like a doulos being bound to go the extra mile in everything they do. It is truly difficult to forgive our spouse who has cheated on us, or our employee who has embezzled money. It is as hard as the older son forgiving his little brother who had indulged in sin. However, if one soul repents, the entire heaven will rejoice. Heaven is not full with Christmas carols, but with songs of praise over one repentant.
We should bear in mind that after giving forgiveness, our mouth should confess, “we are unworthy servants”. Thus, we do not need to flex throughout our social media that we have forgiven someone, expecting to get the credit. Remember, we are doulos who are obliged to do our duty, having no intention to take any credit.
Let us train ourselves to be a faithful servant of God, not of Mammon, who does our obligation responsibly without any ulterior motive. And we must do it in holiness, especially in our marriage, so that we may please our Lord. Amen.