Luke 17:6 "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.""
In these chapters of the gospel of Luke, Jesus is instructing His disciples in the concept of self-less living. He is using the example of the pharisees as those who think too highly of themselves and believe that they deserve to be served, rather than serve others. Jesus warns the disciples that that kind of self-centered thinking will only bring offense to God and He uses the example of Lazarus and the rich man to illustrate the outcome of selfish living. It will only lead to a hard heart and will bring offense to God and His people. Their attitude should be one of forgiveness and selfless service. Upon hearing that, the disciples asked Jesus for more faith. Jesus' response is recorded in verse 6. If they had the faith of a mustard seed they could command trees to be moved. In another gospel Jesus talks about faith that can move mountains.
Jesus is telling His disciples that even if they only had faith the size of a mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds, they could do impossible tasks. In other words, He is telling them that what they need is not more faith, for what little faith they have is already enough. What they need in order to be faithful followers of Christ is not more faith or more power from above, but rather more humility. You see, the followers of Jesus saw His mighty power and miracles and they wanted more of that power in their lives in order to be great among men. What Jesus is telling them is that before they can handle the power, they have to be broken to the point of realizing that there is nothing good in them. He says in verse 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." In order to not fall into the traps of self-righteousness and the terrible consequences that follow, the lesson to learn is not to ask for more supernatural power, but rather to allow God to humble us to the point of death of self. It is when we are completely void of our own desires and wishes, our natural tendency to promote ourselves, that God will fill us with the power of the Holy Spirit and perform miracles in us and through us. The byproduct of a surrendered life is the power of God in our life, not the other way around. As a disciple, you first give up all, then you gain everything.
Too many times we say to God, "OK, God if you do this for me or give that to me, then I will give up more of my life for You!" That kind of thinking only shows that we still think we deserve something, because of our own goodness. To have that kind of attitude is dangerous and Jesus warns us that it would be better to be drowned with a millstone around our necks than to offend any one of the other followers because of our selfishness. The faithful servant recognizes that there is nothing good in him and what he does, he does out of duty and obedience to God.
Application
If I want to be a useful servant to God, I have to first recognize that I am unprofitable with what I have to bring to the table. Brokenness comes before usefulness in the kingdom of God. Today, I will write on a piece of paper "I am an unprofitable servant" and look at it throughout the day to remind me to be humble in all I do.
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