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Mt Olive Lutheran Church Jan Sermon's
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Luke 17:1-10 In rapid fire fashion, Jesus seems to skip from one topic to the next with little or no connection between them. I suggest there is a strong connection between all of these topics which, together, form a strong argument and motivation for forgiving others. Jesus starts by speaking of stumbling blocks. There is one thing that causes people to stumble and fall in the church more than anything else. People fall away from churches, sometimes even falling away from the faith because – we fight in the church. We hold grudges. We hold onto hurts. We talk a lot about forgiveness. How wonderful it is. God’s forgiveness. We mention it in sermons, in Bible Class, in counseling. We know that God’s forgiveness is necessary for our mind and life to be healthy. Seems like every time you turn around, we are talking about forgiveness. And all this talk about forgiveness should make us a forgiving people. Jesus says, “Forgive others.” Forgiving others is what we are about. But it is difficult. Because of this, the disciples say, “Increase our faith!” The disciples must learn again real faith. It is not the size of your faith. Faith as small as a mustard seed – pretty small – can say to a mulberry tree: “Be uprooted and be plated in the sea and it would obey you.” Small faith can do great things because it is not the size of your faith but the size of the one you believe in. When you know the size of Jesus and the bigness of His forgiveness, you are captivated by His forgiveness. When you know the size of Jesus and how big your need is for Him, you are captured by His forgiveness. You become a slave to forgiveness. That is the source of LIFE and health. So let us have none of this Christian nonsense that puts me in the spotlight. That tells me how to control Jesus to get what I want. Jesus has met my deepest need, my basic need. All I can do is fall to my knees and say, “I am an unworthy servant. What do you want me to do?” Jesus tells me to forgive. The main reason we forgive others is that Jesus’ forgiveness has taken our hearts captive and we have become His slaves. I do what He wants me to do. I am an unworthy slave. God’s love in Christ has taken my heart captive. I do not deserve that love. I do not deserve His forgiveness. Receiving such, I am taken captive. I cannot live without that love. Without His forgiveness. It may be difficult, what Jesus asks. But I will try to do it. He will give me the power to do it. Forgive others, He says. Can I do any less?
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