By Jeff Deuble

Jesus characteristically spoke in parables. Some, like the story of the Prodigal Son and Good Samaritan, are famous and well known. Others are often expounded on in sermons and Christian education, such as the parable of the talents or unforgiving servant. Many, while less familiar, are still acknowledged and referred to in biblical teaching. However, there is one parable which I consider as virtually lost or forgotten. Over my lifetime I can’t remember hearing one sermon on this parable, and I am struggling to recall if I’ve ever heard it publicly referred to or mentioned. Here’s the one I’m referring to:

Luke 17:7-10. ‘Suppose one of you has a servant ploughing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, “Come along now and sit down to eat”? Won’t he rather say, “Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink”? Will he thank the servant because he did
what he was told to do? 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.”’

I’m aware of attempts to dismiss this parable as being under the “old covenant”? But wouldn’t that apply to all of Jesus’ parables? Some have said that it has been superseded by Jesus’ statement in John 15:15: “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” However, the parables of Jesus never seek to express comprehensive truth, but rather to highlight and illustrate certain aspects of the truth or principles at play within the Kingdom of God.

Why do you think this parable has been so dismissed, overlooked, and neglected? Could it be that not only within our culture generally, but in the Christian community specifically, its message is way too challenging and confronting – so uncomfortable in fact that it is considered unpalatable? Jesus’ teaching here is radically counter-cultural. He presents three pushbacks to what we typically accept and expect as “normal”. He says that the Christian life should be one of:

1. Indebtedness.

Our sense of indebtedness is not a denial of grace, but a recognition of it. It arises from the reality that “we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:3-5). Like the unforgiving servant before the king in Jesus’ parable in Matthew 18, we are overwhelmingly indebted, our situation hopeless before a holy God.

The more profoundly we know and feel our sinfulness and unworthiness, the more genuine and heartfelt our repentance will be, and the more overwhelmed we will be with gratitude and a deep sense of indebtedness. Our response to what God has done for us is to joyously acknowledge that God is worthy – worthy of our heart’s affection and life’s devotion, worthy of all praise and honor and glory, worthy of anything and everything we could ever do for Him. It’s a fundamental rejection of any sense of entitlement so prevalent today.

2. Service.

When Jesus shared that Passover supper with his disciples in the upper room just prior to his arrest, he left them with two things: a means by which to remember him, and an example for us to follow. As he washed his disciples’ feet, he was performing the task of a lowly servant, the antithesis of what would normally be expected as the attitude and actions of a rabbi towards his followers. The Christian’s selfless service for God and others emulates “the Son of Man [who] did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).

The Apostle Paul’s most common self-designation was as a ”servant” of Jesus Christ. The Greek word he uses, “doulos”, means a bond-slave. At that time, a bond-slave was the possession of his or her master. They had the lowest social status and no legal rights. Their pre-eminent focus was on pleasing and doing their master’s will, much as described in this parable.

In a similar way, Paul says that we “are not our own; we were bought at a price” (1 Corinthians 6:20). While Paul recognized his personal freedom and apostolic rights, he was also willing to lay those down as needed for the sake of the gospel and out of loving service for others (1 Corinthians 8:9 – 9:19).

3. Selflessness.

The Bible asserts that God is sovereign over all, the centre of the universe: “For from him and through him and for him are all
things. To him be the glory for ever! Amen” (Romans 11:36). Accordingly, we are commanded to love Him above all – fully, deeply, and completely – with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. The second commandment about loving our neighbor as ourselves was raised to a higher level when Jesus gave a “new” commandment to his disciples that they love others in the same way they had been loved by him (John 13:34-35). Using Jesus as our example and inspiration, Paul exhorts us to “…in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others” (Philippians 2:3-4).

We live in a narcissistic culture where everything is reduced to the question, “What’s in it for me? What am I going to get out of
it?” That can easily translate into consumerist Christianity, which focuses on the benefits of the gospel, the blessings we receive, and what God does for us. It’s self-converged and self-serving. It’s me-centered rather than God-centered. While those benefits and blessings are real, this forgotten parable of Jesus is a needed correction to bring us back to an important reality.

Ultimately, it’s not about me, but the One I serve, and to whom I owe all I am and have, the One to whom I will be forever indebted and eternally grateful. In the words of John the Baptist, “He must increase; I must decrease” (John 3:30). This verse is the ‘Keswick Deeper Life Text’, seen as the key to going deeper in God.

Luke 9:23. “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”

The ongoing challenge I face is to stand against the pull of our culture and my inherent selfish inclinations to become more God-centered and others-focused. It’s a battle that is ongoing, and in which I can only hope to gain ground through my heavenly Father’s mercy, grace, and empowering spirit.

How “me-centered” or “God-centered” is your Christian faith?