Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost October 4-5, 2025
“Increase Our Faith” Luke 17:1-10
Rev. John R. Larson Ascension Lutheran Church Littleton, Colorado
Today I am not going to preach. I am going to teach. Today’s sermon is like attending a Bible Class. Open your Bible to Luke 17:1-10. It is on page 1067 in your pew Bible. There are four sections in these 10 verses:
- Woe to those who cause others to stumble.
- Forgiveness is given to those who repent.
- Faith does great things.
- We are humble servants.
These verses were spoken to believers. They are the teaching of Jesus to those who already had faith in Him. Look at verses 1-3 in your Bible. Read it aloud with me. “Jesus said to his disciples: Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. 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 ones to sin. So watch yourselves.”
You are responsible for your soul and your life, but that isn’t all. You are responsible for others. You guide them. You teach them. You are to love them. But watch out that you don’t lead others down the wrong road. Some are quite irresponsible to others. And to this Jesus has a word of “Woe”. It is better never to have lived than to destroy the life of another. I think of pedophiles, or those who teach others how to do evil. I think of the one who wants another to become hooked on drugs. But that is not all. Who are these “little ones” that Jesus is speaking about? “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 ones to sin.” Little ones – children? Sure, but more than that. It is anyone who trusts you. It is anyone who looks to you for guidance, truth, the right path – and they are taken the wrong way. I think of people who scam others. Those who steal from the ignorant, the elderly or the foolish. Woe to you, Jesus says, to those who cause others to stumble. Woe to you, Jesus says, if you teach others how to sin.
Now look at the second section of our verses. Read verses 3-5 with me. “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent’, forgive him. The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith.’”
In one day forgive someone seven times? In one day the same person sins against you seven times? And you are to forgive them? I can see why the apostles say, “Increase our faith.” This is impossible. We cannot (and probably will not) do this on our own. I was listening to a podcast on this text and the teacher was talking about watching a Tom Cruise “Mission Impossible” movie with his teenage son. Cruise is on his motorcycle chasing down some bad guys. His motorcycle leaps over a huge cliff and he is going to his certain death until he pulls the cord on his parachute, which he luckily had on his back, and is able to land on a train, carrying those scum-bags, and of course, he successfully defeats the villains. Amazed the teenager looks at his dad and says, “That was impossible.”
Yeah. And so is this thing about forgiveness. At Charlie Kirks service, his widow, Erika, caught the attention of the whole world when she said, “That young man. I forgive him.”
Forgiveness to another is a tough step. We need more faith if we are going to do that. What is faith? It is reliance upon God. It is resting in Him. It is being strengthened by Him. It is trusting in His work for us and even in us.
Forgiving others is the hardest thing to do in life. We can name others who don’t deserve our kindness. And they certainly haven’t earned our forgiveness. But forgiveness is a big thing in the teachings of Jesus. The Lord’s Prayer has the petition, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” (Matthew 6:12) Just two verses after He says this Jesus speaks of this matter again, “If you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:14)
Forgiveness, a gift of the release of sin, comes from our God, graciously. Does He forgive you and me 7 times in a day? Sure. And more than that. He calls us to do what He has already done. “The blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (I John 1:7)
The third part of this section is about the amazing power of faith. We read verse 6 together, “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.’”
The disciples had just heard a couple of the hard sayings of Jesus. The first is about the burden that we have for others, and the call not to harm them in body or soul. The second is about living in forgiveness and grace with others. It is too big, too hard, too difficult and they make the plea, “Lord, increase our faith.” And now they are told what faith can do.
I’m not sure what good a tree placed in the ocean would do, but I do know that faith has its power by virtue of its object. The object, what we look at, is our God and His will and His work. Just a chapter later Jesus says something that confuses His followers, “Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” “Those who heard this asked, ‘Then who can be saved?’ Jesus replied, ‘What is impossible with men is possible with God.’” (Luke 18:25-27)
A little faith in a big God is all we need. You need forgiveness? Trust Jesus. You need eternal salvation? Trust Jesus. “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.” (Hebrews 11:1) “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” (Hebrews 11:7) “By faith Abraham, even though he was past age – and Sarah herself was barren – was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise.” (Hebrews 11:11)
Faith in our Lord Jesus brings salvation to us. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Faith saves. Faith strengthens. Faith says this, “I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13) Faith clings to Christ.
The fourth, and final, section of our reading tells us what a humble servant all of this leads us to be. We read Luke 17:7-10. “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’? 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?” Would 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.”
What if you do these things that Jesus has asked you to do? What if you watch your life so that you don’t put stumbling blocks in the way of others? What if you have such a forgiving spirit that you let go of offenses easily? Pat yourself on the back? Thank God you are not like other people who can’t do life as well as you can? No. “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.’”
Harry Truman, President of the United States from 1945 until 1953 had a sign on his desk, “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” You have simply done what God calls you to do. Psalm 115 begins, “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name be the glory.” We are to follow our Savior Jesus who said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)
To everyone and everything that our Lord calls us to do and to be, I can only say one thing, “Lord, increase our faith.” And He will. Amen!!
