Luke 17:1–10

Gospel:

¹And he said to his disciples, "Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! ²It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. ³Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, ⁴and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, 'I repent,' you must forgive him." ⁵The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" ⁶And the Lord said, "If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. ⁷"Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and recline at table'? ⁸Will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink'? ⁹Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? ¹⁰So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.'"

Terror grips our hearts today as we read this text; the terror of death. For in this first verse Jesus curses his disciples. This is one of only two times that Jesus pronounces a curse upon his own disciples. The other is when he cursed Judas for betraying him. Woe to the one who becomes a stumbling stone that causes one of these little ones to sin. Woe to any and all of his disciples who have been a stumbling stone to any believer in Jesus. Woe to Judas because he was a stumbling stone to Jesus. Woe to us because we have all been Judases. We crucified Christ! He was crucified on account of our sins. We were the cause of his death. We, like Judas, are all guilty of the death of God's Son.

In verse 1, Jesus, "said to his disciples...." He is talking to us; not to non-believers, atheists or agnostics, but to his followers. What does he say to us? Reading from the original language, we read: "It is impossible that causes for stumbling do not come." The stress is on the word "impossible." This is stronger than merely saying they will come, or that they are inevitable. "No stumbling blocks" is an impossibility. So be prepared for them. Be prepared to have someone tempt you to sin, or tempt you to lose your faith in Christ. Be prepared to be sinned against. All these are stumbling blocks. These things will happen. Not a good prospect. This is not good news. We would like it if Christians were immune from such things. We would rather hear that the life of a Christians is easy with no challenges, no problems, no worries, no temptations. That from now on all will be rosy, our bank accounts full, our problems solved, our worries gone, our health superb. That is the sermon you could have heard today had you stayed home and turned on the TV.

But Jesus says the life of his disciples is not going to be that way, and indeed, that it is impossible. Don't be fooled by preachers who make such false promises.

However, he also says, "Woe to you if you are a cause of stumbling to one of these little ones," meaning one of God's children. He's not talking age here, he's talking about all believers in Christ, God's children. How do we become a cause of stumbling? By any sin we commit against one of them. By causing them to sin. By not welcoming them into the church. By discouraging them from hearing the preaching of God's word and receiving the Sacraments. By not forgiving someone when he sins against us. By slander and gossip. By treating him harshly. By being angry with him. By anything at all we might do to cause him to turn away from Christ, to not believe, to doubt God's word, or to lose faith.

In verse 3 and 4 Jesus deals specifically with the offense of not forgiving. If your brother sins, and he repents, forgive him. This is what is required of all who are to be disciples of Jesus. Forgiveness. And verse 4 even says, "If he sins against you seven times a day and then repents, "you MUST forgive him." You have no alternative. It's not your choice. It's not up to you if you want to or not.

In fact, Jesus says to anyone who is a cause of stumbling, "It would be better for you if a mill stone were tied around your neck and you were cast into the sea, than to be the cause of stumbling to even the least, the weakest, the poorest." That's the curse. "Woe to you if you cause anyone to stumble. A mill stone shall be tied around your neck and you will be cast into the sea." That is the curse Jesus pronounces on any one of us who has ever refused to forgive someone's sin or has caused anyone to sin or caused anyone not to worship. So, where does that leave you? It leaves you dead, at the bottom of the sea with a giant stone tied around your neck.

Even the apostles were terrified by these words. They immediately, in verse 5, said to Jesus, "Add to our faith." For they knew that the only way they could escape the curse of Jesus was by faith. They knew that there was no way possible for them to keep these commands by themselves. That righteousness and obedience to God does not come by obeying the law or by our own efforts and works. They knew they were doomed to the bottom of the sea unless Jesus gave them more faith.

And in the fourth statement of Jesus, verses 7 through 10, he tells them that there is nothing they can do on their own to become more righteous. There is nothing we can do to earn God's favor or praise. That when a slave comes in from the field, the master does not tell him to sit down while the master serves him dinner at the table, rather, the master tells him to immediately put on the apron and serve him dinner. Then he can eat dinner after the master has eaten.

And when he has done this, does the master praise him and thank him for his service? No! He has only done his job. He has not done anything more than what he was paid to do, so he doesn't deserve thanks or praise. In other words, there are no works we can do to earn God's favor or praise. No matter how hard we work at being good, keeping his commandments, doing what he tells us to do, we are still unworthy of any praise or thanks from God. Obeying God's law does not make us righteous. Obedience to the commandments does not make us more holy. The law of God does not advance us toward becoming more spiritual. If we did everything perfectly, if we were perfect in our obedience, that wouldn't make us righteous before God. As God tells us in the book of Galatians, "By works of the law no one will be justified."

So our efforts and obedience cannot save us. There is nothing that will make us holy before God. We have all offended our neighbor and caused him to sin or take offense. We have all refused to forgive someone who has sinned against us. For this we all deserve and receive the curse Jesus pronounced, "Woe unto you!"

So where does this leave you now? It leaves you at the bottom of the sea with a giant millstone tied around your neck. The millstone is the law of God which drags you down to the bottom of the sea and drowns you. You are drowned!...(pause)

Funeral

Dearly beloved. We are gathered here today in memory of ourselves who are dead and buried at sea. Grief and sorrow fills our heats. Such tragic death fills us with fear and terror, for it confronts us with the transitory nature of life and the curse of God upon our sinful nature. We are here for but a moment and then we are gone. Like a flower that blooms and then dies, like grass that withers, we too shall face the consequences of our sinful human nature. Dust we are, and unto dust we shall return. Death confronts us with all the uncertainties, the bitterness, and fears of life in this world of sin, and the vanity of it all. And as we gather here today around this watery grave and peer down into the depths of the sea and gaze upon our lifeless bodies at the bottom, our hearts pound, our sorrow overwhelms us, and we cry, longing for some hope, some comfort, some glimpse of life, some word of consolation, some message of salvation. We yearn for a resurrection. A chance to start over.

And so the preacher stands up. The funeral begins. He has come to proclaim life. He has come to preach resurrection. He has come to raise you from the dead. He has come to lift up your lifeless body from the bottom of the sea and to breathe life back into it. Life given by the Holy Spirit through the preaching of his Word.

Yes, Life! Resurrection! For Jesus has conquered death! He has reversed everything. We were a stumbling block to him and are responsible for his death, but from the cross he shouts out, "Father, forgive them!" We have been stubborn and hard of heart so as not to forgive our neighbor who offends us, but Jesus reversed it all by forgiving us as we were in the act of murdering him. And this forgiveness is life to us! This forgiveness raises us from the dead, it removes the curse of death which was pronounced on our sin. Now that sin is forgiven, there is no curse. "Death is swallowed up in victory!" "Oh death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"

Jesus fulfilled the commandments for us, so that giant millstone of the law tied around our necks has come untied. It no longer holds us down at the bottom of the sea. The curse of sin has been removed, because Jesus was cursed in our place and hung on a tree to die (Deuteronomy 21:23). Our sin has been removed from us by the sacrifice of God's only Son on a cross. Jesus treads our iniquities underfoot and casts all our sins into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7:19). And so in your baptism you were drowned. The you that was you when you were born is put to death and drowned in that holy, precious flood, and a new you was born in its place. A new you was drawn up out of the water of baptism and was clothed with the righteousness of Christ. Your dead body lying at the bottom of the sea is no longer there, for you have been raised from the dead and given new life. You were reborn in the waters of baptism.

And now the roles have been reversed. Jesus became the curse for us. He tied the millstone around his own neck and was cast into the sea. It is the body of Jesus we see as we peer down into the water today, not ours. Because he took our place under the curse. And by his resurrection he raised all of us who believe in him.

The roles have been reversed. Jesus is the master and you are the slave that came in from the field. No master would bid the slave to sit down at the table while the master feeds them. But Jesus does. He has reversed the roles. He puts on the apron. He makes you to sit down at the table, and he serves you dinner. In just a few minutes you will come to the table and Jesus will pass the plate, piled high with his own flesh, for you to eat. He will pass the cup for you to drink from, the cup of life, life bought with his very own blood. Life which is in the blood that he pours down your throats. Life that is forever and will never come to an end. For you have been raised from the dead by the blood of Jesus poured out for you on the cross. A resurrection has taken place. The dead have come back to life. The work of the preacher is complete.

And so the funeral sermon comes to an end. The preacher has preached the Word which is the power of God to raise the dead. The dead bodies at the bottom of the sea have been freed from the millstones, and you have come to life, being drawn up out of the water by the power of the Holy Spirit. The dead have been raised. You have been given a new life. Life in Christ. Life in the love of God. Free from the curse of sin. Free from the power of the law. Free to love one another.

The preacher's job is now done, and he takes his seat. Amen.

(hymn 471 stanza 1.)