Faith Circuit

Faith Circuit Michael Morse / General CrossFit / Faith; Humility; Thankfulness; Servant of the Lord / Luke 17:5-19 Introduction A technique or training method to improve rapidly in a specific area or focus would be whats known as circuit training. Circuit training works towards this goal in that it is more than one exercise combined and done in a circuit or connected fashion - i.e. one right after the other. What ever area one wants to improve or build more rapidly the circuit would be built around that area. You would simply setup the workouts to focus on your area of interest and run a workout hitting each exercise in a circuit fashion after completing all exercises in the circuit - that would be one round or rep and multiple reps or rounds would be done to complete the workout. Have you ever said to yourself that you would follow Jesus more closely if you simply had more faith, or that you wish you had more faith to follow Him closer. Our passage in Luke we will see a circuit training setup that I would like to call our faith circuit. With this circuit we will see the circuit exercises needed for the faith required to follow Jesus as His crossfit disciples. Luke 17:5-7 CSB 5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith." 6 "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed," the Lord said, "you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you. 7 "Which one of you having a servant tending sheep or plowing will say to him when he comes in from the field, 'Come at once and sit down to eat'? Luke 17:8-10 CSB 8 Instead, will he not tell him, 'Prepare something for me to eat, get ready, and serve me while I eat and drink; later you can eat and drink'? 9 Does he thank that servant because he did what was commanded? 10 In the same way, when you have done all that you were commanded, you should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we've only done our duty.' " Luke 17:11-13 CSB 11 While traveling to Jerusalem, he passed between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he entered a village, ten men with leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and raised their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" Luke 17:14-16 CSB 14 When he saw them, he told them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And while they were going, they were cleansed. 15 But one of them, seeing that he was healed, returned and, with a loud voice, gave glory to God. 16 He fell facedown at his feet, thanking him. And he was a Samaritan. Luke 17:17-19 CSB 17 Then Jesus said, "Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Didn't any return to give glory to God except this foreigner?" 19 And he told him, "Get up and go on your way. Your faith has saved you." Action Luke 17:5-6 CSB 5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith." 6 "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed," the Lord said, "you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you. In the context from what we learned last week about forgiving one another, and doing it as often as necessary - even in the same day, Luke now records for us the disciples response. If we are honest their response is often our response as well - I mean look at what they say to Jesus at the weight and realization of what He is asking regarding forgiveness, rebuking and repentance - "Increase our faith" In other words what they are saying is "we dont have enough faith... ... enough faith to obey You". The disciples have concluded that they cannot obey this command of Jesus because they do not possess the necessary amount or quantity of faith. This requirement of Jesus must take more faith than they believed they had currently. More would be required in order to obey. Two questions come to my mind and I want to plant them in your mind because these questions must be answered if we are to carry out our Lord's commands as His crossfit disciples. 1. How often do we blame our lack of understanding and obedience on a lack of faith? 2. Whose responsible for the lack of faith God or Us? What great feats had the disciples already accomplished before? Healing, Casting out demons, participating in miracles, seeing the dead raised. Jesus answers their request with an analogy about faith the size of a mustard seed. We have talked about mustard seeds before - certainly not the smallest seeds, but a small tiny seed indeed. Jesus says faith the size of a tiny mustard seed is all that is required to uproot a mulberry tree and plant it in the sea. A tiny seed of faith and it will obey your command. The rabbis of the day said that it would take 600 years to untangle the intricate root system of a mulberry tree. If it takes only a tiny seed to do something impossible as that - how much faith do you suppose is required then to forgive? Often we pray for what we possess already or can do already, what we are really hoping or wanting is that God would agree and ask someone else, send someone else, or call someone else because we arent willing to endure the discomfort to obey what we have been commanded to do. It really isnt about the quantity of faith, it is the quality of the faith. It is not more faith that we need but real faith in something worth having faith in. Faith as long as it is real is enough faith. Theologically I must stress because Jesus is stressing and scriptures stress it is not the amount of faith, it is not a feigned enthusiasm, or half-hearted commitment that we have or express that causes the results anyways - it is the object of our faith. Our faith is not the key it is our faith in Jesus - He is the source of effectiveness. We will always feel woefully inadequate when we look to ourselves, but when we look to Jesus and our faith is in Him we can do anything we are called commanded or exhorted to do. Philippians 4:13 NKJV 13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Humility Luke 17:7-8 CSB 7 "Which one of you having a servant tending sheep or plowing will say to him when he comes in from the field, 'Come at once and sit down to eat'? 8 Instead, will he not tell him, 'Prepare something for me to eat, get ready, and serve me while I eat and drink; later you can eat and drink'? Luke 17:9-10 CSB 9 Does he thank that servant because he did what was commanded? 10 In the same way, when you have done all that you were commanded, you should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we've only done our duty.' " The next movement in our circuit is humility and Jesus uses a parable to illustrate this exercise of faith to his disciples and us this morning. The parable is one of a master and his servant. Jesus asks a question which of you having a servant tending sheep or plowing will have them sit to eat without first having your food prepared and serve you your meal first? Wouldnt you instead have yours prepared and served first and then let them to go and eat? Now in contextual honesty - Jesus has shown us how He as the Master would graciously reverse roles to wait upon His faithful servants. Luke 12:37 CSB 37 Blessed will be those servants the master finds alert when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will get ready, have them recline at the table, then come and serve them. The focus there was on His grace, and this morning His words are focusing on the servants responsibility to what is commanded. We must humble ourselves at the commands of Christ in order to obey in faith. Apostles in their letters throughout the Bible continue to refer to themselves at bondslaves to Christ. Romans 1:1 NKJV 1 Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God The translators translate the word servant instead of slave due to the stigma. It was to humiliating, too belittling, and too condescending - too negative. Servant is the Greek pais - here the word is doulos - slave. The Holy Spirit could have inspired the authors to use servants - but He calls us slaves of Christ. We are owned by Christ. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 CSB 19 Don't you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body. We dont own ourselves and Satan doesnt own us anymore either! The stigma of slavery is due to the wretched treatment of slaves especially here in the US. By our history you wouldnt think that masters of slaves would love them as their own - but in ancient times they were as much a part of the family as the spouse and children. Luke 7:3 NASB95 3 When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders asking Him to come and save the life of his slave. We remember the centurion in Luke 7 - a bondslave was a willing slave. A bondslave is one who paid off a debt and could go free but perhaps was better off remaining as he were and so he willingly becomes a lifelong slave to his master. Signifying it with a pierced ear - this is was a symbol of great honor and prestige. slaves are endeared to their master more than any servant would ever be, therefore to be a slave for Christ is better than just being a servant. A servant doesn't know his master's will like the slave does who lives with him. Slaves were more than just property, rather, in many instances, they were considered very much a part of the family. That's part of the reason we should be slaves to Christ and not simply servants of God. He owns us...and that's a good thing. We must humble ourselves in this way to exercise faith - that we would see ourselves as lowly as slaves to Christ. Our focus is then on our duty and responsibility to Him and no longer on our feelings. If we humble ourselves properly how we feel doesnt matter only what we are commanded and therefore must do. We live in a day and time we are being told to focus and follow our feelings. Feelings are being elevated to a level they arent supposed to have. I am not suggesting we deny or suppress our feelings, but neither should we be led by feelings. We should be led by the Lord, He commands us and our duty is to follow and fulfill His commands. duty - moral or legal obligation - responsibility or a task or action one is required to perform After doing what is commanded Jesus says we must maintain the exercise of humility - There is no glory in doing your duty, duty is what is expected of a person. How many of us expect our boss to give accolades each day for showing up on time and doing what is required on the job? I was told the paycheck you receive is the thanks you get for doing your job. We have a natural tendency or drift towards pride - which is why we must exercise humility. We are prone to get puffed up when we do what is our duty - especially if we start thinking how difficult it was. The defense for pride is exercising humility The Navigators are well known for stressing one having a servant attitude. A businessman once asked Lorne Sanny, the president of the Navigators, how he could know when he has a servant attitude. Sanny replied, "By how you act when you are treated like one." When someone treats you like a servant, do you get offended and say, "I deserve better treatment than this?" Or, do you say, "I just got treated better than I should, because I am not just a servant; I am an UNWORTHY servant"? Thankfulness Luke 17:11-13 CSB 11 While traveling to Jerusalem, he passed between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he entered a village, ten men with leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and raised their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" Luke 17:14-16 CSB 14 When he saw them, he told them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And while they were going, they were cleansed. 15 But one of them, seeing that he was healed, returned and, with a loud voice, gave glory to God. 16 He fell facedown at his feet, thanking him. And he was a Samaritan. Luke 17:17-19 CSB 17 Then Jesus said, "Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Didn't any return to give glory to God except this foreigner?" 19 And he told him, "Get up and go on your way. Your faith has saved you." The last exercise in our faith circuit is thankfulness. Thankfulness follows the exercise of humility. It really is an attitude of gratitude that prevents entitlement. Here we find Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem and He is passing between Samaria and Galilee and comes to a village there. Ten men with leprosy meet Him there and standing at a distance they raise their voices asking and begging Jesus - Master have mercy on us. I believe Luke wants us to see a couple of things here to understand how to exercise thankfulness. This exercise really builds off the previous exercise of humility. Notice the ten men call Jesus Master. Again emphasizing their humility and seeing themselves as lower - they are not demanding Jesus they are asking Him - knowing He is Master. They also ask Jesus for mercy - to ask for mercy is to ask for that which you do not deserve, for that is exactly what mercy is - mercy is not getting what you deserve. Thankfulness begins in humility Jesus seeing them told them to go and show themselves to the priest and while they were going they were cleansed. They were not cleaned yet, they wouldnt be cleaned until they went on their way. Thankfulness leads to action of faith. One of the men seeing that He was healed, returned and with a loud voice, gave glory to God. He fell facedown at His feet, thanking Him. Thankfulness leads to worshipping and praising Jesus The fact that it was the Samaritan is recorded by Luke as a rebuke to the other men who were Jews seeing a healing like no other and not responding with the same gratitude shows that sometimes those who have been the most blessed by God can feel entitled to God. Entitlement never leads to praise or worship of God only of self. Entitlement talks about deserving - thankfulness leads us facedown in the posture of worship at the feet of Jesus in the proper place of worship. Our attitude towards God in what He does for us is proof of whether our hearts have been healed by faith Conclusion We must act on the faith we have - knowing our faith is not in oursevles but is in Jesus Christ. Our deficiency or inadequacy should never become a reason for us to not obey or follow Jesus commands. Know whose power you are trusting in. If we lack faith - we must not be hearing the word of God or doing the word of God. Romans 10:17 CSB 17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ. James 2:17-18 CSB 17 In the same way faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself. 18 But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith by my works. We must exercise humility - that means knowing our place. We need to remember at all times our lowly position before Him. Psalm 103:14 CSB 14 For he knows what we are made of, remembering that we are dust. Faith must exercised in humility we are called to humble ourselves before God Habakkuk 2:4 NKJV 4 "Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith. The circuit works together to grow faith - you can jump in anywhere - action leads to thankfulness as you trust Gods word and act on it, Humility leads to thankfulness and gratitude, gratitude and thankfulness gives us a true sense of our unworthiness before God. He owes us nothing, we owe Him everything. He does not owe us He owns us! Communion When I survey the wondrous cross On which the Prince of glory died My richest gain I count but loss And pour contempt on all my pride If you are struggling with some difficult command that you know God wants you to obey, look to the cross, where Jesus gave Himself for you. That is one reason our Lord ordained that we come often to His table, to remember Him and His sacrificial death for us. In light of that, is any demand that He makes of us too difficult? As we come to His table, let's exercise the simple faith that His faithfulness calls forth. And lets focus on greater obedience and humility as His unworthy slaves. Father Not my will but your will be done - Jesus of Nazareth (looking to the cross) 1 Corinthians 11:23-24 CSB 23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, "This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." 1 Corinthians 11:25-26 CSB 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Page . Exported from Logos Bible Software, 11:13 AM January 2, 2021.