'Tis a Blessing to be Kind [4-19-26]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA0RCPiRaeA

April 19, 2026

Luke 17:7-10

“’Tis a Blessing to be Kind”

The point of today’s passage is counterintuitive. Jesus sometimes shakes up our understanding of things.

Last week, we read in Luke 17:5-6:

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And 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.”

As we saw, the initial inclination is to think Jesus is chiding them for having too little faith. He says, “If you have faith like a mustard seed.” But no. Jesus recognizes their faith. He says, even if it’s a little, it is more than enough. Remember, it is not about us. Faith is about what God is doing in us and through us and for us. And God always gives us more than enough faith. Even faith the size of an itsy, bitsy, teenie, weenie yellow mustard seed is enough. Faith is a gift from God, after all.

Last week, I invited you to think about pride. About how the word is used. It’s one of those words we cavalierly throw around without thinking about it much. We’re proud of our kids. We’re proud of our accomplishments. We’re proud of our jobs. We’re proud of the sports team we play for. We’re proud of the sports team we cheer for. We’re proud members of such-and-such organization or club or school. Proud graduate. Proud of the weight we’ve lost. Come to think of it, I’m proud of this extensive list, knowing I could go on-and-on. On an episode of House Hunters, a young, very pregnant woman, with no husband or boyfriend in sight, said she was “very proud” of what she was able to accomplish in her life. As a side note, I just did what I said I was proud of…coming up with more examples.

And one other thing. Someone recently said:

“You can’t be proud of something or someone you had nothing to do with.”

I couldn’t agree more.

In most cases, the Bible condemns pride. As believers, we need to be careful about how we frame things. I don’t know about you, but I prefer to think in terms of blessing, joy, happiness, thankfulness. What does it even mean to say you are proud of something you had no hand in or made very

little contribution toward? Pride is overused.

The Bible has a thing or two to say about pride. Proverbs 6:16-19 says:

There are six things that the Lord hates,

seven that are an abomination to him:

haughty eyes, a lying tongue,

and hands that shed innocent blood,

a heart that devises wicked plans,

feet that make haste to run to evil,

a false witness who breathes out lies,

and one who sows discord among brothers.

As another side-note, many years ago, I once quoted Paul’s letter to the Romans, where he said to hate what is evil, and cling to what is good. I got a critical letter from a couple who had been in worship that Sunday. They said they raised their kids to never say the word, “hate.” They lumped it in with all the other forbidden four-letter words. My first thought was, “Jeepers, you’re not going to like Proverbs 6.”

God hates haughty eyes. This describes the feeling of pridefully looking

down on others. Here’s how Paul puts it in Philippians 2:3-11:

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count

others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Essentially, pride is thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought. It lends an air of giving ourselves unparalleled importance. We can lose sight of the fact that anything good in us is the result of Christ living in us. All good gifts come from God. So, for example, when your child does something well or attains some sort of achievement, it is far better to say, “We are truly blessed,” or “God has brought so much joy into our lives,” or some such other expression of happiness, thanksgiving, or sense of undeserved merit.

Pride is rarely a good choice. Pride is giving ourselves credit for something accomplished by God working in us. Pride is taking the glory that belongs to God. Think about it this way. Everything we have is through the grace and mercy of God. We could accomplish nothing in this world were it not for God enabling us and sustaining us. Are you with me on that? Having a Biblical understanding of pride is foundational to understanding Luke 17:7-10:

“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’? Will 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’? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”

Before we move into the countercultural movement of these verses, Charles Spurgeon gets the last word on pride:

“YOU WILL NEVER GLORY IN GOD TILL FIRST OF ALL GOD HAS KILLED YOUR GLORYING IN YOURSELF.”

That is the perfect lead-in to these counterintuitive verses.

In the past few chapters, what has Jesus been dealing with? Remember, he has set his face for Jerusalem. There, in the face and anger and opposition, he will humbly go to the cross. There, in humble sacrifice, he will give up his life to give us back ours. He will humbly accept, upon himself, our punishment for our sin. Amen?

Setting his face for Jerusalem, Jesus has faced push-back from scribes and Pharisees. These arrogant so-called enforcers of the law and teachers of the law present the opposite of humble servanthood. They are so full of themselves they cannot see the better way presented by Jesus. So here, in these four verses, we hear what Jesus wants out of us.

It’s quite simple. And countercultural.

What has been one of the mantras of the last several decades when it comes to raising kids and helping them grow and mature? Self-esteem. We will do anything to build-up their self-esteem. We don’t want to do anything that will damage their self-esteem. That’s good to a point. But does everyone really need or deserve a trophy?

What does Jesus say back in Luke 14:11? “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” That’s one of many times when Jesus talks about humble servanthood. Leaping ahead to Luke 18:14, Jesus says:

“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one

who humbles himself will be exalted.”

This is a hard-sell in a culture peddling self-esteem as the end-all-be-all of personal striving. More important than how I feel about myself is what Jesus Christ thinks about me. And the gospel tells me what Jesus thinks about a sinner such as myself. He died for us. He suffered for our sin. We are forgiven. We’ve done nothing to earn it or deserve it. Forgiveness and

eternity with Jesus are gifts from God. As Paul said, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” {Ephesians 2:8-9}

With all this in mind, here’s a concise summary of Luke 17:7-10:

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’?” Jesus here states the clear reality. Even after working in the field all day, the slave is still on the clock. There are other household duties to be fulfilled.

8: “Will 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’?” Jesus seems to be saying we continue serving until we die or he returns. In other words, there is no retirement from following Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

9: “Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded?” This is huge. When we do what God has called and equipped us to do, He is under no obligation to thank us or praise us. We do what we do because we’re happy to do it. We do what we do because it glorifies God. I grow weary of churches that give out special recognition for things like perfect Sunday School attendance or worship attendance or major anniversaries of church membership. It is especially tiresome when churches recognize birthdays during worship.

10: “So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’” At its simplest, Jesus means we are not worthy of any special praise. We are doing what God calls and equips us to do. That fact alone ought to bring joyful satisfaction.

Put all this together, and here’s something you might want to write down:

ONE SHOULD EXPECT NO PATS ON THE BACK OR GIVE ONESELF

PATS ON THE BACK FOR DOING WHAT IS REQUIRED BY GOD.

I remember once pulling into a church parking lot for a meeting. I’d never

been to that church before. It was somewhere near Ann Arbor. As I entered, I noticed one of the closest parking spots had a sign posted – Reserved Parking for Pastor. I knew immediately that church and that pastor had no sense of its mission, ministry, or Biblical truth. They had no grasp of the servant-nature of being a devoted follower of Jesus Christ. It was troublesome, to say the least. As followers of Jesus, we need neither award nor recognition for doing what God has purposed to do through us.

So, here we are. Two weeks after Easter. We have received the assurance that no matter what we experience or go through in life, all will be well, because Jesus Christ is Lord. He has gone to heaven to prepare a place for us. So there’s nothing to worry about or fear. We will be with Jesus forever. I love how the song, “Homesick for Heaven,” by Phil Wickham, puts it:

No more fear, no more pain

Every tear wiped away

Crying Holy, Holy

Every knee on the floor

Every voice evermore

Crying Holy, Holy, yeah

Oh, I wanna go home

Oh, I wanna go home

To see the ones I love, who've gone before

When death is a memory and tears are no more

To hear the angels praise, can you even imagine

With a promise like that, we can humbly serve our God and King until we breathe our last breath. We humbly submit, in thought and deed, to what God teaches us through His Word.

Let us pray:

“HEAVENLY FATHER, WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORD. MAY WE TRULY HUMBLE OURSELVES, KNOWING YOUR GRACE IS ALL WE NEED. WE REJECT PRIDE AND ALL OTHER SINFUL DESIRES. WE BELIEVE AND APPLY YOUR WORD TO OUR LIVES. IN THE POWERFUL NAME OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST. AMEN.”