The Highlight of Humility
Isa 57:15: “For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity,(God is eternal God) whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”
Last week we looked at Luke 17:1-2: “He said to His disciples, "It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come! 2 "It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble.
(1. The Seriousness of causing Sinful Stumbling blocks: It would be better that a huge stone be hung around your neck and you be thrown into the sea than for you to be a stumbling stone to young believers. Stand on the Rock of our salvation.)
Verses 3-5: So "Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. "And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, 'I repent,' forgive him." 5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"
(2. The Necessity and Humility of Forgiveness- Pride is the enemy of forgiveness. Through the Gospel of Jesus, you have been forgiven- “divorce”, forgive the sins of offenders as God in Christ forgives you. )
(3. So the Prayer of the Humble is - “Increase our faith.” Make us more like you, Lord Jesus.)
Verse 6 And the Lord said, "If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and be planted in the sea '; and it would obey you.”
(4. The Miracle of Saving Faith- God is able to accomplish the impossible. When God first planted faith in me, all my sins were forgiven in Christ and taken away forever: the object of our faith, The Lord Jesus Christ, is far more important than the quantity of faith. Gospel Humility is Gospel Power, Gospel forgiveness.)
The Master and the Slave
Today we look at the parable of “The Master and the Slave”. And Jesus continued in Luke 17:7; (Here is question # 1): "Which of you, having a slave (servant, a “doulos”) plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come immediately and sit down to eat'? If you had a “doulos”, a domestic servant or slave and he was out working in your field and tending your livestock, when he came in wreaking of sweat and smelling of barnyard animals, would you tell him to sit down and SERVE HIM? In Mideast culture, the answer would be a resounding “NO WAY”; no master in his right mind would do that!)
Here’s question # 2 in verse 8: "But will he not say to him, 'Prepare something for me to eat, and properly clothe yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward you may eat and drink '? (If you’re the master and he is your domestic slave, if he came in from the field and the barn, wouldn’t you PROBABLY say: Hey, get washed up a little bit because it’s lunch time and I’m hungry: you can rest after you’ve served me!)
Now to Western culture that may sound a little harsh but some wealthy folks still have domestic servants, and I think that they, for the most part, would take the approach in Question #2? Don’t you agree? Certainly, in the ancient Mediterranean world, domestic servants existed because of debt-slavery (they owed money); it was also as a punishment for crimes, and then some were prisoners of war: The life of a “doulos” was not always pleasant, but it could be a lot worse!
The Life of a “DOULOS”
1). I think THAT view was owned by many domestic slaves: “I could have it A LOT WORSE than this.” A “Doulos”(not a dufus) was many times a very DEPENDENT slave. Being a domestic slave meant that he had a roof over his head, maybe his own living quarters; he wasn’t homeless. He had food every day, probably what was left from the food of the family, but nonetheless, he didn’t go hungry and he wasn’t begging or picking garbage. He was being provided for.
2). Being a “doulos” was a DECENT situation in that he was an employee of a person who owned valuable land and a home: There was a high degree of security for a doulos. A person he had never met, a stranger, hires you as his personal servant, takes you into his house, even though you’ve messed up. It's actually a pretty good illustration on some levels of the relationship between a believer and God, between a believer and Christ: We were lost, but were found. We needed life, and God provided. We would have been dead on account of our sins, and we were brought to life and given a second chance, and so it’s a decent picture of our relationship with God in Christ on a spiritual level: HE REDEEMED US! He didn’t have to, but He did. What a God of Grace!
“Doulos” could also be given the opportunity to be set free after they served their time but many times, the “doulos” would ask to stay on in service because he realized how well he had been treated.
3). Taking the obvious into consideration, (HE WAS a slave, but it was a privilege to be alive, He was protected, employed, and cared for, he wasn’t in jail or worse yet EXECUTED. so), a “doulos” was often a very DEPENDABLE slave. If you did your work and you did what was expected of you (and a master knew the capabilities and inabilities of his servant), there weren’t any problems.
Look at verse 9: "He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he? 10 "So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, 'We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.’”
4). So in addition, a “Doulos” declined honor for himself and gave the Master what He deserved, commanded and required. Realistically, servants didn’t look for recognition; it wasn’t built into the program. The servant offered loyalty and obedience in exchange for the benefits he received and nothing more. The Master of the House is not going to show “charis” (grace or thanks) to the servant because he's not a volunteer, he's an employee and he does what he's expected to do.
The response of the DOULOS toward the Master is extremely HUMBLE, almost self-abasing: "I'm an unworthy servant." “I am good for nothing…useless! Humble people reject honor because honor belongs to the Master, the LORD. These are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks: people who will bow to him and serve Him in Spirit and truthfulness. We know that God owes nothing to us, that we’re saved by grace and still living under grace. We know we have been justified by faith, being sanctified and glorified by grace, and that our “forever reward” in heaven is by God’s grace. We know we never merit anything from God and God has not improved in any way on our account but one day when Jesus brings us into His banquet and our labors are done, He sits us down and He serves us. “Well done, good and faithful servants!”
In Revelation 19:6 the prophet cries: “Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: "Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. 8 Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear." 9 Then the angel said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!" OH HOW BLESSED WE ARE to be Savior-servants.
Luke 14:11, in that that “God will humble the proud and exalt the humble.” We must never think that as his servants, we have profited or benefited God at all. He has blessed us!
5). I have an aside here for a moment; look at Romans 6:16-19: 16 Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey--whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. 19 I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.”
Every person on earth is a “doulos” to someone: A person is either committed to the will of the Lord or to the world. You serve either God or Mammon/the World. Believers have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. Paul says this with biblical confidence because he identified himself as a “doulos” to the “Kyrios: A slave to the LORD MASTER! Believers are saved for the privilege of serving our Savior LORD.
6.“The Highlight of Humility” for a “doulos” is in “serving” the Master not in being “thanked” or appreciated. Saints thrive and grow in dedicated Servant-hood. When you serve others the way you would serve the Master, you are serving Him. Jesus is calling for a kind of life that’s miles away from the Pharisaic example. We aren’t called to be “NOTICED”; We are called to be dependent on our Master. We learn of submission through His Word and led and empowered by His Spirit so that we lead others TO TRUTH, to THE TRUTH, in principle as well as practice. We forgive those who sin against us. We practice humility that is always aware of our own fleshly weakness and weak faith, recognizing our own imperfections and faults, while growing in dependency on the power of God and His Spirit.
We are unworthy servants who have only done what we ought to have done, and hardly even that, ascribing all God's gifts then to grace. 1 Peter 2:16 says: “Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God.”
7. We tend to shy away from this parable because it goes to the very root of the our sinful nature and to a major theme of the Bible: Sinful man is unable to save himself; One of the Bible’s major aims is to correct man’s high view of himself; yet, today many focus on exalting Man’s ability and diminishing God’s Sovereignty and His plan of SIN, SALVATION, and honorary SERVICE to the Savior King Jesus. The Cross of Christ does not cater to our self-deception and pride: The Savior came to forgive us through His work, to redeem us, to recreate us into His image. The Highlight of Humility for the doulos is on Service but the SPOTLIGHT is on the Savior and on the Cross of Christ.
Phil 2: 5-11 puts the Spotlight on the Savior: “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” You want to learn of humility? Look to the Savior, learn from the Savior, receive His Work and you will serve Him.
Most Master’s don’t invite their servants to sit at their table, but Jesus does: Jesus does what no HUMAN master would do: He says in Matt. 11:27: "All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, (you’re out in the field, dirty with guilt and sin? Come to me…) and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you (be my doulos) and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, (I’m not a harsh master!) and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
He says: “Come to the table and savor the sight, the wine and the bread that was broken. The bread is His body, the wine is the blood and the One who provides them is true. He freely offers, we freely receive, to accept and believe Him is all we must do. Come to the table and taste of His glory!” (from Michael Card, “Come to the Table”)
Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for the helpful, necessary, impactful insights that the words of Jesus bring to bear upon our minds. May we truly humble ourselves, knowing that You give grace to the humble, but You resist the proud. Thank You, Father, for Your precious Word. We believe it and we apply it. Thank you for inviting us to your table to remember your most gracious display of humility. In Christ's name. Amen.”
OUTLINE
1. A “ Doulos” was a dependent slave.
2. Being a “Doulos” was a decent situation.
3. A “Doulos” was a dependable slave- He was bound to be a servant to the wishes of His Master.
4. A “Doulos” declined honor and gave the Master what He deserved.
5. Every person on earth is a “doulos” to someone: Romans 6:16-20
6. “The Highlight of Humility” for a “doulos” is in “serving” the Master not in being “thanked”. Servant-hood and Saints
7. The Spotlight of Humility shines on the cross of Jesus Christ.
