Easy peasy, nice and easy

Luke 17:1-10

            Jesus only gave us two commandments and they're in this passage. It really seems nice and easy. But if you know anything about me, you know how I feel. Those two make it harder than ever. You have to use your intelligence and conscience. There is more involved in "killing" someone than simply taking their physical life away. Thou shalt not kill takes on a whole new and much broader meaning. Further, none of the 10 commandments can looked at simplistically. As if that were not tough enough, we have the other part of the reading.

             Forgiveness is a magnificent action word that Jesus died on cross for. It was for our forgiveness that he did it all. Of course forgiveness and salvation. As if his whole life is not the ultimate expression of forgiveness, He makes it clear how strong he feels. When asked how many times should  someone forgive, 'Up to seven times?' , Jesus say not seven times but seventy times seven. I used to have a pendant with 70x7 emblazoned on it. Forgiveness is not so simple. It is not merely forgetting and it is disingenuous to say ' I forgive but I never forget'. Forgiveness comes from inside and it is a conscious effort to align your mind and heart with your faith and how Jesus lived.

                 Something to think about for sure. 

Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come! It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble. Be on your guard! If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive. And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, “I repent”, you must forgive.’

The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’ The Lord replied, ‘If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea”, and it would obey you.

‘Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from ploughing or tending sheep in the field, “Come here at once and take your place at the table”? Would you not rather say to him, “Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink”? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, “We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!” ’