THE ATTITUDE OF AN UNWORTHY SERVANT, Dr. Samuel Lee
WE HAVE ONLY DONE OUR DUTY
Passage: Luke 17:1~10  
Key verse: 10
Sin, Faith, Duty
17 Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble(A) are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come.(B) 2 It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones(C) to stumble.(D) 3 So watch yourselves.
“If your brother or sister[a] sins against you, rebuke them;(E) and if they repent, forgive them.(F) 4 Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”(G)
5 The apostles(H) said to the Lord,(I) “Increase our faith!”
6 He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed,(J) you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.(K)
7 “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? 8 Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me(L) while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? 9 Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”(M)
Footnotes
- Luke 17:3 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a fellow disciple, whether man or woman.
Cross references
- Luke 17:1 : S Mt 5:29
- Luke 17:1 : Mt 18:7
- Luke 17:2 : Mk 10:24; Lk 10:21
- Luke 17:2 : S Mt 5:29
- Luke 17:3 : S Mt 18:15
- Luke 17:3 : Eph 4:32; Col 3:13
- Luke 17:4 : Mt 18:21, 22
- Luke 17:5 : S Mk 6:30
- Luke 17:5 : S Lk 7:13
- Luke 17:6 : Mt 13:31; 17:20; Lk 13:19
- Luke 17:6 : S Mt 21:21; Mk 9:23
- Luke 17:8 : Lk 12:37
- Luke 17:10 : 1Co 9:16
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source:  BibleGateway
Take a servant for example. A servant works hard in the field all day. He knows that his master does not wait to eat supper with the servant. Rather, after work, the servant must quickly prepare supper and wait on the master as he eats. The servant’s duty is to work hard and to serve his master. After finishing his duty, the servant can finally enjoy his supper with a great sense of accomplishment. We Christians are servants of Jesus Christ who bought us with his blood and made us citizens of his heavenly kingdom. In his grace, Jesus chose us to serve his redemptive work. This is Jesus’ gift for us, who were once without righteousness, life-purpose, and God-given work. we just say, “Thank you Lord. We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.”
Prayer: Lord, thank you for calling me as your servant. Use me in your life-giving work.
One Word: Worthy work for an unworthy servant