In today's scripture reading (Luke 17:5-10), in answer to the request of His disciples - "Increase Our Faith!" - Jesus told them a parable instead. The NIV translation simply gives this section the title: "Sin, Faith, Duty". Jesus was teaching His disciples something He was always doing - He humbly and obediently served others. "just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:28,Mark 10:45,John 13:1-17). So we are admonished to say "We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.". It is with this humble and obedient attitude that we serve God. In return we discover the depth of our Father's love!
"My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God." (1 John 4:7-10 MSG translation)
The conclusion of this commentary "The Parable of the Unworthy Servant (Luke 17)" is very helpful:
"It is the arrogant “You owe me” attitude that Jesus is cautioning us against in this parable. We are servants. We will only ever be servants. We do not deserve any glory or praise for doing the very least that we were created to do, and that means serving our Kings with total devotion. Yet because our Masters are so incredibly generous, They actually enjoy shocking us with rewards that we do not deserve. This is the astonishing position that we find ourselves in: we deserve nothing, yet we are showered with blessings. We have earned nothing, yet we have been invited into an eternal paradise. The whole idea of receiving rewards in Heaven is so utterly nonsensical that we ought to be driven to our knees in speechless gratitude. There is no place for greedily grabbing at the goodies. There is only room for bowing down and saying, “What have I ever done that is worthy of praise? You are the only glorious Ones; I am nothing by comparison.” It is this kind of humility that pleases our Gods. It isn’t about self-loathing and rejecting Their love for us. It is about properly appreciating that love and remembering our place. We were created to serve. The more we understand this, the more we will understand just how wonderful our Gods are."
Lord Jesus, teach me to say YES to what You tell me to do. May I learn from our Blessed Mother to say: “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” (Luke 1:38)
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