Stumbling Faith
Why would anyone intentionally cause someone to stumble?
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 plowing 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!'" - Luke 17:1-10
Jesus is warning us about the young, the innocent, the ones he calls these little ones.
But he is really talking to the disciples about their own tendency to stumble.
When they fail to forgive one who repents, they are stumbling, and they can cause others to stumble by the examples they set.
Like the slave who is expected to do the work given him, they are expected to do these things, without praise, without glory. It is the work they have been given.
They ask for their faith to be increased. Why?
Are they afraid they don'e have the will to do what Jesus asks or are they doubting their ability to do it?
Faith has the power to propel us forward in the dark, unable to see where we are headed, but believing we are going the right way.
If we stumble in our faith, we pick ourselves up, dust off our clothes and move on.
If by some mistake, we cause another to stumble in his or her faith, we need to do the same for them. We can lift them up and dust them off, show them we love them and tell them how sorry we are for causing them to stumble.
If we are lucky, they will be ok.
More to come...