Lossiemouth Church of Scotland

The sermon for 02 October 2016 is based on Luke 17:5-10. The passage from Scripture follows immediately below and then Rev. Geoff McKee’s sermon. You can download the sermon as a PDF by clicking here (74kB). It’s a deceptive passage which discusses faith and the plain meaning of Scripture – a description often invoked by preachers – can in fact only be uncovered by some digging, in this instance, as Geoff explains.

Luke 17:5-10 (New International Version)

5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

6 He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

7 “Suppose one of you has a servant ploughing 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 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.’”

I defy anyone to listen to the passage being read from Luke’s Gospel this morning without wincing.

It is possible for a preacher to go seriously wrong with this text  – and to do so confidently.

The text is so sure of itself and, therefore, it so easy to go with it. Preach it, brother; let it speak for itself; let the plain meaning of Scripture be heard.

The ‘plain meaning of Scripture’

That phrase, when I hear it, causes me to tighten up inside because, in recent times, it has so often been the prelude to an abusive interpretation of God’s word. [Read more…]