We’ve Only Done Our Duty
“Which one
of you having a servant tending sheep or plowing will say to him when he comes
in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? Instead, will he not tell him, ‘Prepare something for me to
eat, get ready, and serve me while I eat and drink; later you can eat and drink’?
Does he thank that servant because he did what was
commanded? In the same way, when you have done
all that you were commanded, you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we’ve
only done our duty’” (Luke
17:7-10).
I have been
considering the concept of thankfulness lately. Scripture commends us to have a
grateful heart, and to express thanks to God and the Son for all that has been
done for us, and we are to be thankful to each other, as we all have needs and
need help from time to time, and its wonderful people care enough to help. “Rejoice
always, pray constantly, give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for
you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thess. 5:16-18).
We are familiar with this attitude being integral to our relationship
with God. Have you ever considered, though, whether God expresses thanks to us
for obeying Him? There is rejoicing in heaven when a sinner is saved (Luke 15),
but does God thank us for choosing life and living for Him? In considering the analogy
Jesus offered in the above Scripture, Jesus raised the question whether the
master would thank a servant for doing what he had been commanded to do? The
language Jesus uses in the Greek (the use of the negative μή at the beginning of a Greek question) anticipates a
negative response. The conclusion Jesus then draws is “in the same way,” or “so
also,” or “likewise.” In other words, doing all we have been commanded, we are
still unworthy servants, we are only doing what is our duty. The word duty
literally means “of what the circumstances of time, place, or person
render to be fit and proper, of what is necessary, what is required.”
You may ask what the point of this discussion is.
The point is, we are debtors to God, and not He to us. In the account of the prayers
of the Pharisee and tax collector (Luke 18:11-14), the Pharisee was overly
proud of who he thought he was, and what he had done in serving God. Perhaps he
would fit the one who would want a “thank you” from God. The tax collector had
no such delusions, and acknowledged he was a sinner in need of God’s grace. It
was in his humility that he found what He had sought, forgiveness, and in the
Pharisee’s pride that he missed being who he thought he was, God’s favored.
Do not misunderstand the point being made. We are special to God, each and every one of us, as we’ve been created in His image, and recreated in Christ (1 Cor. 6:19-20). But we all have chosen to sin (Rom. 3:23), and sin creates the need we have for forgiveness (Rom. 3:24). We must walk in the light if the blood of Christ is to continue to cleanse us of our sins (1 John 1:7). We can rejoice in the grace of God, but we must also remember God saved us, not because of how great we are, but how great our need for forgiveness is, and how without His intervention, we would be lost. If we genuinely love the Father and Son, we will devote our lives to Him, in love serving Him (John 14:15). It is we who should always thank God.
Should God thank us for our doing what He expects of us? While Paul could thank Christians for obeying the gospel and living by the gospel (1 Thess. 1:2-4), considering the price paid for our sins, no Scripture records God thanking us for doing what we should. Perhaps this is part of what our problem can be. The gospel demands a commitment from us, but Christ made a commitment to us from eternity (1 Pet. 1:19-20). We are to obey God, but Christ came from heaven to do the Father’s will (John 5:30). We are God’s special people, but only because of who we are in Christ (1 Pet. 2:9-10). Clearly, we do not deserve to be thanked by God when we choose to obey Him, but we should thank God for His love that brings us eternal life, and offers us the choice of a life to live that transforms us (2 Cor. 3:18). “It’s not about me, it’s not about you, it’s not about them, but it’s all about Him.”
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.”
Robert
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