27th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle C

Luke 17:5-10

We are profitable servants; we have done only what we were obliged to do.” (Luke 17:5)

After Jesus tells his disciples, “If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive,” the apostles reply, “Increase our faith!”  

Why did they need more faith? They had walked with Jesus, heard his teachings up close, and witnessed his miracles.  Faith often implies trust or belief without evidence—yet the apostles were given more evidence of God’s power and promises than anyone.

Perhaps their doubt was not in Jesus but in themselves.  It is difficult to rebuke a friend, for fear of losing that friendship.  It can be even more difficult to forgive a loved one who has betrayed you.  

But these tasks are not impossible.  By asking Jesus to increase their faith, perhaps the disciples were asking Him to make the task a little easier.

To this request, Jesus asks them if they would not expect a servant, returned from working in the field, to prepare their meal according to his job.  He points out that it would be out of place to wait on the servant, who has simply done what he was supposed to.  In the same way, the work of rebuking and forgiving is not an extraordinary feat—it is an expectation.  When all our work is done, we should say, “We are profitable servants; we have done only what we were obliged to do.”

How often do we wish for our burdens to be lighter or for our lives to be more comfortable? It is more comfortable to avoid confrontation.  It is more comfortable to withhold forgiveness, so we can assure ourselves we are in the right.  Yet we are called to faith and humility, trusting the discomfort in this life is for a purpose, remembering that only God makes our work profitable.  Though sometimes difficult, practice is necessary for growth.  Jesus calls us to the simple act of continuing to have faith that we can do what is asked of us each day, believing that there will be time for rest when the work is done.