We Ain't in Charge - Pastor Isaac

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.'
Luke 17:10

26 "Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.28 "It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 "It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed."
Luke 17:26-30

Observation
Jesus is known around the world for his compassion and love. He is known as the great teacher of love. However, often this is presented through the lens of permissive, post-modern, hippy love that is unable to make any claims to truth, but adhering only to the whim of the moment, the pleasure of one's senses. We are unworthy servants. Jesus is strongly communicating man's place before God. It is not we who created him, but it is He who created us. In the age of equality we have lost that sense. Even in the current popular Christian novel, The Shack, it has been presented as if God doesn't exist within hierarchy. I have no doubt of the fact that God does not require a delineated system of government complete with checks and balances. Therefore there is no need within Him to express to us what that order may or may not look like. However, one thing is clear – we are beneath him. In a similar fashion, we rule over the beasts of the earth. As noble, valuable or created they may be, God has still given dominion to man. There is little doubt that man has abused this privilege, but a poor farmer should not be replaced by a dumb animal.

I digress.

The point is, the Christian should always find its identity as a servant. That is where we are to live, breathe and find life. Man will constantly be tempted to work to be on the same level as God – creating truth, but we are to accept truth.

It is appropriate that Jesus also addresses the end of the age in this section. His disciples were asking and wondering about the end of time. I hear the tone of Jesus to be similar to parents being asked by a child about the family finances. While the teen might be able to comprehend some of the fiscal issues, it is not their place to be included in decision making – the are out of place. Their one job is to remain in an attitude of trust.

Application
How often I don't trust! How often I get twisted up in my inside trying to control, understand or plan for the unknown will of God. I must stay within the known will of God and accept his other plans. Jesus simply communicates that we need to be ready. We need to be anticipating.

Prayer
God, you alone are God. I am not. If I get into the habit of trying to be God, I will let myself, my family and my flock down. I pray you would help me to trust in you.