"It's the Little Things" - Pentecost 17C

Saint Luke 17:5-10

The story is told about famed Hotelier Conrad Hilton who, “while appearing as a guest on "The Tonight Show" one evening was asked by his host (Johnny Carson) whether he had a "message" for the American people.

With great gravity, Hilton paused momentarily before turning to the camera. "Please," he pleaded, "put the shower curtain inside the tub!"1

That was the introduction to the commencement address one of my intellectual heros, Washington Post columnist Dr. George F.  Will, gave on May 15, 1998 at Washington University in Saint Louis that 21 years after watching it on C-Span I remember to this day.

When I finally found the text on the internet I was surprised at how much of that speech I had committed to memory.  Speaking about the little things that matter Will rhapsodized:

"I grew up in Champaign, Illinois, midway between Chicago and St. Louis. At an age too tender for life-shaping decisions, I made one. While all my friends were becoming Cardinals fans, I became a Cub fan. My friends, happily rooting for Stan Musial, Red Schoendienst and other great Redbirds, grew up cheerfully convinced that the world is a benign place, so of course, they became liberals. Rooting for the Cubs in the late 1940s and early 1950s, I became gloomy, pessimistic, morose, dyspeptic and conservative.”2

Will’s point was that the simple act of becoming a Cubs fan shaped his entire outlook on life and made him the dour conservative that he is today.  Little things can effect our lives more than just leaving behind thousands of wet bathroom floors leading to equally as many leaking ceilings one floor down.

And Jesus is telling his disciples that in the life of faith it will be the little things that matter most.

In Luke’s gospel the disciples struggle with the same issues we struggle with in trying to follow Jesus.  

They are challenged by him and are too often confused by his values and tenets.  Their demand for Jesus to increase their faith is an appeal for what they know they need but lack, even in the very presence of Jesus.3

How much more true is that for us who are tying to follow him long after he physically walked the earth. 

When we are confronted with a crisis we too cry out, “Lord, increase our faith.”  When we are touched by tragedy we cry out, “Lord, increase our faith.” When an opportunity comes our way that looks like it might be too much to handle, even then, looking at the challenge, we might cry out “Lord, increase our faith.”

Rather than teach Jesus encourages.  What he is actually saying here to us is,  “C’mon people you’ve got this.  You do have enough faith.”

This is not the “you can if you think you can” of the possibility thinking preachers where the “belief that material wealth is a sign of God’s favor” and “those who lack material wealth are somehow thought to be deficient in faith.”4

You and I know that we could stare at a mountain or a mulberry tree “till Kingdom come” and it wouldn’t move as much as a quarter-of-an-inch.  There are some days where we can’t even get our spouses or partners to do what we want them to do.  If getting them to move is difficult moving inanimate objects is impossible.

But Dr.  Fred Craddock tells us that the word to pay attention to is not the “if” but the “have”.  He says it could be better translated: “‘If you had faith (and you do).’ Jesus response is not a reprimand for an absence of faith but an affirmation of the faith they have and an invitation to live out the full possibilities of that faith.”5

That is what we are called to do in our service.

The Revised Standard Version translation of scripture that we have before us today  leads us into troubled waters because it has Jesus asking: “Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in...”6  and we would stop him mid-sentence.

“With all due respect, Lord,” all of us in this room would say - Democrat or Republican; Liberal or Conservative - “Lord, none of us would even think of owning a slave.  The idea of owning another human being is so repugnant to us that it makes us shiver.  Lord, we don’t even own our pets!  We refer to them as our ‘fur-babies’ and ourselves as ‘pet-parents.’  We can’t relate to slavery at any time - biblical or our own.”

This may be why most modern translations use the word “servant” rather than “slave.”  And even having a servant makes some of us feel uncomfortable.

But let me call your attention to the television and now movie phenomenon “Downton Abbey.”

Did you ever wonder who in that household was really running the show?  Was it Lord Gratham or was it really Carson, the butler?  Was it his wife, Lady Edith,   or was it Mrs.  Hughes? 

It was the servants who went ‘round to wake the Crawley’s every morning.  And they dutifully got out of bed to start another day.

It was the servants who rang the bell to tell them it was time to get ready for dinner.  And so they all obediently changed from their daytime to evening wear. 

It was the servants who ran the show!  And there was a pride in service down to the most menial of tasks.

I remember early on Carson was walking around each formal table setting with a ruler making sure that each utensil was in it perfectly situated  down to the last millimeter.

Somewhere at home I have downloaded a “how to” chart for the place settings at a formal dinner.  I’m sure it would be of great help if I ever had a formal dinner but since I never have and probably never will all I could do is give Carson credit for the care he took in making sure everything was in its proper place.

For him being a servant was a high honor.  For us it is too because we are just doing what Jesus asks us to do.

Dr.  William H.  Willimon puts it this way:

Some times I think that we feign humility, complaining about all the virtues we lack because to believe that we have all that we need would require us to step up and make good on our faith.  And Jesus replies, “I have given you all that you need to follow me. Now get on with it.7 

 It is the continual making of the little decisions in our life that have made all the difference.

The ultimate worth of any servant is to have done his or her duty.

Duty may be an old-fashioned word but most of us still do our duty “out of a heartfelt desire, from a passionate, earnest determination to contribute.

Most of us contribute money or talents to the work of the church in an attempt to do our part.  When someone is in need [we] reach out to them ... because we are followers of Christ and we believe that is expected of us.

Jesus tells us we have what it takes to do our duty and be his servants.   While we may not be able to make a sycamore tree bend to our will the least we can do is put the shower curtain inside the tub.

 Don’t you think?

____________

1.   Chris Higgins, “Conrad Hilton's Advice to the American People.” Mental Floss, October 22, 2009. http://mentalfloss.com/article/23076/conrad-hiltons-advice-american-people.

2.  George F.  Will, “It’s the Little Things.” Commencement address given at Washington University in St.  Louis, May 15, 1998.  https://www.baseball-almanac.com/quotes/george_will_quotes.shtml

3.  Nancy Lynne Westfield, Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship. Vol. 3.  (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox, 2019.), p.  372.

4.  ibid., p.  373.

5. Fred B. Craddock, Luke: A Biblical Commentary for Teaching and Preaching. (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox, 1990.)  p.  200.

6.  St.  Luke 17:7.  (NRSV) [NRSV=The New Revised Standard Version]

7.  William H. Willimon, “Faithful Enough to Be Faithful.” Pulpit Resource.  vol. 38, no. 4 (2010): p. 5–8.