Forgiving Seven Times a Day: Faith the Size of a Mustard Seed

Introduction

Aimé Jacquet, June 12, 1998, around 11pm. France has just won its first World Cup. A journalist holds out the microphone to the former coach who had been vilified, accused, and mocked by the press for months: "So, what are you going to tell them?" And Jacquet drops a line that would become famous: "I will never forgive them." Ironic, when you know his first name means "beloved."

That line makes you uncomfortable, and at the same time, you understand it. Think about your own life, your relationships, your situations. When someone has offended you, when someone has sinned against you (really, objectively, seriously), aren't you tempted to say the same thing? At least to understand that desire for eternal punishment?

Jesus, in Luke 17, pulls back the curtain on what a normal day looks like in a disciple's life. And he gives you three percentages to remember: 0% tolerance for sin, 1% faith is enough, within the frame of 100% grace received and lived out. Fighting sin without mercy, having only faith as a resource: that's simply normal for a disciple of Jesus.

Sermon Outline

1. Fight sin without mercy (Luke 17:1-4)

Jesus opens with a hard warning: "It is impossible that no occasions of stumbling should come, but woe to him through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, rather than that he should cause one of these little ones to stumble." (Luke 17:1-2, WEB)

This text makes no compromise. It's aimed first at the Pharisees in the context, the ones who, instead of leading people to Jesus, trip them up. They downplay how serious sin is, and prefer self-centeredness, money, the top seat, and a formal keeping of the Sabbath over mercy. They grumble that Jesus eats with sinners.

This warning has two effects. First, it reassures you: if people around you discredit Jesus, push others away from the Savior, and treat sin as no big deal, God sees and God will judge. Second, it addresses you directly: if you are the one who, through your life, your words, your carelessness, or your legalism, keeps others from coming to Jesus, then this warning is for you. If you're angry at Christians whose attitude trips others up, know that God is even angrier than you are.

Then Jesus flips the coin: fighting sin without mercy also means always knowing how to forgive.

"Be careful. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns, saying, 'I repent,' you shall forgive him." (Luke 17:3-4, WEB)

Knock knock knock. "Sorry, I sinned against you." "I forgive you." Knock knock knock. "I sinned against you again." "I forgive you." Seven times in a day. Jesus isn't asking you to pull out a calculator and slam the door after the eighth time. He's telling you: stop counting.

What a contrast to what the world offers. The #MeToo movement rightly calls out sin (real abuse, often men against women) but it often does so like a Wild West lynching: no trial, no possibility of any form of remission, someone gets stripped bare in front of the crowd. In couples, in families, at work, you hear the same thing Jacquet said: "I will never forgive them."

But in the church, sin has no right to citizenship: zero tolerance for sin, and forgiveness without keeping count for the sinner who repents. First, you recognize your own sin, and you accept correction. You don't stay indifferent to someone else's sin, because sin degrades your brother, your sister, making them uglier than what they're called to be. The forgiveness we receive from God is the bullseye of God's aim. The forgiveness we live out toward each other is the bullseye of ours.

2. Having only faith as a resource (Luke 17:5-6)

Faced with this demand, the apostles explode: "Increase our faith." (Luke 17:5) Translation: this is impossible, Lord. And they're right. Is it easy to forgive someone who has deeply wounded you seven times a day? No. Is it possible with your own strength? Not that either. Neither easy nor possible.

Jesus answers:

"If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you would tell this sycamore tree, 'Be uprooted, and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you." (Luke 17:6, WEB)

Notice: Jesus doesn't say "have more faith." He's not talking about quantity. He's talking about a tiny faith that's well placed. A mustard seed, you can't even see it lying on the ground. The sycamore, on the other hand, had roots so deep that in ancient times people considered it nearly impossible to uproot. It was one of the largest common trees in Palestine.

Picture an elephant and an ant teaming up to uproot a sycamore. They pull and pull, and the tree finally falls. And the ant says to the elephant: "Hey, we were strong!" Or picture your two-and-a-half-year-old son pushing your huge vacation suitcase to the car: "Daddy, we're doing it! I'm so strong!" That's the idea. It's not about the amount of your faith. It's not your ability to move mountains when you believe hard enough. It's that even with a tiny bit of faith, when it's placed in the right place, you understand it's not you uprooting the difficulty: it's Jesus, in whom you place it.

The unshakeable sycamore of sin, of your rebellion against God, of the evil you do and the evil done to you: God uprooted it at the cross of Jesus. Practically, how does that work? By staying hidden under the dazzling shadow of the cross. Every time forgiveness is a challenge, small or great, you look at the cross and remember what it cost God to forgive you. And you tell yourself: "Of course. It's on me to do this, on the basis of the forgiveness God gave me. But it can't come from me." 1% faith is enough, because it's the Lord who is powerful.

3. It's simply normal for a disciple of Jesus (Luke 17:7-10)

And Jesus drives the point home with a short parable:

"But who is there among you, having a servant plowing or keeping sheep, that will say, when he comes in from the field, 'Come immediately and sit down at the table,' and will not rather tell him, 'Prepare my supper, clothe yourself properly, and serve me, while I eat and drink. Afterward you shall eat and drink'? Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded? I think not. Even so you also, when you have done all the things that are commanded you, say, 'We are unworthy servants. We have done our duty.'" (Luke 17:7-10, WEB)

Imagine you're an accountant. You start your day, you open a spreadsheet, you fill in the formulas. You call your boss: "Look what I'm doing!" He'd answer: "That's just normal for you to do that." It's the same with forgiveness. You forgive someone, you close the door, you pray: "Lord, did you see that? I forgave him." And Jesus answers you: "That's normal."

The word "unworthy" doesn't mean "worthless." It means you're not adding anything to what you've already received in full. It's as if you'd received an enormous mountain of gold coins and then came to drop in a single small coin thinking it would change everything. The mountain is already there. Your small addition doesn't change the value of the gift. As Paul says: "For who makes you different? And what do you have that you didn't receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?" (1 Corinthians 4:7, WEB)

This is the best antidote to self-centeredness, pride, self-justification, the poison of the Pharisees, and the pretense that you can manage your own sin by yourself. 100% grace received. You are an unworthy servant. You've done your duty. And that's in your DNA now.

Key Takeaways

• 0% tolerance for sin. It is impossible that no occasions of stumbling should come, but woe to the one through whom they come. Don't cause your brother to stumble, and don't treat sin as ordinary in the name of grace.
• Forgiveness lived out is the bullseye. Seven times a day, a brother who repents should find a brother who forgives. No calculator required.
• 1% well-placed faith is enough. It's not the amount of your faith that matters, it's the Savior in whom you place it. God uprooted the sycamore of sin at the cross.
• Zero tolerance for sin, unlimited forgiveness for the repentant sinner. What reigns in the church stands in radical contrast to the world's lynching, with no possibility of remission.
• Unworthy servant. When you've forgiven, you haven't done anything extraordinary. You've simply lived a normal day as a disciple, within the frame of 100% grace received.

Personal Application

1. Is there someone around you to whom you've said in your heart, "I will never forgive them"? What would happen if you looked at the cross today while thinking of them?
2. Do you use your phone or your coffee break to discuss a brother's sin with two or three other people, or to call that brother directly, in the safe setting of two forgiven sinners?
3. Through your life, your words, and your example, are you someone who draws people closer to Jesus, or someone who trips them up?
4. When you pray for more faith, are you asking for quantity, or are you asking God to teach you again how to place your small faith in the right place?
5. When you've forgiven, when you've served, when you've held firm, do you look for a pat on the back, or do you simply say, "That's normal, I did what I was supposed to do"?

Corrie ten Boom: forgiveness as a deliberate act

Corrie ten Boom was a Dutch Christian who, with her sister Betsie, hid Jews during World War II. Both sisters were sent to a concentration camp. Betsie died there. Corrie survived. A few years after the war, at a conference, she recognized one of the camp guards in the crowd, one of the men who had tormented her. He walked up to her, hand extended, to thank her for her message on forgiveness.

Here's what she recounted: "I prayed: Lord, I cannot forgive him. It's too hard. Give me your forgiveness. Then, with my eyes fixed on the cross, I lifted my hand." Corrie was clear: this forgiveness was a conscious act, a deliberate decision, not a spontaneous feeling. Forgiveness is a deliberate, intentional, willing act. It's walking in the Savior's footsteps.

Scripture References

• Luke 17:1-10 (WEB) · central text of the sermon
• 1 Corinthians 4:7 (WEB) · "What do you have that you didn't receive?"
• Hebrews 12:1-2 (WEB) · eyes fixed on Jesus, the author of faith
• Luke 15:1-2 (WEB) · the Pharisees grumble because Jesus eats with sinners
• Matthew 6:12 (WEB) · "Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors"

FAQ

What does "unworthy servant" mean in Luke 17:10?

The Greek word doesn't mean "worthless" or "contemptible." It means you're not adding anything to what you've already received. God doesn't owe you anything because you forgave or obeyed: you simply did what a disciple does. It's the opposite of religious pride, which demands a reward for what should be natural in a life saved by grace.

Do you really have to forgive someone who keeps doing it over and over?

Jesus says "seven times in a day," but he sets a clear condition: "if he repents." Forgiving doesn't mean closing your eyes to sin or giving up on correcting your brother. It means welcoming back the one who returns saying "I repent." Forgiveness doesn't cancel out truth: it goes hand in hand with it. And it keeps no calculator.

"Faith like a mustard seed": is that about quantity?

No, and this text is one of the most misread when pulled out of context. Jesus doesn't say "have more faith." Instead, he's pointing out that a tiny faith is enough, as long as it's placed in the right Savior. It's not your ability that uproots the sycamore of sin: it's Christ, to whom your faith connects you. 1% well-placed faith moves what 100% of human willpower never reaches.