This week, a good and faithful servant went to be with the Lord.
Luke was a profitable servant, and long time friend.

Yet, some might wonder if it is even right to refer to another as a “profitable servant”.
Did not Jesus say:

“When you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done only what was our duty to do’” (Luke 17:10) .

But how does this square with what Jesus said in effect in another of His parables just two chapters later on (in Luke 19:17); or those exact words in a similar parable in Matt 25:21?

“His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’”

So here is something of a contradiction.
How can this be?

How should we be thinking?
Are all Christians, all the time, to view themselves as nothing more than unprofitable servants?

Are we to view all fellow Christians as unprofitable servants?

Unprofitable Servants?

But what then are we to make of Paul’s commendations of his fellow Christians in Colosse?
– “Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ” (1:7),
– “Tychicus, a beloved brother, faithful minister, and fellow servant in the Lord” (4:7),
– “Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother” (4:9)?
Why didn’t he simply report them as: “Epaphras, an unprofitable servant, and unprofitable minister of Christ”, or “Tychicus, an unprofitable minister, and unprofitable servant in the Lord” etc?
How could Paul get his theology so wrong (while also pandering to the egos of his fellow workers)?

For that matter, how could Paul say that: “when the Lord comes, He will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts; then each one’s praise will come from God” (1 Cor 4:5)?
“Praise” for what? For “unprofitableness”?

Or James: “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him” (Jas 1:12).
“Approved”? Approved for what?

And how could Paul be so confident that: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith”, and that “there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day” (2 Tim 4:7-8)?

While “without faith it is impossible to please Him” the clear implication is that by faith we can “please Him” and that “God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” (Heb 11:6)
In fact, the same writer exhorts us: “Do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” (Heb 13:16)

And Paul declares: “We make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.” (2 Cor 5:9)

None of this sounds as though we should regard all fellow Christians as the “unprofitable servants” of Jesus’ parable in Luke 17:10.

Another Difficulty

Another difficulty arises in the way Jesus tells the parable in that chapter:

“Which of you, having a servant ploughing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’?
“But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not.” (Luke 17:7-9)

Is this how Christ welcomes His servants into eternal glory?
But this is in stark contrast to the picture Jesus Himself paints of that occasion earlier in Luke’s gospel:

“Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.” (Luke 12:37)

No rebuke of “unprofitable servants” here.
More like: “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things…”

“Unprofitable”

The word “unprofitable” is significant.
In Greek: a-chreios = not-profitable, not-useful, useless.

The only other time this word is used in the Bible is in Jesus’ telling of the Parable of the Talents.
There, as we noted before, two of His servants are commended: “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things…” (Matt 25:21,23).
Only one servant is labelled “unprofitable” or “useless”: “You wicked and lazy servant…” Jesus called him. Then: “Cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (v 30).
Such was the end of the unprofitable servant!

What was the problem here?
The problem was that the “wicked and lazy servant” did nothing – or, at least, just the bare minimum. He had no affection for his master (“I knew you to be a hard man… I was afraid…”). His service for his master was drudgery; he did what he had to because he had to – but, no more. Useless!
“Thankyou for nothing you useless reptile.”

What Jesus was talking about is explained in the incident that follows those words of His, in Luke 17, “When you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’”

The Ten Lepers

In the incident that follows, ten lepers met Jesus and cried out for Him to have mercy on them.
“So when He saw them, He said to them, ‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’” (Luke 17:14) That much the Law required (Lev 13:1ff).
And, “as they went, they were cleansed.” They each did what the Law required; they did the bare minimum. Though healed, thus far they were “unprofitable servants” – they had only done “what was their duty to do.”

But “one of them, when he saw that he was healed,
– returned,
– and with a loud voice glorified God,
– and fell down on his face at Jesus’ feet,
– giving Him thanks.”
He went beyond bare duty. He wasn’t satisfied to do the bare minimum.

And “Jesus said to him, ‘Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.’” (Luke 17:19)
Or the Greek for “make well” (sozo) is also the word “to save”. I believe that, though ten were “cleansed”, only one was “saved”.

William Hendriksen

I found William Hendriksen’s comment on this passage very helpful.
He noted that:

(a) all were afflicted with the dreadful disease;
(b) all were determined to do something about it;
(c) all had heard about Jesus, and believed that he might be able to cure them, at the very least would take pity on them;
(d) all appeal to Jesus, acknowledging him as Master or Rabbi;
(e) all, in obedience to Christ’s command, proceed on their way to the priests; and
(f) all are healed.

But at this point the similarity ends. The evangelist must have been happy to be able to record that not all the ten were like the unprofitable servant of the immediately preceding parable, who did only what he had been commanded to do. It must have grieved the beloved physician that he was unable to report that what was true of the one was also, in every respect, true of the nine.

While the ten had started on their way to the priests, a current of health and vigor was rushing through every tissue of their bodies. They were completely cured and they knew it. But suddenly one of the ten – only one – turned around and walked back to Jesus…

There must have been an argument. It is hard to believe that without revealing his intentions the Samaritan had suddenly left the group to return to Jesus. The probability – almost certainty – is that he had urged the others to return with him. But no, they refused…

As he returned he praised God, thereby publicly acknowledging him as the One to whom he owed the great blessing he had just now received. Also, he fell on his face and thanked Jesus, for in the Master he recognized God’s Representative, God’s power and love operating through Jesus. That at least! How this man loved Jesus! Was not his humble gratitude born of love?

Who is the “unprofitable servant”?

It is the one who does the bare minimum. He keeps the Law of God (or thinks he does); but he does so grudgingly, he does so because he has to.

He goes to church – because he feels he has to.
He sings the hymns – because he has to.
He shuts his eyes during the prayer – because he has to.
He gives – because he has to.
He occasionally reads his Bible, even with his family at times – because he has to.
He goes through all the religious motions – but only because he has to.

How different is the profitable servant who “returns, and with a loud voice glorifies God, and falls down on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving Him thanks.”
Yes, in one sense, worship like this is everyone’s “duty”. But he does not do it out of mere duty.
He does it because he wants to; he does it because he loves the Lord.

It is not that he believes that by doing such God is obliged to save him. None are saved because of their works.
Rather, he does it because he is already saved. He lives a life that is transformed because he is already saved.
And because he is saved – and knows it – he “presents his body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is his reasonable service.” (Rom 12:1)

This too is our “reasonable service” – yours and mine.
Not the bare maintenance of religious practices “because we have to.”

This was what concerned the prophet Micah in his day:

“With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the High God?
Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” (Micah 6:6-7)

No! No religious practice without a religious heart is profitable. It is useless, unprofitable. And certainly not any sacrifice of ours, however great, that is contrary to God’s law, i.e. to “give one’s firstborn for the sin of one’s soul.”
The Lord looks beyond our outward actions; He looks for a life transformed by faith:

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Rom 12:2)

Or, as Micah defined it:

“He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8)

That is a profitable servant.

Luke was a profitable servant.
Not perfect, none of us are. Saved only by the grace of God, as any of us are.
But nonetheless, entering upon the realms of glory, I am persuaded he heard those precious words: “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things , I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord.’”

And, as far short as any of us come of God’s glory in this life (and we all do) yet we too who are saved by the grace of God, “doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God” can look forward to hearing those words when we, all of us (and very soon), enter upon the realms of glory.
Owned by Christ as profitable servants!

Soli Deo gloria