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November 30, 2025 - Bobby Dagnel - The Oughts of a Thankful Disciple

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Bobby Dagnel - The Oughts of a Thankful Disciple

00:00 Introduction: The Symbolism of the Pulpit
00:33 Thanksgiving and the Final Discourse of Jesus
02:29 The Meaning of 'Ought' in Scripture
06:21 The Ought of Influence
13:55 The Ought of Forgiveness
21:50 The Ought of Faith
26:34 The Ought of Obedience
34:11 Conclusion and Blessing

[00:00:00] Introduction: The Symbolism of the Pulpit

Tell you you don't want a barrier between you and the people, uh, that sort of thing. And, uh, so, you know, churches, you'll probably remember this, churches started going to clear pulpits, uh, you know, where you could see through the pulpit. And then it, they eliminated the pulpit altogether. And with the elimination of the pulpit, um.

I, I just always felt like something was lost, uh, in that, because I still think, and I'm glad we still have this up here, that is a very, a very powerful symbol, uh, for us as believers about the priority of the word and the priority of the message and not, uh, the messenger. Um. 

[00:00:33] Thanksgiving and the Final Discourse of Jesus

On this Thanksgiving weekend, I think it's appropriate, uh, for us to consider our text this morning here in Luke 17, uh, I've been in, uh, the upper room discourse, the final discourse of Jesus.

I want to return to that in the weeks to come. Uh, but I, I lay the foundation in. Coming to the final discourse that I don't know if it's my own personal season of life, uh, there's nothing unique about Jesus. Uh, the fact that Jesus was doing a final discourse with his disciples. Uh, there's many, uh, philosophers, uh, teachers of old that, uh, you know, did a so-called final discourse, uh, for those disciples that would continue on in their.

Teachings and Jesus was, uh, certainly a part of that tradition. But I've been interested in the last things that Jesus said, his time with his disciples, uh, as he knew his time was drawing near. What was it that Jesus deemed as being most important? What was it that he wanted those disciples to carry forth?

Uh, their apostolic theology and understanding of what? What would become foundational, uh, to the early church. But, uh, this particular text captured my attention as I've been perusing through the gospels and looking at these last things, especially in the light of Thanksgiving because I'm of the conviction.

That if we are a people, uh, that are truly thankful, if we are a people that are, that are filled with gratitude and appreciation for life, the gift of life that God has given to us, the gift of salvation, redemption that God is accomplishing for us, uh, I've always been of the conviction that, that if we are truly that thankful and gracious and filled with Thanksgiving, that it's going to be obvious in the life that we live.

And how we carry ourselves, how we conduct ourselves, how we relate to others, uh, and uh, that there's a way that we ought to behave. 

[00:02:29] The Meaning of 'Ought' in Scripture

And that little word alt, O-U-G-H-T is what captured my attention here in chapter 17, especially there in, in verse 10, uh, where it says, so you two, when you do all the things which are commanded, you say, we are unworthy slaves.

We have done only that, which we ought. To have done. It's an interesting word. If you go back and look at the etymology of that word, uh, the word alt and how, how, how it has evolved into our use of that word today. If someone, uh, is asking your opinion, my opinion today on, on any subject matter, you, you or I might say something to the effect, well, well, you know, if you're asking my opinion, I think what, what you ought to do.

And we would use it as a form of suggestion, wouldn't we? Now, here's just my opinion of, of what I think you ought to do it. It's nothing that's, that's binding, it's just strictly my opinion. I'm, I'm offering you another opinion on the smorgasbord of opinions that, that you're soliciting. But when you look at the biblical use of this word alt, especially if you look at the, at the, the words of Jesus, the teachings of Jesus, uh, the Apostle Paul, really any of the apostles, James, uh, we find that, that this word alt.

Means much more that when scripture speaks of all, it's something that, that is binding, something that is of obligation, something that is expected of us as as a people of God, as a, as a community. Of faith. Uh, for instance, uh, you see in, uh, several places here I've, I've made note. Uh, if you just go to the next page, you can see in 18 chapter 18 verse one, Jesus said that you ought to pray.

That is to his disciples and thus to us that we ought to pray and not lose heart. When it comes to the spirit of gratitude, that is to characterize our lives as, as believers. John recorded in chapter 13 and verse 14 that we ought to wash one another's feet. Luke used it in a unusual way In Acts chapter 19 and verse 36, acts said for us as the believers, uh, that we ought to keep calm and do nothing.

Rash that's easier to read and talk about than it is to do. But, but, but Luke says, let, uh, we ought to keep calm and do nothing rash. James, uh, uses it this way in a way that is much more pointed. He said, from the, from the same mouth, come, blessings and cursings things ought not to be this way. John would record it in his little epistle.

First John chapter four in verse 11, that we ought to love one another. And then in that final one chapter, epistle, written by Jude in verse 17, it says, we ought to remember, uh, the words spoken beforehand by the apostles. So we see that this word alt. In the biblical sense is, is much more binding, uh, it's much more obligatory than in the sense that you and I would use that word, alt today.

Well, when we come to this passage, we've seen it in verse 10, this word alt, that things how things ought to be. Uh, but that passage is preceded by, by some other implied aughts for us. When you begin in verse one and you just begin reading through these expectations of Jesus, what we ought to be about as disciples, uh, I, I think it's very compelling what he says to us.

[00:06:21] The Ought of Influence

For instance, notice in verses one and two, Jesus talks about the alt. This is the obligation, the understanding of influence, he says. It is inevitable speaking to his disciples and thus to us. He said to his disciples, it is inevitable that stumbling blocks 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, and he were thrown into the sea, that he would cause one of these little ones to some stumble.

Now what Jesus is speaking to, to, to the life of disciples is that, is that by your commitment to me, that you're a part of the agency of God by virtue of following after me. What we will understand to be after the day, after Pentecost, after the act of Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit as a people, uh, that, that are in, that are, that are filled by the person of the Holy Spirit.

Being a people who abide in me and I in you, you need to understand that you are a person of influence. There is never a time, and this is true for any one of us. There is never a time, there is never a moment in our lives when we are not a people of influence. It's for good or bad. Nonetheless, we are a people of influence.

Now, notice these ones that Jesus is speaking, that it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into sea. Then he would cause one of these little ones to stumble. He is not not talking about children though, that that could be a part of that, that understanding, when we see these words of Jesus and talking about the little ones.

He's talking about those that, that primarily are just young in the faith. Maybe those who are inquiring about the life of faith, those who are immature, those who are impressionable within with whom we interact on a, on a daily basis. In fact, I would say of any congregation, any healthy. Lemme qualify that in any healthy congregation, you're going to have a, you're going to have a mix of those that are young in the faith, that are immature in the faith, and those that, that are wise and mature in the things of God.

Now, spiritual maturity doesn't have anything to do with biological age. I know those that are young in years, but they, but they are old souls. They, they are mature in the faith at the other end. I know those who, who, who are, who are mature in years. Who are, who are many. Uh, in their biological age, and yet they're, they're, they're spiritually emotional adolescents.

And so we're not, we're not talking about age, a good way of understanding this in regard to little ones, it's, it's those that are powerless, those that are marginalized, those that have no position and no posture for influence. Um, the least of these among us. Jesus said, as you have done these, as you've done this unto me, as you've done it to the least of these, you've done this unto me.

Well, what were the things he was talking about? Food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, visiting those who are sick, those who are imprisoned clothing, the naked, just, just little. Things, little opportunities that any of us can do on a daily basis that bring influence for the cause of Christ and the life of others.

Paul would say it this way in Romans chapter 15 in verse one. He says, we ought to bear out those without strength and not just please ourselves. Come about giving up something for the sake of others. One John three 16. We ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. One of the passages I often use in performing wedding.

Wedding ceremonies. Is, I'll use that Ephesian passage where Paul is talking. There's certainly debate in theological decir circles in Ephesians four. Is Paul talking about the relationship between Christ and the church, or is he talking about the relationship between a husband and a wife? And the answer is yes.

It's both and. And, and in a, in a wedding ceremony, I will stand there and I'll talk about the obligations of a wife, and then I'll, uh, I'll talk about the obligations of a husband. And, you know, in the, in that passage in Ephesians four, and this certainly clashes with our culture today, it says, wives be obedient to your husbands.

Uh, because the husband is the head of the wife, is Christ is the head of the church. And in, in that passage. It is actually a carryover from, in this language of submission, it's actually a carryover from the preceding verse that that admonishes us as believers in a much larger principle where it says to be submissive to one another.

Wives to your husbands, for example. See the overarching principles. You have two individuals that God has brought together, whether it's Christ in his church, a husband and his wife, and you have two individuals that have submitted themselves to one another, foregoing their rights and their privileges for the wellbeing and the growth of another person.

You see, that's the kind of attitude that that Paul is speaking to, that we ought to bear out those. Without strength and not just please ourselves. You see, we live in a, we live in a arrogant age, don't we? And even in the church, we hear so often individuals proclaiming their right, they'll, they'll do it in a spiritual language.

They'll talk about their freedom in Christ. Well, Christ has set me free to do this. Yes, what? But, but with great freedom. Becomes great responsibility. How am I in my exercising of my freedom? What influence and what impact is that going to have on those around me who may be the little ones in the life of faith?

So here's what it says to us. It says for us that you and I. That we're not going to be judged, that we're not just going to be judged alone on the basis of how I lived my life, but also how did I exercise the influence entrusted to me? How did I influence those that were young in the faith? How did I, how did I influence those in, in my daily walk?

How, how did I impact those and influence those for the cause of Christ, uh, that are, that are still at a stage of inquiry in their lives? Jesus wants his disciples to be cleanly, uh, clearly aware that there is an alt of influence. 

[00:13:55] The Ought of Forgiveness

There's another one here, maybe even more challenging, and that's the ought of forgiveness.

He says in verse three, be on your guard. That's an imperative, declarative statement. Always sit up when you see those kind of, those kind of declarations and imperative statements. Be on your guard if your brother sins now. Now be mindful of the word brother. It points to kinship and relationship with one another.

Be on your guard. If your brother sins rebuke him, and if he repents forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day and returns to you seven times a day saying, I repent, then forgive him. Now, those are hard words, aren't they? I mean, these are challenging words. Let me tell you. These words preach really well.

I love preaching on this subject of, of forgiveness, but it's, it's easy to do right here. The, the challenge is, is living it out in, in real time, having a forgiving spirit, having a forgiving nature. Now, I think it's vital that we understand that, that Jesus says if your brother sins, it's a word of kinship.

This is the activity of the body of Christ, and I think it helps us, as harsh as these words may seem, I think it would help us to appreciate them more if we understand the power of community, the power of fellowship, the power of watch, care and love, and compassion and caring for one another. Because what Jesus is admonishing here, what what he's vying for is restoration.

It's not punitive. It's about, it's about restoration. It's about, it's about redemption. He's saying you, this is a part of your influence in, in, in, in your witness and your testimony to the world. You're a unique people in how you deal with one another. You're to be a, the, the most powerful weapon in the arsenal of God's redemptive purposes is grace and forgiveness.

We live in a culture that, that is harsh, that has drawn lines in the sand. Everybody is so hostile, everybody's angry, everyone is, is, is vitriolic and, uh, pejorative in their, in their discussions. You know, there are no consensus builders. There's no one seeking after reconciliation. Our culture is one that is drawn lines in the sand.

And if, and if I disagree with you, then it's necessary for me to hate you. Now in that kind of anger and hostility, imagine how powerful the witness is of God's people. When among ourselves, we seek to be redeeming. We seek to restore, we keep, we seek to lift back up, put people back on their, their feet, not punitive.

You know, Paul was gravely concerned. When he wrote his first letter to the church at Corin, or the one that we have of, uh, Paul was greatly concerned about sexual sin in that congregation that wasn't being dealt with. And sexual sin is unique as you understand it in Paul's writing. Sexual sin is unique in that it, it undermines and destroys the fabric of community, uh, unlike any other sin, frankly.

And so Paul is, Paul is concerned because the, the church has allowed this, this sexual sin in its very midst to be practiced. And, and he said, and what Paul says to them in one Corinthians six is, you either deal with this before I get there, that I, or I'll deal with it when I do well by the, by the time he writes Second Corinthians, he's no less concerned because they haven't restored that brother to fellowship.

Him, they've acted and they put that brother out. Uh, they excommunicated him, but Paul is no less upset that they haven't restored him. All of this wasn't punitive in nature. It was for the purpose of once you place this brother outside the fellowship, he's going to understand what he's missed. What he's missing in life.

He's going to understand the implications of, of what he has done. And in so doing, the hope is he will become repentant and you will restore him into congregational life. I mean, we, it is, if we think about it, it's probably not much different than when we put our children in time out. You know, my, you know, all of our kids are so vastly different.

My firstborn, you know, I could just look at her cross waves and, you know, she would melt and cry, you know. But my, my son, uh, we had to try everything. You know, he would just, you know, spankings didn't work with him. Time out. He couldn't stand timeouts. We realized that's where he was most vulnerable was being put in timeout.

So we would put him in timeout in his room, tell him to go in his room for 10 minutes, and then we would keep going on with the festivities and the activities of whatever we would we were doing as, as a family. In fact, after we had put Hunter in timeout in his bedroom, I would even go out all the more laughing and carrying on.

Like, and Patty would go, you're just being mean. I said, no, I want him to understand we're having fun in here. Sure enough, within five minutes he'd come out. Dad, I'm, I'm sorry. Can I come back in here with y'all and play? I was like, man, yeah, you bet. Come on in, man. We're, we're, we're. We have so much more fun when you're in here with us.

I wanted him to understand that if you're going to be a part of a family of a community. You've got certain obligations and duties. What's right, what's proper, what's inappropriate. There's repercussions, but we want you here with us. That's the very thing Jesus is speaking to in this passage of scripture.

True forgiveness. Listen, true forgiveness. Is a willingness and a deliberateness in letting go of the resentment to which you're entitled. That's true forgiveness. Easy to talk about forgiveness, but true forgiveness when practice it. Lets go of the resentment to which you are entitled. In Mozart's Requiem, there's a great line that says, oh, merciful Jesus.

Remember I'm the cause of your journey.

I'm pretty sure he remembers By that same token, we should remember. 'cause if we are the beneficiaries. Of God's grace. We must be the conduits, the conduits of his mercy and grace. For others, we cannot claim it for ourselves and then withhold it from others. That's the alt of forgiveness. But there's also notice as the narrative continues here, there is also the aught of faith.

[00:21:50] The Ought of Faith

The apostles said to the Lord. Increase our faith. Almost laugh when I read that line because you know, here Jesus has talked about the alt of influence. I don't know if they had never, if they had never considered that before. And now he talks about this, uh, this, this alt of forgiveness, which is certainly, which certainly challenging for all of us.

It's something that goes against our nature. And so I kind of find myself laughing like, like they need some kind of extra kind of faith here. Lord, if you really expect me to be forgiveness, you really expect me to be a person of influence. You, uh, Lord, increase our faith. And the Lord said it. If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, be uprooted and be planted in the sea and it will obey you.

The point Jesus is making is that you don't need a special infusion of more faith. The faith you have is adequate. It goes back to remember Jesus was put out somewhat with his disciples in, in Luke chapter eight in verse 25, the storm on the sea, and Jesus chi those disciples and and ask them, where is your faith?

And so when they're, when they're asking here for an increase of, of our faith, it doesn't mean there's an absence of faith, but what Jesus knows and understands is that they're, they're failing to exercise their faith. The faith you have as little as you think your faith may be. Listen, it's adequate. To do and, and to embrace and to practice these God-like practices, the agency of influence, a spirit of forgiveness.

The faith you have is adequate. If you just sit around praying for more, more faith, nothing, nothing gets done. The real issue is are you going to step forward in faith? Are you going to engage your faith? Are you going to activate your faith? In fact, I love the, the hyperbole here of, I mean, this is an extreme form of hyperbole where Jesus says that in this passage regarding the the mulberry tree.

And if you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, be uprooted and be planted in the sea, and it would obey you. Well, a couple of things that work here. A mulberry tree would never be near the coast. It's not conducive to that kind of of soil. Second thing is that the mulberry tree root system is so extensive you would never pull it up.

At least not by any means of that were available in that day and time. You know, before I became a welder. I was working 60 hours a week as a certified welder, putting myself through through college and my undergraduate, uh, degree. Before that, I worked as, um, uh, doing lawn sprinkler installations and, uh, one on one of the yards we were doing.

This elderly lady asked if we could pull up a row of Holly bushes in front of her house. I don't know if you've ever had holly bushes in your, those real prickly kind of green plants. Real, real stiff and uh, you don't ever wanna fall into a holly bush. But she had this long row in front of her flower beds, these long row of holly bushes, and the then the sidewalk, and then other row of holly bushes, and she comes out and say, would you boys mind just pulling up all those holly bushes for me?

Well, we had this brilliant idea. One of the guys on our crew had a, had a Jeep and a winch on the front. So we just put a steel cable around that, that first holly tree bush. And we started pulling that winch and backing that jeep up. And you know, that just started popping, boom, boom, boom. And we were pulling up all these holly bushes and then we pulled up the sidewalk as well, so that that didn't go well.

I think we could probably do the same thing with a mulberry tree, but not, not when Jesus is saying it here, but the point Jesus is making is unbelievable. Extraordinary things happen. The unimaginable happens like a mulberry tree being pulled up, being cast, or growing by the sea. Extraordinary things can happen.

Unimaginable possibilities. If you will, just exercise the faith that you have, regardless of how little you think it might be. That's the ness of faith that we exercise on a daily basis. 

[00:26:34] The Ought of Obedience

The final thing, and we'll close with this, and it's the alt of obedience, he says in, in verse seven, which of you. We understand whenever, whenever Jesus asks the the rhetorical question, which of you, uh, the understood answer is, none of you, that's none of us.

Which of you having a slave plowing or tending sheep will say to him when he, when he has come in from the field, come immediately and sit down to eat. But will he not say to him, prepare something for me to eat and properly clothe yourself and serve me. While I eat and drink and afterward you may eat and drink.

He does not thank the slave because he did these things which were commanded, does he? No, he doesn't. So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded, you say, we are unworthy slaves. We have done only that, which we ought to have done. Now you, you see the, the implication that it's we as disciples, we are the ones that are under obligation.

It's not the master. How often do you hear it in the American church? Well, why did God allow this to happen? Why didn't God do this? It's we who are under obligation, not God. We cannot fathom the heart and mind. Of God. Our minds are finite and we see and understand only in finite terms, but it's we who are, who are un under obligation to God.

And when we've done our duty and we've done our task, we've just done what we ought to have done. Now, what's vital in this is that the nature, the nature of our relationship with God the father, it's a kinship that is based upon love. When we do what we do, when we are serving the Lord, when we are living our lives in the chase, and the pursuit to being obedient to the teachings of his word, relationship, that's the key word.

I don't miss it. It sounds very trite. It sounds very simplistic, but love and the relationship of love between the father and, and the one who has extended his love to us, that is the catalyst for the life of obedience that we pursue. Ours is not a faith, a legalistic faith of dos and don'ts. That, that kind of religion of dos and don'ts, just keeping a punch list of I did this, I don't do that, that that's the kind of religion that just runs its course.

I mean, no, no one can stay the course, no one can endure to the end just keeping a religious punch list, those who endure to the end, those are the ones that understand the, the vitality of this relationship. Between the father, this marriage between, between Christ and his church, a relationship of love.

It's a game changer. My house. Your house. If it is to be the kind of relationship as a husband and wife, parent, and children, if it's going to be the kind of relationship that it's going to experience, its full expression. It has to be done out of love. Well, there's things I have to do at my house. If our household is going to function well, there's a role I have as a husband, as as a father.

Uh, there, there's things I have to do at my house. There's things I, I don't do at my house. There's things that we should do, things that we shouldn't do. But I do those things in my household. I perform my role in my function as a man called by God. I perform my function as a husband, as a father, and, and I do those things in my house, not because Patty's an old ball and chain and makes my life miserable if I don't do those things.

Not that at all. But I do those things out of love. I want her, I want her to be proud. I want her to be pleased. She's the one I want to be happy in the household. She's the one I want to be fully enriched in this relationship. You know, for 39 years as a pastor, 40, 42 years in ministry, 39 of those serving as a pastor, I soon got over the desire to be pleasing to people.

Because I, I realized early on as a pastor that that opinions are subjective and that if you preach to gain the favorable opinions of man, uh, you're just constantly jumping through hoops. And so I always said for 39 years, I preached for an audience of one. All I ever desired was that when I come down off the pulpit that I can say to myself and that hopefully the father was pleased.

The way that I preached his word and taught it because I, I just know fickle humanity, that every, every nine people that, or every one person or every nine people hopefully, that walk out and say, well, that was a great message today, that there's always gonna be somebody that says, you know what? That guy never speaks to me.

That guy's preaching. It just never does anything for me. I, I've always been keenly aware. Of that. So I've never preached for the masses. I've always preached for an audience of one, but I say that with this one caveat, it's probably not hard to figure out the one human opinion I've asked for for 39 years of Sundays, and that's Patties.

First thing I'd say when we get in the car, said, what'd you think about that message? For 39 years of Sunday, she would say the same thing to me. She said that was a great message. I've never heard you preach a bad one except for the first one, and she was there for the first one, and I will tell you, it was horrendous.

It was absolutely awful. I prepared three weeks for that sermon. I had it memorized. It was 20 minutes exactly. I had press. I had practiced it ad nauseum in front of the mirror, and I got up in that little chapel service where I'd been invited to preach, and I said that sermon in seven minutes and I didn't leave anything out.

And I told those people everything I knew about God in seven minutes, but I always wanted Pat's opinion. It's a relationship, not about rules. It's not about regulations, it's about love. It's about kinship with one another. And when you have that kind of relationship, when we embrace that relationship with the father, it's then that we become the people of influence.

[00:34:11] Conclusion and Blessing

The people of forgiveness, the people of faith, the people of obligation that we ought to be, let's stand, we'll be dismissed with this word of blessing that comes from, from, from Jude. Who said now to him, who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, blameless with great joy to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever, and all of God's people said, amen.

God bless you.