Maintaining
a Sense of Heightened Awareness for Christ
[Luke
chapter 12, verses 35-48]
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Last
week when we finished part 2 of Luke's gospel, Jesus was giving some
extended teaching time to the apostles, as well as the large crowd
that had gathered around Jesus to listen, learn and profit from his
teachings. He had just told them, “Sell
your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves
that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be
exhausted, where no thief comes near and where no moth destroys....”
Reject materialism and all materialistic pursuits! Stop worrying
about where you will live, what kind of car you drive, or what style
of clothing you will wear today or tomorrow! If any of us died in our
sleep tonight, we cannot take any of those things with us. They will
remain left behind for your relatives and friends to squabble over
anyway, so why not just let it all go? Because, you know, life
becomes a lot less complicated when we reject materialism. And now
today, as we continue following the train of thought of our Lord and
Savior as he teaches the people and instructs his apostles, let's
take up where we left off last week, beginning at verse 35.
“Be
dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men
waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that
when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him.
It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching
when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve,
will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.
It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready,
even if he comes in the second or the third watch of the night. But
understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the
thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You
must also be ready, for the Son of Man will come at an hour when you
do not expect him.” (Luke 12, verses 35-40)
Keep
your lamps burning! Remember when we were studying part 3 of chapter
11 several weeks ago? In verses 33-36, Jesus taught about letting the
Light of God shine outwardly for all to see, and so be a good example
for others to follow. Jesus was reminding everyone of this who was
within earshot of him, and he was exhorting the people to maintain
this attitude of watchfulness. His reason was that he was alluding to
the time of his second coming, as well as the considerable length of
time waiting for that fateful day to arrive. However, this teaching
can also be applied to the workplace. Even if you have a difficult
boss, or if you're stuck working a crummy temp job, and especially if
you find yourselves hating both, work as if you are working for
Christ and him alone and put the rest of it out of your mind. That's
how I dealt with my own boredom and lack of satisfaction for the last
several years that I was working before I retired. Take charge of
your situation as well as your lives! That's why God put a brain in
between our ears, so we can think our way through what would
otherwise be intolerable situations. So stop and say a prayer of
thanks to Almighty God for the brain he gave you, and then go find
how many ways you can use that brain to give Him glory, honor and
praise!
“It
will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when
he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will
have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.”
Those who have been serving Christ, no matter what capacity that
service is, will find themselves being served at the Wedding Feast,
which will be the marriage of Christ to his Bride, which is the true
Church and not to be considered a part of any man-made religion.
Having spent the better part of their lives in His service, these
selfless servants of the Lord Christ Jesus will find themselves being
waited on hand and foot by Jesus himself at the Wedding Feast, as it
is written: “Let
us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory! For the wedding of the
Lamb has come, and the Bride has made herself ready. Fine linen,
bright and clean, was given her to wear. (Fine linen stands for the
righteous acts of the saints.) Then the angel said to me, 'Write:
Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!'
And he added, 'These are the true words of God.'” (Revelation 19,
verses 7-9)
“But
understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the
thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You
must also be ready, for the Son of Man will come at an hour when you
do not expect him.”
There are some who say this is a further prophecy by the Lord
regarding his second coming. There are still others who say 'No,
Jesus was alluding to his resurrection from the dead on the morning
of the third day'. Actually, I think both arguments have their
merits, so I anticipate both things occurring at some point in the
fairly near future. It could be tomorrow, or Jesus may wait a few
extra years before He returns. No one can say for sure because it was
never meant for us to know. If you see or hear of anyone who claims
to know the date of Christ's return, get as far away from those
people as you can. They are very dangerous to your soul, everybody
has one, and hell is a genuine place that truly exists, a place to be
greatly feared. And now let's move on to the second half of today's
study, beginning at verse 41.
“Peter
asked, 'Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?'
The Lord answered, 'Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom
the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food
allowance at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whom
the master finds doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he
will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose the
servant says to himself, 'My master is taking a long time in coming'
and then he begins to beat the menservants and maidservants and to
eat and drink and get drunk? The master of that servant will come on
a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of.
He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the
unbelievers. That servant who knows his master's will and does not
get ready and does not do what his master wants will be beaten with
many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving
punishment will be beaten with few blows. From anyone who has been
given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been
entrusted with much, much more will be asked.'” (Luke 12, verses
41-48)
What
was Jesus talking about here? “It
will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he
returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his
possessions.”
Was Jesus speaking hypothetically or literally? I think it was both,
and my reasons are sound. By speaking hypothetically, Jesus could
have been referring to all of us performing our due diligence while
at work or while parenting our children, to be productive individuals
and to refrain from laziness. But if taken literally, Jesus could
also have been referring to his own return at His Second Coming,
which will be taking place in the fairly near future. This parable
Jesus told about the wicked, lazy servant, as Peter found out in
verse 42, was and is for everyone, not just the 12 apostles
exclusively as some traditional churches erroneously teach.
So
what will happen, then, to those who call themselves “Christians”
of one denomination or another, but do not make themselves ready for
His Second Coming by living out their faith in which they so devoutly
profess? “The
master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him
and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and
assign him a place with the unbelievers.”
“Him” in this case also includes “her”, it's just that that
particular interpretation of the holy Scriptures goes all the way
back to the time of Moses. This notion of gender inequality is,
unfortunately, very deep-seated within our culture, and it's only
been the last 50 years or so that things have finally begun to look
upward when it comes to gender equality. That, by the way, will soon
include job compensation, a process that is only just beginning.
Of
course, there are going to be a whole lot of people that will simply
dismiss this entire posting, and more importantly the message it
contains, because they don't believe in any of this. Some will laugh
at Christianity, others will make fun of those who practice their
faith, and a few would even kill us for it if they had the chance.
Still more don't believe in God at all. What will happen to all those
people in the end, when their lives are over, and they find
themselves standing before the very God they refused to believe in?
It will be the same for those who are called to be in His service,
but refuse to heed the call, or claim they can't because of all their
other obligations. “That
servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready and does
not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the
one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be
beaten with few blows.”
'Does not get ready'? As before, Jesus was in this case prophesying
about the distant future, but he did it in such as way that only
people from that time would finally understand what our Savior meant.
People, that's us. This prediction from our Lord was meant directly
for all of us, or at least those of us who are paying attention to
world events. Sins of ignorance will not be overlooked, but those who
do so will receive substantially less severe punishment than those
who knowingly sinned.
“From
anyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the
one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”
So if we find ourselves richly blessed in this life, we have a duty
and a charge from Christ to share what we have with the less
fortunate wherever and whenever possible. That does not always mean
mere material goods, since this can by extension include many
different kinds of service. Become a volunteer at your church of at
an event organized by a nonprofit or other N.G.O. Do some sort of
direct outreach yourself in your neighborhood or at a clinic, food
bank, job training center, hospital, nursing home or other volunteer
work. Trust me, homeless people need plenty of therapy to deal with
the stress of having no place to call their own except a bunk in a
shelter, or they sleep in their cars or wherever. So yes, counselors
and therapists are urgently needed to lend a helping hand to those
who need it the most. The point is – and here's that word again –
we have a responsibility to lift each other up. Cooperation will soon
replace competition in the workplace, and even between entire
countries, which leaves that tantalizing aroma of world peace in the
air. Now there's a goal worth shooting for!
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