Like Servants Waiting

This morning we come to an interesting pair of parables that, taken by themselves, are something that a lot of commentaries and books on the parables largely seem to skip, avoid, or leave by the wayside for a few reasons. But by in large, they don’t hit on the popular picks because the second in the pair gets really messy, really quick.

We all probably felt the tension rise in the room when the words of Jesus were being read from a parable with one servant beating another, then judgement being exercised at the end, and a final word about much being expected from those who have been given much.

There is a lot going on in these passages, but I want to help us see this morning how interconnected and vital these uncomfortable parables are for us, and as much as we might stir uneasy, it is to our benefit, and we come away better because of it.

So let’s pray before we wrestle with God’s word this morning.

THE MOST DANGEROUS FOOD

A dietitian was once addressing a large audience in Chicago. "The material we put into our stomachs is enough to have killed most of us sitting here years ago. "Red meat is awful. Soft drinks erode your stomach lining. Chinese food is loaded with MSG. Vegetables can be disastrous, and none of us realizes the long-term harm caused by the germs in our drinking water. "But there is one food that is the most dangerous of all and we all eventually will eat it. Can anyone here tell me what food it is that causes the most grief and suffering for years after eating it?" A 75-year-old man in the front row stood up and said, "Wedding cake."

Likewise, we can struggle for years with parables like these of the watchful servants, and like at a wedding, we may have spent five minutes saying ‘I do’ but then wrestle with the question of ‘do I?’ when we, like the servants in this passage, find ourselves waiting long into the night, or challenged to behave the way God’s word sets forth when the world around us might say something very different.

These contrasting servants and managers fill in the other possibilities from last week’s rich fool. We have three images with this group of parables: one who is living for themselves regardless of God, one who is faithfully waiting for God, and another who is unfaithfully waiting, living like there is no God. These are functionally the three options we see out in the world - it’s about us, we live for Christ, or the odd mix where we might start off understanding who is really in charge, but live like the world anyways.

Think back on the question that started this teaching from Jesus: what was the issue? It was the issue of what we get in the end - what our inheritance would be. But at the heart of the matter was greed and a broken relationship between brothers.

Look back at Luke 12:13

Luke 12:13 NIV

13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

The issue was not the question asked by the brothers about their inheritance, but the kind of relationship they had, how they envisioned their futures, getting what they thought they deserved… , and we see these three outcomes.

Note that Jesus rolls on through with this teaching in chapter 12. the overall teaching block doesn’t finish until the end of the chapter, and the whole time he doesn’t answer the brothers’ question directly, but tackles the real issue… the brokenness between brothers, who valued stuff over their siblings, who would alienate one another instead of build one another, because their hearts were far from one another… they neither had fellowship or a future as they fumbled along that way.

Keeping that in mind is an incredibly important lens for unpacking what is going on in the passages about the divided families and paying the last penny further into the chapter. I would encourage you to read those passages in light of the brothers coming into money, and let those words come to life in a new way.

the issue of brotherhood is at hand, and greed is getting in the way, setting brother against brother… where else have we seen that before? it comes up a lot in the biblical narrative. the first time we see that dynamic from Israel’s Scriptures is in Genesis 4… right at the very start… and it’s two brothers that are demonstrating two very different responses to the riches from the ground and the animals that all came from God, and how those brothers response with those riches toward God: who either give their greatest, give their best, or give their Goodwill donations, and we know that things between Cain and Abel end badly… and each time we see brothers vying for blessing, for inheritance, it doesn’t go the way the world would normally see it work.

so where does Jesus go next with this trio of stories? The head of household coming back from a wedding banquet.

The great image of a wedding banquet from the historical context would be well understood that the master of the house returning would not be one of coming back empty handed. He’s got goody bags with him - treats from the feast to share.

we’ve talked about this a couple times now, once food has been cooked, once it’s been prepared, there wasn’t a quick canning process or a fridge or freezer to be keeping all the food to ourselves. when there is abundance, when there is celebration, everyone gets in on it. even if they weren’t there. everyone benefits from the wedding when food and supply is taken back to the rest of the household - slaves included. We got to experience something like that with all the food the Christmas Cantata folks left for us to share last weekend.

I love this connection as well: the servants main task is to simply do what?

Luke 12:36 NIV

36 like servants 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.

Open the door. They kept the lights on, they are dressed and ready, and then their big moment comes to… open the door. Whew. What a big job. Like holding the door open when your loved one arrives with groceries. That’s the image. But there is something beautiful here: what does Jesus say of himself in Revelation 3:20

Revelation 3:20 NIV

20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

What do we know is about to happen here in this parable? A meal is about to be shared.

But the issue is whether or not we’re ready. Needing to be dressed, ready with our lights, oiled, and trimmed…

and dressed appropriately to open the door… especially if you were not dressed before…

like when you know company is coming… what do you do when you know company is coming… especially when you only vaguely know when they will show up. you’re not in your pajamas. you clean and prep, food, yourself, maybe pickup the house… you prioritize… you do take the big things on first… not about being perfect… but as you have more time, you refine.

be dressed = gird your loins… we don’t really say that so much except as a joke… (grown man in robe running… what do you do first?… batten down the hatches, pull yourself together… get ready to move…) but you’re going have to deal with whatever you’re lugging around… maybe some excess material around your legs that’s going to trip you up, cause you to stumble and face-plant.

Think about what it takes to maintain a lamp and keep it burning… it might not be the lamp you expect either… or the amount of work you thought it might be… and sometimes it really does get handed down generation to generation… here’s one of our family lamps from the farm back in north dakota… by the time I got it… it was in disrepair, there was a lot of risk involved to fix it… but my father-in-law took it in, got everything remedied, and now it’s back to working! But there was risk involved - what happened if it got broke? (other risk factors as it traveled from ND, to WA, to AZ, and back here again..)

even if it was burning bright for decades with other family members, that doesn’t mean it keeps going on its own without us now doing the work to keep things burning, and keeping the fuel filled, not letting our tanks get empty… and that work doesn’t go away until either the lamp is undone or I am…

The crux of the matter in this parable is that the servants are prepared to give what they are about to receive… they didn’t know there was a reversal underway… they thought with the master coming home that they would be tending to him, serving him, even if he brought food back from the banquet - he was the one who went out to bring back the abundance, the overflow from the wedding, the celebration… and yet he comes back to serve those who are ready to serve.

That’s the creative twist: there is a declaration of a new kind of value structure, an exercising of a great reversal in God’s kingdom - it is the master who not only brings back the meal, he went out and made it all happen, but he is also the one who aprons up, girds himself up, and serves the slaves.

how happy a household that would be. how blessed a place that would be, when the one who holds power, who holds sustenance and all the inheritance, who has the ultimate say and authority, lays those things down to serve those who were not in any position to demand or dictate such grace.

Parable has two beatitudes - two blessed/happy statements we can miss 37a & 43 - that blessed are the servants who are found to be readily waiting, who are doing what they have been tasked - they are not found quiet quitting

issue of ‘quiet quitting’ in our work culture - of doing less and less, or just the bare-bones to say we’ve done enough… we’ve all worked with that person who suddenly is very productive and changes their work ethic when they know ‘the boss’ is coming around… maybe that’s you. it isn’t until the boss shows up like a thief in the night that true character is revealed. In the same way, there are plenty of folks who have quietly quit the church. And it’s the easy thing to do for a lot people… because Jesus has been away for a long time.

but we need accountability - This is a hard issue in that we are called to judge the fruit in the church. we don’t pass judgement on culture, but you can’t have covenant without accountability, without relationship - it’s not just dating the church, but being in covenant relationship. and good relationships, the best of relationships, speak the truth in love - it’s not truth without love - and you deal with the hard stuff so you can grow personally, together, and in covenant. We all long for intimacy, for closeness, to be known, but you’re going to be making sacrifices to do something according to the word of another… will you act in agreement with “Thy will be done” instead of my will be done? It’s about putting God’s word into practice - don’t just sit around on this or say we’ll get to it.

Yet we find happy are those, blessed are those who are found watching and waiting - and these are echoing the goodness of God from verse 32, do not be afraid - for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom… there is joy in that… you don’t have to pry something from God’s hands, he’s pleased to give - and we know he will. He is faithful to His promises.

but we can start to behave like the rich fool or object like the unfaithful manager when it comes to what we think are the ‘necessities of life’… and that it’s all for us to eat, drink, and be merry… because we’re living like the rich fool.

working for too many years in jungle playland, i kept hearing a song from the Jungle book… but maybe for a good end - “look for the bare necessities, the simple bare necessities, forget about your worry and your strife… “

What do we really need?

What are we willing to wait for?

Jesus begins His parable of the watchful servants with that of a master who has been off to a wedding, leaving his household behind to do what we all loathe: to wait.

I was in at Xfinity this week playing with our cell phone and internet service, and let me tell you: we don’t wait well. By the time most of the folks in there had arrived, they were ready to unleash upon the poor soul at the entry, and getting the news of a two hour wait only heightened the experience. Thankfully I brought work with me, and had a great conversation with the staff before leaving… but we have grown accustomed and live in ways that don’t require us to wait.

It was great to be reflecting on the return of Jesus coming at an hour when we don’t expect while among those who were not all behaving so well.

How do we want to be found by Christ when he does show up? While don’t live in fear about it when we are keeping in step with the Holy Spirit, and just before this part of the passage Jesus instructs us not to worry about our lives, what we will eat, or about our bodies, or what we wear, but how well we wait, how good we are at waiting tells us a lot of about the state of our hearts and minds.

what is worth waiting for, preparing for, and saying ‘no’ to other things that might compete for what is best…

how many times do we settle for what’s mediocre instead of seeking what’s mature - what has achieved fullness, what is perfected… whenever we get to the word perfect in Greek, it’s the same as saying mature… and we kind of get that connotation, but we also import a lot into what our idea of ‘perfect’ is when we talk in those terms… and unfortunately, maturity is not typically part of the equation.

Usually it’s an idealized and idolized youthfulness, or often immaturity, that is seen with a lack of true responsibility, or doesn’t come with a cost. But Jesus describes in this parable the best life is spent in faithful preparation to give what is hoped to be received… and the catch is that the servants don’t know what’s coming…

they don’t know what will happen or when the master will return… they are left in a place to reveal their character, because there is uncertainty of timing, of events, and the gospel, the good news, is that when Jesus returns, he is sharing His grace, He is coming with abundance, and He is the one who blesses us, yet we are also told about how unfaithfulness is dealt with…

And we, like Peter, might ask who is being addressed in passages like this.

Peter’s question, in Luke 12:41 is likened to asking/stating this isn’t for him, or the disciples… “clearly this is for the rest of the riff raff”… but then the next part of the parable turns on, hinges on, the servant left in charge, the manager… the one who gets put in charge of much. Think about who asked the question… and which disciple gets more or less left in charge… the one that Jesus would build his church?…. And what becomes a key issue for Peter: the response of doubt and denial…. Dealing with unfaithfulness when the master is away, because he is the first to deny knowing Jesus when things got dark and started to go a direction he didn’t expect or anticipate… and the big difference between Peter and Judas is that one is willing to open the door to Jesus, to be forgiven, one is willing to let go of his pride, and keep an eye on the empty tomb… and even after a season of doubt, he comes back, and other doesn’t.

Luke 12:41 NIV

41 Peter asked, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?”

if you’re living the life that is tearing apart others, it’s not going to work out. there will be a reckoning. there will be consequences. and we will be held accountable, which is not a popular message. But we are seeing glimpses of accountability in culture - some politicians here and there, social push and movements, there is a sense that there is an authoritative rule of ethics and morality out there… that is starting to say again: not everything is permissible - and we all long for it whether we can place where that comes from or not. And Jesus is telling us if we spend our time tearing others apart, we will get cut down to size.

So are we focused on blessing those around us or beating them? are we here to beat people up - emotionally, spiritually, or relationally - because it’s not too often or much less common that we are doing so physically… but what about withholding our affection? withholding touch or contact with people? That’s one of the big takeaways from the pandemic - how important connection, touch, and seeing one another face to face - how significant and vital it is for us.

So how will we leverage the gift of this time, and our relationships when we finally open the door and encounter Jesus face to face?

Are we becoming the kind of people who are prepared to serve, dressed in His righteousness, and girded for when the going gets tough - that we’ve been matured in the process of preparing… that’s the kind of people who experience the happiness, the blessed be, the overflow of life that only comes from a life in alignment with God’s Kingdom, His rule and reign.

How great a calling is that upon each of our lives as we see our lives as given in service, to bless those around us, encouraging one another to be clothed by what God has provided… not what we make for ourselves… again, what happens in the garden in Genesis 3, the clothing Adam and Eve make for themselves, having eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, their clothing was insufficient. Us deciding for ourselves how we are clothed, us deciding for ourselves what gets placed in the categories of good or evil - neither end well. Instead, God clothes Adam and Eve before sending them out (Genesis 3:21) - because their ideas and leaves fail them.

Genesis 3:21 NIV

21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

God is going to make things right, even if is costly, even if it costs life to sustain, to cloth us… because the skin came from another… there was sacrifice involved right at the start.

We see these same motif of clothes, wakefulness, and coming at a time unknown in:

Revelation 16:15 NIV

“Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.”

Which is the same thing going on in Genesis 3:7

Genesis 3:7 NIV

7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Here’s the reality: You got dressed for today based on what you thought the future weather would hold… and if you think it’s going to rain, you don’t leave the windows or sunroof down until it really starts coming down.

What we believe to be true about the future shapes our behavior now. And Jesus is giving a key piece of information in these parables: He’s coming when you don’t expect. Like a thief in the night. Jesus’ teaching here is meant to generate a response in how we then live in light of the reality of his return.

Luke 12:40 NIV

40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

The prophet Daniel talked about this with the Son of Man too:

Daniel 7:13–14 NIV

13 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

We’ve been given a glimpse of what’s to come, to then shape our lives toward His kingdom come, His will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.

None of us can add a single hour to our lives by worrying some more. As we live now, as we do things now, there is a critical realization that all the things we may plan for, aim for, be saving up for, like with the rich fool last week: we may not get to it. Again, the way we live our days is the way we live our lives.

Are we living out our faith in Christ so he will find us as good and faithful servants… if He showed up tomorrow?

When the master returns, he is not greedy, but giving… and goes to prepare the meal for those who have been waiting for him to return.

are we willing to wait through the long dark hours, when everyone else is either asleep, or having their own kind of party, doing what they decided is ‘right’ for them - doing what they could seemingly ‘get away with’ rather than remembering God’s word, that He is coming, and he’s not only coming back to bless, but to bring justice in full.

Action Steps: Inventory - what am I doing to prepare for Jesus? What am I trusting for my security and certainty? Are we dressing ourselves with what God would have us wear, are we tending the lamps, keeping the wicks trimmed, and fuel filled, and do we stay awake and ready for when there is a knock on the door?

1 Thessalonians 5:1–11 NIV

1 Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5 You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

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