Motivated for Jesus' Return

Luke 12:35-48

Motivated to live active, watchful, faithful lives in readiness for Jesus’ return.

Good morning everyone. It is always a privelege to read God’s Word together and even more to speak to it and teach it. We are continuing our studies in Luke’s gospel and todays message is from Luke 12:35-48.

I want to begin todays message with a true story. I was returning to work after having had lunch at home. I had a 2 o’clock appointment at work. I was rushing a bit to get there on time. So I was flying down College Street towards work, coming up past West End School and unfortunately the lights were red and there were 3-4 cars in front of me that were stationary. But there was an empty lane to the left of the cars and suddenly the lights went green. I gunned the motor, and flew past the waiting cars, thinking I had done well.... until that is... I realised that the car at the very front of the line was a police car. Inside the car was a policeman. That man happened to be my first patient of the afternoon at 2 o’clock. I slowed down pretty quickly.

Now, a question for you all: As I described flying past the line of cars, how many of you imagined that I actually had wings flapping and was airborne as I went past? None?

Of course - you knew that what I meant was that I was simply going faster than I should have been and was driving …briskly… shall we say. You clearly understood the overall meaning of my sentence.

In today’s passage Jesus uses a particular style of teaching that involves telling a story. This story morphs into several different scenarios and is used as an imaginative and creative way of speaking truth, usually with just one major point, maybe a couple of smaller points. Our biggest mistake is to miss out on the main point, and especially if we try to over-interpret the details of the story which are mostly there to give context and vibrancy to the story. Today the stories that Jesus tells are no different. Jesus tells us the main points but he has some other important lessons to note as well.

So lets pray and ask God to help us understand what He wants to say to us through reading it and listening to today’s message.

Read Luke 12:35-48.

Be ready

What is the main point of this parable? Jesus tells us himself in verse 40. His disciples are to be ready because he is coming back again and his coming will be totally unexpected. Perhaps he had a wider audience and maybe the Pharisees were also listening in.

Luke has already a brought us a warning that Jesus gave to his disciples about the his return. In Luke 9:26 , we read

Luke 9:26 ESV

For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

This element of Jesus’ teaching brings into focus our own readiness for Jesus’ return.

Dressed for action

How are we to ready ourselves? We are to be “dressed for action”, or literally to “gird up the loins”. What does that mean? The long loin cloth that is typically worn in the middle east and asia is an encumbrance when you are actively working, farming, running, climbing and fighting. The image here is to be ready and equipped with whatever tools you need for the work you have to do, and also make sure you are not hindered by anything that will obstruct what you have to do.

Loins girded, Equipped

I am reminded of Eph 6:14 where we are reminded of the battle that we face against principalities and powers and the need to put on the whole armour of Christ.. We read in v 14

Ephesians 6:14 ESV

Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

where we are to put on the whole armour of God in order to withstand the opposition of the evil one - and to put on the belt of truth - “girded with the belt of truth”. How do you think you will cope with todays cultural opposition to the gospel? You will do so by knowing what you believe, knowing the truth, exploring the truth and equipping yourself to defend yourself in multiple ways against spiritual opposition. You will be equipped. There is more to put on than just the belt of truth but that is another sermon for another day.

Here is another one: 1 Peter 1:13

1 Peter 1:13 ESV

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

The word preparing is again girding - girding the loins of your minds for action. This is active readiness. These words invite me to think deeply about my faith, the reasons for living the way I do and to do so with a clarity (being sober minded) and also with an attitude of certain hope in the ultimate fulfillment of God’s purposes when Jesus returns.

We often laughed during my years working as a doctor. I almost invariably had 2 pens in my pocket. I was always ready to sign a prescription, or sign a letter, or write a note, or take notes. For sure I usually had my stethoscope with me and an otoscope to look in ears. But I always had 2 pens. Why 2 pens? In case 1 ran out, of course! I was equipped!

Hindrances

The other thing to think about here is getting rid of hindrances. What are the hindrances to following Jesus. We have just had a message last week about the struggles we have with hypocrisy and reliance on fame or prestige or possessions, and the problem of excessive worry. We were encouraged to have a right attitude of heart toward God, to live in dependence on him and to seek his kingdom and to find in him the solution to our struggles and striving after things that can never satisfy.

You know that I often work with elderly people and often those with disabilities of either sight or hearing or gait. In my training I was told about rolled up carpets and electric cords that were particularly hazardous for those with poor balance or poor sight. The way had to be clear and the furniture cleared away from the centre of the room to allow easy access.

If you are a builder you will really appreciate a clear working space for what you have to do. You dont want to be fluffing around with stuff all over the floor where you are working. If you are a cook, you will want your bench clear and tidy to roll out your dough.

Paul says in Colossians 3:5

Colossians 3:5 ESV

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

These are all major hindrances to our readiness for Christ’s return.

Be watchful

The next idea is that of watchfulness. The image is of the master’s slaves waiting for him even through the night, ready and waiting to immediately open the door and jump into action to serve their master. The lamps are burning - the light is on. They are not asleep but alert to his return.

Those of you who are parents of teens will know exactly what I mean. You know all about keeping the light on, going to bed but only half heartedly - you know as well as I do that you lie awake until your teen is safely back in the house. You are watchful.

What are we to watch for? Clearly we are watchful and waiting for Christ’s return. But this is an active watching. The NT has much to say about what we are to watch out for. Here is a short sample:

Avoid divisions

Romans 16:17 “I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.”

Be prayerful

Watchfulness is often associated with prayer. I find this thought very confronting because I am weak in this area. In the garden of Gethsemane, in Matthew 26:41 Jesus instructs his disciples to: “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Guard your heart

And in 1 Peter 5:8 we are told to “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

Back to our parable:

Jesus calls these active watchful servants blessed. Why are they so eager and ready to serve their Master? We could well ask what actually motivates us to consider this message of being ready for Jesus’ return. But there is a curious turn in the story.

Notice what it says in Luke 12:37

Luke 12:37 ESV

Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them.

Yes, He will dress himself - he will “gird” up himself! To do what? To be of service to his followers! This outcome would have been a shock to those listening. This is no ordinary Master, and this is no ordinary household. Jesus is saying that the master is coming back and will act as a servant to his own devoted servants. There is a special relationship here, of mutual love and devotion that is unparalleled and that is the reason there is a readiness to serve. This is the motivation to be ready and watchful.

I would put it to you that the motivation for us to serve our Lord Jesus Christ stems from this. He left Heaven’s throne to love us, rescue us, save us from sin. This is what this whole book is about - it is to reveal and explain to us who God is, his goodness, holiness, justice and love. It is to display God’s plan and purpose to bring salvation through Jesus’ sacrifice for our sin. I would also put it to you that Jesus himself is the supreme example of a servant.

This level of readiness and watchfulness is not scared, even if the suddeness of the Lord’s return is like a thief breaking into the house in the dead of night. This is no mere fulfilling of duty. No, it is the watchful expectant readiness of those that really know and love their Master and are really looking forward to his return.

Be Faithful

Now let’s look at the second part of today’s reading, reading from v. 41

Read Luke 12:41-48

This is a slightly different scenario but the context is the same - Jesus, the Son of Man is coming again, at an unexpected time. Again Jesus tells us the meaning of this story in V. 48. Jesus explains that more is expected from whom much has been given.

Faithful and wise

The picture is of faithful and wise manager that has been set over the master’s household.

Servant attitude, Provider

It is his responsibility to provide the food for the household and the rest of the servants. The options given are to be faithful and wise or to be unfaithful and/or ignorant.

Faithless, Abusive, Unbelieving

It is not specifically stated here but I wonder if Jesus had in mind the Pharisees and scribes who were supposedly in charge of the spiritual direction of the nation of Israel. Did they really understand what the scriptures meant at a practical level, or were they abusive and oppressive? Did they feed the people? Did they lead people to God? Did they recognise the Messiah when he came? Do they recognise him now? Are they actually so faithless and unbelieving that they are part of that group that are assigned a place with unbelievers at the final judgment?

Were there others among the disciples or among the Pharisees that perhaps were more godly and caring and responsible and wise and who actually did actively work to promote the kingdom of God and who did recognise Jesus as the Messiah? Was Nicodemus one of these people.

At the very least surely we do need to understand that when Jesus comes again , there will be a final assessment. This is pretty uncomfortable. We are not told here how this all actually takes place, but notice the point that Jesus is making with this rather vivid picture story that IS meant to shock you and get your attention. What is the main point? To whom much is given, much will be required. We are to be faithful.

Let us also realise that we are servants of the living God. As Jason said last night in his talk, we are part of the meta-narrative, God’s great unfolding story down through the ages. This world, this universe is his. We inhabit such a miniscule aspect of this universe, yet the Bible teaches us that we all have our part to play in His story.

Look after your body, your colleagues, your fellow believers, your neighbours and your world

So what does it mean for us to be faithful and wise servants. I believe we are all given responsibilities that affect us in our personal lives and how we treat our bodies and our minds. We have responsibilities to others in the way we interact in our families in our work environments, in our church communities and in our neighbourhoods and also how we live in and look after our world. Yes, I believe Christians need to think about all of these areas. We are to be good stewards in all of these facets of life.

But I cannot help but think of all the different ways that we as people of the body of Christ work and serve him AND EACH OTHER. I can tell you that in recent weeks I have been appalled and frankly even somewhat distressed where I have heard of or read of supposed mature godly Christians speaking out terribly of other godly mature Christians over what I would consider minor disagreements of finer points of doctrine and/or practice. Our electronic commentary of anyone and everyone is a huge problem in society and it is a huge problem even in the church. We must learn how to be discerning and wise about what we believe to be truth for sure, but we must be very careful in the way we open our mouths to speak and the way we tap our keys to comment.

So what is the motivation to be faithful? Notice again that the faithful and wise manager, who does act as a responsible provider, is blessed. He is put in charge of all the master’s possessions, such is the measure of trust. Again I would stress, this kind of faithfulness is motivated by relationship. The relationship is that of willing service out of devotion, not just because it is required, but rather because the Master is truly worthy of being served in this way.

Be Motivated

What will motivate me to be active in service for Jesus? It will primarily come out of a deep appreciation of who Jesus is. Jesus is the Creator God, the Son of God and God’s servant Messiah. He came to live and die and rise again to rescue a broken humanity back to relationship with God. He is also the judge of the living and the dead. He desires to dwell among his people and he will return to be with his people. The person who recognises who Jesus is and responds to God’s love and gift in Jesus will not have any trouble in being motivated to serve the Lord. Duty will give way to love and to joyful service.

We are blessed simply to read these words from Jesus, we are blessed to experience his teaching, but we are even more blessed if we are in a restored relationship with him and recognise his authority and Lordship in our lives and we are doubly blessed if we are in active, watchful, faithful service for him when he returns.

Be Ready, Be Watchful, Be Faithful and Be Motivated.

So Be ready and watchful for Jesus’return, be faithful until he returns, and be Motivated by Jesus himself who gave himself for us all to bring us to himself. He is the ultimate example of a faithful servant and is the ultimate motivation for us to be faithful - and indeed he is the ultimate inspiration and solution to the way we live out our lives.