Be Ready (Luke 12:35-48)

Good morning! You can turn in your Bible to Luke 12. We will read v35-48.

A quick word on the ordination service. Give a heartfelt thank you to the church family.

We are going to talk about something simple in concept, but it’s not simple in real life. I’ve titled the message “Be Ready.” Be ready for what? Well, get ready to find out!

No, let you set you up a bit before we jump into the text. Luke 12 is all about discipleship. Jesus ramps up his instruction to his disciples. There’s a very large crowd, but his focus is on his disciples.

We looked a few weeks ago about Jesus’ warning against hypocrisy. The religious leaders were hypocrites. Jesus wanted his disciples to be authentic. Real. Genuine. One of the primary ways we do that is we fear God instead of fearing what others think. So, disciples of Jesus don’t live secret lifestyles. We are honest, transparent people.

Two weeks ago we looked at the problem of greed or as one pastor puts it, “the tyranny of things.” Jesus told his disciples how they should relate to material possessions. He says in Luke 12:22...

“Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat; or about the body, what you will wear.”

He told his disciples to look at the ravens in the sky and the lilies of the field. My nieces middle names. It’s a reminder that we have abundant evidence that God will take care of our actual needs. So, don’t let your earthly possessions control you.

Today, we are going to look at another element of discipleship. We are called to be ready. But ready for what? Let’s read the text and find out.

Read Luke 12:35–48

Jesus continues…

“Be ready for service and have your lamps lit. You are to be like people waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet so that when he comes and knocks, they can open the door for him at once. Blessed will be those servants the master finds alert when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will get ready, have them recline at the table, then come and serve them. If he comes in the middle of the night, or even near dawn, and finds them alert, blessed are those servants. But know this: If the homeowner had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

“Lord,” Peter asked, “are you telling this parable to us or to everyone?” The Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and sensible manager his master will put in charge of his household servants to give them their allotted food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom the master finds doing his job when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and starts to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, that servant’s master will come on a day he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unfaithful. And that servant who knew his master’s will and didn’t prepare himself or do it will be severely beaten. But the one who did not know and did what deserved punishment will receive a light beating. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, even more will be expected.”

The meaning of the parable is about Jesus’ return. That’s what we are supposed to be ready for. Jesus refers to being ready or alert 5 times in this section. So, that’s the main point of the passage. Be ready. It’s one of his rules for discipleship. You have to be ready, alert, prepared.

Jesus is basically saying, “Avoid the tyranny of time. Don’t be frantic and don’t be lazy. Don’t be like the house steward who gets lazy while his master is gone. When the owner finally comes home he’s not ready. Jesus condemns this person, not for evil done, but for good undone.” Bruce Larson and Lloyd J. Ogilvie, Luke, vol. 26, The Preacher’s Commentary Series (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1983), 214.

Let’s unpack that. What does it mean to be ready for Christ’s return? How are we supposed to live right now? Look at the first thing in your notes. Jesus is saying...

Don’t be Frantic.

Rewards and Punishment (v41-48).