I’ll Be There

Scripture: Luke 12:35-48

³⁵ “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; ³⁶ be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. ³⁷ Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. ³⁸ If he comes during the middle of the night or near dawn and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

³⁹ “But know 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. ⁴⁰ You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

⁴¹ Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for everyone?” ⁴² And the Lord said, “Who, then, is the faithful and prudent manager whom his master will put in charge of his slaves, to give them their allowance of food at the proper time? ⁴³ Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives. ⁴⁴ Truly I tell you, he will put that one in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁵ But if that slave says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the other slaves, men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk, ⁴⁶ the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour that he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. ⁴⁷ That slave who knew what his master wanted but did not prepare himself or do what was wanted will receive a severe beating. ⁴⁸ But the one who did not know and did what deserved a beating will receive a light beating. From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required, and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded.

Questions

1. Why does Peter ask Jesus who the parable is addressed to in verse 41, why does this matter?
2. Why does Jesus avoid answering Peter’s question directly?
3. The description of the master in verse 38 does not sound realistic, what is Jesus saying here?
4. Why was it important for Jesus to teach his disciples about his return if they would never experience it?

Background

Related Scriptures: Zechariah 8:1-13; Romans 1:8-12; 1 Corinthians 4:2; Philippians 1:27-30

Cyril of Alexandria: When he comes and finds us girded, awake and our hearts enlightened, then he immediately will make us blessed. “He will gird his loins and serve them.” By this, we learn that he will reward us proportionately. Since we are weary with toil, he will comfort us, setting before us spiritual banquets and spreading the abundant table of his gifts. Commentary on Luke, Homily 92

Basil the Great: What is the mark of a Christian? It is to watch daily and hourly and to stand prepared in that state of total responsiveness pleasing to God, knowing that the Lord will come at an hour that he does not expect. The Morals 22.^[1]

Reflection

Which of God’s characteristics is most comforting to you? You might say Love or Mercy or Grace, but when I have talking with people in the midst of difficulty they say faithfulness. “I’ll be there” are extremely comforting words and when they are lived out people remember. I’ll be there means I will be mentally and physically engaged. I will not let my body or mind wander from what where it is supposed to be. When God says I’ll be there that means God will be present in all times and all places to help bring us through all circumstances. And we all appreciate this. Each of us is glad to know that God is present with us in the dark days and hard times.

We all appreciate faithfulness in God, but sometimes we need to be reminded that God expects the same quality from us. God wants us to also be dependable and trustworthy, mentally and physically present in life’s situations. When we read parables like Luke 12 we can easily get focused on the elements related to Jesus’ return and miss the larger point Jesus is trying to make. Yes, Jesus is talking to his disciples about a master returning home and so we are supposed to understand he is talking about his return. But we are not supposed to focus on the return. We are meant to focus on the quality of the slave that he endorses. And while we should rightly be uncomfortable with the slavery image, it was a common reality in Jesus’ world and so comparisons with such a station would be easily understood by his audience. This means we need to appreciate that he is not endorsing or allowing slavery simply using it as an illustration. The expectation of any decent slave was that they would perform their duties on being told with precision, they would be faithful. Jesus is using that not to say we are slaves but for us to realize that if the expectations of a slave is to be faithful, how much more should we, who say we love God, be faithful to God. If a slave is faithful to a master because of threats and societal pressure, how much more should we be faithful to one we say we love?

That is the point love leads us to the kind of physical and mental engagement that we call faithfulness and devotion. The more we love something the more we prioritize it in our lives. If I love a person I am present for them. We understand this with sports, we understand a fan’s dedication to a team, it can be obsessive. This is what Jesus wants us to consider in Luke. He is telling us that his followers will so love God that they will hear what God wants from them and live that out until they meet God. What does God want from us? We do not want to stretch the metaphor of the slave owner too much, but we can see that God wants us to maintain the house and treat our fellows well. The house being creation and our fellows being all humanity. God wants us to be mentally and physically locked in to this work. As we commit to being more present to the tasks, more dependable, we begin to engage with God’s own faithfulness and we grow in God’s Spirit.

I think this is why Jesus does not directly answer Peter’s question. The question Peter asks is “who is this for” the question Jesus seems to want him to ask is “how faithful am I”. Am I the kind of person who is simply doing what I want when I want (eating and drinking)? Am I the kind of person who exerts my will over others (beats fellow servants)? Or am I the person who is focused on the instructions I have been left and is caring for the house and those around me? And if I am the latter how am I demonstrating this in my life? Am I focused on the instructions God has given me? Am I worried about doing my part well? Am I focused on staying with God? Do others see me as bossing them around? Do they see me as absent from their lives? Do they see me as there with them when they need me?

These are the kinds of questions that we are meant to ask. We are meant to remind ourselves that we are fostering faithfulness. This is not only about obeying rules, it is about learning to be present physically and mentally for the things God loves. Faithfulness is about learning to stay with those we love no matter what.

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^[1] Both the Cyril and Basil quotes can be found at Arthur A. Just, ed., Luke, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture 214.