Luke 12:35-48 The Faithful Servant and the Evil Servant
“Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks, they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore, you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
Then Peter said to Him, “Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?”
And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.”
“Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks, they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.”
As Jesus’ time on earth is dwindling, he continues to warn his disciples. Today Jesus tells the story of servants waiting for their master who has gone to attend a wedding feast. Typically, these feasts last several hours, with the master returning late at night or early in the morning. The second watch is from 9-12 PM. The third watch is from 12 PM to 3 AM. Most masters expect the servants to snap to it, open the door, and take care of them. Faithful servants will have towels girded around their waists in preparation for washing the master’s feet and tending to his other needs as soon as he returns home, no matter how late the hour. But Jesus puts an extra twist on the story. Jesus is promising that if his servants are faithful, he will gird himself and serve his servants, no matter the hour.
“But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore, you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Jesus is quoting a local proverb about being watchful. Now Jesus continues.
Jesus describes an evil servant who begins misbehaving as soon as the master leaves the house, getting drunk, beating his fellow servants, and generally misconducting himself. Not only will such a servant be severely disciplined, but Jesus warns that such a servant might even be cut in two! Jesus ends by saying, “For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.”
Jesus knows that very soon his enemies will catch up with him. At that point, Jesus will undoubtedly die. Even though Jesus knows he will be resurrected, he can’t control the disciples but can only rely on teaching them as much as possible while he still has time and pray that they are listening and that it will be enough.
What about us? Are we ready? It’s tough to be faithful. Many of us are overwhelmed with minutiae, feeling as if we are being stoned to death with popcorn. It’s difficult to focus on God’s will when our jobs, our families, our health, our finances are all screaming for attention. As one veteran missionary was fond of saying, “I feel as if I’m a Coca-Cola and everybody has a straw.”
Recently, we learned that someone has misrepresented a situation and has proven faithless. How can we remain faithful in a faithless world? Jesus provides us the answer.
- Servants are to be ready, no matter the time of day or night. When we are living for God and not for ourselves, even when things become difficult, we still will respond appropriately. Forty years ago, my husband and I were on our way down I-55 heading toward Memphis when we came upon a road traffic accident just after it occurred. A sedan car with five people in it had crossed the median, plowing into a motor home driven by a man who had just retired. The man was towing a small car behind the motor home. His wife was driving a pickup and towing a large boat behind it. As an EMT, my husband rushed to the car that had caused the accident in the first place. Unfortunately, everyone in that vehicle was dead. I rushed to examine the driver of the motor home. With help from the local ambulance service, I was able to speak with a surgeon at the nearest hospital, warning him that I thought the man had an injury to his small intestine from his seatbelt. (I was correct.) The ambulance transported the man, who was uninjured. I drove the pickup towing the boat, and my husband drove our vehicle to the hospital.
- Servants must wait patiently. One of the many life lessons my husband and I have learned is that no information is ever wasted. My husband learned to bend metal while he was in junior high and high school. More than 30 years later, he was able to create a blunt curette from a chromed bicycle spoke using the brass valve stem from a large lorry tire as part of the handle so that I could remove retained products of conception and save a lady’s life. I worked in a hospital laboratory in the summer of 1969. 24 years later, I established the first laboratory at what is now the Assemblies of God Hospital, Saboba and developed a transfusion service.
- Servants don’t get to choose the time and place of their service. It was a blistering hot summer day in New Orleans, Louisiana, and we were driving on the interstate highway that crosses the town. Suddenly, we saw an elderly African-American lady parked at the opposite side of the road, obviously in need of assistance. We had to get off at one exit and then re-enter the highway in the opposite direction to reach this lady. This incident took place in 1997, well before the time when everyone carried cell phones. We rescued this lady from her overheated vehicle, and my husband was able to drive her car while I drove ours as we took her home. We learned that this lady was a fervent Christian and that she had been praying for God to send help when we appeared. This lady’s name was Margie and she became a close friend and prayer partner.
- Servants must serve with no thought of recompense. God keeps the books. Service that demands praise is not service but manipulation. One of the key points of Jesus’ story about the Good Samaritan is that the Samaritan never demanded anything from the man whose life he saved, nor from the inn-keeper. The Samaritan simply cared for the man, brought him to the inn, and even left money to care for the man while he continued his journey. One of the struggles we continually face as missionaries is choosing information about our efforts to share with people. We need as much help as possible, but at the same time, we are not sharing details to glorify ourselves but only to describe what God is doing. Sometimes the line between information and self-aggrandizement is a very thin one!
May God help us to be faithful in small things as well as great ones. May we remember that Jesus promised that even cups of water given in his name still count in the Kingdom of God.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to follow hard after You all the days of our lives and to serve out of love for You, not looking to see how we will benefit. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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