“Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 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. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to 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 all?” 42 And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? 43 Blessed is that servant [9] whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 44 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 45 But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. 47 And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. 48 But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.
Luke 12:35-48

Introduction

How significant is it to consider the return of Jesus? For one family, it was very significant. When I was in seminary, there was a guy I knew who went to the local Christian college. He and his sister were pastor’s kids whose father pastored a small church. Their father’s ministry looked like any other church, with one notable exception: they believed that they had figured out when Jesus would return again, October 28, 1992. The guy I knew was very convicted by his father’s teaching. He warned people, including those of us in seminary. He constantly lived vigilantly, preparing for Christ’s return. And so when that fateful day came and past, the pastor was abandoned by all of his congregants. The most tragic part about the whole story was that the son was so ashamed, he committed suicide. It’s one of the sad realities of false teaching. It can not only destroy churches, but destroy families and lives as well.

I tell you this story because though this family’s theological foundations were wrong (Jesus told His disciples that no one would know the day of His return), their vigilance was to be respected because Luke 12:35-48 gives such a warning for every Christian, and essentially every person on this earth. Jesus will come again. And unless we are ready for His return, we will face grave, eternal consequences. And so Jesus tells two parables in this text to help His disciples to understand how they can prepare to be ready for His eventual return. In the first parable, Jesus reminds His disciples that the ready person is always prepared. The second parable teaches the ready person to be faithful.

Prepared (vv. 35-40)

So let’s look at the first parable which teaches followers of Jesus to be prepared. In the story, there is a master and some servants. The master has gone to a wedding feast. Wedding feasts in Jesus’ day could last anywhere from a few days to as long as a week. And of course, this was a time when there was no such thing in instant communication. So the servants would really have had no idea when the master would return.

It is in this context that Jesus tells the disciples to ‘stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning.’ Since people wore long robe-like garments in Jesus’ day, readiness for fighting or running meant lifting up the clothes to the loin area so as to be able to run. Without lamps burning, people would be unable to get around in the dark. All these images convey the same message: Jesus’ disciples must be prepared because no one knows when He will return.

So what does the prepared person look like? First, he waits expectantly and with eagerness for the master’s return. We see this in verses 35-36: “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks.” These servants are ready to welcome him home. In fact, because they don’t know the hour of his return, since it could be in the middle of the night, they probably took shifts making certain that someone was awake all 24 hours of the day. Also, you don’t get the sense that the servants begrudgingly await their master’s return. They’re not waiting up for him because they fear his punishment. Rather, their desire to open the door for him gives us a sense of eagerness and anticipation. He is worth their waiting like first-time parents who wait for the coming of their child into the world. When Shua had gave birth to our first child Charisa, the labor was induced, therefore, her labor was quite long. It was tiring and that chair that I slept in the hospital turned me into a pretzel. Both of us were exhausted. But even though the waiting was hard, we eagerly awaited her arrival and it was well worth the wait. Likewise, these servants desired the master to come home so much that they couldn’t sleep because they were so excited for his return.

The second characteristic of the prepared person is that they realize that the time of the Master’s coming is unknown and therefore, they had to be constantly prepared according to verses 39-40: “But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Thieves do not announce when they will break into a house. Obviously, to do so would thwart the theft. Similarly, some of you probably have earthquake preparedness kits. If you don’t, you should get one. Here’s the problem with earthquakes: we have no idea when they will come. And if the big one does come, and you’re not ready, you and your family will suffer some serious consequences. But as terrible as an earthquake can be, far worse is the person who is not ready when Christ comes again because He will come when we least expect it and the consequences are eternal in scope. In fact, to make this point as strong as possible, Jesus says of His return in Matthew 24:19: “And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days!” This is why the pastor’s son I knew was heading down a foolish track. Jesus says in Mark 13:32: “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

The reality is that because we do not know and cannot know when Jesus will return, we must be constantly prepared. But we are prepared with eagerness and anticipation for something far greater than what we are experiencing in this world today. For the Christian, we must not forget that we are not meant for this place. Oh, there is something far greater! As Jesus has told us in John 14:2, He is preparing a place for us that will have unending joy. And if we should lose sight of this truth, the Bible, church, the Gospel makes no sense to us. We have to know that there will be no death one day, no suffering, no sin in order to truly live with freedom today. If there was no eternal home with our Father, why should we really care about integrity at work, or marital purity, or guarding our hearts and minds from filthy talk? Why not get smashed every weekend at the pub, do all that we can to enjoy sensual pleasures, abuse people and authority to get where we need to go in life, if all there is is the life we live here and now? If there is no eternal home that Jesus has prepared for us, we are either idiots wasting our time here today or as Paul describes in 1 Cor 15:19: “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.”

My friends, Jesus tells us in this text that this simply is not so. There is an incredible reward for those who are prepared for His return. Jesus describes this reward in verses 36-38 and it is quite a shocking reward, the Master serves the servants! This must have confused the disciples. Masters don’t ever serve servants. Peter made this quite clear later when Jesus tried to wash his feet: “Lord, do you wash my feet?” Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” (John 13:6-8) It simply was unfathomable for Peter to think of his master humbling himself in this way. But as great as it was for Jesus to wash Peter’s feet, Jesus is talking about something even greater in Luke 12:36-38. He was coming not be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). We must remember who the Master was. He was the Creator of the universe. He controlled all things and was above all things. He was and is God Himself. And yet, God the Son, Jesus Christ, would empty Himself and take on the form of a slave and even become obedient to death on a cross for the sake of His servants. He did all of this so that we would have eternal joy with Him. And for this reason Hebrews 12:2 that He endured the cross with joy.

Doesn’t it make sense then that with such a great Savior, we should eagerly await His return? That waiting for Him is not a burden, but a delight? This is why in verse 36, these servants are blessed. They have their hearts filled with everything they have been longing for in their lives. And when you are blessed in this way, you choose to live differently now, today. C. S. Lewis describes this change so well:

If you ready history, you will find that Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. The apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this [one]. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth ‘thrown in’: aim at earth and you will get neither. (C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, (New York: Collier Books, 1960), 118.)

Think of what in your life you are anxious about (work, money, friendships, job security, the economy, earthquakes, wars and rumors of wars, health, parents’ retirement, your retirement, children’s welfare), what your dreams consist of, what you hope for. One day, everything that you consider so important or critical won’t be so critical after all. One day, the only thing that will matter will be your relationship or lack of relationship with Jesus Christ. Your final destiny won’t have mortgage payments and short sales, or cancer, or the NBA playoffs, or sick kids, or frustrating drivers. Oh I hope your final destiny IS with the Father who has paid the price of His Son so that we would join Him eternally! Or as Revelation 7:16-17 beautifully pronounces for all who are eagerly prepared for Him: “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” And because of such a glorious view, you aim at heaven and therefore, choose to live differently, with a heavenly abandon and making an earthly difference.

So how are you preparing yourself? Are you so overwrought with worry that you have forgotten that often times the things that worry you are causing you to forget what God has done for you? Are you so busy making your life comfortable that there is no sense of urgency when you encounter others in your family, in your sphere of influence who are headed for a destiny so terrible that if you seriously knew what hell was about, you wouldn’t wish even your worst enemy to such a fate? Are there troubles in your life, or people you refuse to love or forgive, and you simply don’t have enough of a reason to forgive? Have you given up on God, believed that living for yourself is what is best for you? If you say yes to any of these, you’re not preparing yourself for His return. You’ve forgotten that He wants to serve you. You’ve forgotten your final destiny. Perhaps you have settled in and believed that this world is your home. You’ve become distracted. When Jeff and Jane Oh was about to give birth to their second son, Joshua, Shua and I had the privilege to watch Jonathan while they were in the hospital. I believe it was Jonathan’s first night away from his parents. And boy did he miss them. Shua and I did everything to distract him. But he kept crying and was deeply saddened. But you know what? Eventually he stopped crying. Eventually he began to settle in and feel comfortable. And eventually his moments of saying ‘Mommy, daddy,’ began to fade. Our distractions had worked. But when Jeff returned late in the evening to pick Jonathan up, he remembered. Our home was not his home. He was meant for somewhere else. And the joy and comfort that little boy felt. He finally felt secure, and had peace.

Oh my dear friends, Jesus paid a terrible price for you and me so that we could be brought home, despite the fact that our distractions have led to our forgetfulness. You and I are made for a far better home and nothing can prepare us for that home more than remembering how much it cost God to bring us home!

Faithful (vv. 41-48)

So in the first parable Jesus reminded His disciples that they must be prepared. In this second parable in verses 41-48, He tells them that they must be faithful. So what is the faithful person like according to this parable? The primary characteristic of the faithful person is that he lives and works as though the master was continually watching over him according to verses 42-43: “And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? 43 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.” Jesus lets us know that the faithful person is the one who does what the master tells him to do, even when he is not around. The faithful person then is like the faithful husband who has every opportunity to cheat on his wife, whether it’s through physical adultery or through pornography and lustful thoughts, but chooses not to do so to honor his God and his wife, though no one would ever know what he was doing. The faithful child cleans his room not because her mother has told her 12 times and is standing right over her shoulder as she cleans, but she does it simply because she is commanded to and she is faithful. The faithful worker is diligent at his job even though the boss is gone and everyone else is quick to be unproductive and lazy. Faithfulness is the person who consistently prays and reads God’s Word, even when no one else knows. Jonathan Edwards has this warning to those whose prayers exhibit a lack of faithfulness: “He that prays only when he prays with others, would not pray at all, were it not that the eyes of others are upon him.” (Quoted from Timothy Witmer, The Shepherd Leader, 221)  Thus, faithfulness is the person who honors God when he can get away with sin, when he can even look better by disobeying God, but he chooses not to because He cares more about what God thinks than what anyone else thinks. This is the blessed servant who serves the master well even and especially when he is away.

To understand what faithfulness is, Jesus provides the contrast. He describes the unfaithful servant as a person who lives as though the Master is not coming as he says in verse 45: “But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’” He does well only when he is seen by others. But he has a secret life, a life filled with secret sins. He is the person who has an alter-ego on the web, a new persona that curses and is filled with things that he would never say at church, or in a fellowship of believers. Because he can get away with it, he clicks on porn sites knowing that his wife is away with the kids visiting her parents’ home. And he erases the history so that she and no one else will ever know. She and small group of friends spread rumor and gossip about someone they don’t like, appreciate, is rubbed the wrong way by. Their bashing of their fellow sister in Christ is in secret, for now. These are small ways that we have a ‘My master is delayed in coming’ heart. We don’t realize that God knows all and grieves over such secret lives and so-called ‘hidden’ sins. But as Jesus warned us against such hypocrisy, there are serious consequences for those who serve the Lord in such a manner as we learned in Luke 12:2-3: “Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 3 Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.”

The unfaithful servant also becomes proud and arrogant and vindictive as verse 45 further describes: “…and begins to beat the male and female servants.” These were fellow-workers and probably friends. But once he gained a little power, perhaps he believed he was better than they. He believed that he had the rights to do whatever it takes to make him feel good, even if it means being vindictive, spiteful, unforgiving, berating. He also enjoys physical possessions with a lack of self-control and self-centeredness again as verse 45 depicts: “…and to eat and drink and get drunk.” For this person, everything is in excess. There is nothing wrong or sinful about eating food and having a glass of wine with dinner. But since God is not in view, and no one else is watching, he feels he can get away with anything. And so there is not a hint of moderation. We can eat as much as we want. We can watch TV as much as we want with whatever program we want. We can spend what we want on anything we want. We can revolve our lives around our children’s success as much as we want. Again, all of these things are not sinful. But our hearts which are prone to idolatry, can quickly forget that we worship the Giver of these good gifts and not the gifts themselves. Unfaithful servants forget that distinction.

And so the unfaithful person will obviously be surprised when the master does return as v. 46 says: “…the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know.” And perhaps the most damning characteristic of this unfaithful person is that he knew all along what was right, how he could honor God and yet, he still failed to do it as verse 47 declares: “And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will.” Jesus referenced unfaithful servants like this in Matt 6:1: “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven,” and also in Matt 23:5: “They do all their deeds to be seen by others.” This is the model of the unfaithful steward who does all that he can for fleeting pleasures that he believes he can get away with.

What keeps us from being the unfaithful servant? We need to see how severe the consequences are for such a heart as verses 46-48 describe: “The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. 47 And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. 48 But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.” There will be an accounting for every unfaithful servant and the judgment will be severe.
This should cause each one of us to ask ourselves whether we are truly living the life of faith for our God or for our own reputation and appearance. Do we really take Jesus at His Word, that we must live as though He could come at any moment, therefore, we must be wise about how we use our time, our money, our energy? Are you perhaps spending your whole life on things that will eventually be valueless before God when you stand before the throne of judgment? Your work won’t matter anymore, no matter how important you think it is. Your kids’ success in life, your retirement plans, your baby that is in your womb, your future love, your upcoming vacation, all of it won’t matter. Instead, what will matter is whether you hear the words, “Well done, good servant!” (Matthew 25:23) or whether your lack of preparation for His return, prepares you for this place instead as Jesus says in Matthew 25:41: “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Oh, I hope you live faithful today to be found faithful eternally!

Conclusion

We must be ready for His coming! Don’t delay. How can you be ready? By preparing yourself today and by remaining faithful to His Word. Now I know what some of you might be thinking. You don’t see yourself as prepared or faithful. You fall short and the question is will you ever be perfectly ready. No, you won’t be perfectly prepared or faithful. But praise God that on our behalf, His Son was perfectly ready and faithful and He cared nothing for the applause of man, only for His Father’s pleasure and will. And this is borne out in his life lived alone, though He was constantly surrounded by people. He did nothing for fame. He did it for His Father’s fame. And He would undergo the very beating and suffering of verses 46-48 so that we wouldn’t have to. It would take the perfect man, who would live and die alone. When Jesus prayed, He prayed alone, rather than for all to see. When Jesus lived, He did not beg for money, or steal from those who followed Him. When Satan and people wanted to make Him a King, He refused the fame. When He was at His most desperate hour, his disciples fell asleep while he prayed alone with blood-dripping sweat. When He was falsely accused by all sorts of scoundrels, he gave not a word of defense. When He died, He died with His disciples abandoning Him. Jesus was the one person who ever lived who did not live so that others would view Him well. He lived for His Father’s pleasure.

And He did this for our great salvation as Hebrews 2:14-17 describes:

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

He was faithful so that even when we are unfaithful and even when are unprepared, we can still be ready to see our heavenly Father, who welcomes us as faithful and prepared because His Son was prepared and faithful for our sake in our stead. That’s every reason why we should delight in worshipping Him. That’s every reason we must prepare ourselves and be faithful with all that we have.