The Master is away. - Luke 12:35-40

“If your Jesus returned on the clouds this very night, would you be ready?” That's an unsettling question to have to ponder:  But it’s a question worth asking because no matter how we may feel about it, one thing is certain: the day is coming.

Scripture paints the last day as anything but calm. The prophet Malachi warned, “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble and the day that is coming will set them on fire” chapter 4. Jesus himself echoed that intensity in Matthew 24, “In those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the people of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.” 

Are you ready for that? Scripture describes the second coming as sudden, irreversible, and terrifying for those who are unprepared. It truly will be an event that will cause every unbelieving heart to melt in fear. But what about you? Is the Last Day cause to make your heart melt in fear? But, it shouldn’t be. There’s an old story that says that once when Luther was asked what he would do if he knew the world would end tomorrow, Luther replied, “I would plant an apple tree today.” But that answer isn’t quite as foolish as it seems because that’s the response of a calm and confident faith. See, Luther believed that no matter when Jesus returned his eternal home would be safe in Christ. And that is the very same confidence we can have as well because the end times are not meant to terrify believers, but to comfort them. In our sermon text for this morning, we see what that ought to look like in our lives. Because the reality is, the Master is away and until he returns his servants are to stay active and his servants are to stay eager.

Jesus is teaching in Luke chapter 12 on the topic of worry. He begins by showing how even the sparrows are provided for by God. His point is simple: if God cares even for the small birds of the field, how much more does he care for you? That’s the context into which Jesus then brings up the end times, not to terrify but to comfort. You do not need to be afraid because your God will provide for you in this life and the next! That is what the believer has been promised. That is what you and I have been promised. 

And so Jesus compares his return to a master coming back from a wedding banquet. His return should be a joyous occasion, full of great rejoicing that the master who was once away has come home. But until that day, while the master is away, he entrusts the work of his household to his servants. That’s a huge responsibility. The master temporarily relinquishes his executive work to his servants trusting them to manage his household faithfully. Afterall, what master would go away hoping to find his house burned to the ground when he returns? None. Those servants have an obligation to care because one day the Master will return and expect to find his house in good order just as it was when he left. 

That is exactly the responsibility that God has placed upon his people. Christ is our master. He has gone away for a time, but he will certainly return, and soon. And when he does he will resume complete and total control once again. Then the servants' labor will be over and their reward will be enjoyed. To servants such as these Jesus says in verse 37 “Truly I tell you, he (that is the master - Jesus) will dress himself to serve, will have them (his faithful servants) recline at the table and will come and wait on them.” What a role reversal! I don’t know about you, but I want to be that kind of servant. How great the reward to those who serve faithfully! How amazing that the master rewards his servants for doing the very work he gave them to do. Yes I want to be that servant, don’t you?

So how? How do we become like those faithful servants? Jesus tells us. He says in verse 35, “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning.” A faithful servant is dressed for service with a lamp burning. Okay, but what does that mean? Well, these are ancient pictures of readiness. Dressed for service, would be the modern equivalent of a husband who is waiting patiently at the door for his lovely bride with his coat in hand. There is nothing left for him yet to prepare. His hair is combed, his keys are in his pocket and he is ready to go as soon as his wife says those long awaited words, ‘I’m ready!’ Lamps burning is kind of like a parent saying to their college kid who is coming home late at night for the holidays, ‘We’ll leave the lights on for you.’ That gesture says, ‘Someone special is coming and I want to be ready.’

But Jesus takes it a step further, see, it isn’t about getting dressed for service or lighting the candles when the master arrives, it’s about constantly being ready. Jesus says “It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes.” Watching when he comes. He doesn’t say scrambling to prepare the last few things when he comes. No, the faithful and good servant is already ready long before he sees his master coming. Constantly alert and always in action to welcome the master back. 

So, do you do that? Is your spiritual coat of faith always in hand? Or do you hang it up til next Sunday at about 8 o’clock when it’s time to once again put on your Sunday morning best? Is the fire of your faith always fanned to flame as you actively wait for your Savior? We have so many opportunities to let our hearts burn brightly for Christ but too often we push them off. Like a fire struggling to stay lit, the bonfire of our faith can so easily be smothered until we become little more than a pile of warm coals. 

And what's worse, sometimes we’re perfectly okay with that. We tell ourselves, Look, I was on fire for Jesus last week, it’s okay if I take a moment off now. But I challenge you: does that kind of reasoning apply to any other aspect of your life? Sure, I kinda mailed it in as a parent this week but I was really attentive on Tuesday. Or, I went to the gym once this past week for a few hours, I should be strong now. Or I really gave it my all at work getting that project done but the other days I just sat back and watched the hours tick by? But that's not how it works. You can’t be a good parent, by only acting like one some of the time. You’re not an athlete by simply doing sporadic workouts, even if they are intense. You aren’t a reliable employee by doing your job a few hours a week. That’s not how it works for your faith either. You can’t be active in your faith by putting it off until later. Spiritual procrastination doesn’t grow faith, it starves it. Too often, we’re simply lazy. We tell ourselves we’ll get back to God when life slows down, but somehow, it never seems to do it?.

But thanks be to God that our standing as his servants isn’t reliant on our own action or inaction. We are servants of our good and gracious Master because he has chosen to put his name on you and adopt you into his household. Our goodness is not reliant on us, it's reliant upon who our master is and what he has done. He is patient. He is forgiving, even when we let our spiritual flame go untended, and for the times that we have hung up the spiritual cloak of readiness. Your Jesus forgives you, your status as a good servant isn’t earned, it’s given. His grace makes us faithful servants in his household and because of that grace you and I get to live in action until the day our gracious master returns. God isn’t looking for lazy servants who show sporadic faithfulness. By faith wants his servants to stay active. Jesus says in Matthew 7:16 “By their fruit you will recognize them.” So what do your fruits or actions say of you? Servant of the Master, good and faithful, eagerly awaiting his return? Or, servant of my schedule and master of my own plans? Too often I find myself in the latter camp. So what can we do?

How can we tend the flame of our faith to give it proper nourishment so the Spirit can light our hearts on fire for him? Get to church and stay for bible class. Then consider what is your lifestyle, what are your preferences and abilities? Are you an avid reader? Talk with Pastor or I or search online at our synods publishing house for a wide variety of resources that can help you dive deeply into the Word. Then carve out the time to actually read. Get up before the house gets busy in the morning or set some time aside before you lay your head down for the night. Do you find yourself listening to podcasts in the car, on the job or even while you’re cleaning your house? Why not listen to an audiobible or a podcast. There are tons of great podcasts easily accessible to you, just check out the Time of Grace webpage or go to the Forward in Christ page where there are numerous different topics for you to listen to. Or why not head to our church's website during the week, and listen again to last Sunday's sermon and be renewed throughout your week by the message that was shared. Do you have kids, or young adults in the home? Model prayer and devotional life everyday in your household. There are an abundance of devotionals with prayers that can be a great starting place for a family discussion each night. There are so many opportunities for you to feed your faith with the Bread that gives life! Fill yourself with the Word and be equipped as active servants even while the master is away.

In the next verses Jesus shifts his focus. Now that we know what the master’s return means for us, and we know how we are to live until he comes, the only lingering question left is, so then when will the master return? Jesus, anticipating this very question, shifts to talking about thieves breaking in. He says “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. You must also be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” Jesus tells us plainly, be prepared at all times because my return will be when you least expect.

But apparently that wasn’t quite explicit enough, because ever since some of man’s ‘greatest’ thinkers have sought to crack the code. People like Nosterdamus for example, a 16th century French mystic, tried numerous times. Unsurprisingly, he failed. Or, take for example the Jehovah's Witnesses who have made a habit out of predicting the last day. I say habit, because they seem to continue unbothered by the fact that every single prediction has been dead wrong. First it was 1914, then 1918, then 1925, then 1975. In fact they even have a standing prediction, that the end of the world will be in 2034 which they calculated simply by adding 120 years to their failed prediction of 1914. 

But those who fix their eyes on dates instead of the Savior miss the point. Jesus didn’t tell his disciples to set their watches but to set their hearts in eager anticipation for his return whenever that would be. The day and the hour are unknown to us not to frustrate us, but to free us: so that we live everyday in constant eagerness for his return. The Christian doesn’t need to invent riddles or codes; we have his sure word and promises that he is coming back to take us to be with him. What more do we need to know?

We know it is coming, or should I say, we know he is coming. We have no need to be afraid. Rather we can be eager for his return whether that comes, tonight, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, next decade, next century nothing changes. Because while the Master is away, his servants stay active and his servants stay eager. Amen.