Blessed Are Those Servants

Awhile back, the angels asked me to dedicate Sundays to the Gospels. With love, here is the Gospel of Luke 12:32-46

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not be afraid any longer, little flock,
for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.
Sell your belongings and give alms.
Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out,
an inexhaustible treasure in heaven
that no thief can reach nor moth destroy.
For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.

“Gird your loins and light your lamps
and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding,
ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.
Blessed are those servants
whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.
Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself,
have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them.
And should he come in the second or third watch
and find them prepared in this way,
blessed are those servants.
Be sure of this:
if the master of the house had known the hour
when the thief was coming,
he would not have let his house be broken into.
You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect,
the Son of Man will come.”

Then Peter said,
“Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?”
And the Lord replied,
“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward
whom the master will put in charge of his servants
to distribute the food allowance at the proper time?
Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so.
Truly, I say to you, the master will put the servant
in charge of all his property.
But if that servant says to himself,
‘My master is delayed in coming,’
and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants,
to eat and drink and get drunk,
then that servant’s master will come
on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour
and will punish the servant severely
and assign him a place with the unfaithful.

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Using multiple scenarios that portray the difference between the difference between prepared, faithful servants, self-serving and unfaithful, Jesus teaches us the need for preparedness, and that need is foremost, not only in the lives of church leaders, but the life of every disciple. 

Jesus addresses his listeners in tender words-“little flock”- that reveal his pastoral and constant love for them. Given what follows, his initial instructions can be seen as strategies for preparedness. His first is , “Do not be afraid” Scripture’s most common phrase and, among the Gospels, repeated  phrase and among the Gospels, repeated most often in Luke. Release from fear makes radical living possible, so Jesus endorses selling possessions and storing up treasures in Heaven rather than where thief and moth can generate fear of losing them. The ‘classic “where your treasure is” is an invitation to make CHrist and HIs Gospel our only treasure so that our hearts will always be with his. 

Peter asks if this lesson is meant for all  or just the leaders, Jesus seems to ignore his inquiry, but actually gives a clear response: vigilance is expected of all to the degree that  matches their understanding. That awareness and readiness is expected of all who follow Christ and is seen in Jesus’ lavish praise of the servant the master finds already doing his duty. He is the one who will be put in charge because he saw and responded to the need without waiting for instructions. [see reference] 

Reference: Workbook for Lectors, Gospel Readers and Proclaimers of the Word 2016