Luke 12:35-48

“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. 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. If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 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.”

Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?” 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? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 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, 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. 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. 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.

We’re right in the middle of the Advent Season now. Our text answers a couple of important questions related to our theme. The theme is: Our Lord Will Come Again. To that, we might ask, What will He come again to do?—and, What would He want to find when He comes?

Jesus had just been making statements and telling parables, that encouraged his listeners to put their trust in the Lord, to value his kingdom more than anything else. He said, don’t worry about being without anything you might need; God will provide for your needs, just like he does for the sparrows, and all other creatures. He was saying the kinds of things someone would say who was getting his listeners ready for the end (though the end is always a mystery; we never know when it will be). We’re told over and over to always be ready, though. Certainly, that is Jesus’ message in this text. “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.”

They have so much to gain by being prepared like this. What Jesus goes on to tell them in this text represents an extraordinary exchange—a flipping on its ear of what would normally be the case in the relationship between master and servants. It would never be the case under normal circumstances, that the servants position themselves at the table, ready to eat, and that the master would come in and serve them; it would always be the opposite. But Jesus says this extraordinary thing: when this Master returns, He serves the servants.

Of course, the serving was happening already, without them fully realizing it. Jesus had been preparing them as His followers, preparing them as the ones who are citizens of God’s kingdom even while in this world, and who then inherit eternal life in that kingdom.

Part of the preparation is this call to readiness. He’s doing it in the Gospel lesson for today too, pointing out the signs of the kingdom’s coming, alerting them to dangers that exist for those who hope in it. Stay awake at all times, He says in the Gospel Lesson, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” He serves them by preparing them for His coming in glory.

Also, He serves them simply by carrying out the eternal plan that God has to save sinners through the blood of His perfect Son. He knows that every day He spends with them—teaching them, comforting them—is a day closer to the eternally appointed time when He will be arrested, tried by Jews and Gentiles, mistreated in various ways, crucified, put in the grave—all of it for the benefit of these and all others who put their trust in Him for salvation (available to every single person in the world).

The Master serves the servants. Recognize that the LORD has served you to the same extent. He called you to be His follower through the Spirit’s work in the sacrament of Baptism (the water joined with God’s powerful Word)—or He called you through the Word itself. He called you out of the darkness of unbelief (your natural state), and into a knowledge of God’s grace that is yours through faith in this LORD and Savior, this Master who is the server of servants. In answer to the first of our questions: what He ultimately comes to do, is to bring you and all believers in Him to the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

Our second question: What would He want to find when He comes? Jesus uses the picture of a manager that has been left in charge of the master’s possessions in his absence. In one sense this message can be thought of as specifically pertaining to those who are Christ’s under-shepherds in this world, ones who go out to speak in His Name in the Church or elsewhere. Jesus’ disciples certainly were in that category. They were being prepared, not just for the kingdom, but to lead others to that kingdom in an official sense. They were managers in training who would be managing Christ’s flock—a specific and important type of stewardship. Great faithfulness was required of them (and of those who are so-called today).

But every Christian is Christ’s steward; you, too, of course. You are a steward of this faith with which you’ve been entrusted. It is your possession; you might look at it as the invitation you have received that you present at the gate of heaven. It must remain with you throughout this life, even though numerous challenges are put up to prevent it.

Jesus had recently said to His disciples, Everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, 9 but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God (12:8,9). This reminds us that remaining faithful even in the face of the world’s opposition is difficult. When the world is telling us to go ahead and do what God has forbidden, it’s difficult. Faith is engaged in a battle in a moment like that, isn’t it? What do I care more about; this faith, or the love and acceptance of the world? Will I acknowledge in this difficult moment, the Son of Man in Whom my faith is placed; or will I deny Him in favor of this world?

In some of Jesus’ other recent comments had been the parable of the rich fool, about a man who’d been so fortunate in his farming that he’d had to build bigger barns to store all of his vast crop. His foolishness was in thinking it was going to be some sort of salvation for him. He felt he was so rich, now, that he didn’t need to think about God. Again—challenges put up to prevent our faith from enduring unto eternal life. Wealth and success (though they can be great blessings too) can become snares that prevent the readiness, the preparedness that our Savior wants to find from us when He comes again.

When Jesus says in our text, Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, doesn’t He speak right to our hearts as stewards of the faith we possess by God’s grace? Doesn’t He stir your heart to consider how you have cared for this precious possession? Doesn’t He cause you to ask yourself, have I treasured up all these things, pondering them in my heart like Mary did with the angel’s announcement that she would the Savior’s mother (Luke 2:19); or have I been careless with it, leaving it unguarded, unprotected? When our Lord comes again, will He consider me to have been a good steward, or a wicked one? Will He find me to have been clinging to what opens heaven’s gate, or allowing it to drag along behind me as I pursued this world’s things? And these questions that the LORD stirs in your heart bring you to a difficult conclusion. You have been guilty in this matter of stewardship, as have I.

What joy it brings to our hearts, then, that our Lord who comes again, comes as the Master who serves the servants. So that you could be considered the perfect steward—and rewarded as such, He came to be considered the most wicked one. The prophet writes: And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth (Isaiah 53:9). He was made guilty of every instance in which you have fallen short of God’s requirements in your stewardship of the faith He’s given, and in every other matter. The innocent one invites the guilty ones to ready themselves at table that He might serve them, that He might lift them from guilt and punishment to the reward of His everlasting kingdom.

Recognize it happening as you recline at the Savior’s Table this morning to receive from Him what makes atonement for you sins: His true body and blood along with the bread and wine. He serves you through the hands of His servants. He takes all of your burdens, forgiving them in His perfect blood. He has provided for every one of your needs. When this Master returns, He serves the servants. God be praised. Amen.

Micah 4:1-7

It shall come to pass in the latter days
    that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
    and it shall be lifted up above the hills;
and peoples shall flow to it,

    and many nations shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
    to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
    and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
    and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

He shall judge between many peoples,
    and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
    and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
    neither shall they learn war anymore;

but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree,
    and no one shall make them afraid,
    for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.

For all the peoples walk
    each in the name of its god,
but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God
    forever and ever.

In that day, declares the Lord,
    I will assemble the lame
and gather those who have been driven away
    and those whom I have afflicted;

and the lame I will make the remnant,
    and those who were cast off, a strong nation;
and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion
    from this time forth and forevermore.
  

Romans 15:4-13

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,
    and sing to your name.”

And again it is said,

“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”

And again,

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
    and let all the peoples extol him.”

And again Isaiah says,

“The root of Jesse will come,
    even he who arises to rule the Gentiles;
in him will the Gentiles hope.”

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

St. Luke 21:25-36

“And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

And he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

“But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”