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2010 Luke’s Gospel

Be Ready, Be Faithful, Be Rewarded

Luke 12:35-59

Key Verse: 12:40 "You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."

In today’s passage there is a key word to remember. That’s readiness. We are going to learn and think about it. When I was young, I thought about soldiers’ life from time to time since I was supposed to join the army some time in my twenties. Whenever I saw soldiers in uniform on the street I asked myself, “What do they do all day long? Do they shoot every day? Where are their houses? Is life in the army exciting?”  But when I enlisted in the army, life in the army was totally different than I had expected. Every day, every year everything in the army is same as before. No fun at all. It’s all about doing the same thing again and again. Everything is routine job. But through routine life, soldiers are ready physically and mentally to go to war at any time. Doing the same thing again and again every day every year makes soldiers ready for any national emergency.  Likewise we should be ready for Jesus’ second coming any time by doing routine jobs every day such as listening to the word of God and praying in the early morning, which makes us ready in spirit. I pray that through today’s passage we may learn how to be ready for Jesus’ second coming in the end of age.       

I. Be ready and watchful (35-40)

Look at verses 35-36. “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks, they can immediately open the door for him.”  In those days there was a master and servant relationship. When a master is out of town for his business, his servant must be ready to open the door for his master whether it is a day time or a night time. Until the master comes the servant cannot be relaxed. The servant must prepare lamps with enough oil to keep his lamps burning throughout the night. It looks very tough job. Nowadays there is also such a relationship between the civil and public servants. Policemen, firefighters, and soldiers are ready to serve their master- the nation and the people being dressed in uniform 24 hours a day for an emergency such as a fire, a crime, and a war respectively.  They must be ready all the times no matter what; otherwise sooner or later we all get in big troubles. Likewise, readiness for servants is very important. In our daily life, readiness is also very important. We have to be ready for homework, midterms and finals each semester. We have to be ready for special music in worship time and testimony in the meeting. In the long run, our life seems to be a continuation of being ready for the next stage of life. You were ready for middle school when you were in elementary school. Now, you try hard to be ready for high school by doing homework, reading many books, practicing musical instrument. Some of us here really work hard to be ready to take SAT to get into college. After college years, what is the next? What should we be ready for now? What should we be ready for most? Most of all, we must be ready for Jesus’ second coming the day of the judgment among all other things in the world. Personally, since last year I have been working hard to be ready to take CPA exam. Even though I had failed many times, God helped me to overcome a sense of failure and blessed me to pass one of four sections this month. After many trials and hardships, God encouraged me with victory in the exam and strengthened me to be ready to take next one. But more than that, I realized that I must be ready all in all for Jesus’ second coming because on the day of the judgment there will be only one chance, no second or third. It is not like retaking the failed exam over and over again with money.  Jesus wants us to be ready at all times and to be alert for his return.  Then, we can welcome him joyfully when he comes. This pleases Jesus. 

Look at verse 37. “It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.” As we know, when we are ready well for something we would be rewarded. When we are ready for Jesus all the time, we also receive a great reward, which is amazing and unbelievable. In verse 37, Jesus tells us the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have us recline at the table and will come and wait on us. In a word, Jesus our master will serve us his unworthy servants as if  being a servant. This is a simple representation of honor and glory we will receive in the kingdom of God when we are ready for Jesus. In this world, it is impossible for the master to serve his servants. Even if that happens, the servant would feel uncomfortable with his master’s service. I would be so if the CEO of Woori-America Bank waited on me at the dinner table even though it would be a great honor. Actually that would never ever happen though.  But Jesus honors his ready servants. Jesus appreciates them, provides for them, and shares his reign with them. His love and recognition become the sweet melody of their souls and they rejoice throughout eternity in his presence. This is how Jesus rewards his ready servants.

Look at verse 39. “But understand this: 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.” Jesus compares himself to a thief and those who are not ready to his victims. It is strange to think of Jesus as a thief. But Jesus said plainly that he comes like a thief as in Rev 3:3 “Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you,” and 16:15 “Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed.” To those who suddenly lose everything at Jesus' coming, he seems like a thief. Jesus' coming will bring them sudden and unexpected loss. The rich fool is one example. Such people enter eternity with only their record of sins to be judged.

Look at verse 40. “You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect him.” Jesus' second coming is a serious matter. It should be great importance to every man, woman and child on the face of the earth. So Jesus warned his disciples over again and again. Now Jesus warns us to be ready, because his coming will be unexpected. This means that we must always be ready. Readiness or alertness must come from our daily life with Jesus. It is not something we can do suddenly at the last moment. As you have learned in American history class, there were some historical wars in the history of the United States such as American Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, which is related to Independence Day and American Civil War, which is related to Memorial Day tomorrow. Now let me tell you some story about War of Independence. During the Revolutionary War, a loyalist spy appeared at the headquarters of Hessian commander Colonel Johann Rall, carrying an urgent message. General George Washington and his Continental army had secretly crossed the Delaware River that morning and were advancing on Trenton, New Jersey where the Hessians were encamped. The spy was denied an audience with the commander and instead wrote his message on a piece of paper. A porter took the note to the Hessian colonel, but because Rall was involved in a poker game he stuffed the unread note into his pocket. When the guards at the Hessian camp began firing their muskets in a futile attempt to stop Washington's army, Rall was still playing cards. Without time to organize, the Hessian army was captured. The battle occurred the day after Christmas, 1776, giving the colonists a late present--their first major victory of the war. What is the point in the story?  It’s readiness. We should be alert at all times as Jesus warns because we not know the time.

Even though we do not know the exact time of Jesus’ second coming, many people have tried to come up with the time of his coming again. They think that if they knew exactly when Jesus is coming, they could take life easy until the last moment, then repent and welcome him. Or some of them deceive other Christians with the predicted time and influence them to quit jobs, drop classes, renege on contracts, and go to the mountains dressed in white to meet Jesus. When I was a high school student in 1992, there was a great turmoil throughout the country. Some believers of apocalypse theory claimed that Jesus would come again on October 28, 1992.  They sold their possession and offered it to the church and gathered together to be ready to welcome Jesus by prayer and praise through worship services, quitting jobs. On the night of October 27, 1992, I was in the library to study with my friends and came out to count down at 11:59 pm to see what would happen. We shouted, “3, 2, 1, and 0!” And nothing happened but the result was a great disappointment to the believers.  

Look at verse 40 again. "You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." Being ready is not a matter of knowing times and dates; it comes from devotion and loyalty to Christ in an ongoing relationship. Jesus did not tell us get ready, but to "be ready." Being ready reveals our love for Jesus and deep desire to meet him and enter eternity with him. How, then, can we be ready?

First, we must clothe ourselves with Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "Be dressed ready for service...." The devil tempts people to sin and lets them indulge into sinful desires. In this way the devil makes people into spiritual slumber. This makes Jesus' servants depressed and powerless. How can we overcome this temptation? Romans 13:14 says, "...clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature." Just as we put on clean clothes daily, we should clothe ourselves with Christ daily. Instead of satisfying our sinful desires in selfishness, we should please Jesus. This happens as we listen to Jesus' word and pray. Jesus cleanses our hearts from sinful desires with his blood on the cross. He put the truth in our souls and fills us with strength and wisdom to carry out his mission. And he fills our hearts with such joy and peace that we do not think about sinful desires. When we clothe ourselves with Christ on a regular basis as if we put on our clean clothes daily basis, we grow in readiness to meet him. We become more and more eager for his coming again. Let us be ready by listening to Jesus through the Bible study and testimony and pray day and night.

Second, we must hold Jesus' living hope in our hearts. We live in a world where people laugh at Jesus' coming again and ridicule those who believe it (2 Pe 3:3). Sometimes we get tired of waiting and doubtful and become vulnerable to our sinful nature. How can we overcome ourselves and the world, and truly be ready for Jesus when he comes? 1 Peter 1:3,4 says, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you...." When anyone accepts Jesus into his heart, he is born again. His hope changes from perishable things which shine for a while and then disappear, to eternal things which have life-giving and lasting value. He no longer pursues the perishable pleasures and treasures of the world, but seeks Christ with eager desire to know him better and grow in spirit because he knows that for all men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord and the hope of the kingdom of God stand forever (1 Pe 1:24, 25). Let us pray that we may be ready for his coming no matter how dark the world becomes. Let's ask our Lord to fill our hearts with his hope for his coming with readiness in our hearts.

II. Be faithful and wise managers (41-59)

Now we have a clear direction in spirit in waiting for Jesus’ second coming. We listen to Jesus’ word and pray to him on a regular basis and hold onto the living hope in the kingdom of God.  With that, what kind of attitude of life should we have in our real life? Let us think about it in this second part through the two kinds of servants.

Look at verse 41. “Peter asked, "Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?" As Peter listened to Jesus' words, he did not understand what Jesus was talking about and why Jesus was saying, "Be ready." He thought he was already ready. So he asked, "Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone? (41)" Jesus did not answer directly. Instead, Jesus taught that when he comes again there will be two kinds of servants.

Look at verse 42. "The Lord answered, 'Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time?" The first servant is the faithful and wise manager. A faithful person is one who is trustworthy. He is loyal to his master at any cost. He carries out his assigned tasks without fail, no matter what difficulty he may confront. This servant is also wise. He sees things from the master's point of view. He knows how to work effectively and to make the most of every opportunity. The master chooses this person to be in charge of food distribution for his household. The manager gives a proper amount of food to the servants at the right time. So the servants are happy to do their best for their master. Everything goes smoothly and the master's estate prospers. When he returns and sees this, he joyfully promotes his manager to be in charge of all his possessions (43).

The second servant is different. He says to himself, "My master is taking a long time in coming." He begins to live as if the master will never return. Instead of working hard to feed the other servants, he takes it easy and abuses his authority. He demands others to work hard while he eats and drinks. He mistreats all the servants. Over time he totally forgets that his master will return, and yet his master does return. Then he finds the wounded servants and his ruined estate. What will he do? Look at verse 46b. “He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers” This is the awful destiny of wicked and unfaithful servants.

Even though Jesus is gentle, kind and full of grace, he is the Righteous Judge. Jesus punishes wicked and unfaithful servants. We must know that Jesus rewards the faithful and wise servant, but he punishes the unfaithful and wicked servant. Jesus' clear principle is stated in verse 48b: "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." To the degree that Jesus entrusts his servants with privilege, he holds them accountable to make a good profit. We have all been entrusted with something such as serving worship service as prayer servant, music servant, presider, title maker, and messenger. And we are accountable to Jesus to show a return. When we are faithful in what we do at the center and at school, Jesus considers us to be faithful servants and rewards us abundantly.  It is not important how much we have received from God but how faithful and wise we are in taking care of what God allows us. Let us pray to become a faithful, wise manager in our own life.    

In verses 49-53, Jesus warns his disciples that they would confront division in the world: those who receive Jesus and those who reject Jesus, and even among family members. When we follow Jesus we expect peace. But that’s not the case. First we go through division painfully just like Jesus took up the cross first before the glory and honor of the resurrection. Jesus wants his disciples to realize that gospel ministry would be a fierce and painful spiritual battle before the final victory comes. We need to prepare our minds for this and should not be surprised when painful struggles come upon us.

In verses 54-59, Jesus rebuked the crowd following the religious leaders without discernment for being able to interpret the signs of the weather, but not the signs of the times. Even though they saw many signs that Jesus is the Christ, they did not make a decision. So Jesus challenged them. And now he challenges each one of us to judge for ourselves what is right. He wants us to examine the Scriptures, think for ourselves and accept him as our Savior and Lord. Each person will be responsible for their own decision. It is time to accept Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as our Savior. Otherwise, we will pay the full consequence for our sins. The gospel message is a matter of life and death; it demands a response and time is short. When we die, or when Jesus comes again, our opportunity to accept him will pass. Then it will be too late to ask God for mercy. So we must make a decision to follow Jesus now.  

Today we learn that we must be ready in waiting for Jesus’ second coming by clothing ourselves with Christ through the word of God and prayers and holding the hope of the kingdom of God in our hearts. We also learn that we are to be faithful, wise manager to our mission, knowing that Jesus rewards and punishes. When we are ready, faithful and wise in our life of faith, we will be O.K. with Jesus on the day of the Judgment. I pray that each of us may be ready, be faithful and be rewarded. We should be ready all the time for Jesus’ second coming.