“Faithful – Once and Always”

Scripture: Luke 12:41-48

Jesus had just told a parable about being ready for service – it was a story about men who were waiting for their master to return from a wedding feast. They are to be ready to welcome him home, regardless of the hour, and while the parable itself isn’t actually a part of today’s text, it might be well to hear it to set the stage for our lesson.

Read Luke 12:37-40

The parable tells us that we are to be ready for the divine Master’s return to earth, regardless of when that may be. And in our text for today, Jesus tells us, not just that we must wait in readiness, but how we are to wait, and what being ready is all about.

Read Luke 12:41-44

Peter asks Jesus who the parable is intended for, and as usual, Jesus gives a totally unexpected, and seemingly unrelated, answer. And as the explanation unfolds, we discover that the answer is being given - that this story isn’t for any one person or even any group in particular. The parable is for both the Church and those who are still in the world.

And as Jesus continues, He begins to add more detail to the story, and the initial situation of a wedding is replaced with a focus on the staff at the Master’s home. And our initial thoughts that the parable is about the servants, we discover that it is more about the manager of the household than it is about those under his authority.
So more specifically, who is this parable about? The manager represents the leadership of the church, and not just those who are recognized as leaders, but all who others look to for guidance – small group leaders, Bible study leaders, lay speakers, Sunday School teachers, pastors, and others who are seen as examples and teachers of how to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

The manager’s responsibility, apparently, is not only to ensure that those under his authority do their work properly, but more importantly, to see that they receive that which nourishes and sustains them in their service. And the Church leaders of both Jesus’ day and our day has the same responsibility. In Matthew 7:7-12, the Lord tells about knowing the difference between goodness and evil when we deal with others we care about. It that passage, He asks “who among you, if your son asks for bread, would give him a stone, or if a fish, would give him a snake?” Jesus is telling us that wisdom resides within us all, but we have the ability to choose between good and evil, and if we truly care about those who are under our responsibility, we will always choose the good.
That’s what Christian leaders are expected to do – to share the Lord’s best with others, and not to interject too much of ourselves into the mix. We wait patiently for the Master’s return, and are to keep serving those we have been given, in the Master’s way, until the time arrives.

Read Luke 12:45-46

And if we choose to think only of ourselves, and set the Master’s way aside, we will have chosen badly. The manager got tired of waiting, and may have even begun to doubt that the day of return would ever come! And instead of continuing to exercise the responsibilities given to him, he begins to go his own way.

He beats those in his charge, instead of caring for their needs. We aren’t told whether the servants had done something wrong, and we don’t even know if they had refused to follow the orders that the manager gave them – the truth of the matter is though, that the story has nothing to do with the servants’ disobedience – it’s about the manager’s disobedience. He has denied the charge given to him by his master, and has set himself up as an ersatz master.

His authority is no longer based in the master, it is only through his own misplaced and mishandled imagination. His ability to manage has evaporated, replaced only by his own distorted sense of what is right and wrong.

Some church leaders have fallen into this very trap. They feel that the Master’s coming has taken so long that His orders, His word, and His authority have all faded, so they think they have to make a substitution, one that is based solely in their own desires and standards. Drunkenness is a metaphor for confusion, for the inability to reason properly, for our failure to choose well. Are any of us living a “drunken” life in faith?

If we are, it’s a big mistake. The Master is still on his way, and His plan hasn’t changed one iota. And those who are being abused with lies, those who are no longer being fed from the Master’s storeroom, those who are being starved for the Master’s love and protection, will one day be avenged. The drunken manager will receive two punishments – the first is being cut into pieces, a sign of divided loyalties, and the second, that of rejection into the condemnation of unbelievers. This is not good news!

But you may be wondering why the one who failed without knowing or intent was also punished – it doesn’t seem fair, does it. But the truth is that God’s Law is absolute, and divine reality, divine truth is completely different than the earthly version. In God’s way, failure to follow His way, whether knowingly or not, is still a failure, but mercy demands different penalties. And so it will be.

Read Luke 12:47-48

The story’s interpretation now turns decidedly toward the Church. Verses 47 & 48a are about those who choose poorly in this life. Those who know the Lord’s Will but ignore it, will receive the harshest of penalties, and those who fail without knowing will still be chastised, but nowhere nearly as severe as the others.

But for those who continue to labor within the Master’s Will and Plan and Commandments, reward will be glorious. The New International Bible Commentary offers this thought – “God will seek much from those to whom much has been given. Leaders to whom the church has given responsibility will, therefore, be held to a higher standard of expectation.” (James 3:1)

But the rewards, just as the punishments, will be based in multiple levels, and in this text two are mentioned – first, those who have been given much, and second, those who have been entrusted with much. So what’s the difference?

The word “given” implies a gift, a blessing. It’s something we simply receive without expectations or demands attached to it. It’s like a birthday or Christmas present – it is given to us without a quid pro quo (or at least it should!), without a comparable exchange. While it is given to us to possess, and even though it has no demands attached to it, we still need to be grateful, and we respond in gratitude to the giver, but a comparable response is not required.

However, the word “trusted” implies a great deal more. The manager in our parable for today was “trusted” with the responsibility of guiding those he was given authority over. The result of a “trust” requires a response. But not just any response – it must be one that is expected by the one who has “trusted” us. It may allow some personal leeway in the execution of that trust, but it must closely follow the way and intent of the Giver.

In the Church, we are “given” and “trusted” all the time. By faith in Jesus Christ, we are given the gift of eternal life. For the new Christian, it requires nothing in return – we don’t have to earn it, and there is nothing that we can give back to the Life Giver. However, as we mature in the faith, we begin to be trusted with more and more. This is referred to as the Lord’s call on our lives, or the granting of “gifts of the Spirit”. As we read through those verses in scripture that list some of these gifts (1 Corinthians 12:4-11; Romans 12:6-8; Ephesians 4:11-13), we discover that each one involves not only an ability, but action, and with it, responsibility to use the gift in God’s way. And as we respond to each “gift of the Spirit”, our actions must concur with the Giver’s way and call.

When we give our lives to Christ, and receive his gift of eternal life, we give our thanks and praise, and in that, our reward will be incredible. But when we are trusted with His gifts, in addition to His eternity, and when we execute those gifts in the way the Lord’s word tells us to, the rewards will dwarf even the joy and glory of the given Life. Remember the parables of Talents and Minas? Some will be faithful with the gifts they receive, and others will not, and each will be rewarded, or punished, beyond all expectation. (Matthew 25:14-30; Luke 19:12-27)

So the question for each of us, as we approach the beginning of this year’s Advent, is this – first, how do we show our gratitude to the Lord Jesus for the gift of eternal life that we now have, and second, how faithful are we to His call and in the Spiritual gifts that we have been trusted with? Those who have been gifted are the leaders of the Church, and these are the ones who have the greatest responsibility for faithful service.

Leaders, and that is a very broad based term, use them carefully and prayerfully.