12 Pentecost Proper C14
Rev. Dr. D. K. Schroeder
Luke 12:32-48 Sermon
August 11, 2013
Click here for internet service broadcast/podcast.
Hymns (from The Lutheran Hymnal):
536 "Awake My Soul & With The Sun"
608 "Let Thoughtless Thousands Choose The Road"
305 "Soul Adorn Thyself With Gladness" (vs. 4-6)
618 "Jerusalem My Happy Home"
CALL ME IRRESPONSIBLE
TEXT (vs. 42-44; 48b): “[Jesus 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? 43 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 44 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions….48b 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.”
It was sometime back in the 1960’s that Frank Sinatra recorded a song with the title, “Call Me Irresponsible.” Here are some of the lyrics: “Call me irresponsible, call me unreliable; throw in undependable too. Do my foolish alibis bore you? Well, I'm not too clever, I just adore you. Call me unpredictable, tell me I'm impractical, rainbows I'm inclined to pursue. Call me irresponsible, yes, I'm unreliable, but it's undeniably true; I'm irresponsibly mad for you.”
Now I don’t know how many people want this kind of a reputation. Who really wants to be known as irresponsible, unreliable, undependable, unpredictable, and impractical? If you were filling out an employment application, are these things you’d like to tell your prospective employer about? What kind of a job would require you to be irresponsible, unreliable, undependable, unpredictable, and impractical? I honestly can’t think of anybody who would want to hire somebody with that on their resume.
As we look at our Gospel lesson for this morning, Jesus is talking about his second coming. The application is rather obvious, in that we do not have any clue as to when that will be, and here Jesus uses the metaphor of a master, his steward, and his servants. Whatever the time frame may be, the point Jesus makes is very clear: the disciples must be ready because the return may be at any moment, even deep in the night when one normally would not be prepared. Constant watchfulness and vigilance is expected.
If we consider the metaphor Jesus uses about the thief in the night, we can further conclude that being unprepared and being caught off-guard carries some rather substantial risks and undesirable results. And that takes us up through verse 40 of our Gospel lesson for today, which says: “You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Fair enough.
It’s at this point that the lectionary for this Sunday has some alternate choices to make. The appointed reading ends at verse 40; but the alternate reading continues through verse 48. This is the section that most directly addresses the issue of being responsible while waiting for the master’s return.
Simon Peter is no dummy here. He is able to see just how serious Jesus is about all of this, so he asks a legitimate question in verse 41: “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?” It is a simple question, but the answer is a lot more complicated. And we will understand this more as we continue through these last verses of our Gospel reading.
The very nature of the metaphor indicates that Jesus is talking about those who are in a position of responsibility, or the leaders to whom much has been entrusted. However, when Jesus returns, his judgment will be for all of humanity. So we could conclude that Jesus is addressing his comments to all of his disciples.
So what is a good responsible steward like? In Jesus’ day, a steward was somebody who was one of the master’s most trusted servants. When the master had to be away, he entrusted the day-to-day operations to this person. One of the important parts of his job was to take care of the other servants, and see to their welfare. A key part of this responsibility was to see to it that they had ample food allotted to them, and that they were otherwise well cared for. A steward’s job was to serve his master by faithfully tending to his master’s servants. The steward’s job was not to exercise power over the others, especially in an abusive sort of way. And this hits at the heart of what Jesus is addressing.
Jesus praises the good servant, the one who waits and is ready, is the one who serves faithfully during his master's absence. Often we think of waiting as an attitude, but Jesus sees it as translating into action. The life of a responsible steward is marked by constant service to God. The Lord blesses those living faithfully as they await his return. That’s all well and good.
But now we see the other side of the coin. What is going on with the irresponsible and unreliable servant? This person sees his role as one of absolute dictatorial power. He becomes this miserable tyrant who gets drunk all the time and gorges himself on the food intended for the other servants who wind up going hungry. And then he gets physically abusive as well with them! The unfaithful steward could care less about his master returning; in fact, he probably doubts that he’ll ever return, and so he’s satisfied just doing his own thing. Talk about being irresponsible!
But the master does in fact return. And the steward he entrusted everything to was found unfaithful and unreliable. The master sees this, and what does he do?
The consequences are severe; and the graphic imagery that Jesus uses is probably why this section of Luke’s Gospel is an alternate addendum to the appointed Gospel reading for today. So let’s have a look:
Jesus describes the punishment in verse 46 when he says, “He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unfaithful [or unbelievers].” Jesus is describing something so severe that the word in Greek is “dichotomeo” which means to literally and forcefully dismember something, like ripping somebody’s body apart. The steward is not given a mere beating, but a mortal blow and a total separation. This represents a total rejection; namely a painful death as opposed to some kind of punishment. This type of punishment is the most severe possible. This servant is rejected as Jesus says in Matthew chapter 24, verse 51: “[He] will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” That’s not a very pleasant prospect.
Admittedly we don’t like to hear these graphic descriptions, because it paints a picture we just don’t like to see. We don’t want to consider the reality of unbelief. We don’t like to hear about a place where God has removed himself. We don’t like to think about abandonment.
What we have here is a metaphor that we know only too well. In all walks of life, responsibility, reliability, dependability, integrity, and so forth are rewarded. Employers promote people whom they can trust and that can be dependable. Parents reward children who show that they can be trusted by giving them extra privileges. In general, society likes people who have a high degree of integrity. Politicians who have a lot of black marks on their record have a lot of trouble being elected. We just don’t have much use for people who are irresponsible, unreliable, undependable, unpredictable, and impractical. Jesus lets us know that those aren’t adjectives that describe one of his disciples.
But wait a minute. Maybe we should look at a few things honestly. After all if we are to be responsible people, don’t we have to be honest too? So maybe we have to look at this whole metaphor in a whole different way.
Let’s put ourselves into the picture as the steward, or manager in this story. Jesus says he is going to return, but do we live our lives like he’s coming when we least expect it? During our lives upon this earth, are we always the faithful managers of God’s affairs? How many times have we been guilty of neglecting what God wants in favor of our own selfish desires and gain? How often do we reject God’s will when it doesn’t match our own will? Have we been faithful in the witness of the Gospel, or too afraid that somebody won’t like us because we are a Christian?
To be reliable and responsible as Christians, we have to see ourselves the way we are. And when we do that, we know without a doubt that we need a Saviour and the forgiving love of God in our lives.
The one thing we can be thankful for is that we are judged according to our faith, and not according to our works. Our faith is in Christ Jesus alone who is our only Saviour. Therefore, we can be assured that we will be judged according to Christ’s righteousness and not our sinfulness. The responsible Christian is one who has his or her faith in Jesus intact. And as a result of his love for us, we show our live by living lives dedicated to him.
When I was a teenager, I took a Driver’s Ed course in school. The main focus of the class wasn’t so much to teach us how to find the clutch or brake or accelerator, and it wasn’t to teach us how to tune in the radio. The main focus was to teach us to be responsible and careful drivers, and that’s what most of our lessons were about. We learned how to safely and responsibly operate a motor vehicle.
We also watched various movies that demonstrated the importance of this. One that I remember in particular was about this family who set off on a road trip. They were doing everything carefully and correctly. But as they were driving down the two-lane highway, a car was ahead of them doing 30 miles per hour. The two women in that car were arguing about taking the highway or the back road. They signaled a turn at the intersection of the back road and began the turn. But at the last second, they decided to stay on the highway, so they swerved back on to the main road. This caused the car with the family to veer into oncoming traffic, where they collided with a truck. The mother and daughter survived the crash, but the father and son were killed.
When people don’t drive responsibly and respectfully, there can be some tragic results. Even though the two women who caused the accident were irresponsible, they had no clue as to what they had caused. It was a warning that was well taken by me.
Frank Sinatra sang in his song, “Call me irresponsible, call me unreliable; throw in undependable too.” And as much as we might not like to admit it, those words describe us more times than what we’d like.
But as Christians, we have to be honest. That’s what keeps us coming to our Saviour time and time again for forgiveness and understanding. That’s why he stands there with open arms ready to receive us whenever we come to him. As Christ’s disciples, we know that we’re saved by grace through faith alone, and not by our good works. When we believe this and spread that message to the world, we are indeed being responsible disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ.