This sermon was preached at Trinity, Tailem Bend (9 am) and St. John's, Karoonda (11 am).
When Jesus tells a
parable about a master of a house who returns, even in the middle of
the night, he says if he finds his servants awake “blessed are
those servants”. But you've come to the right place looking for an
example of falling asleep on the job. While studying in Adelaide, I
worked overnight reception at a hotel. And the 4 am nap was one of
my favorite parts; but I didn't have to worry about being caught
asleep on the job. So it's not so much being alert, it's who you're
watching for, and why.
Transition:
But that does mean that first there's the issue of all the things you
can get caught up in, things that would keep you from keeping watch.
In Jesus' parable, we see -
Sleeping
servants aren't happy when the master returns because they're caught
up in something that doesn't do them any good. This is the parable
that is the heart of today's reading. But in today's reading we hear
“Stay
dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36
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. 37
Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he
comes.”. If it's good for them to be awake,
then it's bad for them to be asleep. But Jesus tells this parable so
that you may watch for him: “You
also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do
not expect.”. That you may watch for him,
which you don't want to do.
You
don't want to watch for Christ because you'd rather watch for
anything else than his return. That's what Jesus explains in the
verses following today's Gospel “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, 46
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.”. You're
interested in what your flesh wants now, because what your flesh
wants is now – all the temptations that now has to offer, and
because all of it is now and Jesus' return is always “later”, and
later means “don't worry about it”, as you know because when you
say “I'll do it later” you mean “no I won't”. What's more
now than beating on people under your authority, or drunkenness
(these won't ever go out of style), and more “later” than the end
of all things when Christ returns in glory?
And
Christ connects all these things that distract, and possessions are
at the top of that list, with the kingdom of God. At stake is
nothing less than eternal life. Yet you waver between hope and fear
over all these things, to the point where the kingdom of God doesn't
matter at all. When you say “justification by grace through faith?
Whatever.”, you are more asleep than those servants because that
is the kingdom.
But
you'd rather not learn of your need for God's kingdom because it
might offend. The Law offends your Old Adam, and the Bible is Law
and Gospel. So all you have to do to avoid being offended is to
avoid the Bible. Then you've avoided offense and avoided seeing your
need for Christ all in one. Because you can easily get caught up in
something else besides the Word.
Like
possessions. Possessions hide your real need from you. So Jesus
says, “Sell
your possessions, and give to the needy” -
because your real need is for the kingdom! In these verses Jesus
helps explain a little more the parable of the rich fool which was
last week's Gospel.
And to
top it all off, you think that being preserved in the faith is a
little thing, so that Jesus doesn't need to say “keep watch” at
all. Being preserved in the faith is so small you can take care of
it all by yourself. Others might not be able to, but you can.
Remaining faithful to Jesus, to his Word is something you think that
you can do. Not so. That's also being caught up in something that
isn't good for you.
But,
alert servants are happy when the master returns and serves them for
their good. There's a surprise there. Not in the servants being
awake – they're supposed to be. But the surprise is that they are
dressed at the ready (meaning you tie up your robes, ready to move),
but when the master comes he then dresses himself (again, tying up
his robes, but to work). He then serves the servants. That should
sound like a surprise because it is.
The good
news is that the Father watches out for you, by giving you the
kingdom of Christ his dear Son, “Fear
not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you
the kingdom.”. His kingdom is his watching
over you, his ruling over you. And he's happy to do it, because it's
his good pleasure to do so. But here's how he does it: through the
heavenly treasure – which is Jesus himself. Here's how he does it,
through the heavenly treasures which are the things that bring you
into and keep you in his kingdom. There's a surprise – what you
can't do, Christ can do for you. These treasures are Jesus'
catechesis (instruction) which we have because it's the Scriptures,
and Baptism and the Lord's Supper, by which Jesus brings his kingdom
to you.
So we
take Jesus' words, and we sing that catechesis - “have no fear
little flock, for the Father has chosen to give you the kingdom.”
“for he stoops down to heal you, uplift and restore you.” It's a
good simple hymn.
And if
the master comes and serves his servants, what about Christ? He
comes and provides his Church all her needs – his kingdom,
forgiveness, his Word, Baptism, the Lord's Supper. The One we should
be serving comes to serve you. He serves you in such a way that you
remain his servant, but he does all the good things. And that's the
language of the divine service – your praise is the response to his
serving right here in the divine service.
And he's
happy to do it. He's happy to dress himself for this work, but that
dressing was letting himself be stripped and beaten and put to death
for your sins. The work of serving you is the work of dying for you
to provide you all your highest needs by his kingdom, by his reign,
and his reign is that he has died and is risen and will take you to
heaven. Along the way, he will also take care of your every earthly
need. That is to say the little flock on earth who has the heavenly
kingdom in catechesis, Baptism, and the Lord's Supper, also has
enough earthly treasure to see them through to heaven.
And
that's why you keep watch, keep awake, keep alert. It's no small
thing that the Lord preserves you in his Gospel until he takes you to
himself in heaven. The early church took that keeping watch
seriously, and here's how. Here's a riddle – when is a biblical
name not a biblical name? When the name is found in the Bible but
isn't the name of a person in the Bible. The most obvious example is
a name like Christian, or Christopher, or Christine. No one in the
Bible had that as a given name, but the word Christian is found in
the Bible. [My
favorite example of these names is Polycarp – which means “much
fruit”, as in “he who abides in me bears much fruit” but it
also sounds like a fun name.] But
there's more – there's one from today's reading. When Jesus says
“keep watch/keep awake”, the Greek word for that is γρηγορεύω
which
we know as the name Gregory. “Stay awake”, the early church said
by keeping this as a popular name, for it is no small thing when the
Lord preserves you in the faith even through suffering and
persecution.
The Father is happy
to preserve you in the faith by the Spirit according to these gifts.
Good thing the Spirit brings you Jesus, who is the Good Shepherd, who
says “fear not little flock”. You know it's true, but you know,
as with all shepherds, that a lot of work goes into it. Your flesh
would wander off, but you have a Shepherd who goes after lost sheep –
by the gift of daily repentance which is the daily return to your
Baptism. You have a Shepherd who washes you in Baptism, feeds you in
the Supper, and guides you by continual catechesis along the way,
that you may trust in him and listen to his voice. Jesus is happy to
continually teach you your need for moneybags that don't grow old,
and other things that let the Gospel remain best.
When you're caught
up in the kingdom, it's continually not about the distractions but
repenting of distractions by not defining your life according to
them, but according to God's Word, so that everything is done in
expectation of Christ's return (including the life of that little
flock on earth). [The divine service does that all over the place.]
Conclusion: Why
keep awake by trusting in the promises of the Lord? Because he is
coming to fulfill them by eternal life with him in heaven. But also
because he is fulfilling them now by his kingdom, and he provides you
all you need along with his kingdom, that you may stay awake as he
serves you.
Keep
watch, don't get tangled up, Jesus puts on his work clothes and
delivers the kingdom. Amen.
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