(Audio)
Stay awake!
For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.
It is one thing to be good when you know others are watching. It is another to do so when they do not appear to be. The faithful and prudent servant is the one who does what he ought to do even when there is no immediate reward or punishment for doing so. The wicked servant is the one who gets away with whatever he can because there are, at least for a while, no apparent consequences. On the one hand, we know that we can't get anything past God who sees all and knows all. On the other hand, we still don't always manage to remember that or to live as though it were true. We begin to think and act as though God were not watching, even while knowing better or some level. It is in the sense that we need to stay awake.
So too, you also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.
We may forget God for a time, but not forever. There will be moments even during our mortal lives when his presence and power are made know to us. Will he find us faithful or faithless at such times? We might keep thieves away with sufficient security precautions but we won't manage to prevent his entry. He will probably come to us many times in his spiritual presence in order to remind us of the role he is meant to have in our lives. We want to be able to demonstrate that we have been living as though he had been watching even if we were not capable of remembering at every moment that he was indeed doing so.
For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.
It is one thing to be good when you know others are watching. It is another to do so when they do not appear to be. The faithful and prudent servant is the one who does what he ought to do even when there is no immediate reward or punishment for doing so. The wicked servant is the one who gets away with whatever he can because there are, at least for a while, no apparent consequences. On the one hand, we know that we can't get anything past God who sees all and knows all. On the other hand, we still don't always manage to remember that or to live as though it were true. We begin to think and act as though God were not watching, even while knowing better or some level. It is in the sense that we need to stay awake.
So too, you also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.
We may forget God for a time, but not forever. There will be moments even during our mortal lives when his presence and power are made know to us. Will he find us faithful or faithless at such times? We might keep thieves away with sufficient security precautions but we won't manage to prevent his entry. He will probably come to us many times in his spiritual presence in order to remind us of the role he is meant to have in our lives. We want to be able to demonstrate that we have been living as though he had been watching even if we were not capable of remembering at every moment that he was indeed doing so.
We may not always have the actual experience of his presence with us. But we must still practice living as though he might appear at any moment. This means we must develop motivations that are deeper than immediate reward or punishment. Not because there will never be reward or punishment. But rather, because there is a period of testing before rewards and punishments are given. We don't receive immediate results so we can learn to do things for their own sake and for the sake of our fidelity to Jesus. Rewards for such meritorious behaviors are fitting. But they are not meant to be our only motivation. Punishments for failing to behave well are also fitting. They are in part meant to serve as deterrents. But they aren't meant to do so in such an overwhelming and immediate way that they override our free will.
Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant,
whom the master has put in charge of his household
to distribute to them their food at the proper time?
We may not be those who are in charge of the Lord's household on earth, the Church. But we are all in some measure servants, stewards entrusted with responsibilities for how we use the gifts we have been given to serve the others whom the Lord has placed in our lives. Sometimes there is some level of immediate rewards or consequences for our behavior; the pleasant sensation of a good deed done well, or the sting of conscience for something we ought to have done but failed to do. But we can't be so tethered to such signals that we fail to act rightly in their absence. We are meant to remember that, even if Jesus seems absent at times, he is not really so, and can show up again without a moment's notice. We want to be ready if he does.
How can we actually succeed at right behavior that never flags even when our emotions aren't there to sustain it? We must continue to "call upon the name of our Lord Jesus", the one who has called us to be holy and who has begun the process of sanctification in us. We must use the spiritual gifts he has given to us as we wait, since, as Paul assures us, we "are not lacking in any" of them. If we simply continue to make a faithful response to the grace that we have already been given and the good work already begun in us "He will keep you firm to the end, irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ". This is the same confidence that made Paul assure the Philippians, "I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" (see Philippians 1:6). Let us lean in to the call, and into our gifting, so that we are ready to welcome Jesus when he returns.
Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant,
whom the master has put in charge of his household
to distribute to them their food at the proper time?
We may not be those who are in charge of the Lord's household on earth, the Church. But we are all in some measure servants, stewards entrusted with responsibilities for how we use the gifts we have been given to serve the others whom the Lord has placed in our lives. Sometimes there is some level of immediate rewards or consequences for our behavior; the pleasant sensation of a good deed done well, or the sting of conscience for something we ought to have done but failed to do. But we can't be so tethered to such signals that we fail to act rightly in their absence. We are meant to remember that, even if Jesus seems absent at times, he is not really so, and can show up again without a moment's notice. We want to be ready if he does.
How can we actually succeed at right behavior that never flags even when our emotions aren't there to sustain it? We must continue to "call upon the name of our Lord Jesus", the one who has called us to be holy and who has begun the process of sanctification in us. We must use the spiritual gifts he has given to us as we wait, since, as Paul assures us, we "are not lacking in any" of them. If we simply continue to make a faithful response to the grace that we have already been given and the good work already begun in us "He will keep you firm to the end, irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ". This is the same confidence that made Paul assure the Philippians, "I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" (see Philippians 1:6). Let us lean in to the call, and into our gifting, so that we are ready to welcome Jesus when he returns.
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