Luke 12:35-48 “Stay Awake”

My wife’s dad used to tell a story about how her brother didn’t like Christmas. Every Christmas morning they’d try to wake him up to open presents but he’d just lay in bed and keep on sleeping. It was always a struggle. One Christmas Eve, after Kim and I were married, her dad was telling me the story and her brother said, “No, that wasn’t it. I loved Christmas so much I’d lay there all night too excited to go to sleep. Then sometime in the early morning, I’d finally pass out and then I was too out of it to get up.”

Are you guys ready to start getting ready for Christmas? 

It’s only 35 days away. So, we’ll start at verse 35. Ha.

Luke chapter 12…

“Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 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. Luke 12:35-36

Gird up your loins! Ever heard that expression? That’s actually what Jesus said here. It was kind of hard to move in the long flowing robes they wore back then—so when they worked, they would pull it up and tie it. It’s also the way they were told to eat the Passover—like they were ready for action and about to get moving. 

It’s not going to be long before Jesus goes back to heaven. He’s going to leave them in charge until He returns. He says the master is going to a wedding feast—in those days you never knew how long a wedding party would last. When He leaves, no matter how long He’s gone, He wants them to stay awake, dressed for action, keep the lights on—keep listening for the knock on the door. Be ready for His arrival. 

They probably didn’t expect Him to be gone for two thousand years. Peter addresses this several years after the resurrection, in 2nd Peter chapter three he says, “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (he seems to remember all of Jesus’ lessons about staying awake and alert while they wait) But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.”

So, here we are 2022 years later. Still waiting. Are your loins girded? Are you awake? 

Verse 37…

Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 
Luke 12: 37-38

This is something. Jesus says anyone who keeps looking at the door, waiting for Him to come back—He’s going to be real happy with them. Blessed! He’s going to come in and gird up His own loins and have them all sit down, then He’s going to serve them! Don’t worry about how long He’s gone. Might be the first watch, or the second, or the third—referring to night watchman shifts. It might be a while but He’s coming back, and He’s got nothing but love and appreciation for everyone who stays up waiting.

The disciples are just sitting there staring at Him. Blinking. Looking at each other. Frowning. “What the heck is He talking about?” No one says anything yet but they had to be wondering who was getting married and why they weren’t invited to the wedding. 

That’s the end of the first parable in this section. I’m going to have to repeat it again at the end because the next two stories get kind of dark.

Parable number two, Verse 39…

But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Luke 12: 39-40

Jesus is like, “Don’t bother asking me for an ETA. (He refers to Himself by His favorite title—Son of Man.) I’m going to show up when you least expect it.” Like a thief in the night. Stay ready. Don’t say you haven’t been warned. 

Peter has some questions. He speaks for all of us.

Verse 41…

Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?” Luke 12: 41

He’s like, “We’re not sure what You’re talking about—is this a lesson for the Twelve of us, or all of Your followers? Who are You leaving in charge? Who exactly are you going to reward with a private banquet?”

He answers with parable number three, verse 42… 

And the Lord 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? (Is that your question, Peter? Well, I’ll tell you…) Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. Luke 12:42-44

Peter wanted to know who Jesus was talking to. Jesus said, “I’m talking to anyone who listens to what I say and does it. Whoever is faithful and wise. I’m talking to the ones I find doing what I told them to do when I show up.” 

Whoever is listening for His knock on the door. Whoever is ready for action no matter how late it gets. Whoever keeps the lamps burning for everyone to see. Whoever stays awake in the light—that’s who I’m talking to. The Twelve. The Seventy Two. The rest of the crowd. All of Jesus’ followers who would believe the Gospel for thousands of years to come. That’s who He’s talking to. Are you awake? If you are, He’s talking to you.

And if He finds you awake, then you’ll get everything. He’ll sit you down at His table. Serve you. Feed you. And put you in charge of everything He has. All His possessions—you get it all.

Let’s address the slave thing. In those days, they had servants. People became slaves for all kinds of reasons. They might have fallen into debt, they might have needed a place to live, they might have broken the law. As you can imagine, some slaves were more trusted than others.

If you want to understand what it means when we say Jesus has set us free. If you want to understand what it means to serve the Lord. If you want to understand what it means when we say Jesus is our Lord and Redeemer. You might want to wake up and pay attention to this next part.

In New Testament times, slavery wasn’t always a lifetime commitment and often slaves would be set free. Jewish law required slaves to be freed every seven years as part of the Year of Jubilee. When a slave was set free, the slave had a choice: they could leave the house and go off on their own, or if they wanted, they could ask to remain a slave of the master who set them free. Sounds crazy to us, but if they liked their life, and their master, they could ask to stay.

If the master agreed, there was a ceremony—like a wedding. They would go to the front door of the house and the right ear of the slave would be pierced—from then on they’d wear a gold earring. This meant they were a doulos—a willing slave. A freed servant of the master’s house. A doulos could never be bought or sold. They were family. They would often be put in charge of the entire household, over money and food, over the other servants, the education of the master’s children—they would usually receive an inheritance when the master died. The position a trusted doulos was offered in the household was called an “oikonomos,” a “house manager.” 

Why does this matter? Christians are called the doulos of Christ more than twenty times in the New Testament. Meaning, we have been set free from slavery to the world, the flesh, and the devil—but we have nowhere better to go than to offer our ear to the One who freed us and remain in His house forever. And as Kemper says when he tells this story: our master died once, rose from the grave, and will never die again.

The church is the Lord’s house, we’re His servants, we’re supposed to look after things until He gets back. 

All His blessing just for waiting for His return. Keeping the faith. Staying awake.

But what if we do fall asleep? It’s about to get dark up in here.

Verse 45…

But if that servant (again, the word is doulos, a freed willing slave. If he) 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, 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. Luke 12:45-46

One of those doulos oikonomos house managers gets a little too comfortable in his Master’s recliner. “Meh. Jesus ain’t ever coming back. Come on! It’s been two thousand years. What a joke. We might as well do whatever we want.” Forget the Sermon on the Mount, It’s a dog eat dog world. Slap their other cheek. Take advantage of them before they take advantage of you. Don’t take nothing off nobody! Survival of the meanest, toughest, smartest—beat them before they beat you! Eat, drink, and be merry! God gave wine to make the heart of man glad—so let’s drink all the Master’s wine and forget about it! 

Jesus says any of His servants who are taking advantage of His kindness by living foolishly and faithlessly (wickedly) when He comes knocking—this might be the harshest thing Jesus ever said—He said He’s going to cut them in pieces! Literally, cut them in half. 

I don’t think we have a clear picture of who Jesus is or what the Gospel actually is. The Gospel is that Jesus brought the year of Jubilee for all of us. All the slaves of the devil have been set free. You and me. You’ve been set free. For free. You didn’t earn it. You can’t earn it. It’s the year of jubilee—all slaves are offered freedom. So what are you going to do with your freedom? Follow Him to the front door and offer your right ear? Or take your chances out there in that war-torn hellscape of demonic delusion in the kingdom of darkness? 

It’s all light and freedom and hope in the House of God. All darkness and bondage, traps and hopelessness out there. But you can do what you want, I guess.

But if you offer your new freedom to the Lord—like, “sure, why not, it seems nicer in here.” Then you go sleep in the master’s bed. Act like He’s never coming back. Take advantage of His people. Hurt people. Fill your belly with His bread, get drunk on His wine. Act like a wicked devil in the Lord’s house. It doesn’t sound very good to be cut in half and put with the unfaithful, does it? 

Having fun yet? Jesus has more…

Verse 47…

And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. Luke 12: 47

This doulos, who was set free but wanted to stay under the master’s protection. This oikonomos who was put in charge of the house. He’s not as wicked as the last guy but even though he knows what the master wants—he doesn’t do it. Takes it all for granted. Stubborn and lazy and selfish. Doesn’t stay awake and watch for His return. Well, surprise! Jesus shows up like Negan with a baseball bat. 

Do you think the disciples were surprised that Jesus threatened them with a beating?

This severe beating is for people Jesus set free who aren’t doing what He told them to do when He returns. They are not doing the master’s will. 

What about us? You think we’re doing what Jesus wants us to do at NewChurch? Is there anything we know we should be doing but don’t do it?

From my perspective, as the pastor, I don’t understand why so many of us skip worship so often. We’re a small church and when you’re not here—man! It’s like meeting someone for lunch and they just don’t show up. And then maybe someone hears about our church, sees what we’re doing online—finally get up the nerve to be here in person—maybe you would have been the one person they would have seen and thought, “Yeah, I can see myself being part of this church.” But you’re not here, so they never come back. I also don’t understand why so many of us don’t come to Sunday school. All week long the whole world is trying to destroy our faith and trick us into believing all the lies—24/7—and we can’t show up a few minutes early to encourage our church family, be encouraged by our church family—learn a little more about what Jesus taught us? Like I said, that’s just from my perspective as the pastor. 

But I wonder what you guys think we’re not doing that we ought to be doing. What has Jesus made clear to you that you should be doing and you just don’t. What resources has He given you for a specific purpose but you just keep it for yourself? 

So, there was the wicked servant, the disobedient servant, and then there’s the next guy—the ignorant servant —the one who doesn't even know what God wants him to do.

Is ignorance an excuse? I’ve always heard it wasn’t. Let's see…

Verse 48…

But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. 
Luke 12: 48

Oh, well that sounds nice. It’s still a beating but it’s a light beating. Just a friendly little flogging. Remember, we’re not talking about unsaved pagans, slaves of the world and the devil who are still lost and destined for hell—we’re talking about Christians, freed servants of Jesus living in His house who, in this example, haven’t bothered to learn what He wants them to do. Not really hurting anybody. But not really helping either. Kind of useless. Asleep in the light. 

The beatings in these parables are discipline. Not punishment. Meant to wake us up. Get us ready for action. Get our attention so we start listening for our orders. Are you awake and listening? Are you doing what you’re supposed to be doing with the things God has put you in charge of? The resources you’re managing for Him?

Verse 48…

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. Luke 12: 48

These former slaves, now beloved house managers, have been given the keys to the master’s house. Supposed to look over the place while He’s gone. Take care of His people. Keep doing what He said.

And the more we’ve been given, the more He expects from us. 

Let’s recap.

We’re all born into slavery. Jesus brought the year of Jubilee—everyone who hears the Gospel and believes is set free. You were bought with a price. Saved by grace through faith. You can’t earn it. It was all God’s idea to free you.

So, what are you going to do with your new freedom? Run back into all the traps of the world, the flesh and devil? That would be foolish.

Live in the Lord’s house as a freed slave, a doulos, but stay willfully ignorant about what He wants you to do. Basically be as useless and purposeless as possible. Also foolish.

Or worse, live in the Lord’s house knowing what you should do, but acting like a rebellious, disobedient, lazy, selfish fool instead.

Fools Don’t Listen These are all descriptions of fools. Fools don’t listen to God’s Word. Fools don’t listen to anything. Conversations don’t help with a fool—they’re just waiting for the person to stop talking. Watching the clock until the meeting is over and they can go back to being foolish. Sermons don’t help fools. They don’t apply anything to themselves. They’re not listening. They’re thinking about something else. Words don’t get a fool's attention.

The only thing that can get a fool’s attention is pain. Consequences. Discipline. What’s God have to do to get your attention?

In this parable, Jesus also describes a wicked fool—someone who’s beyond discipline. That’s the one He cuts in half. The only option for the wicked is to separate them from the people they’re going to keep hurting.

Are you awake? Are you listening? What kind of fool are you going to be?

How about this instead—how about being the wise and faithful servant. The one who simply hears the Word of the Lord and takes it to heart. Believes it. Does it. The one who is interested in finding out what the Lord wants them to do. When a friend corrects them, they pay attention. When they’re reminded to get dressed for action, they get dressed. When they’re reminded to put their light on a lampstand so everyone can see—they don’t hide it under a bucket. When something challenges them in a sermon or teaching they make a change. God doesn’t have to use consequences and pain to get their attention because they’re already listening. They’re always ready to answer when He knocks. Awake. Watching.

When is the Lord returning? No one knows. He will come like a thief in the night at the end of time. And He will come for all of us one at a time at the end of our lives—we don’t know when that will be either. These are parables about what He finds us doing.

Fear Not! But the point isn’t to make us anxious about His return. Remember what Jesus said right before this? “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Fear not. Don’t worry. We need to be like the little boy who was so excited for Christmas that he couldn’t fall asleep—so excited about the arrival of the Lord that we stay awake.

I said I was going to have to repeat the first parable, here it is applied to everyone who is listening: You have been set free and invited to stay in the Lord’s house. You are promised to be blessed when the Lord returns and finds you awake. He will reward your faithful service by serving you. He will seat you at His table, in a place of honor, and you will feast on rich food and the best wine in the house of the Lord forever. Fear not, it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

ADVENT is Coming This was a perfect text to get us ready for next week. Next week is the first Sunday in Advent. Advent means “arrival.” It’s the four weeks leading up to Christmas—when we remember and celebrate when Jesus came the first time as a baby in a manger. But it’s also a yearly season of remembering that we are waiting for Jesus to come again in glory. Not in weakness but in power. Not in mercy but in judgment. Not riding a donkey—but on a war horse carrying a sword with His clothes soaked in blood. Advent is a season of watching and waiting. Jesus is returning and He told us to stay awake. Stay alert. Ready for action. Ready for service. Doing what He wants us to be doing. He is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. AMEN