Second Presbyterian Church

"Staying Awake & Leading the Faithful:
Preaching From the Gospel of Luke"
February 27, 2005

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Sermons Homepage » Sermons for 2005 » Sermons for February 2005 » Sermons from the Series on Luke

#42 in the Series on Luke
The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.

• Jeremiah 23: 1-6
• Luke 12: 35-48

Today I am going to preach about staying awake and leading the faithful. This title represents a twofold focus that occurs in Jesus' teaching in our scripture passage. The first part of the passage is focused primarily upon all the saints - all Christians. Second part of the passage is focused primarily upon leaders of the church.

Let's be clear about the first part. Staying awake has very little to do with trying to stay awake during the sermon. The only way it has to do with staying awake during the sermon is that if you fall asleep, you might miss something that the Lord could use to help you on your Christian journey.

The first section of our lesson contains the beatitude: "Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes." Jesus used two other images: "gird up your loins," that means stay dressed for action; and he use the image of the master's servants waiting for the master to arrive from his wedding feast. The two images portray the fact that when Jesus returns is not known and it could happen at any time. So, don't slack off, but maintain vigilance in the way we live as Christians. "Gird up you loins," refers to the fact that men wore long robes. If that particular man needed to travel or fight (such as in war) he would take the hem of his robe and pull it up around him and tuck it in his belt. In that way he could move around more easily and quickly.

The wedding feast image simply means that the master of the house was away. He was at his wedding feast, perhaps the bride's home. The feast could last a very long time and he would arrive home after the festivities ran down. That usually happened when the wine was totally consumed. His arrival at home with his bride could happen at anytime, even late at night when dawn was about to break. The servants of the house would need to wait on them when they arrived; they could not afford to be asleep and not be ready to attend to the master's and his bride's needs!

And so it goes for us Christians. Our master has left us. He left to be in heaven when he ascended there after his resurrection. According to Luke, that happened fifty days after Jesus' resurrection. Although Jesus has ascended, bodily, into heaven he had sent the Holy Spirit, as promised, to give birth to the church and to give it the power and inspiration needed for the church of Jesus Christ to grow and to prosper.

But we do not know when Jesus shall return, as he had promised. It could happen at anytime. The early Christians thought it would be imminent. Yet that did not happen. Now it's 2,000 years later and we are still waiting for Jesus to return as He had promised. Jesus was talking about this in this lesson. He commands the Faithful to be ready. He leaves a blessing for the saints "who remain awake." In other words, Jesus is blessing those Christians who are prepared and remain ready for His return even though 2000 years (2 Millennia) have already lapsed!

We don't know when Jesus is going to return. I am ever suspicious of those who claim they have a good idea. The scripture is quite clear; no one knows the hour of his return, except the Father. The scripture also states that Jesus' return will come like a thief in the night (1st Thessalonians 5:2). It will occur unexpectedly; UNLESS, unless you are one who has remained dressed for action and is ready for the return of the master. Unless you are one who has remained spiritually awake.

Let's be honest. How many of us keep in the back of our minds the real possibility of Christ's return? I am sure there are some of you who do. I am fairly sure there are some of you who do not. There are considerable numbers of Christians who understand the return of the Lord as some allegory and that it will not literally happen. I disagree. Why? Two reasons, one is that the scriptures are quite clear that Jesus is to return in glory to complete the work of the Kingdom 0f God, where every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. (Romans 14: 11) The second reason why I believe that Jesus shall return in a literal sense is this: the literal understanding of Jesus coming in glory to establish His kingdom is the most difficult to humanly understand. You see, I believe that God is able to do this in a literal sense, although we humans are very much tempted to explain it away, or rationalize it. All things are possible with God (Matthew 19: 26 & Luke 1: 37 written with negative,).

So, to stay awake does not mean we are to deprive ourselves of sleep. It means we are to always live our lives as Christ commanded us and to do it with the expectation and assurance that Christ shall return for his bride, the church.

So, while all the saints are to stay awake and faithful in the work of the church, the second part of this passage is focused upon leaders. In our Jeremiah passage we read of the judgment of the LORD concerning shepherds (the leaders of Israel) who were not faithful to their tasks and who led the flock of Israel away from the LORD, rather that helping them to maintain their faithfulness to the LORD. Jesus is saying essentially the same thing here. Note that there is another beatitude, a blessing, in this section, too. "Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes." "So doing" being a wise manager who gives the servants their portions of food." Or, a house butler who sees to it that the household runs smoothly and that proper care is given to the other house employees.

The comparison seems to be this: the leaders of the church and congregations, are the servants placed by God over the members. They are given gifts by the Holy Spirit to do the work of ministry to the congregation and to reach out to others who need to hear the Gospel Jesus Christ. In everyday terms it means the elders and ministers of Second Presbyterian Church, Petersburg, VA. We have been given the extra burden to care for the flock. We have been called to be wise stewards of the gifts that God has given us for our ministry.

This also lays an extra burden upon us "leaders." Since much has been given, so also much is required (v48). The Lord is going to hold us church leaders accountable for how we have served the congregation. He is going to hold us accountable for how merciful and gracious we have been. He is going to hold us accountable for how faithful we have been in living and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. He is going to hold us accountable for obeying Christ's commandments to love God and neighbor as ourselves, even when it isn't the popular thing to do!

James, in his book, says basically the same thing. "Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness" (James 3: 1). This is enough to frighten any person who is in a position of leading the congregation: be it in Sunday school, prayer meeting, circles, Presbyterian Women, Presbyterian Men, session, or minister!

This is another stewardship sermon. The Lord calls certain people out to serve the congregation; He gifts them to accomplish the job; and they (us!) are held accountable for how they have done in shepherding the congregation!

It is not an issue of whether or not we are going to be in the kingdom. Rather, it is an issue of whether or not we are disciplined for our use of the gifts of leadership of the church. Let me give you an example. As a preacher I have been given the gift to preach. It is my duty and obligation to preach faithful sermons, faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Scriptures. I must stay faithful to that obligation regardless of what people want or don't want in a sermon. And I have to answer to Jesus Christ for how well I have accomplished this ministry with which He has gifted me! It is freedom in that I listen to input from people, but if the input from people becomes an attempt to have me stray from the Gospel of Jesus Christ, then I will not do that. I must answer to God. I just thank God for His love, compassion and mercy. Amen.

The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.