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THE WATCHFUL SERVANTS
“Be dressed
for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are
waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so
that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and
knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert
when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and
have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If
he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds
them so, blessed are those slaves. But know this: If the owner
of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he
would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be
ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”
I scratch my head at this parable. What
does it mean? The Greek translation of the first part literally
says "the loins having been girded.” The text also talks about
masters and slaves; does this image work for us? This world we
live in is obviously much different from that of first-century
Christians. The focus of this text is the repetition of the word
“come/coming” in Greek. The word shows up in five of six verses
in this parable. Read the passage again with the emphasis on the
word “come.”
I often ask young people this question: “If
Jesus were to come to Seattle tomorrow, would you go visit?”
After the logistics of securing a plane flight, certainty is a
requirement to make the trip. As you ponder if you would go,
start with this question: “Have we learned how to be prepared
for the Son of Man’s unexpected return?”
The first step in being prepared is to
expect it. We live as if Jesus were already here. We understand
as God’s people that the Jesus who is going to come in the
future is the Jesus who came in the past and who comes in the
present as we gather to proclaim the Gospel and share in the
sacrament.
Being prepared means to let Jesus prepare
us for the coming. In this season of Lent, we gather in
preparation. We do this not by making sure we are dressed for
battle or by putting locks on our homes. We prepare ourselves
with the small piece of bread and tiny glass of wine that we
receive as a gift from God. We prepare for the unexpected hour
when he will come to host the heavenly feast.
Gracious God, as we prepare for your
coming through the sacrament of Communion and by your word, let
us not be like the homeowner with destructive consequences, but
as a servant… ready. We proclaim the Gospel and gather in the
preparation of the coming of Jesus, your Son. Amen
Chris Deines
Seminarian
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