Wedding Banquets and Serving

Our lesson today has a lot in common with a lesson from Matthew 25:1-13, where Jesus told a parable of ten virgins waiting for the bridegroom to return from a wedding banquet. In this case, we have servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, and even more detail after his return. Let’s read our passage for today.

Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or award daybreak. But understand 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, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

Luke 12:32-40

What is your treasure? Here in the west we have the perspective that treasure is money, maybe things that we can purchase or inherit. You may have heard the question, if your house was on fire, what would you save? Possibly at first response we’d say something like “my television”, “my computer”, or something of the like. But, upon reflection, the things that many of us would likely save would be our pictures, and other memorabilia that remind us of the things that mean the most to us.

What do you find to be most important to you? Prior to this parable, Jesus says, “Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” What kind of treasure is Jesus talking about? In your Bible, there is a division between verses 32-34 and 35-40. In our minds, we think that must mean the two passages have little to do with one another. However, as Luke wrote this letter, he didn’t divide these passages with headings. That was a much later addition that made these long letters easier to read. So, Luke intends these two passages to be understood together.

In verse 33b, Jesus exhorts his listeners to have a treasure that no thief comes near. Likewise, at the end of Jesus’ parable, in verse 39, Jesus says, “But understand this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have to let his house be broken into.” Is there a connection between these two passages? I think so.

1. Treasure in heaven. The passage just north of verses 32-34 speaks of not worrying, much like in Matthew 6:25-34. The exhortation includes not worrying about what we will eat, drink, or wear. Rather, seek first God’s Kingdom and all these will be added. When it comes to our treasure, it seems that Jesus is interested in us having our eyes on the Kingdom of God. And not some distant revelation of the Kingdom, but God’s Kingdom made a reality in our own life. After all, the pagans of this world concern themselves with such matters as clothing, food, and water. These are important of course, but to strive after them seems unnecessary in light of the establishment of the Kingdom of God. For us today, things like food, water, and clothing could include a house, a car, maybe even access to the internet. Things that are of vital importance to us. But, Jesus seems to think we shouldn’t worry about these necessities. God will care for us. What we should be doing is seeking God’s Kingdom. God’s Kingdom is our first treasure. In Matthew 5, Jesus began his Sermon on the Mount with what is called The Beatitudes. In these Beatitudes, Jesus instructed his listeners that those that are poor in spirit and those that are persecuted are near to the Kingdom of God. Again, not near to as in close to death or close to God in some kind of ethereal way, but God’s Kingdom is working its way into this world through the life and obedience of the poor in spirit and the persecuted. So, as we find ourselves in need of food, water, and clothing, and we live our lives with a sense of faith and hope in God and his care and provision, the Kingdom of God moves its way through us into the world. So, the first point that we want to understand is that the Kingdom of God is our treasure and it is in this Kingdom that we live and work.
2. The Kingdom of God is Service. Jesus then moves into a parable about servants waiting for their master who is returning from a wedding banquet. The servants should be dressed, lamps burning, ready to welcome the master in. The first century wedding banquet was not at all like a wedding banquet in our part of the world today. For us, following a relatively brief ceremony, often a celebration would take place often including some food. The food could be a banquet or a simple meal. But the post wedding celebration would be anywhere from two to four hours. Wedding banquets in Jesus day, however, were a long affair, typically lasting one week. In this case, as Jesus began his parable exhorting the servants of the master to be dressed and ready with lamps burning. The servants don’t know for sure the day that the master will return, so readiness is important. In other words, the servants are busy, doing their work while the master is gone, but are also watching for his return to welcome him home. In the first point, we noticed that the our treasure in heaven is living a life here on earth serving God and others so as to establish God’s Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. So, the servants in Jesus parable are doing just that, doing their work while their master is gone, preparing for his return. Today, we find ourselves much like the servants, dressed, with our lamps lit, lighting the way of Jesus around us, doing the work of the master until he returns. After all, as Jesus taught in Matthew 5:14a, 16b, “You are the light of the world…let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” As the servants service in the master’s absence, so the master will serve upon his return. This is an unusual component of Jesus’ parable. It was not likely that masters would serve their servants, to the point that the servants were told to recline at the table so the master could wait on them. That was not usual for masters in Jesus day. But, here, Jesus says that as his servants do the work of the master in his absence, so he will serve his servants at his arrival. It is our responsibility as servants of Jesus to serve to do the work of the Kingdom, to be the people of light so that God’s world will be prepared and ready for its creators return. So, the treasure that we hold on to is to live a life in service of the master and of this world which he has created.
3. A Treasure in Heaven that Will Not Fail. The final part of this parable doesn’t seem to fit. Jesus has just been talking about servants awaiting their master’s return. Upon his return, the master then serves the servants. But here, Jesus shifts his parable to talk about an owner knowing when a thief would come so that the house wouldn’t be broken into. This seems to be a different parable altogether. But, if we read this part of the parable not as its own story, but part of a whole, we gather a new meaning. In verse 33, Jesus exhorts his listeners to gather treasure that no thief can steal. Here, Jesus says that if the owner of the house knew when the thief would come he would not let the thief break in. How is this done? By holding our treasure in heaven. And how do we hold our treasure in heaven? By serving the master here and now. It is our responsibility as servants of the master that we ensure our house is safe, ensuring that a thief cannot break in to steal or destroy that house. It is common for us as followers in Jesus in this part of the world to think that Jesus is referencing treasure in some distant heaven, waiting for a time that we can receive that treasure upon our arrival to heaven. But, Jesus’ perspective was that heaven, the Kingdom of heaven, was coming to earth as it was in heaven. This treasure of the Kingdom of heaven is living the life as servants of the master here and now, watching for the Kingdom of God.
   1. What are we watching for? We may think that to watch is passive. For instance, I may be watching for my airplane to come in. I may be watching for the end of the day to come so I can go home. But, the idea of watching here carries with it an active idea. That is, we are watching our thoughts and our behavior. Mark 8:15, Jesus says, “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.” Mark 13:5, Jesus says, “Watch out that no one deceives you.” Matthew 7:15, “Watch out for false prophets.”Matthew 26:41, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.” Watching is an active decision on our part to live our lives in honor of God and of his Kingdom.

So, what does this mean for you and me today? As followers of Jesus, it is important that we regard our faith and life with Jesus as a treasure. Our faith in Jesus is an active demonstration in our world of the reality of the Kingdom of God here and now. Part of that demonstration, on our part, is to live a life of service here and now. As servants, we certainly serve our master, but we serve others around us as well. Paul says in Romans 14:17, 18, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.” As we await the return of our master, it is our responsibility to live lives of service and love for God and for one another. It is this kind of life and love that will be a sign to the world of the reality of the Kingdom of God and its influence in this world through our service. This is the treasure in heaven as it is on earth.