Confronting Complacency (part 1)
Luke 12:35-53 ·January 14, 2024· Joel Passmore
Part of: Luke, Confronting Complacency
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God is good church. I was thinking you know I would rather you know the good thing about being at 75 percent or whatever is that you remember that God is always at 100 percent. He's always strong and he never flags. His strength never falters. He is never sick. He doesn't phone in a day off and stay in bed. He is always 100 percent and so that's that's really good news for us today. So here we are in early January. I find the process of reflection really helpful this time of year myself looking back at the past year looking forward to the next. I never really do New Year's resolutions. That's not really my thing. I'm not knocking that. Just just not my thing. But I but I find that when I reflect on last year and look forward to the next year I start putting my finger on hopeful expectations that I have. Things that I'm hoping for. Hopeful desires for this next year and it it it takes me to God in prayer with those things. So the question just I want to post for you as we're getting started in the sermon today is how do you want to grow this year? How do you want to grow spiritually in 2024? What do you want this year to look like as you are walking with the Lord?
Into early January walks Jesus. As we continue in the gospel of Luke Jesus we're picking up the sermon series today. Jesus is walking towards Jerusalem slowly. He's taking his time and he is surrounded by a really large group of people and a mixed group of people. He's got disciples. He's got people that maybe are on the fringes that are kind of moving towards him. He's got skeptics. People who are curiosity seekers. People who just want something from him but don't really want to follow him. There's religious leaders tagging along trying to snipe at him and catch him in a trap. Everyday people. It is so many people that are just following him around and he is getting increasingly clear about what it means to follow him. Today's passage and next week's passage. This is Jesus maybe at his most confrontational. I kind of thought today's passage might need like a trigger warning or something. Jesus is getting confrontational. Pay attention. So here's my other question as we're getting started. Who do you trust to confront you? Do you trust anyone to confront you? Is there anyone who can say something hard to you that you would stop and listen? Your best friend? A family member?
Your spouse? To trust someone who is going to confront you you have to know two things. That they're being honest and that they intend you're good. That's what I think it takes for to be willing to listen to someone who's going to confront you. Now church listen if there's anyone you can trust to confront you in truth and love it's the Lord Jesus right? He's going to shoot straight with you and he does it for your good. So with that in mind let's go to Luke and pay attention and listen together to what he says.
This is Luke chapter 12. As I turn to that it's in your bulletin it's up on the screen. This is God's word. This is the words of Jesus and it's God's word for us today. It's inspired it's without error and it is completely reliable and we should listen to it carefully. Starting in verse 35. 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. 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 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. Peter said Lord are you telling this parable for us or for all? 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. 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. But if that servant 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. At that servant 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. But the one who did not know and did what deserved a beating will receive a light beating. 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. I came to cast fire on the earth and would that it were already kindled. I have a baptism to be baptized with and how great is my distress until it is accomplished. Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No I tell you but rather division for from now on in one house there will be five divided three against two and two against three they will be divided father against son and son against father mother against daughter and daughter against mother mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law pray with me. Lord Jesus help us to pay attention to your confrontation to us to be quick to listen to be humble. Lord there is life to be found but it is found only through you. Lord we can't pick and choose what it is that you say. We need to listen to all of it. So I pray that by your spirit we would
have open ears soft hearts today. That we would receive this and we would see that it is for our good that you are saying these things. Help us to run to you. Jesus we pray this in your name. Amen.
Next week and this week goes together confronting complacency part one. Jesus is calling us into the blessing of an active spiritual life. That's what's going on here. Now listen you can tell by this passage and by the passage we read earlier the theme here is about being ready and responsive looking for Jesus's return. That is something that you probably have heard before but you probably have been like well how do I even do that? What does that even mean for my life? Well I'm hoping that this sermon helps us all do that. Know practically what it means to live in a ready state for his return.
Let's scroll back and remember the text thread here. Right before this Jesus told his disciples not to be greedy, not to worry, to instead trust God's provision and to seek the kingdom. I told you that seeking is a preoccupied pursuit with something. It stays in our mind so much that we pursue it we go after it. We're being we're consumed with having something and getting more. That's what seeking means biblically. Jesus says don't seek all these things in your life. Seek the kingdom. It's only going to wear you out with worry to seek stuff. Instead seek the kingdom of God. Be preoccupied with pursuing me and my ways. Now listen this passage is directly connected with that. Jesus is not changing the subject. He's continuing the subject. This is just describing what it looks like to seek the kingdom of God. Let's start with this. The call to await his return. Jesus gives an analogy here and there's two things about it that impact how we respond. The first, the master, the fact that this master has servants means that he has a large estate. Picture something like Biltmore. You know Biltmore? It's down in North Carolina. It's America's largest house. If you go there you can tell to maintain that place it is not one person. It's not one family. It is a whole staff to keep that place tip-top and running. If the household staff is not on top of things the whole place starts to deteriorate. That's the first thing about this analogy to see. The second thing is that he's leaving for a wedding. Nowadays wedding
receptions they last just a few hours and you know roughly when you're going to be home. Unless it's out of town you're going to be home the same day. Back then in Jesus's time they could last a week, two weeks, longer. It lasted as long as there was food and drink and hospitality. And if you're hosting it you don't want to run out of any of those things. You want the guests to be the first one to say you know what I have to be going. It's been three weeks now. I got to go back. That's what you want to have happen. So the master is going to be gone a long time. A long time. And he does not know when he's going to return.
But meanwhile he's got an estate that needs to keep running. It needs to stay in good shape. When a storm is coming we all know the storm that happened last Tuesday. There's a forecast. You can read the forecast and you can get ready. Right? Jesus says that his return is like a thief coming. Thiefs don't phone you up and say I'm going to be there next Tuesday to break into your house. You can't get prepared. You have to stay prepared. All the time. Even in the middle of the night.
And so Jesus says you must also be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Now to further understand what Jesus means let's talk about what he does not mean. He is not telling us to just stare out the window. Looking up into the heavens. Staring off into the sky. We know that because that's literally what the apostles did when he ascended to heaven. Look at this passage. As they were looking on he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight.
And while they were gazing into heaven as as he went behold two men stood by them in white robes and said men of Galilee why do you stand looking into heaven? Okay so we know it's not just staring off into space. It can't mean that. That's what the apostles did. They got told what are you doing? Stop. The call to await Jesus's return is not a call to stare into space. It's a call to action. Imagine. Here's a picture to imagine. Imagine that you are hosting close friends or family for dinner.
Someone that lives out of town. That you haven't seen for a while. That's coming back into town. Someone that you really really enjoy spending time with. Someone you haven't seen for a long time. In my house when we host someone like this there is a hum of activity when the hosting is you know when we're getting ready for that. Everyone has something to do. rooms in the house are looking better than they ever have before. Wonderful smells are coming from the oven and there's this joyful sense of anticipation just kind of buzzing in the house.
We can't wait for them to get there. We might occasionally look out the window. We might occasionally pick up our phone to see have they given us an update. But mainly we know there's always something else to do right? You know the feeling. There's always something else to do. You're channeling your excitement into getting the house ready. Everything you put away. Every counter you wipe down. Every bowl of snacks that you put out. It is an expression of you looking forward to seeing them again. To hosting them. It's an expression of joy. You know that you can't just sit down and stare out the window. There's things to do. The servants are to stay dressed for action. Literally gird your loins. That's what that Greek phrase means. Gird your loins. Their standard attire would be long robes. Fancy looking but totally impractical for moving around a house and doing things. So they would pick up their robes and stuff them into their belt. That's what girding your loins means. So that you can move around. The internet is constantly trying to sell me pants. And there's this new kind of pant out for men. Performance. Performance attire. Performance dress. They look like business slacks but they're like performance fabric. And the advertisement for them shows men going up and down stairs outside and doing squats and hooping. All in these. And I never knew until reading this like what possible situation is there where you need to look business like but also be able to move around. Well that's this passage. They need to look the role but they need to be able to be quick and
nimble and move around. And this action has a purpose. Okay. This is important. There's a bumper sticker that you might have seen. It's up here. Jesus is coming. Look busy. Now I think I have a good sense of humor. But to be honest with you this bumper sticker kind of makes me sad. Look busy. That that implies a really low view of a person's purpose in the kingdom of God and a really low view of Jesus. A long time ago there was a recurring column on ESPN. It was a really funny writer and on his column on the website there was a little sidebar. It was it was labeled boss button. And if you clicked on that the window would disappear and up would pop all of these generic spreadsheet things and graphs. And you you get what it's for. People would be looking at it you know reading the column at work and if their boss is about to walk by they would click the boss button and you know up would pop spreadsheets. So if the boss looked over their shoulder oh yeah they're they're working on stuff.
It's not just looking busy. Okay. Don't go down that road because what that is is saying you know what my work's not very important and Jesus doesn't really care. He just wants to see me busy doing something. That's not what it is at all. Here's how we're supposed to see it. Imagine this. Imagine getting a call from Dwayne the Rock Johnson or Taylor Swift or if that if that doesn't do it for you somebody else who is pretty important in the world's eyes and someone who you'd like to meet and someone that you admire. Someone that you look up to. Someone that you think you know I'd like to get to know them a little bit better. Right. Imagine they called you and they said I need you to house sit for me. And you say me? I don't know how you got my number but yeah sure I'll be there. Absolutely.
They give you a tour and of course it's a big house. Right. They say here's the house. Here's the garden. Here's the pool. Over there are the stables. Don't worry. I you know I've left instructions for all of this. Um I've got a grounds team. They're going to be reporting to you so be sure you you know meet them every day when they come to work. And you know what I've I've been wanting to plant a vineyard and start to want and start a winery here here on you know the grounds of my house. So do you think you could kind of get that started for me while I'm away? That'd be great. Here's my debit card.
Use it however you want to. Open up my mail. Keep the bills paid. Pay yourself a salary while I'm gone. And finally they hand you the keys. The keys to the house to the garage to the car to the stables. Everything. They say I'll see you in a while. Call me if you need anything. And they get in their helicopter and they go off. Right. Now how's it going to go if you wait until you see the helicopter circling and about to land to look busy? How's it going to go? It's going to go terribly, right? What if they've been gone for two months? For two years? All that stuff they wanted you to do? The vineyard that they wanted you to get started on? There's real meaningful work to do.
There's things that the master wanted you to do. To engage in. To get creative with. He's given you the resources to do them. Real work to do. In an amazing setting that you didn't create. You didn't earn. He's given it to you. He's given you the keys. Say do something awesome. I can't wait to see it.
And you're going to be saying I can't believe they asked me. I can't believe I get to be the one to do this. If Taylor Swift or The Rock were to call you and ask you to house that I guarantee you the first people you're calling when you're there is your friends. You're not going to believe where I am. I'm in The Rock's house. He put me in charge of everything. Just wait till you see what I'm going to do with this. Friends, Jesus is calling for an active spiritual life. That's it's as simple as that. Joyful and purposeful living in light of the surety of his return. It's as simple as that.
Remember, this is connected what he said before. Seek the kingdom. Seek the kingdom. You may say, well, he hasn't set me over anything really. That situation with Taylor Swift's house, that looks nothing like my life. What do I have to manage? Well, friends, you have your life. You have a mind and a body and a spirit. You have 365 days a year. You've got 24 hours a day. You've got gifts, resources. You may even have people that you lead, that you give direction to. All of these things belong to God, but he's given them to you and he says, take good care of them. Do something great with them. I can't wait to see what you do. They're ours to manage, to invest, to set to kingdom purposes.
There's a Latin phrase that captures this idea. It's quorum Deo. It's translated before the face of God. Here's a way to understand it. It's living wholly and consciously in the presence of God, under the authority of God, to the glory of God. That's quorum Deo. I printed up just a real short front and back article about this. There's a bunch of copies in the back table if you want to read more about that. But that's how we await Jesus's return, living quorum Deo, before the face of God. Now let's talk about the second thing here. The call pushes us to examine ourselves. Peter asked, Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all? Now Jesus doesn't give a direct answer, but he rather speaks further about the subject. What he's doing is, he wants everyone who is, who says that they follow him to ask, if Jesus returned today, what would he find me doing? What would he find me up to? And his warning is loud and clear. Those who treat the master's absence as an opportunity for sin will be found out. The first example in here in the passage, you can tell it's the most egregious. The servant in verses 45 and 46 has responsibility, great responsibility for people and for resources, and he abuses them both. He beats the other servants, and he uses what is the master's for his own indulgence. And Jesus says there will be punishment. But then Jesus surprisingly maybe says that the punishment comes even to those who don't do such wicked things, but who merely neglect their responsibilities. Their lack of reverence for the master's will shows that they have no real
relationship with him. No reverence for the master's will means that you don't really have any relationship with him. Jesus, if you don't believe me, look at Jesus's words here in John 14. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. So all who call themselves Christians should pay particular attention here. And leaders especially so. Knowing what to do, having authority over others, it carries a responsibility to be faithful. Everyone to whom much was given. Of whom, of him much will be required. And from him, to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more. Jesus is challenging us.
He's challenging our culture of disengagement. And let's be honest here, right? The spirit of the age is to put forth as little effort as possible into as many things in our lives. That is the spirit of the age. Have you heard of this trend called quiet quitting? Look it up online. It's, you don't quit your job, you just dial it way back so that you don't really put much effort into it. It's no wonder I mean, there are so many causes, so many people, so many needs, so many responsibilities, all demanding something of us. We throw our hands up and we slouch back on the couch in exhaustion. What's the use?
We can't keep up with it all. But when this disengagement infects our spiritual life, that's when the real problem begins. Church, the solution is not to give up entirely. I'm with you. There are far too many things begging you to be 110% in. Bombarding you everywhere, all the time. The solution is not to give up entirely, but to find the right things to care about and to stay engaged with. Major on the majors and minor on the minors. And the kingdom of God and your spiritual life needs to be the top of your list. That's what Jesus is saying. When I was in high school, for a brief period of time, a friend of mine and I were responsible for going out after school to the marquee in front of the school and changing the quote that was on the marquee. We would put information or they would, some kind of inspirational quote. So we were sent out there one day after school. We had like a Ralph Waldo Emerson quote or, you know, somebody like that. An inspirational quote to put up. And we, we thought, you know, I think we, I think we could speak to our peers with more inspiration than, than, than whoever this person is. So we decided to put up, um, a different quote. A quote from The Empire Strikes Back. Um, it's this quote here. Try not. Do or do not. There is no try. And we put Yoda after it. If you're, in case you're wondering, yeah, we got in trouble. Um, if you remember this scene from the best Star Wars movie, um, you'll know that it happens when Luke's, um, Luke's plane, Luke's, has sunk into the swamp,
right? He can't get it out. And Yoda says, get it out. You can do it. And he says, I, and he tries and it goes back in and he says, I, I just can't. And Yoda says, and you know, he's trying to talk him up. And then Luke says, okay, I'll try. And then Yoda says this, try not. Do or do not. There is no try. Now, it wasn't until recently that it struck me. This is profoundly bad advice. I mean, like, really terrible advice. Don't try. Only attempt something if you can definitely do it.
That is nonsense. It is. It's nonsense. The list of things in my life that I can definitely do is very short. And it's comprised of things that are not very consequential. I can do my laundry. I can put gas in the car. Right? Every important responsibility in my life and in your life is something that if I'm honest, I'm not really doing it a hundred percent. Right? I'm merely trying at it. If Yoda were talking to me, he'd say, no, no, either do it or don't do it. Don't just try.
What is trying except making a genuine effort even though it's flawed? That's what trying is. And that's exactly what we're called to do. Jesus wants us to try. He wants us to try at our spiritual life. He is not expecting you to be perfect. He wants you to try. Imperfect obedience is better than perfect passivity. But here's the thing. Living this way is going to put us at odds with people around us. And verses 49 through 53 are without a doubt some of Jesus' most startling statements. The popular image of Jesus is like a Jewish hippie. Right? With his Birkenstocks and his long hair. Talking about peace, love, and understanding. If that's what we think about Jesus, it's going to shock us to hear him say, do you think I have come to give peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. But if you've been following along, it makes sense. Doesn't it? He came to call people to a whole new life. There are only two responses to that call. Saying no or saying yes and trying. Right?
Only two responses. We've already seen many people oppose him. Seeking the kingdom, being active in preparation for his return, it's going to make his people very different than the people around him. And that difference can lead to division and conflict. Even close relationships might be torn apart. This is what might happen when we are fully committed to him. We should be prepared for this cost. We should read what Jesus says here and decide in advance, is he worth it to us? Is he worth it when our allegiance to him? When our allegiance to him leads to division in our life? But we're going to end with this. The call comes with a promised blessing. Jesus has our good in mind. Don't miss that.
Living Coram Deo, it's not a slog through a dreary assignment from God. Far from it. Three times in this passage, Jesus says that those who live this way are blessed. And that is present tense, friends. Not will be blessed. Are blessed. Right now. Today. Jesus wants us to know that an active spiritual life brings a blessing to us now. The blessing is not because life is easy. It's because you're doing what you were made for. When the birds sing, when the frogs croak, when the sun rises, they are fulfilling their purpose and giving glory to God. And here's what God says you were made for.
Look at Isaiah 43. Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made. To await your Savior's return with joyful and purposeful activity, it makes you blessed because you were made for that. You're fulfilling your purpose. And you're blessed because he's with you. It may be a house-sitting assignment, but the truth is he hasn't really left. He's still right there.
Philippians 2, Paul says, You're blessed by joining up with God as he is with you in your work. But friends, I've saved the best thing for last. It's one little verse. Verses 49 through 53 get a lot of attention, but I'm here to tell you that there is a verse here that actually is the most shocking verse in this whole section, this whole thing that I've read, and that's verse 37. That is the most shocking verse in the whole thing. When the master returns, Jesus says, truly I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. Those who await his return, they're going to experience the most astounding role reversal that has ever been imagined.
The master will serve the servants. He's going to bring you to his table. There's going to be a placard there with your name on it. He will sit you down, and he will dress like a servant himself and serve you. The king of kings does this for his servants. How amazing, and yet how appropriate, right? Jesus, the one with all the righteousness, all the glory, all the wisdom, all the strength, all the power. He comes to us, the ones with nothing. This is exactly what we need, and this is exactly what he came to do. The son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, to give his life as a ransom for many. Church, the best place to be is in his house. That's the best place to be. Let's await his return with an act of spiritual life, full of faith, that when he returns, he is going to serve us. He's going to come with salvation in his hand and finish what he has started. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you, first of all, that you will return, that we have that sure hope. God, I ask you to please help us to give real thought and reflection on our own spiritual life, and Lord, to want it to be even more active than it is now. Help us not to believe the lies that it's just too hard, we're never going to do it. Lord, you want us to follow after you with the best effort we have filled with the Holy Spirit, and Lord, it's not going to go perfectly.
We're going to have times where we forget, times where we are neglectful, and Lord, your Spirit calls us out of that, and Lord, we have an opportunity to repent, to be restored to you, and to try again. Lord, your burden is easy, and your yoke is light. Help us to believe that, and Lord, to look actively for your return. You are coming back, and we are blessed as we wait. Thank you, Jesus, for the work that you are doing, and have done. We pray this in your name. Amen.