“Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.” Jesus’ advice to his disciples alludes to the first Passover,mentioned in the first reading, when the Israelites were cautioned to be ready on moment’s notice to leave Egypt for the Promised Land. Luke and his peers honestly anticipated the return of Christ in their lifetime, thus he was urging them to be prepared when he did.
Twenty centuries later, his followers still await the coming of Christ. Countless self-proclaimed prophets have made predictions of when he would return even though Jesus cautioned that no one knows the moment when that would happen. Those of us gathered here are not likely to witness such an awesome encounter, known as the rapture or the parousia. Instead, we will experience the coming of Christ in a personal way, namely at the moment of death when we take our last breath. And when we do, will we be ready to begin our journey to the Promised Land of heaven?
We tend to carry on our lives as if we are immortal, that we will live forever, that we “have all the time in the world.” But we don’t. There are a finite number of days to our earthly lifetimes. As is noted in the Book of Ecclesiastes, “There is an appointed time in the heavens for every affair…a time to be born and a time to die.” We see people die, some suddenly, others after a long illness yet we pay little or no attention to the reality that some day we too will die. Instead, we carry on as if we will live forever. The fact is life is fragile and fleeting. If we have truly embraced the spirit of the gospel, we are always conscious of the brevity of this life and live our days in humble gratitude for these days and joyful anticipation of the life yet to come.
One basic question raised by Jesus is what and where is my treasure? We all dream of finding treasure and striking it rich. Imagine the emotions felt by the winners of the Powerball lottery last week. I wouldn’t be surprised though if someday, some of those winners will regret having the winning ticket for statistics tell us that many large lottery winners are broke and in debt within a few years.
With these parables, Jesus asserts that treasure isn’t about possessing things but in being vigilant for the master. If we are preoccupied by possessions, schedules, work, sports, etc., our heart is already filled with exhaustible, insecure, and corruptible matters. Our focus is typically on earthly concerns rather than heavenly concerns. The gospel is challenging us to redirect our hearts to that treasure which lasts forever, Jesus, and be his faithful disciples.
Still, many of us spend our lives going after perishable and exhaustible treasures. Jesus cautions that such treasures don’t matter once we take our last breath.
He makes clear that the blessed servant is the one who does the master’s will even when the master is absent. Being prepared for the master’s presence is a matter of faithfulness. In the master’s absence, the faithful servant acts as the master himself would–caring for others, giving them all they need, living out the corporal works of mercy. Doing the master’s will and remaining faithful is being the master in his absence. That is what discipleship is all about;building up one’s treasures in heaven, which no thief can reach nor moth destroy.
Some people argue that if we focus on the afterlife, heaven and hell, we neglect this world. To the contrary, people who focus on eternity are often the ones doing the Master’s will.
Like the Israelites on the night of Passover, and Abraham as he prepared to leave behind his homeland, sooner or later, we will leave behind what is familiar to us to venture to a new land. That demands faith, which we are told in the letter to the Hebrews “is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” Without knowing what they would find as they followed the inspiration of the Lord, theIsraelites and Abraham ventured from the known into the unknown. They did not see, yet they believed. Faith for them was defined in terms of hope.
The same holds true for us. We have no clue of what heaven will be like but we are being urged by Jesus to venture through this life in anticipation of the life that is to come. Faith is trusting that what he is promising us when we cross the threshold of death will be ours, provided we are prepared to welcome him when our appointed time comes.
This lengthy gospel is well worth reflecting upon in your quiet prayer time for it outlines how we can become disposed to hearing, knowing, and then acting on God’s will. Obedience out of fear of a punishing God has no place among Jesus’ followers. Rather, obedience is the follower’s single-hearted response in faith to the One who is love and frees us to love in the same manner he does.
Freeing the heart from attachment to anything but God’s love and God’s realm is the next step in obedience. We mustn’t let our possessions become the treasure that grips the heart. Otherwise, we will not be prepared to welcome Jesus when he comes to summon us to our eternal resting place. As Jesus said, “where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.”