Nineteenth Sunday - 2019

Therefore, stay awake!
For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.
Be sure of this:
if the master of the house
had known the hour of night when the thief was coming,
he would have stayed awake
and not let his house be broken into.
So too, you also must be prepared,

for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” Mtt 24:42

It is likely few of us have experienced being a servant – that is in strict sense of word – no rights, no say, no union, no where to go if you try to leave. More likely our experience is more about being served; we are all the masters expecting to be served. This is my life, my stuff, I paid my dues (my condo fees) – I expect to be served and if not just watch me complain. This way of thinking may well colour our view of religion. “I have church membership, I profess my belief, follow the rules, so now God must meet my needs, answer my prayers, serve me when I prayer.” In today’s gospel Jesus talks about this view of servants.  “Which of you whose servant comes in from plowing or shepherding in the field will say to him, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? Instead, won’t he tell him, ‘Prepare my meal and dress yourself to serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward you may eat and drink’? Does he thank the servant because he did what he was told?” Lk. 17 So let us get this straight, we are the servants; God is the master who is to be served. As today’s gospel continues Jesus goes on to describes three kinds of disordered servants who must be dealt with: 1.       Those who say my master is delayed in coming - and to eat and drink and get drunk – might these be the ones risking a trip to hell? 2.       Those who knew what their master wanted, but were careless about doing what was expected of them – might these be those who require a stay in purgatory? 3.       Those who did not know they were servants at all – they must face a time of testing, repentance and conversion. Today, in our hearing of this word of God the question is put to us, what kind of servant am I? Luke ends this section with Jesus telling us how God actually will serve us: 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. 38 If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. 39 "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. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour." Lk 37-40 Am I ready for His coming?

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