Who then is the faithful and wise slave?

‘Who then is the faithful and wise slave, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves their allowance of food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives. Truly I tell you, he will put that one in charge of all his possessions. But if that wicked slave says to himself, “My master is delayed”, and he begins to beat his fellow-slaves, and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour that he does not know. He will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

- Matthew 24:45-51

In the past several readings, Jesus has been teaching his disciples about two great events: the coming Siege of Jerusalem, with the destruction of the temple and the sacrilege prophesied by Daniel, and the coming of the Son of Man. Here, Jesus continues on the theme of his return as Son of Man. He has contrasted the two events, describing them quite differently -- and placed a great emphasis on the fact that no one, not even Jesus as Son, knows the time of its occurrence. His return will be unmistakable and powerful, but at the same time it will come without advanced warning. His words of caution to his followers, then, is about preparedness, and living life with the awareness of this event. Here in today's reading is the first parable Jesus gives us regarding how we are to live our lives in the knowledge of this prediction of the end of the age. Yesterday's reading ended with the example of the householder who has no idea at what time the thief will come in the night.

"Who then is the faithful and wise slave, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves their allowance of food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives. Truly I tell you, he will put that one in charge of all his possessions." Jesus is teaching us about watchfulness and awareness, and how we are to live in a state of expectation and understanding of our place in the world as his followers. Our lives are not to be lived thoughtlessly, as if life is simply about gathering as many material possessions as possible. The expectation and awareness of the events of the return of the Son of Man are to keep us in the understanding that life is lived with responsibility, and for a purpose - not merely a series of opportunistic moments. Here Jesus gives us the example of the slave who is responsible to his master. The master goes away for a time, and puts the slave in charge of the household. So the master of the disciples to whom Jesus is speaking will go away, yet he has given them assurance of his return, which could happen at any moment. To live in preparedness then, and responsibility and awareness, means this slave is going to do his job. He's going to take care of the rest of the people in the household who remain behind. I find it especially important that Jesus notes first the following duty of the faithful and wise slave: "to give the other slaves their allowance of food at the proper time." We recall the risen Jesus' words to Peter in their final encounter, "Feed my lambs." We pray in the Lord's Prayer, given to us by Jesus, "Give us this day our daily bread." We recall that in the Greek, the word for "daily" bread is a very unusual one, more properly translated "supersubstantial." It is that bread with the added dimension of the reality of the kingdom and the spiritual life, the Eucharist -- but it is also the spiritual food we need to sustain us in the absence of the Master. To "feed his lambs" - to be like the faithful and wise slave who makes certain the other slaves are properly fed while the master is away - means that as his followers we are responsible for the care of our fellow disciples, our brothers and sisters. Most especially, I think, it means spiritual care and feeding and all the dimensions that may entail.

"But if that wicked slave says to himself, 'My master is delayed', and he begins to beat his fellow-slaves, and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour that he does not know. He will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." However, if we lose our consciousness of just where we are and who we are, that we expect the return of our master -- if we treat life as merely an opportunistic series of moments in which to pursue selfish and thoughtless goals, then we have failed to be wise or faithful. The wicked slave mistreats and beats his fellow slaves, and he "eats and drinks with drunkards." This irresponsible and corrupt slave can be likened to a wolf in sheep's clothing, who uses his position to exploit, mistreat, and grab what he can with others who are like-minded. Jesus has warned repeatedly about predatory behavior in his future Church, those who would exploit their positions of authority or power to "lord it over" others, rather than serving the sheep in Jesus' stead. Our lives, as his followers, are not just to be a series of opportunities for gain and exploitation, but we are to live in consciousness of the end of the age, of his return, and of how our relationship to Christ sets in proper place our relationship to our "fellow slaves."

I think the conscious awareness of the end of the age is an extraordinarily important part of Christian faith. Far from being simply a frightening time of Judgment, as it is so often popularly portrayed, this event puts our lives in perspective. Are we here simply to compete with one another for some form of glory? For some prize that is yet another form of idolatry? All the awful ways in which people hurt or harm one another seem to stem from a perspective that lacks this extra-dimensional awareness, this element of the spiritual. We're not just here in the world to tear one another apart, to exploit and dominate, to grab what we can grab through an irresponsible use of power. Neither are we here to simply aggrandize our own images of ourselves, and to seek "the praise of men" rather than the praise of God. The perspective of this return of the Son gives us a different vision, and shapes the awareness that we are here to help one another. The knowledge of this greater dimension of our relatedness to the Persons of a heavenly kingdom must shape a different point of view on what we are doing in this world, why we are here, as opposed to limiting us merely to seeing everyone else as competitors--and unaware of the master of the house.

I believe that as we prepare to celebrate Christmas it's a good time to think about relatedness and relationship in this sense. What is proper relatedness? How does a Christ- or God-centered awareness give us a perspective on how we are to live our lives and how we are to treat others? This expectation, this understanding, is crucial, I believe, to our notion of ourselves as Christians. Without it we don't have the proper perspective on what we are doing in the world, why we are here, and with what awareness we live our lives. How does it shape your awareness today? Does it change the way you think about something or someone?