Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?

 "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?  Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.  Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods.  But if that evil servant says in his heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,' and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites.  There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

- Matthew 24:45-51

 In recent readings, Jesus has been speaking to His disciples about the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, and also about the end of the age, the time of His second coming (see the earlier readings from Saturday and Monday).  In yesterday's reading, Jesus told them, "Now learn this parable from the fig tree:  When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.  So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near -- at the doors!  Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.  But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.  But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  Then two men will be in the field:  one will be taken and the other left.  Two women will be grinding at the mill:  one will be taken and the other left.  Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.  But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.  Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."

 "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?  Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.  Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods.  But if that evil servant says in his heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,' and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites.  There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."  Origen points out in his commentary that to be both "faithful and wise" is a rare combination, but Christ asks for both.  This servant is the one who serves Christ, whose job it is to "feed" the household.  It is an image of the Church, and of those who would minister in the Church.  Since this is a discourse to the apostles, it's most certainly applied to those who would be bishops, about being good pastors.  But to give food isn't only about hierarchs, but rather to all those entrusted with the riches of both spiritual gifts and the blessings of the world.  With what gifts have we been entrusted, and how do we use them to feed others?  The great key here is once again, as in so much of Scripture, the thought that "God doesn't see."  That is, that the master is delayed in his coming, and so self-centered or selfish patterns can emerge.  As with Jesus' criticisms of the leaders in the temple, this is a warning to His own pastors and those of us who consider ourselves His disciples to consider how we live in community.  Do we distribute what we have for the edification and nurturing of the others?  How can we be both faithful and wise?  Or does life turn back to the ways of hypocrisy, in which others are mistreated or exploited, in which the things of God are neglected in one's own conduct and particularly in feeding the household?  One stands to lose entirely one's portion in the house of God, sonship and being an heir to the Kingdom.  To be outcast from this heavenly community is to be cast away from the life offered by Christ.

What is it to be both faithful and wise?  This is a rather intriguing statement, and it would seem that Christ is teaching the disciples that to truly be good shepherds of His household will to take more than just diligence.  To be both faithful and wise is to seek God with all one's heart and soul and mind and strength, and it is also to love one's neighbor as oneself.  That is, to seek God fully and at the same time to consider wise management of resources, to be prudent, just, and merciful.  Christ calls on these disciples to be not just faithful, but also diligent and wise in the application of putting that faith to work, in actively feeding His household.  That's a great deal to ask, and yet of these men who will be His bishops and all their descendents in the sonship or heirs of the Church, that's what He asks.  Extending this to each of us who would be His servants means that we are called upon as fully as possible to live out our lives and our potentials as "rational sheep" to be those who are willing to grow in the life He calls us to -- to develop the gifts with which we're entrusted in ways both faithful and wise.  When we start to think that faithfulness as a sort of highly passive activity, then we had better read His words and think again.  Jesus is calling for servants who are capable of using their intelligence and capacity for wisdom, as well as all the gifts of faithful and enduring persistence in following His commands.  It reminds us of the call to prayer in what is called the "prayer of the heart" in the Eastern Church.  In this tradition, the Fathers from the earliest desert monastics call on us to pray "with the mind in the heart."  There isn't a single part of us that Jesus neglects nor fails to nourish:  He calls on all that we are to be a part of this challenge of how we live our lives and feed His household.  Neither our intelligence, nor wisdom in experience, nor capacity for effort, nor our faithfulness in the depth of the heart is to be neglected in service to His children.  Let us consider the challenge we're issued:  to become human beings who measure up to His standards of conduct as fully as possible, who grow in that faith and wisdom, and in so doing are to nurture and feed a flock -- a household.  This is what constitutes a good steward.  This challenge calls to us on every level of human life experience, and expands our concepts of ourselves so that we grow in His service.  Are you ready for that?  Do you expect the master?  Or do we grow lazy and neglectful and selfish, lost in other pursuits?  Which would you rather be?  That's really our great choice.