Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning

 "Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.  Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

"Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately.  Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching.  Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.  And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.  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."

Then Peter said to Him, "Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?"  And the Lord said, "Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season?  Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.  Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has.  But if that servant says in his heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,' and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.  And that servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.  But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few.  For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more."

- Luke 12:32-48

Yesterday we read that one from the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."  But He said to him, "Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?"  And He said to them, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses."  Then He spoke a parable to them, saying:  "The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.  And he thought within himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?'  So he said, 'I will do this:  I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.  And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry."'  But God said to him, 'Fool!  This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?'  So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."  Then He said to His disciples, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on.  Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.  Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them.  Of how much more value are you than the birds?  And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?  If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest?  Consider the lilies, how they grow:  they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?  And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind.  For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things.  But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you."

 "Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.  Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  In this discourse, Jesus will return repeatedly to these words, "Do not fear."  We must contrast this with a teaching also recently given by Jesus (in Thursday's reading), and that was to fear God's power of Judgment (see Luke 12:4-5).  We contrast the two by noting Jesus' emphasis against anxiety, and repeated encouragement to trust in God to know what is good for His flock, and God's desire ("good pleasure") to given them the kingdom.  All believers are included in this little flock.  My study bible says that they are little in two ways:  (1) they are insignificant in the eyes of the world, and (2) they are small in number when compared to earthly and heavenly creation.  We note once again the emphasis on a kind of exchange:  giving earthly alms, practicing love and charity and mercy, fills us with an inalienable and indestructible treasure.   Where our treasure is, there our heart goes also.   That is, the full center of who we are.

"Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately.  Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching.  Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.  And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.  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."    This call for vigilance on the part of His followers echoes the imagery of the parable of the wise and foolish virgins (Matthew 25:1-13).  Let your waist be girded refers to preparation for virtuous action, a kind of readiness for immediate action.  Your lamps burning means spiritual discernment must always be in operation.  Taken together they refer to readiness to carry out commands of the Master and constant vigilance for full preparation.  The second and third watch is between 9:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m., which my study bible says is interpreted as hours of heightened temptation.  The servants are most blessed who remain faithful during the night.  Christ has already taught that there is only one thing to fear, and that is the judgment of God.  Here the unpredictable return of the Master, the Son of Man, is what is emphasized.  We are simply to remain faithful and be ready at every hour. 

Then Peter said to Him, "Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?"  And the Lord said, "Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season?  Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.  Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has.  But if that servant says in his heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,' and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers."  Peter asks an important question.  Jesus' response, to speak of the faithful and wise steward, is to give a parable that does indeed speak to the apostles and their successors, those who will be rulers and teachers of the Church.  They are the stewards of the Church.  A good steward is one who is always aware of the Master's commands, and cares for the entire household with its full good in mind, especially careful to be in relationship with the servants for such an end and goal.  But a steward who runs the Master's household as if it is only for his own lording over, for his power, to exploit the people and things of the household, will face the harshest penalty.  To those who are corrupt the Master will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.

"And that servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.  But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few.  For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more."  Here is a statement about judgment.  Those who know and to whom has been given much will be fully responsible for violating the wisdom, power, and knowledge they've been given.  (See James 3:1.)  The many stripes symbolize condemnation to those who are willfully and knowingly disobedient.  The few stripes, says my study bible, are for those disobedient out of ignorance and indicate chastisement or correction.

The call to vigilance is a very serious one.  How do we take our faith?  Particularly to those who "know," who have been given much, the strictness of Jesus is very deliberate.  The more that has been given, the greater the responsibility.  He especially emphasizes the temptations of power and authority.  Those are temptations to exploit, to mistreat, to use the Church as if it were personal property, to understand authority not as something held in stewardship and service to the fullness of the Church, but rather to be used as personal extension of oneself.  Greatness, Jesus will repeatedly teach, is found in humility.  True greatness is found in the one who would be servant or slave to all.  When He speaks of keeping the waist girded (that is, a way of tying up outer garments so one is ready for action) and lamps burning, He's speaking about the constant readiness and vigilance in keeping His word and following His commands.  So much emphasis has been put on almsgiving and the interior life  in this sermon that it is also unmistakably addressing temptations to all forms of greed and selfishness.  That is, the inner life -- particularly of those who will be His stewards in His Church -- must never be neglected.  In such a state, the temptations to power will be far greater.  Exploitation and corruption will always be temptations; Jesus demands much more of His stewards than of the rest.  The goals of the practice of charity, then, become much deeper goals of inward humility before God.  They become a shoring up of strength in service.  The constant vigilance of prayer and spiritual work means a greater fight against the temptations that lurk in the dark, unless one's lamp is always kept burning so that we may truly see what we are about.  All of this works together for a life within His grace, and it is particularly so for those who would be in leadership or who are graced with the teachings He has to give.  The penalties are harsher for those who know better and fail in this mission of loyalty and love and care for the little flock.  Christ asks of us a kind of strength and courage which teach us what stewardship really is.  In the Church, we're led to understand that stewardship isn't only about the Church, but of all the world and everything in it that is God's creation, every living thing, every creature.  It is all a great gift, and none of it truly belongs to us.  It is in our care.  To be a good steward is to remember His commands at all times, to be ready to take action against our own temptations and to shine a light on our own weaknesses, so that we may truly serve Him best and be prepared for His return.  He wants to find us watching -- alert and awake, constantly mindful of all that we are to be about.