The Wisdom of Being Ready for the Master’s Arrival—Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 9C (Luke 12)

Luke 12:32-40 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

³² “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. ³³ Sell your possessions and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. ³⁴ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

³⁵ “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; ³⁶ be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. ³⁷ 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 hour you do not expect.”

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                The idea that Jesus might have been an apocalyptic preacher can make many modern Christians uncomfortable. That is especially true due to the apocalyptic talk we hear in certain sectors of the Christian community, talk that can include disregarding environmental concerns or embracing dangerous political allegiances. So, we have to ask, did he really talk as if the end was near? The truth is that Jesus’ message did have apocalyptic elements, but how should we read them? We’ll need to ask this question in light of our reading from Luke 12, where Jesus talks about the coming reign of God. The message is: Be on the alert!

                During my teenage years, I got caught up in apocalyptic theology. I imbibed Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great Planet Earth and listened with great interest to Christian musicians such as Larry Norman, who sang that apocalyptic ballad “I Wish We’d All Been Ready.” I share some of these experiences in the book Ron Allen and I wrote about eschatology—Second Thoughts about the Second Coming (WJK Books, 2023). I was ready to believe that Jesus’s return was on the near horizon, perhaps sometime before 1988. One of the images that caught our attention is found here in Luke 12, the image of the coming of The Thief in the Night (the title of a book by David Wilkinson, along with an accompanying movie).     

We need to set the stage for this conversation found in Luke 12. Jesus is still heading toward Jerusalem. We’re still several chapters before he enters Jerusalem (Luke 19:28ff). Luke doesn’t tell us where Jesus is currently located, but he’s preaching and teaching, sharing parable after parable. The message that precedes our reading invites us to let go of our worries about what we’ll wear or eat. Instead, “strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well” (Luke 12:31; Matt. 6:33).  

Since the kingdom or realm of God is close at hand, Jesus wants his disciples and other potential followers to stay on the alert. He wants them to keep watch for signs of God’s reign. Yes, as Larry Norman intoned, “I Wish We’d All Been Ready,” because as Barry McGuire sang, “We’re on the Eve of Destruction.” Of course, the Gospel of Luke was written a half-century after Jesus’ earthly life had ended and after many of those who knew him had also passed from the scene. Thus, some of that apocalyptic energy that had existed earlier had begun to dissipate as the emerging Christian community settled in for the long haul. Nevertheless, we still see the apocalyptic elements present in the text. Staying alert for the Son of Man’s return had become more difficult with time. It’s not that the community had grown complacent; it’s that the expectations that Jesus’ return was just around the corner had given way to more mundane concerns. The suggestion that they not worry about tomorrow or plan for the future was more difficult to justify. As for us, living as we do some two millennia later, being ever on the alert is difficult.

In Luke 12, Jesus lets his followers know that their Father was pleased to give them the kingdom. So, don’t be afraid, but instead “sell your possessions, and give alms.” Having already told a parable about the rich fool who built new barns to store his bumper crop of grain so he could eat, drink, and be merry, only to die before the night was out, rather than being rich toward God (Luke 12:13-21), Jesus tells his followers to store up their treasure in heaven where thieves cannot come and steal it or where moths won’t destroy it. That is because, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” This is a message that people like St. Francis embraced, but is it wise to sell everything? Is this really what Jesus wants us to do? There has to be a caveat here, especially since the return of the Son of Man has been delayed.

As I ponder this passage, I’m not ready to give up my pension, social security, investments, life insurance, health insurance (Medicare), or sell my house and car. After all, I have a family to think about. Hearing passages like this has always been challenging because we have to take stock of our realities. We needn’t build bigger barns, but having a way to provide for a good life surely isn’t a bad thing. While that might be true, we should always keep in mind the problem of greed that keeps knocking at the door. Almsgiving is a good spiritual practice to engage in, for it can help keep avarice and greed at bay.

As Jesus calls on his followers to store up treasure in heaven because the kingdom is at hand, he also calls on them to be ever on the alert to the signs of this realm. He tells a parable that involves a master returning from a wedding banquet and the slaves or servants who must stay on the alert for his return so they can open the door of the house to him. According to Jesus, his followers need to be “dressed for action and have your lamps lit.” So, be like the watchful slaves who waited patiently and expectantly for the return of their master from the wedding banquet. They were ready to open the door when the master knocked. Then Jesus tells the hearers of the parable: “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. If he comes during the middle of the night or near dawn and finds them so, blessed are those slaves” (Luke 12:37-38). It’s important to point out here that the master becomes the servant to the ones who were alert to the coming of the master. In the parable, the master fastens his belt, has the servants/slaves sit down, and then he serves them their meal. In other words, the master takes on the role of the slave, much like what we see play out in John 13, when Jesus washes the feet of his disciples. Note also that it doesn’t matter if the master returns in the middle of the night or at dawn; if they’re prepared, the slaves will be blessed.

The narrative takes an interesting turn at this point. After Jesus seemingly concludes the parable by commending those who are alert to the coming of the master, whatever the time of day, we return to the thief in the night. In verse 33, Jesus speaks of the treasure stored in heaven where the thief can’t get to it. Now, we’re told that if the owner of a house knew when the thief would arrive, he would have prevented the thief from breaking in. Then Jesus tells the audience to be ready when the Son of Man comes at an unexpected hour. The message seems to be that one should always be on the alert because no one knows when the Son of Man’s return will take place. So, be prepared for every eventuality.  As Fred Craddock notes concerning the unexpected timing of the Son of Man’s return, one might not know the timing, but one can be prepared. So, “Not only will it be a surprise as to time, but it will be disruptive, as would be the coming of a night thief (the description of its disruptive nature will appear at ch. 21). But readiness is possible, for it consists of continuing faithfulness at one’s duties. When that is the case, uncertainties are no cause for alarm or anxiety” [Craddock, Luke: Interpretation, p. 165].

We live in a challenging era, much like Luke’s audience. We may not be sure what to make of our situation. Churches are struggling to survive. Democracies are under fire. Into this world of confusion, Jesus simply calls on us to be ever on the alert, ready for every eventuality.

Image Attribution: Hunt, William Holman, 1827-1910. The Light of the World, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54233 [retrieved August 5, 2025]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hunt_Light_of_the_World.jpg.