Luke 12:35-36

Luke 12:35-36

Thoughts from Dayna Spaulding

Dive Deeper

The Returning King
Slide

"Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks, they can immediately open the door for him.”

Luke 12:35-36

Behind the Scenes (1)
Slide

I hate to wait. When I was a little boy, Christmas day seemed to take years to arrive. Standing in line for a ride at an amusement park was excruciating. After ordering something by mail, I would check my mailbox daily counting down the eons until my package arrived. As an adult, I am no better. When I go to the post office and see a long line, something dies within me. I dread waiting rooms of doctor’s offices because that is where people, you know, wait. Let’s not discuss traffic jams.

Slide

Over the years, I am slowly learning patience. This is a true patience and not the kind you fake because you feel like it is an adult or Christian trait you should have. Waiting can be a spiritual discipline that takes us and our agendas off center stage. When we learn to wait, we start focusing less on ourselves and more on the world around us. We admit that we are not the true masters of our lives and commit our time, the days and hours of our lives, to God’s control.

Slide

As Christians, we have a promise from God that Christ will return to earth one day and establish His Kingdom. This Kingdom will mean the end of death and suffering. All our tears, our sorrows, our disappointments, and our traumas will be healed. All our failures and mistakes will be wiped away. We will be in God’s presence and will spend eternity working and serving in His Kingdom. The work will be soul-satisfying and we will experience an ongoing joy.

Slide

It is hard to imagine such a world. It is also hard to wait for such a world. We don’t know when this will happen, but we are called to be ready. Today’s verses are the words Jesus spoke to his disciples. He warns us to always be watchful for His return. Jesus’ return could happen by the time I finish typing this sentence or it might occur in a thousand years.

Slide

Jewish weddings usually occurred at night so if a master went to a celebration, it might be late into the night when he returned. His servants were expected to be ready and waiting for his return so that they could open the door for him. It would not be good if they went to sleep, let their lamps burn out, and then kept their master waiting at the door. So, servants were called to be vigilant and wait, with patience and in readiness. And it is the same with us as we wait for our master, Jesus Christ.

Make it Real (1)
Slide

To be honest, I must work at reminding myself that I am waiting for my Lord and master to return. It is so easy to get caught up in the cares of this world. It is so easy to start living like I am the Lord of my life. When I am Lord of my life, I chaff at waiting in lines, waiting for my child to act like I want them to act, waiting for that job to open, waiting for my boss to give me a raise, waiting for everyone on my social media feed to see the light and adopt my opinions.

Slide

When Christ is Lord of my life, I see that waiting is part of life. And I see that the most important waiting that I do is not for my hamburger in the fast-food line but for my Lord Jesus, God Incarnate, Son of God, to return one day.

Slide

It is also important to understand that I am not idly waiting that return. Like the servants waiting on their master, we are called to keep our lamps burning and be ready to open the door. If Jesus returned the very second you are reading this, what would He find? Would he find us loving and serving our neighbors? Would he see us loving and serving God? Or would he find us acting selfishly? Would he find us focused on ourselves?

Slide

People waited a long time for the first coming of Jesus, His birth in a Bethlehem manger. Now we have waited two thousand years for His return. But we know that just like God fulfilled His promise with the first coming of Christ, He will fulfill His promise with the second coming. As we wait patiently for this promise, let’s spend the time loving and serving one another and telling others about the hope we have in Jesus. That way, when we see Jesus, we can open the door for him and show him that our lamps are shining bright.

End in Prayer (1)
Slide

Lord Jesus, I struggle with waiting, whether it is something trivial like a traffic jam or more serious like waiting for a critical medical diagnosis. Give me the patience to endure that wait and reorient my eyes off the concerns of my life to the joy and hope promised in your return to earth. Help me make good use of the time I spend waiting for your return to serve others and tell them about your Kingdom. Thank you for all you have done for me, Amen.

previous arrow
next arrow

“Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks, they can immediately open the door for him.” 

Luke 12:35-36

Behind the Scenes

I hate to wait.   When I was a little boy, Christmas day seemed to take years to arrive.   Standing in line for a ride at an amusement park was excruciating.  After ordering something by mail, I would check my mailbox daily counting down the eons until my package arrived.   As an adult, I am no better.   When I go to the post office and see a long line, something dies within me.   I dread waiting rooms of doctor’s offices because that is where people, you know, wait.  Let’s not discuss traffic jams.    

Over the years, I am slowly learning patience.   This is a true patience and not the kind you fake because you feel like it is an adult or Christian trait you should have.  Waiting can be a spiritual discipline that takes us and our agendas off center stage.   When we learn to wait, we start focusing less on ourselves and more on the world around us.   We admit that we are not the true masters of our lives and commit our time, the days and hours of our lives, to God’s control.        

As Christians, we have a promise from God that Christ will return to earth one day and establish His Kingdom.  This Kingdom will mean the end of death and suffering.  All our tears, our sorrows, our disappointments, and our traumas will be healed.  All our failures and mistakes will be wiped away.   We will be in God’s presence and will spend eternity working and serving in His Kingdom.  The work will be soul-satisfying and we will experience an ongoing joy.     

It is hard to imagine such a world.  It is also hard to wait for such a world.  We don’t know when this will happen, but we are called to be ready.  Today’s verses are the words Jesus spoke to his disciples.  He warns us to always be watchful for His return.  Jesus’ return could happen by the time I finish typing this sentence or it might occur in a thousand years.    

Jewish weddings usually occurred at night so if a master went to a celebration, it might be late into the night when he returned.   His servants were expected to be ready and waiting for his return so that they could open the door for him.  It would not be good if they went to sleep, let their lamps burn out, and then kept their master waiting at the door.   So, servants were called to be vigilant and wait, with patience and in readiness.  And it is the same with us as we wait for our master, Jesus Christ.    

Make it Real

To be honest, I must work at reminding myself that I am waiting for my Lord and master to return.  It is so easy to get caught up in the cares of this world. It is so easy to start living like I am the Lord of my life.  When I am Lord of my life, I chaff at waiting in lines, waiting for my child to act like I want them to act, waiting for that job to open, waiting for my boss to give me a raise, waiting for everyone on my social media feed to see the light and adopt my opinions.    

When Christ is Lord of my life, I see that waiting is part of life.   And I see that the most important waiting that I do is not for my hamburger in the fast-food line but for my Lord Jesus, God Incarnate, Son of God, to return one day.   

It is also important to understand that I am not idly waiting that return.   Like the servants waiting on their master, we are called to keep our lamps burning and be ready to open the door.   If Jesus returned the very second you are reading this, what would He find?   Would he find us loving and serving our neighbors?  Would he see us loving and serving God?  Or would he find us acting selfishly?  Would he find us focused on ourselves?   

People waited a long time for the first coming of Jesus, His birth in a Bethlehem manger.   Now we have waited two thousand years for His return.   But we know that just like God fulfilled His promise with the first coming of Christ, He will fulfill His promise with the second coming.    As we wait patiently for this promise, let’s spend the time loving and serving one another and telling others about the hope we have in Jesus.   That way, when we see Jesus, we can open the door for him and show him that our lamps are shining bright.    

Johnny Spence

Johnny Spence

ACF Devo Team

End in Prayer

Lord Jesus, I struggle with waiting, whether it is something trivial like a traffic jam or more serious like waiting for a critical medical diagnosis.   Give me the patience to endure that wait and reorient my eyes off the concerns of my life to the joy and hope promised in your return to earth.   Help me make good use of the time I spend waiting for your return to serve others and tell them about your Kingdom.   Thank you for all you have done for me, Amen.    

Tagged