Luke 12:35-40 (NIV) “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men 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. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night. But understand 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. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
Many take this section of Jesus’ message as being about His second coming and the need to always be ready, no matter when He returns. And this passage certainly has application for that.
But there is a broader application as well. There is more to Jesus’ presence than His bodily return. Keep in mind the previous section, the context of this passage. God’s people, the people of the kingdom, are the body of Christ, the hands and feet of Jesus, seeking God’s kingdom every day, all of our lives, and expected to immediately obey what God commands every moment. Just as Peter in prison immediately obeyed the command to get up and follow the angel (Acts 12:7-10), just as the Antioch Church immediately obeyed the leading of the Holy Spirit to send out Barnabas and Paul onto the mission field (Acts 13:2-3), and just as Paul immediately obeyed God’s command to cross the sea to Macedonia (Acts 16:9-10), so God’s presence can be made manifest and His will be communicated at a moment’s notice. And when that happens, God doesn’t expect His people to lay out a fleece or two to try to discern if that is really Him and what He really wants them to do.
Instead, God’s people are to live in a continual state of readiness and eager anticipation, so that when God does come to them, whether it is in a church service, or at their work, or even in the middle of the night, they are prepared to immediately open the doors, hear what God commands, and obey without delay.
So many Christians, if they expect God to communicate with them at all, believe that it will only be at Church, or during times of prayer and solitude. But God is always at work, zealously pushing His plan forward and drawing people into His kingdom. God’s people must therefore be active in pursuing these things, as well as listening intently and always (“pray continuously” 1 Thessalonians 5:17), so that when God or one of His messengers come with orders “from on high,” there is no delay, but instant understanding and instant obedience. Those who make and keep themselves available like that will see wonders and miracles that they never dreamed were possible as He works through them to accomplish His plan.
Father, this makes complete sense. I know that You have a plan that You are zealously pursuing, a plan to bring salvation to the ends of the earth. But I also know that You have chosen to work through us, Your people. I commit myself to be a servant who is always ready, even at the second or third watch of the night, to listen, to hear, and to immediately obey Your every command. Amen.