Message Information
- Key Scriptures: Luke 12:35-48, NASB
- Series: Luke (2025-2027), no. 45
- Date: Sunday, January 4, 2026 (Morning)
- Venue: Central Baptist Church — Lawton, Oklahoma
- Speaker: Jared Byrns
- Audio File: Open/Download
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Thinking We Have Plenty of Time
Well, as Janie mentioned to the kids, life for a lot of people is about to return to normal after the brief holiday season we’ve had. It feels like it went by faster than usual. But with so much more time at home as opposed to the rest of the year, I’ve done more cooking than I normally have time to do. My wife is a good cook, but she does it because she has to.
Somebody’s got to feed everybody. I do it because I like to, but I don’t usually have time to. And so I’ve done more cooking, being at home, which I think she likes, except I have a couple of bad habits. One of those is losing track of time, and the other is underestimating how long something takes to cook.
And it happens all the time. It happened New Year’s Day. I put on a pot of black-eyed peas, as one does. I actually started the day before soaking them and marinating them and all that.
And we were going to have them for lunch and about 10 45 I thought I better turn those on yeah we had them for dinner it doesn’t even if you soak them it does not take an hour and 15 minutes to cook a pot of black eyed peas but that I always do that I always think I’ve got plenty of time the worst example was probably I think it was last year Benjamin’s birthday I think I may have told y’all this story before but last time we were in Shreveport I bought something called a bucket that is a five-gallon bucket with a special lid that screws on and has vent holes in the top and it’s got an electrical it’s got an electrical coil that sits in there in the bottom and you plug it in and it heats the water and I can boil shrimp and crawfish outside which my wife is much happier about but I put five gallons of cold water in this thing about an hour and a half before Benjamin’s birthday party was supposed to start, and we were cutting it really, really close to try to get five gallons of water to boil in time for everybody to eat, and we had party guests coming. I do this all the time. I think I’ve always got more time than what I actually do, and so I will put things off, not because I don’t want to do them, but I get busy doing other things, and so I just, I’ll start later, and that always ends up being a mistake.
The Time to Be Ready Is Now
That’s the very thing that Jesus talks to his disciples about in Luke chapter 12, where we left off last week. And he goes to tell them a few stories that deal with this idea of needing to be ready, needing to be ready, and trying to dispel them of this idea that I can really get serious about serving him later. I can really get, I can really buckle down and follow him later. I’ve got all the time in the world.
Jesus uses these stories to illustrate to them that really the time to do it is now. And that’s what we’re going to look at this morning. And even though I didn’t plan it that way, it’s God’s providence, I felt like it fit really well with all we’re talking about with the beginning of the year. But here’s what Jesus says to them starting in Luke 12, 35.
Waiting Servants
Be dressed in readiness and keep your lamps lit. Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will gird himself to serve and have them recline at the table and will come up and wait on them, whether he comes in the second watch or even in the third and finds them so. Blessed are those slaves.
The Homeowner and the Thief
But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into. You too be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect. Peter said, Lord, are you addressing this parable to us or to everyone else as well?
Faithful Servants Remain on Duty
And the Lord said, who then is the faithful and sensible steward whom his master will put in charge of his servants to give them their rations at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.
Corrupt Servants Abuse Their Freedom
But if that slave says in his heart, My master will be a long time in coming, and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him, and in an hour that he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.
Accountable for What We Know
And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will will receive many lashes, but the one who did not know it and committed deeds worthy of a flogging will receive but few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required, and to whom they entrusted much of him they will ask all the more. And I’ll point out, even though it really doesn’t deal with the point of this message, just to help us move past it. When we come to a passage like this, where the New Testament talks about slaves and servants, there’s a lot of debate over which word it should be translated.
I think maybe the lines weren’t always as clear back in that day as we would like to make them. But people will look at passages like this and say, well, see, the Bible condones slavery. First of all, slavery in the Roman world was different. I’m not saying it was pleasant, but I’m saying it was different from what America experienced.
And so we have to look at it through, not through our lens of 21st century Americans, but we have to look at it through the lens of people living in the first century. It was a different world. But also, Jesus is not saying, hey, slavery’s great. He’s telling a story from the culture that people would have understood.
If you or I used an example of something that happened as a cautionary tale to our children, it doesn’t mean that we are affirming everything that happened. I don’t know if this is brilliant parenting or concerning parenting, but there are sketches from unsolved mysteries that have stuck in my head since I was a child and affected decisions that I’ve made. No, I’m not going to do that. That little girl got taken.
I have used those clips of that show to show my children, here’s why we tell you to do this or not do that, because it’ll stick with them. Doesn’t mean I affirm everything that happened there. So just want to be clear on that, because sometimes when we come to a passage like this, in our 21st century American minds, we can’t get past the fact that he’s talking about slavery. He’s telling a story to make a point.
Our Master May Return at Any Moment
And his point in this, in what he was telling them, and in its meaning for us is that our master may return at any moment. That’s really the point he wants them to understand. He can return at any moment. Now, that might sound like a strange thing to tell them because he was there with them right at that moment.
But everything he’s doing through this section of Luke is preparing them to be able to carry on the work and continue with the mission once he’s gone. And at the point when Jesus is crucified, at the point when Jesus is buried, they are still not in a position. They are not strong enough to carry on with the mission. But after his resurrection and after his appearances, all of this training that he does during this time kicks in for them.
And that’s why we see people who are such bold and faithful and consistent witnesses for the gospel. It was because all of this time that Jesus spent training them. And so as we’re here in Luke chapter 12, Jesus is preparing them for something that’s going to happen 12 chapters later when they’re going to be on their own and they’re going to be sent out on the mission. They go out and they fulfill their mission with the understanding that he could return at any given moment.
And that’s still true for us. He could return at any given moment. Now, when I was a kid, my pastor used to say that could be for all of us or it could be for any of us. He could return for any one of us.
He could call any one of us home at any given moment, or he could call all of us home at any given moment. And so we operate off that expectation that we see there in the first five or so verses of this passage, where in a couple places he tells these stories to make comparisons to his disciples. So we go back to the beginning of this passage where he tells them, be dressed in readiness and keep your lamps lit. Be ready for anything that may happen.
Keep your lamps lit means be ready to go to the door. Be ready to go answer the door. Be ready to lay a table whenever the master comes. Just be ready.
He says be dressed in readiness. Some of you know as well as I do. Having spent a lifetime in Oklahoma, there are certain nights in the springtime where you might go to bed fully dressed. There have been times I have slept fully dressed.
Everything but my boots, ready in case those sirens went off and we had to get the kids to the cellar. That’s being dressed in readiness. I’m still going to go to bed, but I’m prepared at a moment’s notice to do what needs to be done. And he tells these stories about these characters who represent the disciples.
In verses 36 through 38, he talks about the disciples as these waiting servants. These servants did not know when the master was going to come home from a wedding feast. And so there were those who would wait for him in order to let him in. And the idea there is that you close up the house so that it’s secure, so that you’re not having to worry about robbers.
Somebody’s got to let the master in. Somebody’s got to be there waiting up when the master gets home to let him in, to do his bidding, to do the things that he needs to be done. And the faithful servant is going to be sitting up waiting to let him in. Well, the unfaithful servant is not going to be ready and the master is going to have to wait on the servant to let him in.
But something strange happens here in verse 37. He says, when they come in or when they let him in, truly I say to you that he will gird himself, and I had to read this a couple of times to make sure I wasn’t confusing the pronouns here. That he will gird himself to serve and have them recline at the table and will come up and wait on them. That is not something that happens every day in the ancient world.
That the master comes home at some unexpected time and he’s so overjoyed that the servants are just doing what they’re supposed to do that he actually girds himself about. This is a picture of Jesus at the last supper. And he begins to pour for them and he begins to serve them while they recline at the table to eat. And it’s a sign that for those servants who have stayed faithful and have prepared for his return and who are doing what they’re supposed to do at his return, the master in turn is going to care for them beyond what they could ever expect or imagine.
And so they needed to be ready even at the time that was least expected. He said whether he comes in the second watch or the third watch and finds them so. We’re talking about a period of time between midnight and 3 a. M.
Any of you alert at that time? I am not. That doesn’t mean that he’s expecting you and me to sit up between midnight and 3 a. M.
And wait for his return. It’s a picture there that we’re supposed to be ready even if he comes at the most unexpected and inconvenient time. And then there’s the next story that he moves into just there in verse 39, the next comparison. He’s comparing the disciples to a homeowner.
But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into. We understand that. How many of you saw the Home Alone movies during Christmas time? I think it was on repeat at our house.
My kids love that movie. It makes me nervous to walk upstairs and things. They might be booby-trapped. I know that it’s fiction, okay?
But suspending disbelief for a minute, in the movie, why was the little boy so effective at combating the burglars? It’s because he knew when they were coming. There’s that scene, he’s sitting there praying over his mac and cheese, and the clock strikes, and he realizes, oh, it’s the time they’re supposed to be back. Yeah, if we know when the bad guys are coming, we’re going to be ready for them.
They don’t announce, though, do they? If you’ve ever had your house broken into or something stolen or something stolen out of your car they didn’t send you advance warning about when they were going to come did they that’s not how thieves operate unless they’re just really gutsy thieves that enjoy the challenge no so we have to be on guard all the time we have to make sure we’re prepared at any given moment and that’s the example that he gives here to the disciples sure if the homeowner knew when the thieves were coming he’d be prepared at that moment but he doesn’t so he has to be prepared at every moment and his point in telling them all of these things in giving both of these stories to them is that they need to be prepared for his return at any moment don’t do the thing that kids do where dad leaves or mom leaves and says, I’ll be home later. I need these chores done. And they sit around all day thinking, oh, I’ve got all the time in the world.
And then suddenly they hear dad’s car or mom’s car coming down the road toward the house, or they hear the garage door open or something like that, and they start scrambling, trying to get it all done at the last minute. Don’t do that. Don’t be that kid in the kingdom. All right? He’s telling us to get our chores done now.
A Message for Everyone
And then when we go to verse 41, and the verses after, Jesus’ interaction with Peter demonstrates that this message is for everybody because Peter asked Jesus a question. Are you telling these parables for us or for everybody here? Because we’re in a circumstance where there are hundreds of people around, and Jesus is saying these things in the hearing of the hundreds of people, but He’s really turned to the twelve over here. All the people can hear this, but it’s for the twelve.
Peter asked that question, is it for us or is it for everybody? And Jesus doesn’t answer the question directly, but we can tell from his answer that it’s for everyone. This is a message for everyone, down through the ages to us as well. And as he goes on and he tells the stories that answer Peter’s question, we see a couple of servants again that he talks about and describes.
We see a faithful servant in verses 41 through 44, and we see a corrupt servant in verses 45 and 46. And from the comparison, we see that faithful servants remain on duty. What is the difference between a faithful servant and a corrupt servant? A faithful servant remains on duty.
We’re not talking about short bursts of really intense passion for serving Jesus. We are talking about slow and steady, day in, day out, doing the faithful thing, whether it’s flashy, whether it’s exciting or not, just being faithful in that moment. Probably over a year ago, Miss Janie, talking to the kids, used an example of crocheting that has stuck with me and I’ve used numerous times. I’ll give you a commission, like 10% of the amens on every time I use this story for the rest of my life.
But she talked about how it’s just a simple motion. It doesn’t look simple to me, but if you know what you’re doing, it’s a simple motion, I guess. But you’re making this simple motion, and it doesn’t seem like much, but just that small motion over and over, just small, consistent efforts. Eventually, you end up with a blanket or a sweater or whatever, and that has been such a brilliant picture of Christian faithfulness to me ever since I heard it.
God is not calling us necessarily, all of us, to do big, splashy things. He’s calling us to do small, consistent acts of faithfulness day in and day out. And that’s what He’s called them to do. And so He talks about the assignment that is given to these stewards as we go to verse 42.
The Lord said, Who then is the faithful and sensible steward whom his master will put in charge of his servants? The steward is a servant, somebody that works for the master, but he’s someone who’s been given a position of responsibility. All right, so his assignment here was to take care of the other servants, the other slaves, depending on how your translation reads, put in charge of them to give them their rations at the proper time, making sure they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing, making sure the work gets done, and making sure they are cared for in the way that the master would do if he was there. That was what these stewards were given to do.
And his expectation, okay, so the master has given them, this is your job to do. What did the master expect to find when he returned home? The work done. Do what I left you to do.
That was his expectation that the steward would actually do it. He expected that he would come back, he would find the steward being responsible and everything in the household being well managed. And the result of that is that steward who was faithful would be given even greater responsibility. Because he says in verses 43 and 44, Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes.
Truly I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. Jesus is telling us that God is looking for consistency and faithfulness. And when we’re consistent and when we’re faithful God is pleased by that and he will entrust us with more now some of us may look at that and say I don’t think I could handle being entrusted with anymore we can’t we can’t handle what we’re entrusted with now but he can he can he never gives us more than what he can handle and so these are our instructions as believers to continue on in faithfulness. While the master is not physically with us, to continue to faithfully day in and day out, consistently do the things that the master has given us to do.
In their context, what he’s training them for, again, is that mission. In his absence, to be able to go out and tell people about the king and that his kingdom has arrived. Our mission is very similar, and it’s found in the Great Commission. Go and make disciples.
He even explains to us what that means to make disciples. Baptize them and teach them to observe all things that I have commanded you. Baptism implies they have trusted Christ as their Savior. Teaching them to observe means we’re teaching them to obey Jesus Christ.
Our mission as believers, our mission as a church, is to make disciples by helping unbelievers find Jesus Christ and helping believers obey Jesus. That’s our job. That’s what He’s given us to do in His absence. These are our instructions, and we go toward these instructions with the understanding that we only have a limited time to do them before we stand face-to-face with the Master.
Now, that may be 40 years. That may be 40 minutes, But it goes by faster than we anticipate. And so, while we have the time, however long or however short it may be, we’re supposed to manage the work that He’s given to us. And as I was studying on this, and I was thinking over this passage this week, thinking about what is it we’re called to do?
What is it that keeps us from doing the things we’re called to do? I was listening to a podcast with some pastors talking, and they weren’t talking about this passage, but they were talking about the very same concept, this idea of what is it that we’re supposed to do in this mission of making disciples, and what keeps us from doing that? And I wish I could remember who it was. But I wrote down some of what they shared because they point out some of the things that will keep us from obeying Him and making disciples.
Staying too busy with other things. That’s a huge one. We can get so busy with other things that we kind of shove that to the side. We can do that as individual believers.
It is really easy for me to get focused on my to-do list. On my to-do list, and forget the to-do list he’s given me that has one item on it. And that’s not to say there aren’t things that you and I have to get done. We do need to eat every day.
We do need to practice basic hygiene. We do need to dress. He even talks about those being necessities. There are things that we have to do.
They just can’t become the priority. But they talked about how we can let busyness with other things distract us. That can happen for a church too. We can get so busy even doing good things, but they’re not making disciples and so they become a distraction.
They talked about conflict and disunity stemming from when we focus on ourselves. Satan would love nothing more than to get us fighting amongst ourselves because then we get focused on that instead of making disciples. Passivity about our personal devotions if you and i become passive about we’re not it seems so simple it seems like the sunday school answer read your bible pray every day and you’ll grow grow grow we kind of treat that like it’s a cliche but there there’s a reason we’re taught that as little kids because it’s true if we study god’s word and we spend time talking to him in prayer, we will grow. And guess what?
We’ll be focused on the things that He’s given us to do. If we become passive in following Him in those little things, it doesn’t bode well for our focus on the bigger issue of making disciples. And then apprehension about the authority of God’s Word. And I had to stop and think about this one a little more.
But if we don’t believe God’s word if we don’t trust God’s word we’re not going to obey it and there are churches there are churches even in our community that don’t teach that the Bible is God’s word they would say it’s a good rule book it’s good moral teaching and too long of that kind of teaching, the church turns into a social club. And we have pretty music and pretty surroundings and fun fellowships, but we’re not making disciples and we’re not bringing people to Jesus. God forbid that ever become the direction this church goes. And sometimes that’s the way i teach the way i do trying to explain this is why we believe this is how we know this is true some of you may be saying i’ve sit i’ve sat in church for 60 70 years i’m not in doubt about this there may be somebody sitting on the pew with you who has questions about it.
Or there may be somebody sitting at your Thanksgiving table or your Christmas table or somebody that you encounter next door who has questions. I want you to have the answers. I want the authority of God’s Word to be something this church feels in its bones and is at the core of who we are. Because if we believe that, we’ll do it.
If we believe that, we’ll do it. And so these are some of the things that they pointed out. And I thought that goes perfectly in line with what we’re talking about. If we see what is it that God wants us to do, and we all agree that it’s important, why don’t we always do it?
We need to look at the things that get in our way and cause us to lose focus. We have to focus our attention and our activity on Jesus. If it doesn’t help non-believers find Jesus or help believers obey Jesus, It can’t be our priority. It can’t be.
Again, are there things that happen, that need to happen, that don’t fall into those categories? Yes. I need to balance my checkbook so we don’t end up homeless. But that can’t be the focus of every day.
That’s just a tool to keep us going so that we can help people find and obey Jesus. I need to move on. Verse 45, corrupt servants abuse their freedom. Faithful servants stay on duty.
Corrupt servants abuse their freedom. Look at what he… I put the wrong verses up there for you. It should be 45 and 46.
But look at what the other servant does in this scenario when the master’s gone. If a slave says in his heart, my master will be a long time coming. In other words, I’ve got all the time in the world. He’ll be a long time coming, and he doesn’t know when the master’s coming back.
He begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. Got somebody that says, I’ve got all the time in the world. I’m just going to run amok, and I’m going to do what I want to do, and I’m going to focus on what makes me happy. And the master comes back, and how do you think he feels about that?
Not happy. I promise you there are no trick questions. I won’t do that to you. He’s upset, but I don’t want to say it.
Yeah, he’s not happy. Verse 46 says, the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him, and in an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. The servant doesn’t do what he should, thinking there’s plenty of time. As a matter of fact, I’ve got plenty of time to work in what I want to do, and then come back maybe later and do what the master has given me.
And there’s a lot of debate about these verses here. Some Bible teachers will say that it’s a warning to believers not to neglect their mission. Some people say it’s a warning to non-believers not to assume judgment will never come. And I wish I could stand here this morning and tell you I know exactly who he’s talking to and talking about.
But I’ve told you before that my technique that I’ve adopted, when you look at a passage and there are two reasonable conclusions you can draw about what he’s talking about, but you don’t know which one it is, look for what’s true either way. Look for the common thread between them. And the common thread between these two interpretations of this is just that it’s foolish to ignore the reality that someday, sooner than we realize, we’re all going to answer to him for what we do today. That’s true whether he’s talking to believers or whether he, who just aren’t acting right, or whether he’s talking to non-believers who are rejecting him.
Either way, we understand that someday we will answer to him for what we do today. And we see in the closing verses of this passage that the master holds us accountable for what we do with what we know. What if we don’t understand everything he’s told us to do? Let me ask you this.
Anybody in here, is there anybody in this room who’s been a believer for over 40 years? Would you raise your hand? Hey, what about 50? Okay, 60?
I feel like I’m at an auction. 70? 80? Okay, we’ve got a couple that were at 70.
Do you know more than you did when you started out? Do you know more now than when you started out? Okay. Do you know everything?
No. 70 plus years walking with Jesus, and they still don’t understand everything about God’s word. So if we live in fear because I don’t understand everything, what if I miss something he’s calling me to do? He holds us accountable for what we know and what we do with what we know.
That’s why he talks about the slave who knew the master’s instructions and did the opposite. He would be given many lashes, and the one who didn’t really understand the master’s instructions and didn’t do them would be given fewer lashes. God rewards us according to what we knew and did, and he chastens us according to what we knew and did. He holds us accountable for what we know.
But the scriptures tell us that the one thing we all know is that we’ve sinned against God. Even if we don’t want to acknowledge it, we know it. The Bible tells us that God’s law is written on our hearts. And it tells us because of that we are without excuse.
There’s a day coming when each of us will stand before the Master. And it’s a good idea for us to consider now what we would say to the Master when we stand before Him. Are we going to stand before Him having ignored everything He told us to do? And try to make excuses.
Are we going to stand before him without regrets because we’ve served faithfully? I’ll tell you what, even if we’ve served faithfully, we’re going to have places we’ve messed up that we’ll regret. Thankfully, the master loved us enough to pay for those moments. But there is a day when we’ll all stand before him.
And we’ll give an account for every word, every action, every sin. We’ll give an account for all of it. The scariest verse in the Bible to me is the one that talks about how we will give an account for every idle word. Because I talk a lot.
That scares me. The only plea that any of us have when we stand before the Master is not anything that we’ve done. And yes, this calls us to be faithful, but this is talking about once we belong to Him. We will each stand before the Master, whether we’ve acknowledged that we belong to Him or not, and be called on to give an account for the lives we’ve lived.
And each of us carries sin that we’ll have to answer for. And I don’t care how well we’ve lived in this life. Not one of us is going to be welcomed into his kingdom on our merits. Because no matter how well we’ve lived, we can’t erase the sin that we bring with us.
The only way we will be welcomed when we stand before the Master is through the confidence that He loved us enough to take responsibility for our sin, be nailed to the cross in our place, shed His blood, and die so that we could be forgiven.
Faithfulness follows salvation, but first we must understand that Jesus paid for our sins. If you have never trusted Christ as your Savior, the message is simple. Simple does not always mean easy, because we must get past the pride that says, “I am fine. I can do this myself.” But the truth itself is simple: we have sinned against God, we cannot make it right, and Jesus paid for it in full. Three days later, He rose again to prove it.
He now offers forgiveness and salvation, not because of anything you can do, earn, or deserve, but because He has paid the price. Before you stand face-to-face with Him, I implore you to respond while you have the opportunity.
