Storyteller - Day 8

Welcome to Week 2 and Day 8 of "Storyteller", Sarah Koontz's latest Bible study, available at livingbydesign.org.

Today's reading gives us two passages of Scripture, namely Luke 12: 35 - 40, and Mark 13: 32 - 37. These two passages share similar analogies, both of which highlight "the importance of faithful labor while looking for the Lord’s return," Sarah Koontz.

I'm going to share the text of the Mark passage here for you to read ...

Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps alight And 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 shall 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. And 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.”

Our modern culture doesn't like waiting ... in fact, we've gone to great lengths to invent ways to avoid it! That's why we have 2-minute noodles, drive-through takeaways, speed-dating and instant coffee.

But the Bible is full of God-ordained waiting ... Abraham and Sarah waited 25 years between the promise and the birth of their son; David waited 15 years between his anointing and his coronation; and Scripture tells us that God sent the Messiah to the world "when the fullness of time had come" (Galatians 4: 4 ESV).

Today's passages tell us that Jesus doesn't eliminate waiting in the lives of Believers. Rather, in these parables, Jesus clearly sees waiting as an act of faithfulness! He's teaching us that God is present in the ordinary circumstances of our lives, even in our waiting. And He is teaching us that we need to remain both active and alert in our waiting.

You most likely wouldn't only be alert when you have guests coming over for dinner, ready to jump up and open the door as soon, and then active once they're in your home, serving them a drink and making sure they're comfortably seated ... more likely, you would have been active before your guests arrived, tidying your house, setting the table, and preparing a meal for you and them to enjoy.

In the same way, our waiting for the Lord’s return isn't a time of "dormancy". The work of the Kingdom - sharing the Good News, making disciples, praying without ceasing, being salt and light, and building one another up - is why we need to "dressed for action" now!

As Believers we can't afford to live lives of smug, passive indifference, "safe" in the knowledge that our eternity is secure, and nevermind that there's a huge number of people in the world who need to find the Hope that we have.

Sarah Koontz explains the two analogies so well, when she says: "In both parables, the faithful servants are unified by three p’s:

● Position: Under the authority of the master.

● Priority: Alert to the master’s agenda.

● Purpose: Prepared to serve the master."

We don't know when Christ is coming, that much is for certain. But it's just as certain that there is plenty of kingdom work to be done while we wait, in all the world, in our local communities, and in our local churches.

Is your lamp shining? It's time for us to get dressed, friends!

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