Master/Servant

Today, Jesus gives us a lesson on how to be good, faithful servants.

Anticipating the Master’s needs.

Vigilant, and always ready and eager to attend to the Master’s needs.

The lesson immediately calls to mind our servant-master relationship with God.

Jesus came to us as a brother, but we know that he came also as our Master.

That he’s with us still today in word and sacrament and spirit.

And that he’ll come again at the end.

To all of us at the end of time.

And to each of us at the end of our individual time on earth.

He tells us to be ready for his return.

Always ready, because he may come when we least expect him.

The way to be always ready is to be always his good and loyal servants.

Following the commands and guidance he’s given us.

And he promises to give us a great reward for our service.

He’ll sit us at table and proceed to wait on us.

So, this isn’t only a lesson on being a good servant.

It’s also a lesson on being a good master.

The good master appreciates and rewards the good servant.

Even to the point of switching positions with the servant.

And isn’t that how it is in this life?

There’s mutuality in the master-servant relationship.

Both give something and both receive something.

But the master has the power and authority.

And the servant obeys and attends to the master’s needs.

In our relationship with God, He has the power and authority, we’re always the servant.

Even though he treats us as a child, or a brother or sister.

But in our relationships with others, we’re sometimes the master and sometimes the servant.

Parents are the masters and their children are the servants.

But those children grow up to be masters of their own children.

In the workplace, we’re masters of some and servants of others.

And sometimes those roles shift between the same individuals.

We can have a situational rather than fixed status.

I knew a court manager who was also a Lieutenant in the Army reserves.

And his court deputy would become his commanding officer when they had reserve duty.

We can be both master and servant to someone who is both master and servant to us.

The master-servant relationships can begin to sound pretty complicated.

But Jesus told us how to keep it simple.

Be a servant to all—even when we find ourselves in a master’s role.

And that’s really just a corollary of his two simple, great commandments.

Love God with all your heart soul and mind.

And love your neighbor as yourself.

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lk 12:35-38           Read this Scripture @usccb.org