Good Stewards
“Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Luke 12:40
In Luke chapter 12, the Lord speaks to the multitude about being in anticipation of His return. He promises those gathered that He would serve those who serve Him now (verse 37). Amazing! John 13, the washing of the disciples’ feet, was not a one-time event. Nor was it an action out of the norm for Jesus. He declared, “Yet I am among you as the One who serves” (Luke 22:27b). This was His way among the disciples.
Our Master is a servant. He compels us, strengthens us, and rewards us. Peter asked if this promise was exclusive to the disciples. Jesus offered this promise to anyone who desired to be His servant.
What then is the qualification of a servant? To be a faithful and wise steward. A steward is someone who realizes that they are tending the belongings and affairs of another. I have been bought with a price. My body is the Lord’s.
Too many pastors begin to think that they own their churches that God has purchased with His blood. They suppose that the sheep belong to them, as well as the equipment and assets of the church. No, the church is God’s. We are His stewards. The steward is to make sure that what the Master gives is distributed to others. He dispenses the things of God to those who have need.
The servant who begins to lord over his master’s goods and beat the lesser servants will be punished at the coming of the Lord.
Jesus ends this portion of Scripture with both a warning and a promise, “For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more” (Luke 12:48b).
God gives to us, not that we might become hoarders or live as kings, but to dispense to others as stewards of the grace of God.
The greater responsibility lies not with the one who is in the wrong, but with the one who knows the right thing to do. “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17). Often we wonder why we are chastened, and the one with the worse attitude and the greater sin is left alone, or even prospers. We are the representatives of God. We are His stewards, and as His stewards we carry the greater responsibility. No wonder James warns about the desire to be a teacher. The teacher is responsible to live what he knows to be true!
