URC Daily Devotion 12 February 2025

St Luke 12: 35 – 40

‘Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit;  be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks.  Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them.  If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. ‘But know 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, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.’

Reflection

A recent news item reported burnout of GPs, in part due to their isolation and inability to separate work from other life.  This became linked, willy-nilly, to another item about isolation, individuality and separation.  The first item about burn-out, the second individuality, are unrelated; to the news algorithm the word isolation meant they were linked.  

Research now suggests loneliness is greatest not among elderly but among the 20’s – 35’s goes hand-in-hand with modern thinking about being an individual, being independent, being separate.  This is different from the sense of isolation from overwork and stress which leads to burn out and an inability to make human connections.  

The call to awareness in this reading implies more than one person waiting for the master; keeping themselves awake, cheerful and alert: not one person becoming more grumpy and feeling more put upon.  The feelings of the independent individual which stem from: “I can do this, I don’t need anyone”, or the: “I am too busy to involve someone else” of the burnt out person, don’t fit the picture.

Noting that the gospel writers linked the narratives about Jesus’ life and words as they understood, like the algorithm linking the word “isolation”, what we infer from the gospels varies.  We find: “if you’d known a thief was coming you wouldn’t let them break in”, an odd aside yet we have “smart” doorbells doing the duty of the staff on guard.   This master, whether he is the groom or a well-off wedding guest arriving home having drunk deeply of the wedding wine, decides to serve his staff.   It draws the contrast rather more sharply between what the Son of Man will do when he arrives and expected behaviour.  We are not invited to compare the behaviour of the master to the alert and aware staff with that towards the grumpy, sleep confused group, but to compare our behaviour.   As Christians, we are invited to show a generous, thankful welcome to those we meet: a reflection of the godly behaviour of the Son of Man.  

Prayer 

Generous God,
bless us with the ability to be alert and aware 
even when we would rather someone else is,
to be alert and aware when we would rather someone 
was alert and aware toward us.  
Bless us with the ability to be thankful for your alert 
awareness towards us, everyday.

Amen