Let your waist be girded: A Meditation on Luke 12

New Year’s Eve this year, is the eve of a festival day too infrequently remembered:  the Eve of the Circumcision of Jesus.  For those who may not remember, Jesus was circumcised according to the Law of Moses and the covenant God established with Abraham, like any other young male child of Israel.  Though Jesus is the same God who spoke to Abraham regarding the covenant, and the same God whose finger etched the stone tablets of the Law for Moses on Mt. Sinai, Jesus also voluntarily places Himself under His own Law.  He receives in His flesh the mark of the covenant, and by the shedding of His most precious blood, is counted among the people He has come to save.

While it is fitting that our Lord would fulfill all righteousness and accomplish every jot and tittle of the Law (that He may be without sin, a spotless sacrifice for the sins of mankind,) we should remember that this is done entirely for our sakes.  Jesus does not need the covenant of Abraham to be united to God, any more than He needs the Law of Moses—Jesus is very God of very God, begotten, not made, of one being with the Father, through whom all things were made.  Jesus has always been the eternally begotten Son of the Father, united with the Holy Spirit, in perfect communion and harmony.  It is man who needs the Law to see how far he has fallen from the grandeur and beauty of fellowship with the Most Holy Trinity, not Jesus.  Jesus freely places Himself under His own Law, that He might give His life as a ransom for the world.  He takes on flesh and blood, that through the unity of His Divine Person, He might give His flesh and blood for the sins of all mankind.  This is the mystery of the Lord’s Supper, when He says, “This is My Body… this is My Blood… given… shed for you, for the forgiveness of sins.”  Jesus makes His flesh to be food indeed, and His blood to be drink indeed:  a heavenly food, far greater than the manna which fed Moses and the people during the Exodus.  This food is Jesus Himself, His grace poured out through His sacrifice on the Cross, that all who would receive Him by faith, would live forever in Him.  This is the food we really need, that we might live forever.  This is the food Jesus has given to us, that we might have our food in due season, being nourished and enlivened in Him.

When Jesus tells His disciples in the twelfth chapter of Luke, that they should have their loins girded and their lamps burning, He is telling them that they should be about His work in the world.  Jesus tells them that the servants so at work when He returns, will be blessed, and that He will come in to them, and serve them, giving to them that food which is life everlasting.  But with this encouragement, is also an admonishment.  We are called to both be working, feeding the needs of the people given to our care, and to be watching for the Lord’s coming, because we do not know the hour of His return.  We are set at work by the Word of the Lord, to love God and our neighbor with perfect, heavenly, righteous, sacrificial love, and by faith to hear His Word, believe and trust it, and to watch for His return.  It is His calling to all, to remain in Faith, Hope, and Love, and to await His coming, no matter how long He may tarry.

This teaching of Jesus seems to unsettle His disciples, and they ask Him:  is this only for us, or do you speak it to all the people?  Jesus responds with the simplest of answers:  who shall I reward in the Kingdom of Heaven, giving authority to feed the people and provide to them the grace that meets their needs, except those I find so doing when I come?  It is simple, and elegant, and terrible all at once.  Who among us wants to be held in honor or prestige in heaven, or given a place of honor or authority in the Kingdom of God?  That one should be about the sacrificial, selfless, humiliating service of their neighbor in this world, giving to the people what they really need:  Jesus, the suffering and humiliated Son of God.  There is no place of honor or authority in God’s Kingdom, except that which is given by the Suffering Servant, who gives His life as a ransom for many.  The place of highest honor and authority in heaven and earth, is the Right Hand of the Father Almighty, where Jesus is seated, who will come again in glory to judge both the living and the dead.  If we are to be honored by the Son of God, then we must be at work as He has sent us, caring for our neighbors by a faith working in love, which sacrifices the self for the sake of the other.  From the highest ecclesiastical offices in the Church, to the humble hearth of a family home, the expectation is the same.  And to whom much has been given, much will be required.

And so we must ask ourselves, who are our neighbors?  How have we treated them?  Not just the ones we enjoy, but the ones who tax us, who hurt us, who wound us with their insensitivity and selfishness.  What have you done for the one who has slandered you, and despitefully used you?  What have you done for the one who spits upon you, beats you, abuses you, and leaves you weeping?  What have you done for the one who curses you, who threatens you, and speaks falsely against you?  Surely, it is easy to love those who love us, but even tax collectors and brigands do the same.  Jesus, however, loves even you.  He died for every one of those people who lied about Him, cursed Him, and sent Him scourged to die on a Cross.  He gave His life for you, whose sins nailed Him to the tree.  And for all those who wound you, He calls you, to serve them as He served them: to show them the means of their redemption and salvation, which is the grace of God in Christ Jesus.

As we embark upon a new year, we must hear the call of our Lord, to be faithfully at work, waiting for His return.  We hear Him call to us, that despite all our failings and evil, He has sought us out, and saved us by His grace, that we might live by faith in Him forever.  And through us, He calls to all the world, that He might by our hands, and by our mouths, give to the people their food in due season—the food which comes down from heaven, which if we eat of it we shall live forever, even Jesus Christ our Savior.

May your loins be girded, and your lamp burning, that the Lord may find you faithfully at work when He comes, tending to your neighbor with a love born of His love, and a faith born of Word and Spirit.  Amen.