19th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Wisdom 18:6-9
Heb 11:1-2, 8-19
Luke 12:32-48
Saint Peter’s question is my question. Is the parable intended only for Jesus’ twelve disciples and Church leaders? Or does it apply to everyone? I would add, is the parable still applicable today in the same way it was when Luke wrote his gospel?
“Sell your belongings and give alms.” How much are we supposed to sell? Everything? This seems to be what Jesus asks of the rich ruler in Luke 18:18-27. Just before today’s reading, (12:22-32) Jesus told his followers not to be anxious about food or clothing, or even to seek them. “Instead, seek God’s kingdom, and these things shall be yours as well.”
Jesus does not directly answer Peter’s question. While the parable appears to be directed to the twelve disciples and the Church’s leaders, to some extent it applies to all who want to follow Christ. The final word is in the final verse: “And to everyone to whom much was given, from him much will be demanded, and from the one to whom much has been entrusted they will request far more.” Church leaders are entrusted with great spiritual and material power. Jesus warns them if they abuse their power, they are accountable to God and will be severely punished.
Roman Catholics have suffered recently from leaders who have abused their power, and so have members of other Churches. It is often difficult to hold abusive church leaders accountable in this world; Jesus here promises God will do so in the next. Given the tremendous power they have, and the trust we bestow, bad church leaders can do enormous spiritual and temporal harm. The problem has been with us a long time: Luke would not have addressed the issue if it had not already begun to emerge in the early Church.
Because Jesus’ warnings are so clear, it appears that church leaders who are guilty of abusing their authority are practical atheists. If they believed in God, they would understand they will be severely punished for their behavior. Their actions are comprehensible if they do not believe we are all subject to God’s judgment.
Sacrificial, Loving Service
Today’s reading is not only about warnings and punishment. The dominant theme in the gospel is service. Luke uses the Greek word doulos “servant” or “slave” five times in this passage. This word is used throughout the New Testament to refer to one who gives service to the Christian community. Paul calls himself a doulos of Christ in Romans 1:1 and Gal 1:10. See also Acts 4:29. Leaders are to be servants or slaves in the Christian community.
The most striking revelation of servant leadership in today’s gospel is in verse 37, where Jesus says that when the master comes, he will have his servants sit down and the master will serve the servants!
The gospel reading begins with another surprise that is easily missed. Jesus tells his “little flock,” to fear not because God has given them the kingdom. But this is not your usual kind of kingdom, where the leaders get wealth and power. Jesus immediately tells them to sell their possessions and give alms!
Jesus’ command of loving, sacrificial service to those who want to follow him applies to everyone in the church, especially, but not only, those who are leaders. I think this is why, as usual, he did not answer Peter’s question directly. I see it as kind of a gradual, circular process of growth: the more you want to follow Jesus, the more you will live a life of service. The more you do this, the more likely it is that people will look to you for leadership; and the more you become a church leader, the more accountable you will be for living a life of sacrificial service and alms-giving.
It is just as important and just as counter-cultural, today as it was two thousand years ago. This is why I love the passage in Hebrews 11:13. If we follow Jesus’ command to serve others and regularly let go of our own material self-interest, we are certainly going to be “strangers and exiles on the earth.” Yet this is the only way to enter the joy of God’s Kingdom. And I promise you, by giving sacrificially and serving others you will already experience the some of the joy of God’s Kingdom here in this life.
