God's Last Words

WHO’s Your Boss?
Luke 12: 32-40 NRSV

Personnel directors of one hundred corporations were asked to describe their most unusual experiences interviewing prospective employees. Here are some:

-A job applicant challenged the interviewer to an arm wrestle.
-Interviewee wore a Walkman, explaining that she could listen to the interviewer and the music at the same time.
-Candidate fell off chair and broke arm during interview.
-Candidate announced she hadn't had lunch and proceeded to eat a hamburger and French fries in the interviewer’s office.
-Candidate said he never finished high school because he was kidnapped and kept in a closet in Mexico.
-Balding Candidate excused himself and returned to the office a few minutes later wearing a headpiece.
-Applicant said if he was hired he would demonstrate his loyalty by having the corporate logo tattooed on his forearm.

My favorite: The applicant interrupted interview to phone her therapist for advice on how to answer specific interview questions.

Employee job descriptions are subject to company expectations and supervision.   

Did you see this TV show? A young man named Ronnie was a shift supervisor who happened to be training a woman named Sarah for what he thought was her new job as a waitress at a Boston Market restaurant.  

As they worked, Ronnie talked about how much the customers irritated him. “I literally hate customers more than anything in the entire world. I hate them so much,” he told Sarah. “It’s all about them all the time and their demands,” he continued, adding his disdain at having to suffer through the day serving customers.  

Oops! Sarah was, in fact, the “Chief Brand Officer” at Boston Market who was a subject on CBS’s Undercover Boss. Ronnie was shocked to learn the trainee was actually a bigwig at the company. Even after he learned who she was, he still failed to show any remorse at his comments.  

“I could tell them my attitude would change but I don’t think it was that terrible,” he said, out of earshot of Sarah after the big reveal. Let’s hear about Jesus’ concept of employee relations from Luke 12: 32-40:

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 

“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.”  

Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for everyone?” And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and prudent manager whom his master will put in charge of his slaves, to give them their allowance of food at the proper time?

Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives.Truly I tell you, he will put that one in charge of all his possessions. But if that slave says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and if he begins to beat the other slaves, men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour that he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and put him with the unfaithful. 

That slave who knew what his master wanted, but did not prepare himself or do what was wanted, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know and did what deserved a beating will receive a light beating. From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded. 

This is a great illustration of how the kingdom of God takes the attitudes and values of the world as we know it, and turns them inside out.  

Jesus told us in the Gospel of Mark that the Son of God came not to be served but to serve. The God of the universe cares for us and wants to serve us! No other human religion of faith has such a belief. 

Notice what the master in Jesus’ story does. He grabs an apron and begins to serve his servants. On the other hand, our friend Ronnie, is a bad example of a person whose job it is to serve others who complains at having to “suffer through the day serving customers.” 

Jesus began the discourse with two traditional images for action: girded loins and lamps lit. Girded loins prepared one for running and moving around. The clothes were tied up in a fashion similar to an apron. Having your lamps lit refers to being able to move around at night.  

Taken together, the images painted the idea of quick, nighttime travel. In the context of Luke 12, the night referred to the trials (the dark times) before the Final Judgment. In other words, the Christian community was to be prepared for fast action, in spite of persecution, when they least expected it. 

What does this mean today? It means being able to be ready with a Christian witness and response when you encounter evil and wrong in our world. I was showing folks this morning a copy of a $ 50 off your abortion coupon from the Orlando Women’s Center as just such an example. The kicker – the coupon is good only on Sunday. 

Remember, Jesus finished these few verses with an admonition. Be ready! You don't know when the Son of Man will come. We still don't know, but we are forewarned. 

We need to be at peace with every day, for each new day may be the start of eternity. Life is far too tough for us to wander off the track of being ready. Let us focus on the small things and know that the larger things will take care of themselves. 

Bernice had been employed at the same office for over 50 years and was the boss’s top secretary. Everyone was jealous of her. Every day when Bernice showed up for work she would open the drawer to her left, peek inside, and then lock it.  

When she finally died, her coworker Sandy, who was dying of curiosity, made it her mission to figure out what was in that drawer. After days of searching she finally found the key. Sweating with excitement she slowly opened up the drawer. 

Inside was a folded piece of paper. Slowly she reached inside and took it out, while cautiously looking over her shoulder. After a few seconds of trepidation she opened it up. It said the following “Put only one spoonful of sugar in the boss’s coffee.”

 

Wow. That's being ready to serve someone else, isn't it? 

Perhaps the most practical thing to take from this message is this: Charles Kingsley said it best: “Have thy tools ready; God will find thee work.” And God, who is our Boss, will take care of us!  

The paper passed down by this church says: “Biblically Affirm Salvation in Christ.” Amen.