The Good Steward - A Reflection on Luke 12:39-48


“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.

A very important although not very well known word in the Christian lexicon is “stewardship”. Let’s reflect upon this today, because Jesus is talking about stewardship in the passage we just read. He says that great blessings await good stewards, but what awaits bad stewards is far from pleasant. And I’m sure we would want rewards, not punishment. So, what is stewardship? Stewardship refers to the way we look after the things that God has entrusted to us. These include time, talents, material possessions, and wealth. 

The earth and the environment are also among the things that God has entrusted to us. We find God’s instructions about this right in the beginning of creation, when Scripture declares: “God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground”” (Genesis 1:28). A little later we read that “the LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it” (Genesis 2:15). This doesn’t mean we worship “Mother Earth”, but take care of the planet we live on. 

A wonderful example of a good steward is Joseph (not the father of Jesus but he of technicolored coat fame). Scripture says that “Joseph found favor in Potiphar’s eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned” (Genesis 39:4). Joseph didn’t own anything, nothing in Potiphar’s house belonged to him, but he was made responsible for it all. Similarly, even though we might like to think otherwise, we don’t own anything. Nothing belongs to us. It’s all God’s, and he will call us to account for what we did with it.

Over the past two weeks we have reflected a few times about how we need to look after the Levite (that’s the priest), the stranger (these are the people in need), the fatherless (these are the starving children), and the widow (these stand for the helpless)”. We are told to put them even ahead of ourselves. I suspect many of you listening to this didn’t like this advice, but just think of how it will sound if we have to make a defense of ourselves before God. He asks: “Did you look after my sheep?” And we answer, “Only the ones in my own home.” You see what I’m saying?

We don’t have to neglect the people who are near and dear to us, but we have to realize we have a responsibility toward others. About sixteen children have died of causes due to malnutrition since you started watching this reflection — that’s one every fifteen seconds — but as long as our children don’t have to go to sleep hungry, who cares about them? I am not trying to shame you into doing something. I’m just trying to bring you to an awareness of our responsibility, because we will be called to account for it. 

And let us remember that 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. That’s Jesus, not me.

Watch a video of this reflection by Aneel Aranha here:   https://youtu.be/WllpwelSuzY


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