“The Master and the Servant”

Scripture Readings: Isaiah 53:10-11; Luke 17:7-10 (text)
February 22, 2015 • Download this sermon (PDF)
Pasig Covenant Reformed Church • Trinity Covenant Reformed Church (Imus)

Supplementary reading: “Is Jesus the Carpenter Building Mansions in Heaven?”

Introduction

Congregation of Christ: Why do many people who call themselves Christians believe that the Bible is full of contradictions? They cite many examples such as: God’s sovereignty and prayer; predestination and evangelism; God is all-knowing, but does not know everything; Jesus came to bring both peace and war; salvation is God’s work alone, but we are to repent and believe.

The problem for those so-called Christians who say there are many contradictions in the Bible is that they destroy the doctrine of inerrancy. Contradictions imply that one statement or event is right, and the other is wrong. Both cannot be right.

However, since we affirm that the Bible is the inerrant, inspired and infallible Word of God, there can never be contradictions. Every Biblical statement and event must be perfectly harmonized with the rest of the Bible. For example, a person has to repent of his sin and believe in Christ to be saved. If this is his own work, then salvation is not God’s work alone. But we see from other passages that repentance and faith are also gifts of God to the elect. So when a sinner repents and believes, he is first given a new heart by God.

Our text today is also one of those so-called problematic texts. If Jesus taught love and compassion towards our neighbors, why does he portray the master as coldhearted? He also welcomed good and faithful servants into his kingdom, but he calls servants in this parable “unworthy.” As well, in some passages, Jesus calls his disciples friends, not unwor­thy servants or slaves. Then, in the next passage, verses 11-19, Luke narrates Jesus healing ten lepers. Is there a connection between this parable and the healing of the ten lepers?

What was Jesus’ purpose in telling this parable? Is this a lesson in how bosses are not to be “slave drivers”? Or a lesson in diligently working long overtime hours to gain rewards such as a big raise? Or a lesson condemning slavery? As with many other parables, the answer is in the context. Early in Luke 17, Jesus teaches his disciples about forgiving their brethren. And they respond, “Increase our faith!” But Jesus was not talking about their faith or lack of it, telling them that through faith, they are also able to do what seems impossible. He was pointing out that forgiving those who repent of their sin, or other obedient works in obedience to his commands, is not out of the ordinary or over and beyond his call of discipleship.

Our text this afternoon is about these two men, and how God looks upon them: (1) The Sovereign Master; (2) The Humble Servant; and (3) The Master Becomes the Servant.

The Sovereign Master

In this parable and in many others, Jesus again uses a master and his servant. He knows that some of his disciples must have a servant or two, so he begins by challenging them, “Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’?

Typically, masters in the first century world are not obligated to reward their servants, other than their pay. If the servant is a slave, then masters do not even have to pay them. So even if the servant has finished his day’s work of plowing the field or caring for the sheep, the master does not owe him rest and food as compensation. Rather, the master gives him rest and food so he can have strength to continue working for him. Also, it was not honorable for a master and his household to eat together with the servant.

Is this insensitive, rude, cruel, or inconsiderate of the hard work that the servant puts in for the day? In today’s culture, the word slave or servant is not well-accepted. It is good that in most places in the world, slavery is not practiced and even unlawful. Paul says that in the sight of God, all believers are equally justified, whether men or women, Jew or Gentile, slave or free (Gal 3:28). He even writes to Philemon to forgive his former slave Onesimus, and to consider him “no longer as a bondservant but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother” (Phm 1:16).

A servant or slave working long hours will be exhausted by the end of the day. Yet the master still has the right to command him, “Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’?” To “dress properly” is also trans­lated as “having fastened on” the belt of truth in Paul’s armor of God (Eph 6:14); “preparing minds for action” (1 Pet 1:13); and “stay dressed for action” (Luke 12:35), just as the Israelites were dressed ready to leave Egypt at God’s command (Exod 12:11).

Therefore, the servant must always be ready to serve his master, whether tending the field and the sheep, or preparing supper for him. His full day’s work is not finished until he has done all his assigned tasks for the day. He can only eat and rest when his master tells him he can. In short, the master is totally sovereign over his servant; in fact, in some situations, the master owns his servant.

When the servant has efficiently and faithfully done all the work assigned to him by his master, does he get a reward or a raise? No, he does not even get a simple, “Thank you!” for it was not customary in those days to thank slaves.

With this kind of treatment from his master, how should the servant react?

The Humble Servant

Certainly, different servants will have different reactions, even though they will not show how they feel or say what they think. If we today are placed in this same situation, will we not be happy or satisfied? We will surely have feelings of anger, bitterness, sadness, resignation, or even hopelessness.

Jesus says in the parable that after having done everything commanded him, the servant must say, “We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.” What exactly was he teaching his disciples in this short but often misunderstood parable?

First, Jesus was explaining to his disciples how they are saved from sin and God’s wrath. Salvation is not a matter of merits and demerits through good works. If they believe that their good works will get them to heaven, they were absolutely wrong. In the medieval age, the church taught a person can do so much good works that are above and beyond what God requires of them. These excess merits were deposited by God in a so-called “treasury of merit” to be distributed to people who were in purgatory because they lack merits. Their demerits far outweigh their merits. Families and friends of purgatory dwellers would then buy indulgences from the church to gain heaven for them. Therefore, even with all kinds of good works, no one will be saved. All are still unworthy servants.

Second, he was pointing out to them what humility in the kingdom of God is all about. The disciples are to humble themselves as “unworthy” servants of the kingdom. It is not about who will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, because “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 18:4). Nor is it about who will sit on his right and on his left in heaven, but “whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt 20:27-28). It is about the first being the last, and the last being the first (Mark 9:35).

Third, Jesus was describing how his disciples, his servants, are to serve him. They must not serve grudgingly, or out of a mere sense of duty, or out of a desire and expectation of reward or monetary pay. Rather, they are to serve and love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength (Deu 6:5; Matt 22:37). Servants are to obey God knowing that even if they had done everything that God has commanded, God does not owe them any rewards or gifts. After all, who among his disciples is capable of doing all that they have been commanded to do? No one, not even one, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23).

Only by God’s grace alone in Christ alone is anyone saved, because all mankind are sinners without exception. Even rewards that are promised in the Bible are given to believers only by God’s grace, not because of their merits. God does not owe anyone anything.

But what about those passages where rewards are promised based on good works? God “rewards those who seek him” (Heb 11:6). Those who place the kingdom above all family and possessions will receive a hundredfold reward in this life and the next (Mark 10:29-31). Those who love and care for their brethren in Christ will get their fitting reward (Matt 10:42). But great rewards are also tempered by the certainty of persecution and sufferings, “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matt 5:12; Mark 10:30).

There also seems to be degrees of rewards in heaven—seemingly, because the passages often cited are not definitive. Two passages are most often mentioned. The first is the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25. In this parable, a master leaves his three servants with five, two and one talent. By the time the master returned from his long journey, the first two servants doubled their talents, while the third did not invest his one talent, but merely hid it. The first two servants were commended, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matt 25:21, 23). However, the rewards are not material wealth, because the master took all the talents back, but of greater responsibility, stewardship and joy in the kingdom.

The second passage is 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, where Paul says Jesus laid the foundation of the church, while Christians build upon this foundation. Again, the usual interpretation here is of degrees of rewards on the Day of Christ. But on closer look, Paul classifies our work for the kingdom of God into two: some, like “gold, silver, precious stones,” will survive and be rewarded; others, like “wood, hay, straw” will not survive and will suffer loss (13-15). God, silver and precious stones are not the rewards, but are one kind of good works. When Paul talks about these rewards, he is not talking about diamond- and gold-laden crowns, or golden mansions in the most scenic places in heaven. He is talking about whether our service for the kingdom will survive the test of faithfulness, godly motivation, and joyful obedience to God’s commandments. What then are the “rewards” for believers whose works survive God’s test? This passage merely says, “he will receive a reward.” We can go back to the Parable of the Talents, where we see that the rewards will be of greater responsibility, stewardship and joy in the kingdom.

In 1949, Ira Stanphill composed a song entitled “Mansion Over the Hilltop” that was made popular by Elvis Presley. This song is based upon the misleading translation and mistaken interpretation of Jesus’ promise in John 14:2, “In my Father’s house are many monai.” The King James Bible translates the Greek word monai into “mansions,” which in 1611, simply meant “dwelling-places.” Sadly, even though “mansions” has a very different meaning today, this word is still in use today in John 14:2.[ref]The word monai is the plural of mone, which means “home,” “abode,” “dwelling-place,” or “a place to stay or remain” (see also John 14:23). The Latin Vulgate translates it as mansiones, from which the KJV derived mansions. These are the different translations of the John 14:2’s monai and 14:23’s mone, respectively:

NIV, ESV: “rooms,” “home”
NASB: “dwelling places,” “abode”
KJV: “mansions,” “abode”;
NKJV: “mansions” (with footnote “literally, dwellings”), “home”
HCSB: “dwelling places,” “home”

Obviously, the meaning of “mansions” has changed from “dwelling-places” in 1611 to “a large and impressive house” today (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). For a fuller treatment of the translation of this word, see “A ‘Mansion’ Over the Hilltop?” by Douglas K. Kutilek, © 2009.[/ref] The first stanza says,

I’m satisfied with just a cottage below
A little silver and a little gold
But in that city where the ransomed will shine
I want a gold one that’s silver lined.

This famous song strikes us as ironic. Some Christians say that they will be satisfied with a barong-barong in heaven, for it will be much better than a palace on earth. Still, this songwriter covets a mansion, “a gold one that’s silver lined”!

Our service for God and his kingdom must be filled with joy, praise and thanksgiving to God for saving us who are “unworthy servants.” Why did Jesus follow this parable with the account of the healing of ten lepers (Luke 17:11-19)? Out of the ten lepers whom he healed, only one showed gratitude to him. This story applies in real life how we are to serve God with joy, and be thankful for all the blessings—material and spiritual—we receive from God in Christ:

How vast the benefits divine, which we in Christ possess!
We are redeemed from guilt and shame, and called to holiness. (Augustus Toplady, 1774)

Therefore, Christ tells us his servants to do “all that you were commanded.” And after we have served God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, we are to say with humility and joy, “We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.” Paul tells us that we have been set free from slavery to sin. But at the same time, Christians, “having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness” (Rom 6:18). And this slavery actually leads to sanctification and holiness (Rom 6:22). We were slaves of Satan, but now are slaves of Christ!

We also must remember that our Master, Christ the Savior and King, also did his duty towards his people. The Master became a servant to those who are “unworthy” servants.

The Master Becomes the Servant

Although our parable today does not mention this, Luke tells us in Chapter 12 of another reversal of roles. When the Master comes home from a wedding feast, “he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them” (Luke 12:37). When this Servant accomplished all that his Master had commanded him, he had perfectly and fully done his duty. “It is finished!” he exclaimed on the cross.

He served us with joy and thanksgiving to our Father, having in mind giving all glory to the Father and to the Son (John 17:1). It was the Father whom he obeyed all his life. He was Isaiah 53’s Suffering Servant. But after making an offering for the sin of his people, he was given his rewards: his resurrection, “he shall prolong his days” (Isa 53:10); and his inheritance, the people whom his Father has given him, “I will make the nations your heritage” (Psa 2:8). So, after his resurrection from the dead, he started gathering his people from all nations of the earth (Acts 1:8).

He accomplished all his Father’s will by being our Suffering Servant. The kingdom of God is also about the Master washing his servants’ feet (John 13). So let us also be servants to one another in the church. Let us be good and faithful servants, serving Christ and his church not for rewards, but because we have been called by God to serve his people. Let Paul’s words encourage us in our humble servanthood in the church:

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

And when we have done all with humility and joy, our reward will be like Christ’s exaltation in heaven: the glory that we shall inherit in the heavenly places. And not only that heaven is our inheritance. Just as the Lord told Israel’s priests, “I am your portion and your inheritance” (Num 18:20), God and Christ himself will be our inheritance, our reward.

Believe his promise of a dwelling-place for you in John 14:2:

Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God (Rev 21:3).