(Please read the Scripture passage before reading the homily.)
We have a grammar lesson today. “If the master had known when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.” What is the grammar here? It has already happened; the verbs are in the past tense. The one in charge slipped up and the thief did break into the house.
The message is clear, that the kingdom of God has broken into our house and the Christ has come. It has happened.
Peter asked if the parable were meant for the leaders or for everyone. Jesus answered with another parable, about a someone, a slave, in charge of the household. Here the point was that Christ would come again.
Looking at the grammar, we can see an “already here” with a “not already completely here” scenario. Luke, in writing the account, was directing his message to those who serve the Church in positions of leadership. The leaders of the Church must exercise their positions with trust for the good of the rest and not for their own good. While the kingdom of God has come, there is more still to come: the story is not over yet.
Jesus has inaugurated the kingdom of God and has broken into the domain of Satan. He came when least expected. He will come again, when he is least expected. The wise householder and the faithful slave will carry our their duties faithfully.
We do not know the hour, but we can be prepared, alert at our tasks and faithful to the position we hold in the kingdom. If Jesus meant his parables for his listeners and if Luke wrote the parables for the Christian community he knew, then we must read the sayings and doings of Jesus as if he was speaking to us and as if we were part of Luke’s community.
My audience consists of retirees and hospital personnel. The word of the Lord is meant for them as well as for all of us. God has called us to service and God will demand of us an accounting of our duties. Before we preach the message to others, we must apply it to ourselves.