This is the image Our Lord gives us when he speaks about the servants who are waiting for the return of the master:
"Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the marriage feast, so that they may open to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes; truly, I say to you, he will gird himself and have them sit at table, and he will come and serve them. If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those servants!”
(Luke 12:35-38)
Jesus says, “Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning,” describing servants waiting for the return of their master, prepared to open the door immediately when he arrives, making the point that their duty is not simply to wait, but to wait faithfully.
Our Lord is teaching us that the Christian life requires constant spiritual readiness. We have to be careful not to become so absorbed in the ordinary concerns of this world that we forget the coming of the Lord. We have work to accomplish, families to care for, and responsibilities to fulfill, but these aren’t obstacles to holiness; rather, they are very often the means by which God calls us to holiness – and they will, if we carry out our daily duties with our eyes fixed upon Christ, and our hearts open to Him.
The challenge is that the Master may seem a long time in returning. Prayer can become routine, our good resolutions may weaken, and the demands of daily life can take our attention away from eternal things. We may begin to live as though this world is all there is, forgetting that our earthly life is a pilgrimage toward the heavenly kingdom.
And so, in His story about the waiting servants, Jesus emphasizes perseverance. The faithful servants remain awake, even when the night is far advanced and exhaustion might easily overcome them. Christian faithfulness isn’t measured so much by our enthusiasm at the beginning, but more by our perseverance to the end.
Then comes an unexpected twist in the story. The master girds himself, seats his servants at the table, and serves them. In other words, the master becomes the servant! So we get a glimpse of the humility and generosity of Christ, who came not to be served but to serve. The Lord who asks us to remain faithful is the same Lord who gave Himself completely as a sacrifice for our salvation. He promises to welcome his faithful servants into the joy of His heavenly banquet.
It’s up to us to keep our lamps burning, so the light of faith shines in us and through us. It’s our responsibility to be prepared to meet Christ whenever He comes to us—in the needs of our family and our neighbours, in the duties that present themselves throughout our lives, on through the end of our time in this world.
We can keep our lamps burning through prayer, through works of charity, by repentance, and through faithfulness to Christ. We do not know the hour of His coming, but we know His promise to us of eternal life with Him.
May he find us watchful and faithful, ready to welcome Him into our hearts so that we may enter into the everlasting joy of His kingdom.