Sunday of Departed Priests – St Matthew 24: 42-51

In the name of God the Father, Christ Jesus His Son and the Holy Spirit, One True God. Amen.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus

The Indian Orthodox Church after participating in the Three Day Lent, where the Church and her children placed dietary restrictions upon themselves for the shortest fast in the liturgical calendar, prepare themselves for the long period of dietary restrictions. The Three Day Lent seems like a warm up exercise for those who look forward to the dietary restrictions they will place upon themselves. The Three Day Lent was commemorated by the Church in remembrance of the repentance taken up by the sinful people of Nineveh which brought forth the mercy of the Heavenly Father and stopped Him from destroying them then. The Three Day Fast showed that the fast was not an end in itself but it was a preparation for the long and arduous journey of repentance of forty days that was taken up by the Ninevites and whom we would be emulating in our spiritual journey as well.

We, like the Ninevites take up this fast of Forty days, called the Great Lent as we seek reconciliation and repent of our sins and walk closer with our Master. This sojourn of ours ends not at the Cross on Calvary where we see our Master crucified but we see the fruits of our journey through His resurrection and the defeat of death. There is a short period between the Three Day Fast and Great Lent of eighteen days, where fasting is not prescribed by the Church, but the Church waits in anticipation to begin its journey with Christ.

The Sunday after the Three Day Lent is commemorated as the Sunday for remembering our departed priests who have been our spiritual guides at every point of life. The Church remembers its fathers who had baptised her, taught her, nurtured her, and fed her with the Holy Body and Blood of her Master and Saviour Jesus Christ. Though we remember the departed fathers of the Church, St. Paul through his letter to Thessalonians remind us that –

But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus Christ died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus… And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 4: 13-14, 16-17

With the reading from St. Paul’s letter to Thessalonians, the Church is telling her children that her spiritual children (who have now reposed in the Lord) are very much alive in spirit and are waiting for the blessed day when they will rise up again in the presence of her Master and be with Him. But the point of this lesson on this Sunday is not to give us that promise. Let us look at what our Church Fathers mean to teach us through todays Gospel lesson.

Just before we come to today’s portion, we see that Jesus is prophesying the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple and He is describing the end of times. He is also warning that there will be many who will try to mislead the faithful to false ways. He warns His listeners that even the leaders and the teachers of the Church will stop giving light and there will be times when they will fall in disgrace. Are we not seeing these days during our current life span, when we find so many false teachers preaching the false gospel of prosperity and wealth and good health? Do we not find teachers and leaders who are to take care of the sheep preying upon them?

When we think upon these things, as a loyal follower of Christ we would always wish for our Master to return at the earliest so that he would not have to see these days at length. Jesus, as though knowing our thoughts says that no one knows the time of the return of the Son of God except God the Father Himself. He exhorts us to be ready always for the Son of Man would come at an hour we would least expect Him to come. And exhorting us, He gives us a parable of a loyal servant who waits for His master. Let look at some thoughts on the characteristics of a loyal servant and the punishment that awaits the unfaithful servant.

A watchful servant

In our current situation when the whole world is suffering under the curse of the Covid 19 pandemic, there are many end time prophesies flying about in the world. Not just the outburst of pandemic, but also there is a general restlessness in the world on account of the wars and suffering that people are undergoing these days. People all around us are worried what will happen in the coming few months and years. When we see these things in the world today. we would naturally question whether we are seeing the end of days coming near. In such times, in God’s wisdom, we are not to know when the end would come, but we are called to keep watch and be ready at all times. We as loyal servants must always be ready to welcome our Master when He comes in His great glory and not be found asleep under the cares of this world. Our Fathers taught us that we should live each day of our lives as if that day would be the last day of our life and we would not fall short of our duty at the close of the day.

We are called to be watchful and be on guard against the lies that the devil would throw at us to lead us astray. We are to be watchful to not believe and be led astray through the false teachings of leaders and teachers of the faith. We are to be on our watch for the untimely return of our Master.

A faithful and wise servant

Every Christian longs to see that day when Jesus will say to them, “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 25:23). But what does it mean to be a faithful servant, particularly a faithful servant of Christ? Being a faithful servant means to carry on the work that our Master has assigned to us for a prolonged period of time, even though the Master delays in His return, A faithful servant has faith in his Master that He will return, if not now but anytime in the future.

A faithless servant assumes that the Master would not return, because of His prolonged delay and this faithlessness leads him into sin. The faithless servant would reason in his heart , “Why should I obey the Master if He will not return to hold me accountable for disobedience?”  The wicked servant “says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards” (vss. 48–49). However, mere disbelief in the Master’s return will not keep Him away and the faithless servant will pay the price of his wickedness when He returns at an hour least expected.

To live without the reality of the return of the Lord in your mind is a very dangerous thing to do. For, when we expect the Lord to delay in His coming and to presume upon tomorrow, we may find ourselves easily distracted from our work at hand. I believe that the faithful and sensible slave was helped on in his labor, because he knew that his master was coming back. His work would be rewarded. But, when we deny our Master’s return, we lose our accountability. We lose our sense of urgency. And we seek to please only ourselves. This is exactly what the evil slave did in his actions.

Verse 49 says that he “began to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards.” Rather than using his authority to enforce the will of his master, he used it for his own means. Rather than subjecting himself to the will of his master, he sought his own will. He abused his freedom and was living only for himself. (1) He beat his fellow slaves, forcing them to labor beyond what was reasonable. (2) He ate and drank with drunkards, becoming one himself. The slave was expecting a long delay. The slave expected many days of easy living. At some point, the reality of his master’s return would probably become a reality in his mind. At this point, he would begin to reform his ways.

In today’s world, many in our Churches hold the opinion that Jesus would not literally return to earth. To have such a belief is dangerous as it is unbiblical and it leads to sin. It is unbiblical because that would be not believing in Jesus’ promise that He would return. He said He would.  He will return at a time when we are not expecting Him.  We must all be prepared for His return, and obey His command to, “Therefore keep watch”.

The Master’s return

Jesus in His teaching says that the Master of the house can return at any time of his choosing and the servant who was watchful will be glad on his return. But the faithless and wicked servant would be caught unawares. Without warning, the servant would have to give an account for his work. It was a dreadful day for this slave when the master returned. The proverb says, “Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, So is the lazy one to those who send him” (Prov. 10:26). As the master found his slave not doing what he had assigned him to do, it was as if the slave took a big puff of smoke and blew it into his face, so that it irritated his eyes. The master, with irritated eyes and an irritated heart, poured out his great anger upon this servant of his.

We read of his judgment in verse 51, “[the master] …

(1) shall cut him in pieces and
(2) assign him a place with the hypocrites;
(3) Weeping shall be there and the gnashing of teeth.”

With these words, Jesus slides out of the parable and into the language of ultimate judgment. Let’s look at these phrases in reverse order.

First, let’s look at the phrase, “weeping… and the gnashing of teeth.” Six times in the book of Matthew, Jesus has described those who will be sent to where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 8:13; 13:42; 13:50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30). Every time, Jesus is describing the torments of hell. Here it is no different. The unfaithful, evil servant, who thought that the coming of his master was still a long way off, will spend an eternity in torment. The lesson for us is that we ought to be faithful now! For, we don’t know the hour of his return (verse 36).

Second, this slave will find himself in “A place with the hypocrites.” This is the place where those who have professed allegiance to God with their lips, but have denied Him with their lives, will be found. It’s where the Pharisees will be. It’s where the Sadducees will be. It’s where the Sunday church-goer, who has no heart for God will be. It’s very appropriate here in this parable.

Notice that this man was a servant of his master. He admitted this in verse 48, “My master is not coming for a long time.” Though he denied the return of his master, he still claimed that he was his master’s servant. How appropriate for this one to be with the hypocrites. Though he gave allegiance to his master, he failed to do the will of his master (see Matt. 7:21).

Thirdly, Jesus said that His master “shall cut him in pieces” (verse 51). Literally, the Greek text reads, “[he]… shall cut him in two.” This is not soft language. This is serious stuff. He will be cut in two! The punishment that awaits the wicked is terrible.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, as we constantly move from one liturgical cycle to the next and relive our journey to the Cross on Calvary each year, we sometimes tend to be like the faithless servant and lose faith in the promise of our Master and on His return. We lose track of our responsibilities that have been given to us. Losing track of the promise of our Master’s return, we then start living for the now in this world and satiate all our sinful desires and pleasures. But as we move closer to start our pilgrimage, this Sunday of Departed Priests calls us to change our ways and stand fast to our faith.

Like the servant in the parable, we are called to be faithful, while our Master is kept away. We are called to His servants, people who imitate Him, people who are called to cultivate an inner holiness that has been given to us through our baptism in our Lord. We are called to reconcile and rebuild our relationship with our Master and we are to reconcile and rebuild our human relationships by loving others as ourselves. As we move closer to the Great Lent, we need to remember that our Master is merciful, but only until His return, for when Jesus return, the time of mercy is over. He’s coming to reward the faithful and to punish the evil. 

In that day, there will be no time to clean the house. There will be no time to set things in order. The Lord will return and will find the manner of your service to him as either faithful or evil!

The obvious question for all of us here this morning is this: Which type of servant are you? Are you the faithful servant? Or, are you the evil servant? When Jesus returns, there will be no setting things in order to prepare for His coming. You will be exposed for exactly what you are!

May the LORD find us faithful! May the LORD find us believing in Christ as our only hope! May the LORD be with us strengthening us to be faithful to His word!

Your brother in Christ Jesus

Jobin George