The Christian's Duty Series

In his book Merely Colossal, Arthur Mayer tells of how he hired a stunt man to be buried alive

as a publicity stunt for a film he was promoting. The stunt man knew how to breathe in such a

way that he could stay buried for 24 hours and not suffocate. After the papers made a big splash

about a man being buried alive, the appointed day arrived, and just as the paper said, the man was

buried. The spot was carefully marked with lime, so it could be easily found. Unfortunately, a

heavy storm came up that night and washed away all the lime, and they could not find the exact

spot. The stunt man was lost. Mayer says 30 men dug frantically in the area for 12 hours before

they located him. He was in good condition, but he demanded overtime pay for the extra hours he

was lost.

Just about anything can happen, but very few people are ever lost by being buried. The same,

however, cannot be said for the truth. Men are constantly losing the truth by burying it. Millions

lose sight of the most basic truth in life, which is redemption through Christ, by neglect. They

bury this truth under a mountain of meaningless religious ceremony. Christians are constantly

losing truths by not applying them to life when they hear them. Preachers are constantly losing

truths by getting into ruts and riding hobby horses through the Bible, forgetting that precious

treasures are found just off the beaten track.

For example, our passage today contains one of the most obscure parables of Jesus. It is not

even noticed in most books on the parables, and commentators skip over it with little recognition.

It has been buried in the field of neglect, even though it contains a precious pearl. Verse 10

contains the only recorded instance in Scripture where our Lord used the word duty, but in this one

instance He made it so comprehensive that nothing more needs to be said to recognize that duty

was a major subject of His teaching. He taught us all that is necessary to know about duty by a

simple illustration and application.

I. ILLUSTRATION. vv. 7-9

Jesus says if you have a servant in the field doing his job, and he comes in at supper time, you

don't make a big fuss over him as if you were his mother. You don't tell him to set down while

you fix his meal. Not at all, for you expect him to carry on his duties as a servant, and get your

meal. Jesus says, "Does the master thank his slave for doing what he was commanded?" And the

answer is, of course not. If that seems harsh, it is only because we read into it an unjust

relationship between a master and his slave. If we put it into a modern setting, it is obvious what

Jesus is getting at.

I once worked in a packing house where I was given a variety of jobs. One day I was told to

pull hooks off of pigs as they came by. Another day I was commanded to scoop up rosin and

throw it into a boiling vat. Another day my orders were to crawl under thousands of pigs hanging

in a cooler, and wash the fat drippings off the floor with a hose. Never once did any of the bosses

ever thank me for doing what I was told, and never once did I expect such thanks. Why? Because

it was my duty to do what I was told, and I was being well paid to do it. As long as they fulfilled

their obligation in the relationship, and paid me, it was my duty to do what I was commanded,

without expecting them to shower me with praise. I was not doing anyone a favor, I was doing my

duty.

That is what Jesus is saying. We have all kinds of relationships in life that involve obligations.

We have duties to our family, our church, our neighbor, our employer, and our nation. These

duties are the basic factors in human relations. They are so basic that we are expected to fulfill

them without patting ourselves on the back, and thinking we are great for doing so. In other

words, if you take care of your family, don't expect a write up in Life Magazine. It is your duty.

Don't expect a thank you card if you pay your taxes or put money in a parking meter. It is your

duty. If you don't run over anybody for 10 years, don't expect the traffic department to send you a

medal. It is your duty to drive safely. If you get out to vote, don't gloat and expect to be named