Here is the second sermon in this short series. Once again it deals with the return of the Lord and the coming judgment (just increasing our numbers by tickling ears). This time the focus is on our responsibility to be faithful with what we have been given.
As a side note, I pretty consistently used the term “slave” here as does the NRSV, but the NIV and other translations use the term “servant.” I did some research on that. The Greek word is “doulos” and is translated slave, but many translations have gone away from that particular term due to the especially nasty form of slavery that occurred in North America and Europe. Slavery in Grecko-Roman times differed in significant ways such as: slavery was not based on race, while they were considered property slaves were also considered people, slaves could be freed and also become citizens, citizens could sell themselves into slavery, slaves could be educated (and many were), slaves did a variety of jobs ranging from hard labour to what we would consider more professional jobs. The idea that the term “slave” does maintain that is necessary in this parable (I think) is that the slave is owned by the master, whereas a servant is not. I did not address this in the sermon, nor did I address the implications of this, however, it does seem to be an important aspect of the usage of “doulos.” The Bible seems to present the notion that we can be a slave to sin, evil, and death, or we can be slaves to God. There is no middle ground. That idea offends our North American sensibilities, but it still seems to be the case in scripture.
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