Don't Be Afraid--Be Ready!

Rev. Tommy Thompson
12th Sunday after Pentecost
Luke 12:32-40
8 August 2010

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

Why did the author of Luke’s Gospel desire to comfort the early church,with such words? What was their reality? What gave them reason to be afraid?

Maybe some of us gathered here today know what it is like to be afraid. Something is going on in our lives...or in our larger context that frightens us. You hear these words as God’s comfort in the midst of a terrifying situation.

But the rest of us don’t have a whole lot to be scared of. Life is good...the bank account tells us that there’s more from where the last came from...the fridge is full...the closets are stuffed. The cars are shining. Our kids’ toy boxes runneth over. When life is this good, why would we need to be afraid, right?

But life wasn’t so comfortable for the early Christians to whom Luke’s Gospel greets with Jesus’ words of comfort. They had good reason to be afraid.

You see these disciples, these who were of the first to go through the baptismal waters, were dead serious about living out the reality of their baptism in the world. They believed that in Jesus Christ, God’s new order had broken into the present. These Christians gave all they had to ensure that it was clear that their hearts were oriented toward this kingdom and none other.

But the problem is that when these Christians made the radical decision to believe with Abraham that God is doing a new thing by joining in the performance of the new thing, that meant leaving behind the old things.

For these early Christians the “old things” were the “things” of the Roman Empire. These things one does not leave behind without severe consequence. For some the cost was their very lives.

The disciples to whom the Lukan Gospel addresses with Jesus’ words of comfort were not ignorant of the way Christianity turned the world of the first century Roman empire upside down...or shall we say back right-side-up. They had experienced persecution first hand for refusing to reverently and worshipfully acknowledge the emperors cult among other things. They knew of people, people they loved dearly, who were dressed in the skins of lambs and fed to the wolves for the entertainment of Roman citizens...friends in Christ who were tortured or burned alive for confessing Jesus as Lord rather than Caesar.

All this just because they were baptized in the triune Name of God.

Our early brothers and sisters of the faith had good reason to be afraid. They were afraid that the persecution would get worse before it got better. They were afraid that family might dis-own them for claiming Jesus as the Messiah. They were afraid that maybe the new orientation of their lives was all for naught. The kingdom of God was supposed to have broken into the present through Jesus’ death and resurrection. By being baptized into this death and resurrection, a new life was supposed to result not only for the baptized but for the entire creation for whom Christ died and was raised.

These first Christians believed that what happened in and through Jesus had really changed the entire cosmos...not simply their own lives. But if this is true, then why are they suffering rather than thriving in the world God is supposedly making new?

These early saints believed that the Kingdom would come to fulfillment, would be consummated, not long after Jesus had ascended and the Holy Spirit had been poured out on God’s people. It is very likely that they expected this to happen in their lifetime.

Why the delay? Why the waiting? People are suffering...faithful people are dying.

I wonder if this wasn’t their primary fear. Have we put all our eggs in the wrong basket? Have we invested all our treasure in a non-existent bank account?

Could you imagine the fear? You share the faith of Abraham in believing that God is doing something new in and through your life, yet the promise always seems to be in the extreme far distance and never in the here-and-now.

It is no wonder Abraham lost faith after many many years had past. It is no wonder that the people of God began to be afraid that the fullness of the kingdom that had already broke into the present may never come to full fruition.

As we live for a moment in this first century tension, let that tension define for us the true nature of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God came in Jesus Christ. Through Jesus life, death, resurrection, and ascension, God’s reign is being revealed in this world. However, the full disclosure of that reign is still to come.

The early Christians believed that this age with all its polities and rulers is passing away and that God’s new age, inaugurated by Jesus is coming to fruition. Thus, Christians always live in a tension of ‘already’ but ‘not yet.’ Living in the tension between inauguration and consummation is a dangerous and daunting task. Thus Jesus’ words of comfort being offered to His church are more than in order.

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Against this first century backdrop the rest of the Gospel lesson comes into focus for us. Rather than admonishing these early Christians to cash in and give up on the kingdom of God, the author of Luke’s Gospel invites them to be unafraid in living the way of their King, Jesus Christ, in and through this world.

Rather than inviting the little flock to occupy themselves with the building up of treasures with an eye toward self security in this life, he calls the disciples to be concerned with ensuring they possess treasures in heaven, the realm from where God’s reign shines forth into this world.

Continue to invest fully in the gift of the Kingdom of God, Luke says, and not in the grudging banks of Rome.

Continue to invest fully in gift the Kingdom of God, Luke invites us, and not in the grudging banks of Capital Consumerism!

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. In other words, where your treasure is, there your life will be oriented also.

The call of the Gospel in the midst of the daunting task of disciple in the tension of already and not yet is to continue to be faithful in response to grace...to treasure the Kingdom and its way above all else.

We could take the easy way out, continuing to pat ourselves on the back for the self-security we have made for ourselves by the accumulation of money and things...the bank accounts, the full fridge, the stuffed closets, the shining cars and the overflowing toy boxes... The world teaches that he who has the most toys wins, but the Gospel teaches us that He who has invested his life in the possessions of a world that is passing away will pass away with it.

Instead of inviting us to live the life of temporary comfort, the Gospel calls us to re-embrace the reality that God’s world is coming to fruition in this world. Don’t neglect the vows of your baptism and be re-baptized into the age that is passing away just because Jesus and the fullness of the kingdom are still not operating in full throttle in the world.
Rather, be ready, because the kingdom WILL come. God’s reign WILL be made perfectly manifest.

Jesus invitation to the fearful disciples is to trust Him. He assures us that the Kingdom will come in fullness but he tells us that we do not know when this will be. As a matter of fact, Scripture teaches us that not even Jesus himself knows when the full manifestation of God’s reign will occur. Jesus is okay with not knowing because he knows His Father. He invites us to the same kind of trust. Be ready. You don’t know when...

I remember not too long ago Leslie was out with a few of her friends for the day and I was at home with Hannah and Daniel. Hannah woke up that morning and asked me, “Daddy, when is mommy coming back home?” I responded, “Hannah, I don’t really know exactly when, but she will be back.” Because Hannah was sure that mommy would return and because Hannah was also sure that the time of mommy’s arrival was uncertain, Hannah got busy. She happily cleaned her entire room...the whole time telling me, “Daddy, when Mommy sees my room, she’s gonna be so happy.” She worked so hard on that room. I remember when she was finished. She presented the room to me and said, “Look at my room! It is ready! I can’t wait to show mommy!”

I remember Hannah pulling back the curtains in the living room, looking out the window and into the driveway with eager anticipation of her mommy’s return.

That is the sentiment of Jesus’ parable. Be ready! You do not know when the master will return. Be dressed for action...not for sleep! The return of the Lord is a good thing. It will bring an end to persecution...to suffering...to poverty...to violence...to hatred...to death...to the ways of this fleeting world. Hannah could not wait for her mommy to find her ready for her arrival...how much more should we eagerly and joyfully await the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with the fulfillment of all things!

But how do we “clean our rooms?” How do we “ready” ourselves for the coming of our master?

Did you notice anything peculiar about the parable? Did you notice the twist? If you didn’t, you should have at least expected a twist. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus’ parables are full of ironic twists. Samaritans don’t write blank checks for wounded Jews. Shepherds don’t leave ninety-nine sheep to seek on that is lost. And masters returning late at night do not tighten their belts and serve their slaves! What Jesus says here in the parable turns the first-century roman world upside down. The premium is placed on servanthood, not on being the master. As I hear Jesus words a picture is painted in my mind that may have been painted in yours as well... “During supper, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him.”

Brothers and sisters, it is no accident that when you look at the font this morning, you see another bowl of water, a towel, and a pair of sandals below it. This is the life that flows forth from baptism. “Jesus said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord--and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For i have set you an example , that you should go and do likewise.’”

Rather than living the American dream as if it is the ultimate dream...rather than living in this world as if all we have are these few years between birth and death, Jesus invites us to be ready by imitating His life in the world. By imitating that life, we bring the future into the present...because in the future our Lord is revealed as tightening his belt and serving us! If you want to be ready...to live in the here-and-now as citizens of the already-not-yet kingdom, then tighten your belts and serve the least. Do it with joyful anticipation, wanting to be caught by the master bringing his kingdom to fruition.

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

Amen.