Luke 12:32-40 * August 19, 2007 * Pentecost 12
Dear
Friends in Christ,
Most
of us haven’t had that many of them, so when we do, they tend to be memorable. Sometimes they’ve helped us sort things out
or see things in a different light. And
sometimes they’ve even altered the course of our lives.
What
I’m speaking of are those gut-level, honest conversations that we sometimes
refer to as “heart-to-heart talks.”
The
dynamics of a heart-to-heart talk is what makes them relatively rare. We only
have them at certain times or at critical junctures in our lives. And we only have them with certain people –
people we love or respect, and above all else, people whose judgment we
trust. Sometimes we are the ones who
initiate the conversation; other times we are drawn into them because of the
concern of the other party for us.
In
many ways our text for today falls into the category of a heart-to-heart talk. Certainly it could be said that the entire
Bible is nothing less than a heartfelt talk from God to the world, and this is
indeed true. But here Jesus is speaking
specifically to His disciples – including us, His modern day disciples – on some
important subjects He knows we need to hear about again and again. And if we listen carefully and attentively and
put what our Lord says into practice, it will, indeed, alter our lives in a
joyful and positive way.
With
that as an introduction let’s now turn our attention to this text, which we
might simply entitle
“Do not be afraid, little
flock, for Your Father has been pleased to give you the Kingdom.” There are a couple of things here we should take a
look at. First Jesus reminds us of who
we are, then He tells us what not to
do.
As
to who we are, note what we are called: Little
flock. This is a form of address
used by Jesus only here in the New Testament.
It is clearly a term of endearment.
It calls to mind that tender shepherd-sheep imagery found throughout the
Bible and reminds us that each of us (regardless of age) can say, in the words
of the children’s hymn, “I am Jesus’ little lamb.”
Because
of that loving shepherd-sheep relationship, Jesus next tells us what we never
need to do when He says, “Do not be
afraid.” If you are a regular Bible reader you know that this phrase or
others similar to it can be found throughout Scripture. In fact it is not an overstatement to say
that God is constantly telling us not to fear or not to be afraid.
Judging
from the fact that this warning is repeated so many times, we might easily be
led to this conclusion: Human beings
must scare pretty easily.
And
that’s a fair statement, wouldn’t you say?
If we are honest, behind the brave façade we human beings often present
to the watching world are fearful and timid and easily scared creatures – and
that includes we who gratefully call ourselves Christians.
Which
then raises a couple of questions.
Why? What is it that we
fear?
In
the immediate context of this portion of God’s Word, Jesus’ disciples were
scared of not being taken care of throughout their lives. In the verses just before our text are those
beautiful words of Jesus found here and in Matthew’s account of the Sermon on
the Mount where Christ tells us not to worry and how, if God takes care of the
grass of the field and birds of the air, He’ll certainly also take care of us.
Jesus’
disciples needed to hear that. As Jesus’
modern day disciples, so do we. Because
each of us has our own personalized set of fears along those same lines. If we analyze them, most of our fears are
rooted in the same idea held by the disciples of Jesus’ day: that somehow or another God is not going to
take care of us or come through for us or give us what we need at a particular
point in our life.
The
author C. S. Lewis once made a comment that every morning when we wake up there
are what seem to be a thousand fears and worries that rush toward us like wild
animals ready to tear us apart. Each of
us knows what they are. They are as
individualized as we are.
So
what are your fears? Maybe they have to do with financial matters…
or family matters… or personal relationships… or job security… or health
issues… or that we won’t be able to cope with the things the Lord brings into
our lives… or that we won’t be able to live up to the expectations we or others
place on ourselves… and the list goes on and on. Personalized, customized, built-to-order
kinds of fears.
Against
this backdrop, Jesus comes to us timid mortals and says, “Do not be afraid.” And
here’s the reason why: “Your Father has been pleased to give you
the kingdom.” In other words, God, as a pure gift of His grace, has given
us entrance into His kingdom. We are His
people. We are the sheep of His
pasture. Because of the life, death and
resurrection of His Son we are redeemed, restored, forgiven, and eternally
loved. The sins which rightfully
disqualify us from a loving relationship with God have been removed.
Here
is what Jesus wants us to know: We are
citizens of the
When
we see things from that PERSPECTIVE, the perspective of present love and
eternal life, our fears will subside and our worries will melt away. PERSPECTIVE, says Jesus, is the reason we do
not have to be afraid.
From
speaking to us on PERSPECTIVE, Jesus now moves to the related area of proper
PRIORITIES for the Christian life: “Sell your possessions and give to the
poor. Provide purses for yourself that
will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no
thief comes near and no moth destroys.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
First
we are told to sell our possessions.
Let’s talk about this, because throughout the history of the church
there have been those who have taken this statement of Jesus quite
literally. Martin Luther, as a young
man, writes about the impression that was made on him by a prince who had sold
everything and was begging for food. And
there have been entire movements within the church (monastic orders, for
example) that have held up poverty as one of the highest of Christian virtues.
But
is this what Jesus means? Is Jesus
asking His followers (us) to voluntarily become destitute? Taken in the context of what’s being said, I
believe that would be a very narrow and mechanical view of our Lord’s words.
So
what is Jesus saying? He is simply telling us to order our
priorities in life around spiritual things rather than earthly things. Jesus knows the preoccupation we have with
taking care of our physical lives and how much time and energy we devote to
them. Here He is encouraging us to give
equal attention to our spiritual lives.
He
makes a distinction between earthly things, which wear out, and the heavenly
things, which endure forever. And He
says: pay attention to the eternal. He says, put your heart into your spiritual
life. Because when we do we unlock a
treasure full of joy and peace and comfort and assurance that keeps multiplying
in our lives.
Let’s
get practical. How do we do this? How do we pay attention to the eternal? Here’s how:
By spending time in the Word. By
attending Bible classes. By regularly
taking Lord’s Supper. By cultivating a
strong devotional life. By taking time
to simply contemplate the fact that we are members of God’s Kingdom, chosen and
saved by His grace. These are the things
Jesus tells us constitutes a properly ordered life. Make these things priorities, says Jesus, and
enjoy the richness which follows…
Thus
far Jesus has told us that the Christian life is one with proper PERSPECTIVE
and ordered around spiritual PRIORITIES.
He concludes by telling us it is also to be marked by PREPAREDNESS. “Be
dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for
their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks
they can immediately open the door for him.
It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when
he comes. I tell you the truth, he will
dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and
wait on them. It will be good for those
servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third
watch of the night. But understand
this: If the owner of the house had
known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be
broken into. You also must be ready,
because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
What Christ is telling us here is self-explanatory and needs little comment. We are reminded that Jesus could come again on any day and at anytime. If we extrapolate this fact, it is also a reminder that the time of our death could come with equal suddenness or unexpectedness. Consequently, PREPAREDNESS to meet our Lord is an important aspect of the Christian life.
What
is the prepared life? The answer can be
found in the logical progression of thought found in our Savior’s words
today. The life which keeps things in
PERSPECTIVE and is ordered around spiritual PRIORITIES will be PREPARED.
The
American Christian John Wesley was once asked what he would do if he knew for
sure that the Lord would be coming tomorrow.
After giving it some thought, he said that he would continue to go about
his day as planned. In other words, he
wouldn’t pray more or read more or somehow take a crash course on how to become
super-spiritual in 24 hours. His
regular, routine daily life included those things. And that made him a prepared man. It is that kind of PREPAREDNESS that Jesus is
talking about.
Let’s
bring our thoughts to a close. We began
this morning by comparing this text to a heart to heart talk between Jesus and
us. It qualifies as such because Christ
speaks to us about deeply important matters; matters that can and should have
an effect on our lives.
After
teaching His people, Jesus would sometimes say, “He who has ears to hear, let him
hear.” May God grant us ears to
hear what our Lord says to us today on the subject of PERSPECTIVE, PRIORITIES
and PREPAREDNESS as it applies to the Christian life – our life. Amen.