Do not Fear

Luke 12:32–40 ESV

32 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 35 “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

Sermon

I remember vividly a photo of a small African boy obviously in need, he has in his hand two lollypops, a great treasure.

The picture tells it all as the photographer take a picture of this young boy the boy looks to him and offers one of the lollypops up to the photographer.

The boy had two but only needed one or felt that it was only right to share. How absolutely overwhelming and challenging to us all who view this.

In today’s gospel passage, Jesus continues to teach us what the Kingdom of God is like, and how different that Kingdom’s priorities are from the priorities we set as sinful human beings. So, let’s join Jesus and his disciples as they travel toward Jerusalem.

 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

I always preach from the lectionary and so today this is not a new topic I’ve spoken on this before, DO NOT BE AFRAID, storing up treasures in heaven, and being ready for the Kingdom of God to come in its fullness.

I could probably preach that same sermon again, and all the things I said three years ago would still be true. But today, I’d like to focus on just one verse in this passage, because I think it sums up the whole reading. It’s the first verse we read: “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. “

DO NOT FEAR…

We hear this opening phrase, “Do not be afraid” throughout scripture, whenever people encounter God directly or through a heavenly messenger, like the angel Gabriel. It must be one of my favourite phrases in the Bible.

The Greek phrase for “Fear not,” or “don’t be afraid” really means “Stop being afraid.” We aren’t talking about some hypothetical fear that might happen sometime down the road.

This isn’t even a warning against becoming afraid. We are talking about the real fear that is already present, fear that has been with us for some time already, fear that won’t let go of us. And Jesus says, “Just stop it. Stop being afraid.”

We live in a world that runs on fear, it seems. We fear what we can’t see, what we don’t know. We can imagine threats in our community and nation on every side. As individuals, we fear losing control of our lives, making ourselves vulnerable to someone else. We fear getting hurt. We fear what others might think of us.

We fear shame and embarrassment.

We may try to escape our fear by ignoring it, or by building elaborate fantasies to hide from it. We may even try to escape our fear through self-indulgence in various forms. Maybe we overeat. We might try to accumulate comfort to offset our fear, buying things we don’t really need, in the hope that they will provide some kind of security.

None of these things will take away our fear.

Yet Jesus says, “Stop being afraid. Your Father in Heaven knows what you need.” In fact, it gives God pleasure to give you what you need.

… YOUR FATHER’S GOOD PLEASURE…

Karon loves to give presents. Even just when taking the grandchildren to the supermarket I don’t think I’ve seen them come back empty handed. She would much rather shop for gifts than for groceries. It’s her nature to give things away. She loves to be generous. It gives her pleasure.

By way of contrast in ancient Rome, gifts were given to create a sense of obligation for repayment. It was a way to climb the social ladder – making sure others were in your debt and owed you favours.

But in Kingdom Economy, God lavishly gives away his entire Kingdom to us, and when we, in turn, give without expecting anything in return, we join in that Kingdom and receive even more from God. More love, more joy, more peace, more patience, more kindness, more generosity, more faithfulness, more self-control, more, much.

More … treasure.

Your treasure is the Kingdom of God, which he has already decided it is his pleasure to give you. Is that not mind blowing, it God’s pleasure.

What stands at the core of this Good News is not the fear of shame, but God’s amazingly tender concern for us, his own little flock.

 This is an invitation to trust that our future rests in the gracious promises and presence of God. The Gospel invites us to put first things first. The Gospel says, “seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33).

Because it was God’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom in the first place.

Have you ever thought much about what gives God pleasure?

The movie Chariots of Fire follows a couple of English runners through the 1924 Olympics. One of those runners, Eric Liddell, is torn between his devotion to serving as a missionary in China, and his desire to run. In one scene, he tells his sister, “I believe that God made me for a purpose. But He also made me fast, and when I run, I feel His pleasure.”

What gifts or talents do you possess, that can be put to use for the benefit of the Kingdom of God?

What do you do that gives God pleasure?

This is the same good pleasure that the angels announced at Jesus’ birth when they sang, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours!” (Luke 2:14).

It is the same good pleasure God announced at Jesus’ baptism when he said, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22).

And this good pleasure, has already happened.

…TO GIVE YOU THE KINGDOM

The Kingdom of God is not just eternal life that we look towards; the Kingdom of God is active and currently reigning over heaven and with Jesus’ ministry to us it continues in the present time. It is here, now.

God has already given us the Kingdom. We respond by carrying out the values and standards of that Kingdom, which include getting rid of possessions, giving to the poor, and making purses that contain ultimate, inexhaustible, heavenly treasure.

Instead of getting rich by accumulating human treasure, we are called to place our hearts on God’s ultimately treasures.

Since God, in his own good pleasure, has already given us the Kingdom, we are called to be prepared for its fulfilment when Christ comes again.

While Jesus is certainly talking about the end of time, when he will come again in glory to reign over a new heaven and a new earth, we shouldn’t be distracted by attempts to try and pinpoint the day and the hour this will happen.

Jesus tells us he will come when we least expect him.

But we should also not be lulled into passively twiddling our thumbs while we wait for Jesus to return. Luke offers the certainty that Christ will come again, and the uncertainty of when that will be. This certain uncertainty reminds us that, instead of passively waiting or living with fear because the end is near, we need to be faithful and alert.

Being ready for Jesus’ coming is less about any actual time and place and more about recognizing Christ’s activity in the world when and where you least expect it. In other words, waiting around for further instructions doesn’t cut it.

Fearlessly claiming your identity as a child of God allows you to immediately participate in the Kingdom that it is your Father’s good pleasure to give to you.

Karoline Lewis writes, “Jesus is asking us, what is it that encapsulates the Kingdom of God for you? What is the one thing that if someone asked you about it, you would be able to give witness to your faith in God, your belief in the work of Jesus, your confidence in the presence of the Spirit? … Jesus says that the treasures close to your heart are those you can actually clarify to another in a way that the other gets what you mean, can sense that it matters, and that it matters deeply. … This is not a call to recite proper doctrine, but to be able to express in your own words, close to your heart, what your faith means to you. … confessing what matters.”

What matters is this. Christ calls you to let go of your fear, and accept the gift of the Kingdom of God, which it is your Father’s good pleasure to give to you.

 Will you receive it?

Will you accept this precious gift?

As we leave here today, I invite you to drop your guard, to let go of your concern about what other people might think and simply receive the assurance that you are God’s own beloved child, redeemed through the death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ.

Have no fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.