Proper 14, Yr C (August 7, 2022) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield
Proper 14, Yr C (2022)
Isaiah 1:1, 10-20
Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
Luke 12:32-40
In the name of the one, holy, and living God:
in whom we live, and move, and have our being. Amen.
Jesus said to his disciples,
“Do not be afraid, little flock,
for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
Did you know that that phrase –
“do not be afraid” –
is the phrase that occurs more than any other in the whole Bible?!
Do not be afraid.
It’s a sentence really…
or more accurately, a command.
Do not be afraid.
I wonder if it would be better to see it as an invitation?
I’m not sure how well a command to not be afraid works!
If that’s all it took,
I’d reckon the whole world would be at peace.
Not being afraid seems a little more challenging than just following pure will…or command.
Jesus follows his command, “Do not be afraid” with the reason that his disciples need not fear.
“For it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
It is God’s desire – even pleasure – to give us the kingdom!
What great news!
Maybe that makes not being afraid just a little bit easier.
We are not to be afraid because God wants to give us the kingdom!
Jesus then follows up with a bit more advice:
Sell your possessions and give alms.
Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out,
an unfailing treasure that no thief wants and no moth can destroy.
Now, to put this passage in context…
prior to this passage Jesus has been talking about not being anxious…
remember Martha?
Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.
And then he tells a story of a rich man who stores up his grain and goods for himself in large barns, only to die before he can enjoy them.
Then Jesus tells his disciples not to worry about their life:
what they will eat or what they will wear.
Consider the ravens, Jesus says, how God feeds them.
And the lilies… how God clothes them.
Can any of you - by worrying - add a single hour to your span of life?
Well, no.
So, Jesus says, instead of worrying,
strive for God’s kingdom,
and the rest will come.
No need to worry.
No need to be afraid.
Then today Jesus tells us that it is God’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom.
In fact, in Greek the word here expressing divine pleasure (eudokesen) is in the aorist tense, indicating action that has already been completed in the past!
So, Jesus is saying that God has already chosen to give us the Kingdom!
Jesus commends to us a faith that leaves behind anxiety,
a faith not lived in anxious anticipation
but a faith lived in eager and hopeful expectation.
Jesus commends to us a faith that frees us to be generous
because our future is secured by God,
not by our own worries or even efforts.
Now, we do have earthly needs, which we must take care of,
but if we are anxious about them and live our lives in fear,
we may miss God’s blessings in our midst
and we may miss the ways that we are able to bless others through the gifts we already have.
After assuring his disciples that God has already chosen to give them the kingdom,
Jesus then says, “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit.”
It is difficult to be ready for action if we are tied down to stuff
or anxious about many things.
All of what Jesus says makes perfect sense,
and when we hear it,
perhaps even our fears are relieved.
The number of times the invitation “do not be afraid” shows up in Scripture
suggests to me that living into not being afraid is a bit difficult.
It’s not always difficult…sometimes it’s easy.
For example, every evening before bed Ray and I have the practice of going out into the backyard.
Part of that is practical…we let the dogs out before bed.
And yet, every night we go outside we look up into the heavens (kind of like Abram did)
and see the stars in the sky,
and an occasional planet or two,
and clouds of all shapes and sizes
and lightning bugs sparkling through the air.
We hear crickets chirping
and tree frogs singing.
And we know deep in our souls that we are standing in the presence of God.
We give thanks
and let go of our earthly worries and fears.
Then we go to sleep,
and sometimes our worries rise up in our dreams
or in our thoughts the next day as we listen to the news.
The arrival of our worries and fears seems inevitable,
but if we hold in our hearts that God is giving us the Kingdom,
then just perhaps we have the courage to live into that kingdom here and now.
Jesus tells us again and again that the Kingdom is a gift from God…
it is something we can neither earn nor buy.
If we live into our identities as inheritors of God’s Kingdom,
then we can live out of a sense of abundance.
One commentator I read asked the question:
Do we both overestimate danger
and underestimate possibility?
If we are able to set aside our worry and live into God’s promise and vision,
then we may be able to do things we’ve never even dreamed of!
If it is God’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom,
then we have the invitation to prioritize those things that give life
because our security lies in God’s promises.
Abram trusted in God’s invitation and promises,
and many were blessed through him…and through Sarai.
So I ask:
If you had no fear, what things might you undertake?
If it didn’t matter if you failed in an endeavor, what might you do?
How might you commend the God-given gifts that are within you?
I invite you to dream.
If it is God’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom,
How might God be calling you to share your gifts with others?
How might God be calling this community of St. Andrew’s?
Sometimes following God’s promises means letting go of what lies behind us.
Sometimes following God’s promises means continuing along the same path.
I invite to prayerful listening to the movement of the Spirit in your life.
I also invite you to set aside your worries and your fears.
John Main, a 20th century monk, speaking of our anxiety-filled lives, said:
“We are brought up to be such controllers, such possessors, such collectors. To sit down and to voluntarily make ourselves poor, to dispossess ourselves as we enter into the presence of God, is the greatest challenge there could be.” (Door to Silence, p. 72)
If you do not know your sources of anxiety,
I invite you this week to find 10 minutes to sit in a quiet room with your eyes closed,
sitting in the presence of God.
If you are like me, you mind will become filled with all kinds of thoughts and worries.
Most likely you are already aware of all the worries that distract you in your daily life.
In every house I have lived in,
I usually have had some form of a prayer table.
In one house on the fireplace mantle I placed a candle and a cross,
and I had a stack of little pieces of paper nearby.
I would write down the names of all the people whose lives were linked with my mine who were in need of prayer.
I would also write down whatever I needed to offer to God in my own life,
and I’d place those little pieces of paper on the mantle.
Just that little act of offering all those concerns to God helped me to let go.
I would pray for them all each time I sat in prayer and then let go…
giving them over to the care of God.
Perhaps that is something that you might like to do.
And then perhaps in letting go of our earthly anxieties,
we may bit by bit be able to dispossess ourselves and enter the presence of God.
And as we enter the presence of God,
perhaps we can be enlivened to live into the vision and promises of God.
I propose that participating in the Kingdom means being attentive and fully present in each moment of every day.
That doesn’t mean that we don’t make plans,
but it does mean being flexible and open enough to hear the voice of God calling us,
even possibly in a different direction than we anticipated.
Do not be afraid, little flock,
for it is God’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom!
Amen.
