Scriptures:
Psalm 50:1-6 & Luke 12:32-40
One thing I appreciate about school nurses (just one, because there are an awful lot of things I appreciate about school nurses), but one thing I appreciate about school nurses, is that they understand the fear that strikes a parent’s heart when the caller ID says “school nurse.” In a collective 36 K-12 school years as a parent (counting each school year for each kid individually) every single time a school nurse has had to call me, they have started the conversation with, “Don’t worry. There’s no crisis. Everyone’s OK” It’s usually followed by “you just forgot to turn in the shot record or the physical is overdue again,” which is why that “do not be afraid” is so smart and deeply compassionate.
“Nothing to worry about, Mrs. Anthony. You have just forgotten (again) to turn in the shot record. Don’t be frightened. We’re just checking up on the one who is home sick.”
It’s such a gift, that kind of “Do not be afraid.”
There’s another kind that comes out of the blue and might do more to scare us than reassure us. It might sound more like “Don’t freak out, but….”
Don’t freak out, but there’s a bee on your head. (I’m probably going to freak out.)
Or a more professional version at the doctor’s office: “This is probably going to startle you, but don’t worry, there is a treatment.”
“Do not be afraid” might come before you even know there is something to fear (and be the start of the fearing itself!), or after the panic has already gripped your body. Which kind we have here in Luke might take a little investigating.
By starting our reading with verse 32, we’ve jumped into the middle of the conversation. It helps to look backward a little to understand what’s going on. If we go back to verse 22, we discover Jesus is talking specifically to his disciples. In Luke this usually means, not just the 12 whose names we may or may not have memorized in 3rd grade Sunday School, but also a larger group of followers who have joined the movement throughout Jesus’ ministry. In chapter 10 we are told there are at least seventy of these disciples who are commissioned and sent out in his name to minister throughout every town and place to share the good news in word and in deed. We can assume that at least some of these and maybe more than these are among the thousands that Luke tells us at the start of chapter 12 have gathered to hear Jesus.
So this “do not worry” is spoken to those disciples, who I imagine are either standing right up front so he can speak a little softer and give them a little extra teaching separate from the rest. And it comes just after the speech better known from the version in Matthew’s gospel – “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink… Look at the birds of the air…. Consider the lilies of the field….”
And THAT comes after someone from the crowd and demanded, “Teacher! Tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me!”
Aha! There’s our clue. There’s a big ball of anxiety. Now we don’t get this man’s story (and we’re actually going to jump back and spend some more time with him and how Jesus answers him in a few weeks), but what we get is a depiction of someone who is worrying, justified or not, that he will not have enough, or his brother is taking too much. He’s worried about his material wealth. (Come on back September 14 to hear what Jesus says about that)
But he’s probably not the only one, especially in this crowd that contains the very disciples who walked away from their fishing nets to follow Jesus, the very seventy who have just returned from the countryside where they had nothing to rely on but hope and the hospitality of strangers to even be fed. Once the man started asking questions about money and if there would be enough, well, everyone’s blood pressure probably started to creep up. Mine has a little. Has yours?
Like the angels we call school nurses, though, Jesus says to the disciples, the ones close to him in proximity and ministry, “Do not be afraid, little flock.” There is no crisis. There is nothing to worry about. Instead of an inheritance passed from father to sons, one that is divided among brothers, you have been given whole kingdom. It is God’s good pleasure to give you everything!! You have a place in God’s order, in God’s kingdom.
I’ve recently been watching the Hulu historical drama television series about the imperial court of 18th century Russia, “The Great,” which is, admittedly, light on history and heavy on the drama. (Do not hear this as a recommendation for that show, especially if an “M for Mature” rating is not your thing.) The first season of the series focuses on the arrival of the new empress, Catherine II, and her absolute disdain for her experience of the royal court and leadership of the empire. Among the upper eschelon of this extremely stratified society, there is a complete disconnect from what else is happening in the empire – the hundreds of soldiers dying in daily battles that are mere sport for the emperor and his advisors, the lack of education not just among the common people, but also among the leading class, and corruption in the state religion. She experiences at court over the top extravagance and greed, rich foods and endless dancing, privilege and wealth that leads to violence and drunkenness and a general lack of moral integrity.
Now, I don’t think THIS is what the disciples imagined when Jesus talked about the kingdom they had been given. It is an exaggerated, hedonistic view of what one might imagine when they hear they have inherited a kingdom. I’d like to believe the disciples have been with Jesus too long to be that confused, but I still think that that what follows this promise of EVERYTHING is probably a little surprising. We get that impression from other passages where the disciples are bickering about who is going to sit and Jesus’ right hand in glory, or who is the best among them. They seem to expect there some sort of material reward for being close to Jesus, for inheriting God’s kingdom.
But God’s kingdom, especially in the gospel according to Luke, is a great reversal of expectations. Instead of enjoying lavish riches, members of the court in God’s kingdom sell everything. Instead of collecting taxes being paid by the lower classes and living in the lap of luxury, they give what they have to those in need. Instead of building barns or bank accounts or investments to hold their abundance, they make strong purses, that won’t wear out, to keep what they do have accessible, to give it a way, for that is what is considered treasure in God’s kingdom – not what we hold onto, but what we give away.
Jesus knows what marketing executives count on every single day – where our treasure goes, our heart will follow. Once we buy a product or experience, we have an emotional investment in it. This afternoon, I’ll join countless other parents and young adults on the highways as I take our two older kids to college. I wonder how many t shirts and bumper stickers I’ll see along the way declaring “My kid and my money go to ______ (insert university here).” I’ve got my Butler t-shirt packed for move in day 1 and my University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh gold for move in day 2. I did not go to these schools, but kids I love and money we have earned do, and that makes us Bulldogs and Titans for life.
Where our treasure goes, there our hearts will be also.
And there are plenty of places for our treasure to go in the kingdom we have been given. Because the kingdom of God, especially in Luke’s gospel, isn’t exclusive to dukes and duchesses in fine robes and bejeweled rings or even, more relatably, to people who are getting by comfortably with just what they need in their pantries. Instead the kingdom of God that Jesus brings is good news to the poor, release to the captives, sight for the blind, freedom for the oppressed. The kingdom is for everyone, the people who have everything they need, the people who have nothing, and everyone in the middle. And it works when we who have enough, when we who know of God’s love, who experience God’s grace, who have heard that the kingdom is ours, put our treasure where Jesus has promised the kingdom will be.
When we do, our hearts will follow.
That’s how we get dressed for action, as Jesus says. That’s how we prepare ourselves for the fullness of God’s kingdom. Because we live in a world where that kingdom is both already and not yet. It has been promised – all the way back to ancient times when God promised a blessing to Abraham and Sarah. All the way to the foundations of the earth as the psalmists sing again and again. It has been ushered in by Jesus who claimed for himself and proclaimed God’s kingdom in his very body and ministry. And it is not yet. It’s is not yet complete, for there is still an unconscionable gap between those who have plenty and those who have nothing. There are still captives. There are still people without enough food to eat or warm shelter in winter. There are still those who suffer unnecessarily in body, mind, and spirit.
And so we are called to get dressed, to light our lamps, and to be alert to the places where the kingdom is not yet visible. Not out of fear. That’s another point of reversal in this text. These let light your lamp texts, these “be ready” teachings, they often seem to be followed by or have an implied “or else,” don’t they? Not this one, though. Did you hear it?
There was a “be dressed for action”, a “have your lamps lit”, a “be ready for the master who is returning…” but instead of an “or else” there was an implied “because.” Be ready, because you will be blessed. Open the door because the master will be here to serve you. Be alert, because God is coming to serve that heavenly banquet promised to the whole kingdom, the whole of creation.
Friends, we show our readiness, that we are dressed for kingdom action, that we are alert to the arrival and call of the master, when we put on the aprons of service, when we let go of those materials things that have a hold of hearts, when we clothe the naked, feed the hungry, and bind up the brokenhearted.
We have been called to do the work to which Jesus calls us with our treasure and with our hearts. We have been given the kingdom, we are welcomed, we are blessed to be a blessing! Let’s embody the kingdom which we have been given. For in doing this, all of creation will be blessed.
