Luke 12:32-40
‘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.
‘Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.
‘But know 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, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.’
This might go down as the biggest stretch – or at least the silliest sermon illustration, yet. But someone reminded me about the 90’s sitcom “Will and Grace” this week, and then I listened to a podcast about the impact that show had on our country and our culture back in the day, so when I was wrestling with this morning’s Gospel and trying to make some serious sense of it, I had the show on my mind and this bit came to mind.
If you haven’t seen it – or don’t remember it – all you need to know is that Jack McFarland is a die-hard Cher fan, so much so, that he recently acquired a collectible Barbie-type doll of the singer that he carries everywhere with him. He also prides himself on his ability to impersonate his idol. And then, with his Cher doll sitting next to him at dinner, this happens…
I’ll come back to “Will and Grace” and “Cher and Jack” in just a minute. But first, a little about this morning’s Gospel.
It follows right where we left off last week, with more of Jesus’ encouragement and command to give our things and our money and our stuff away. And I latched onto that first statement – “Do not be afraid, for it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom” – because the rest of the passage seemed like a pretty long “To Do List.” Sell your possessions… Give alms… Make purses that don’t wear out… Be dressed for action… Have your lamps lit… Do this… Do that… Know this… Be ready at all costs.
And, I’m not great about “To Do Lists” when they come from somebody else – just ask my wife. I can have my own list of things to do – and I do. I keep one on my phone and several in my office. But as soon as someone else makes a suggestion or adds something to my list that doesn’t line-up with my plans, I get stubborn, pretty quickly. I’m not necessarily proud of this. It’s not one of my better qualities. Again, just ask Christa.
And truth be told, Jesus’ “To Do List,” doesn’t always line up with mine. And, I’m guessing it doesn’t always line up with your list of things to do at every turn, either. “Sell your possessions… Give alms… Store up for yourselves heavenly sorts of treasures – not all of this earthly stuff, like cars and houses and clothes and shoes; like savings accounts and retirement funds, 401K’s and 529’s…
And be dressed for action… Have your lamps lit… Be ready for God’s coming among you. Live a life that would make God happy and proud enough that, should God show up at your door, you would swing it wide with joy, show God around, and God would be so happy, so pleased, so proud of your life and faith that God, God’s very self, would hike up his drawers, tighten his belt, pull out a chair for you, and make you a drink and serve you dinner.
The “To Do List” at our house is too long if we know one of you people might be stopping by. I can’t imagine what it would look like if we really lived as if Jesus was coming to dinner.
And this is the challenge of our life and faith, isn’t? It’s not a “To Do List” that includes running the vacuum or cleaning the toilets for a house guest. It’s the “To Do List” of keeping our priorities straight and our actions pure and our faith strong so that we’re living right in the eyes of God and in-keeping with our best intentions for ourselves, for our family, and for the sake of the world around us.
It means doing with less so that the least among us can have more. It means accepting God’s forgiveness for our own sins and forgiving the sins of those we’d rather not. It means loving one another, and our enemies. It means standing up to injustice when we see it. It means praying for and voting for and working for peace and justice in the world. It means living and shopping and consuming in ways that care for creation.
God’s “To Do List” can feel long, challenging, overwhelming and impossible, even on my best days.
Which is why I keep going back to that first statement from Jesus; that thing he says before he gets to the list of things to do: “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.” “It is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.”
“God wants this for you.” “God desires this for you.” Do these things…live in these ways…and see if God won’t pour the blessings of heaven into your lap – not because we have to earn it; certainly not because any of us deserve it; but because it is God’s good pleasure to give us the Kingdom – and this is how and where that Kingdom can be found in your midst, right where you live.
And that’s the other thing. Too many Christians believe our quest for the Kingdom is all and only about life after death – that that’s when and where we’ll finally experience God’s love, grace, mercy, justice and joy. But the truth is, Jesus showed up to bring that Kingdom into our midst and to show and inspire us how to do the same.
It’s why I think Jesus is kind of messing with his followers this morning, when he says that they should be ready, alert and dressed for action because “the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.” I think he’s messing with them when he says that, because HE IS THE SON OF MAN. And he’s standing in their midst already, like Cher in the middle of a restaurant in Manhattan. And he’s “coming at an unexpected hour” because he’s already there and they refuse to believe what they’re seeing.
And just like Jack with Cher, they – we – think we know better. That we can do better. That our ways of selfishness and self-preservation; that our worldly “To-Do Lists” are more important and more life-giving than God’s call to sacrifice, generosity, love of the other, and all the rest.
It is the Father’s good pleasure to give us the Kingdom – and that Kingdom is already among and around and accessible to us, people. It’s not only something we’re waiting for at the end of time or on that day when we’ll meet our maker.
So Jesus’ invitation today is to live in ways that allow us to experience and to share the Kingdom of God, right where we are. And if you want to see yourself some Kingdom… if you want to experience for yourself what that Kingdom of God is like… if you want to share a little bit of that Kingdom with somebody else…
…be generous with your money in ways that surprise even you – and you’ll get a glimpse of it.
…sacrifice something for someone who needs it – and you’ll experience and share in some measure of God’s Kingdom.
…seek out “the least of these” and give them a hand – and God’s Kingdom will be among you.
…forgive that someone who makes your blood pressure rise whenever they cross your mind – and you will experience a Kingdom kind of peace which passes all understanding.
…start a conversation with somebody who looks or lives or who believes differently than you do – and God’s Kingdom will be at your fingertips.
…send a note to someone who’d be surprised to know they were even on your radar, let alone in your prayers – and God’s Kingdom will be in your midst, and in theirs, too.
In Jesus Christ, God stood among us and sang a song of grace, mercy, hope and love so that we could recognize and replicate that in this broken world and so that we could bring God’s Kingdom to bear upon all that God has made. And we are blessed and better when we do… we are children of God… we are agents of change… we are Kingdom-dwellers, even… ready to see, to receive and to experience God’s good pleasure for our benefit and for the sake of the world.
Amen
