Luke 12:32-40
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.
Right before church last week I saw an ad from a Congress-person selling t-shirts that say “Proud Christian Nationalist.” In the picture there was the shirt, the congress-person with their fists up like a boxer, and a caption that said, “STAND AGAINST THE GODLESS LEFT” outlined in red. But this ad isn’t primarily selling a t-shirt with a political label. This person is selling first and foremost a story. A very, old story. In fact, it’s the second oldest story ever told. Sure, it’s wearing a brand new t-shirt but it’s the same old story.
That old story says that our world is a VERY frightening place. Terrifying, in fact. Because of THEM! Because of “THEM” we need to barricade “US” inside and lock “THEM” out! Those on the inside are the good guys, the patriots, the faithful, and the righteous. Those on the outside are the godless left, liberal terrorists, and out to get your children.
This old story wants you to believe that EVERYTHING of worth and value in our world is in very, very short supply and “THEY” are coming for the little bit you have! So if you don’t have any, then you better get some! If you’ve got some, then you better stock up more! And that’s not greed, mind you… it’s not fear, the old story assures the listener… it’s smart. What is it that is in such short supply you ask?
EVERYTHING! Safety, security, freedom, jobs, food, gas, wealth, power, health, our culture, our way of life… EVERYTHING is in desperately, horribly short supply and “THEY” are coming to get the last little bit you have… so you better get your fists out and get ready! Anyone who questions this story is clearly part of the godless left so the story must be swallowed hook, line, and sinker… no ifs, ands, or buts. THEY are not part of US and THEY are not fully human, so anything goes… there are no means that go too far to achieve these ends.
THAT, is the very old story now sporting a brand new t-shirt and I, for one, am thankful that the people telling that old story this time around have decided to call themselves “Proud Christian Nationalists.” I’m thankful… because by claiming that label for themselves, they’ve made it much easier to talk about how Christianity is different than Christian Nationalism. Because people need to know, that even though it’s wearing a new t-shirt, it’s a story first told long, long ago by a snake in a garden. “You don’t have enough!” said the snake to the people. “But God has given us everything we need here in abundance,” the people replied. “But you aren’t equal with God” said the snake. “Are you?” “The snake’s right” the people agreed, “we’ve been short changed! God is keeping what is ours from us! We want it all! We want to be gods! It’s our right!” Like I told you it’s a very, very old story… the second oldest story in fact. But hear now, what the preacher is saying to God’s people: IT… IS… NOT… OUR… STORY.
OUR story… the Christian story… tells us and shows us over and over again exactly what the first of today’s Gospel told us…… BE NOT AFRAID, little flock, for it is your Father’s GOOD PLEASURE to GIVE you the Kingdom! In OUR story, scarcity, fear, and violence are not commodities traded in our land! In OUR story we trade in ABUNDANCE, LOVE and HOPE! In our story scarcity is an illusion… a horrible, awful lie! Because we KNOW from our story it is God’s GOOD PLEASURE to give us the Kingdom… the WHOLE, EXPANSIVE, NEVER ENDING, INEXHAUSTIBLE, ABUNDANT KINGDOM… and to give it to us all as a GIFT!
In OUR story, the Christian story, God doesn’t just give the Kingdom to those on one side of the wall. In our story the Kingdom has no walls! Everyone is given the Kingdom in abundance! Saints and sinners, jews and gentiles, tax collectors and trash collectors, warriors and widows, cis and trans, campers and kings, black and white, curmudgeon and hipster, politicians and prophets and even to the likes of you and believe it or not… even me!
In OUR story, love is stronger than hate, hope more powerful than fear, humility more enviable than hubris, and generosity more admired than greed. In OUR story, the story told in Christianity, we are ALL God's little flock… where “little” is a term of endearment, not any sort of limit to who’s included, because God’s flock embraces all of humanity and all of creation without exception. Which is why, little flock, there is no need to live in fear. The God who loved all of it… ALL OF IT into being in the first place (which, by the way, IS the oldest story) is not just pleased, but is in fact WELL pleased, to CONTINUE to shower you and all of creation with that same unlimited, unbounded, fearless love until the day that ALL of creation opens their eyes and sees that God’s story, the Christian story… OUR story… is the WAY to LIFE… and that’s the TRUTH.
So do NOT be afraid, little flock, for it is God’s GOOD PLEASURE to have already given you the entirety of the Kingdom, and it is God’s Good Pleasure to continue to shower you with that Kingdom in love and grace, not for anything you have done or not done, but simply because God LOVES giving it to you… it brings the Divine GOOD PLEASURE to do that, both now and forever. Amen.
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