Pentecost 9 C: God’s Good Pleasure
Dear Partner in Preaching,
It’s late in the week, and I’m again pressed for time, so I will offer just a few thoughts on this Sunday’s passage.
First and foremost: Jesus’ words “Do not be afraid, little flock,” seem like a tall order just now. Global warming. Racial divides. Instability in governments around the globe. Trade wars and rumors of wars. Lots to fear, it would seem, made worse by the fact that there are lots of people eager to play upon our fears and lots of channels for them to do so through.
And then come the commands: Sell your possessions. Give alms. Store your treasure in heaven. Be dressed for action. Beyond not – if we’re going to be perfectly honest – understanding exactly what each of those means practically, these, too, can be overwhelming, to the point of wanting to ignore this passage altogether. And I wonder just how often our folks here a passage like this, get ready either to be made to feel guilty or confused, and then wonder why, exactly, they got up to go to church.
But the phrase that helps make sense of this passage for me is the line stuck right in the middle of the opening sentence: “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Except that it’s not just a line, it’s a promise. And one incredibly mind-boggling one at that! God wants to give us the kingdom. God plans on including us as heirs – “heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ,” Paul writes (Rom. 8:17). God wants and works for all good things for us!
Two elements of this promise stuck out to me in this fearful time.
1) It’s God’s good pleasure. That is, God takes delight in giving God’s children good things. Any parent or grandparent or aunt or uncle – heck, anyone who’s bought a special gift for someone they love – understand this intuitively. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, better than doing a kindness for, giving a gift to, or taking care of someone you love. Nothing. What’s amazing is that this is what God is like. Not a rule-enforcer or power player or monarchial ruler, but a parent who delights in giving gifts. This is not, I’d wager, the dominant image most of our people, let alone the average person not in church, has of God. And I sometimes think we have not given sufficient attention to enriching the imaginations of our people about God’s loving, generous, gift-giving, parental nature.
2) God gives the kingdom. We don’t earn it. Can’t, in fact. We can only receive it as a gift. And that changes the rest of what we hear. If our inclusion in the kingdom is by gift and invitation – and it is, in fact, God’s good pleasure to give us this gift – then what follows aren’t conditions, but the invitation to set our priorities in line with what we’ve already been given. That is, we’re invited to live into the identity and reality we’ve been given.
In short, when we realize it’s God’s good pleasure to care for us, love us, take care of us, and give us all good things – even God’s own kingdom – then it’s a lot easier to give rather than hoard, live from a sense of courage rather than fear, operate out of a sense of abundance rather than scarcity, allow ourselves to be seen rather than presenting only what we think is acceptable, and so on. Promises, in other words, create a sense of freedom.
So maybe we can ask our folks honestly, Dear Partner, to name some of the fears they are holding right now. And then not assume that after one sermon they can give those up, but rather a) that we’ll pray for them as the assess and try to overcome their fears, b) that we’ll pray together about some of the frightening issues in the world, and c) that from a sense of freedom and courage we’ll work to address them. Because, if God wants to give us the kingdom, why not? Why not acknowledge our fears? Why not name them and perhaps begin to overcome them? Why not throw ourselves into the challenges of the day? Why not risk ourselves and take a stand for the people that are important to us? Why not show up, ready for action?
That’s all I can fit into this day, Dear Partner. Please know that as I move to the next item on my “to do” list, I will ll do so with a little more sense of freedom and joy because of the time spent reflecting on these texts with you. Blessings on your preaching this week, as what you do matters, often far more than you realize.
Yours in Christ,
David
Bless you! My family is reeling from a violent loss of life (two infants murdered) and my Sermon writing for this week has felt quite forced. Your words are helpful.
Dear David,
The message in Luke is so precious. People, while in physical form, are always fearful that they have enough to keep the body clothed, fed and sheltered. Those are the “things of this world” that we all strive toward, some amassing way more than they could ever use in a lifetime. Indeed, unless a person achieves financial independence, they are looked down upon by others and considered a burden to be grudgingly borne by society.
What is forgotten by most is that NONE of our so-called possessions will accompany us to heaven…we will have no money, no furniture, no houses. All those things will be inherited by others. We may need them while we sojourn upon the earth, but we will not need them in heaven.
The only things we will carry with us into heaven are memories…hopefully, good memories of those we have loved and those who have loved us. That will be our treasure in heavenly places and could be our earthly treasure, too, if we reflect upon what’s important to God.
Your words touched me. We live in a world that is driven by scarcity instead of living into what we’ve already received. So much of what’s going on right now is driven by fear of losing what we have. It’s the Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom! What freeing words those are!