"No Fear" August 12, 2007 Pentecost 11, Proper 14

(First read the text for this sermon: Luke 12:32-40)

Recently, on a bicycle ride, I met up with three other riders. One of them I knew, and we hadn’t seen each other since before I was sick last fall and early winter. As we pedaled along, out near the Little Creek Reservoir, she introduced me to the others, and said how happy she was to see me because I had been so sick and, in fact, one thing that had saved me was my cardio-pulmonary fitness from bicycling.

One of the others – a fellow named Ron – was especially interested, and he started asking me questions about my illness. “What was the diagnosis?” he asked. I told him, “Histoplasmosis. But it took them a while to figure that out.” He said, “Hmm. Did they think it might be tuberculosis?” “Yes,” I said. “Sarcoidosis,” he asked? “Yes!” I said. “How do you know to ask about this?” Ron said he was a doctor, recently retired and moved here from New Jersey! (All this time, we’re pedaling along!) I said, “Yes, my pulmonologist treated me for sarcoidosis by giving me steroids.” Ron said, “Oh no! With a fungal infection, that’s like putting fertilizer on weeds!” I said, “Yup. Within two weeks I was on a ventilator.” “Bleep!” Ron said. (Of course, “bleep” is not what he actually said. I’ve bleeped out the word he used, which many of you would not be pleased to hear from a pastor in the pulpit!)

I tell you this story not only because it’s a good story, but because it brings to mind, once again, how quickly you and I can be brought to the edge of death. With illness it can happen within days or even hours, or even less, as in the case of a sudden heart attack. An accident happens in seconds. The bridge collapses. You step off a curb into the path of a car.

For any of us: when will the end come? Will it come “at an unexpected hour,” to use a phrase from this morning’s gospel text?

That urgency about the end of life is a theme in these verses from Luke. Did you pick up on that? In point of fact, each one of us is at the edge of life and death, each day! Who knows if and when calamity will strike? I worry about those who feel no urgency. We don’t see them in our worship assembly. I worry about the state of their salvation!

Often, when you hear this kind of talk from a preacher, he or she is trying to increase listeners’ fear and anxiety. Fear is a great motivational tool! “Prepare to meet thy God!” the stereotypical preacher thunders, quoting the prophet Amos (who is in our stained glass up there). Amos was awfully angry, and his words, along with other passages from the Bible, can be easily used to provoke fear.

But in this morning’s passage from Luke, there is no fear. Did you notice that? We’re reading in a section in Luke in which the gospel writer has clustered together several of Jesus’ teachings on living simply, and focusing on God rather than material possessions, because life is uncertain, and ultimately, what good is all your stuff? For instance, [Jesus] said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. … Instead, strive for God’s kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.”

Then comes the first verse we read this morning: "Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” It is because God has gathered us into the kingdom that there is no reason for fear. That happened when you and I were baptized! Eternal life has begun – and we are included in it, now! No fear. Our call is a joyous one! It is to live according to the values of God’s in-breaking kingdom.

Here, in this congregation, we can practice that! For instance, as a congregation, living by kingdom values would mean rejecting our culture’s idolatry of privacy – so we can be servants to each other, asking for help when we need it and helping as there is need. So, if a mother, say, is overwhelmed with the care demands of a new baby, then she would ask for help, and we would respond, as servants of each other, to serve her needs! If a parent is struggling with a young child in worship, then another servant in the congregation would respond, by moving next to the parent and helping to keep the child involved in the worship. The possibilities are endless, of how we can care for each other. And what joy there is in such kingdom servanthood! We open ourselves to each other! There’s no fear! Instead, there is radical generosity!

"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.” When these words were spoken and heard, there was no rational reason for hope and confidence! Luke’s entire community was smaller than this gathering!

But – no fear in the kingdom! Instead, freedom! Joy! There is freedom for generosity! We can give ourselves away, our time and our money! (The pledge card is a necessary tool for spiritual practice, the spiritual practice of generosity, which is a kingdom virtue.) When you and I are fearful, we horde our stuff. When we are afraid we think there is scarcity! But what good is our stuff? It wears out and thieves want to steal it and moths eat holes in it. Our stuff doesn’t last! And here’s why that matters: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,” we read in the passage. The text asks us, “Where is ‘your heart?’” In other words, What is your desire? Is your desire for stuff – a desire which is rooted in fear and anxiety? Or is your desire for God – which leads to openness to the movement of the Spirit? According to the gospel writer of Luke, it is either our stuff – or the kingdom! It is either fear and anxiety over trying to control the future (as if we could do that!) – or it is the freedom of life in God’s kingdom.

That is how this passage guides us in understanding the two “mini-parables” that come next. They’re both about vigilance, watchfulness, faithfulness.

"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.” What an image of the master coming suddenly, and finding his slaves alert – and then the master becoming their servant – inviting them to sit down to eat, so he can serve them! In fact, it is what happens each Sunday morning in our worship meal – Jesus coming to us, physically present with us, inviting us to the table.

And then, another mini-parable: "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." “The Son of Man” is the figure in the Bible expected to come from God to end history. And so: who knows when history will end? For each one of us: who knows when the end will come?

The truth is that each one of us is at the edge of life and death, each day – and so, there is urgency. But there is no fear – because God has gathered us into the kingdom!

There is need for vigilance, because the end is always at hand. But there is no fear – because God has baptized us into the kingdom!

There is need to be alert for God’s movement and presence, and there are many spiritual practices that open us to alertness. But there is no fear! "Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

In the name of God who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pastor Andy Ballentine
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
Williamsburg, Virginia