Of course we trust! Have no fear.......

Have no fear little flock.  It is the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

We in America tend to hear the scriptures as lessons for us as individuals.  We find it difficult to assume a group perspective (it's a cultural thing, not a criticism).  We have to work at considering what Jesus might be saying to us 'as a group' and in this case, as a faith community.

Jesus' message "Have no fear little flock" is a message which speaks to us as members of the body of Christ. It acknowledges that, even as we turn towards Jesus as individuals, we are also now members of Jesus' 'flock' joined together through the Holy Spirit around the presence of the risen Jesus.

As Jesus makes his way towards Jerusalem in the gospel of Luke, he gathers the crowds close for teaching, to prepare them for those days when they will be the carriers of his message of hope.  These words are for the church that was yet to be formed.  Have no fear.  There is nothing easy about that commandment.  First century believers were to face persecution and death with a courage we can only imagine.

Letting go of our fear.  Trusting only in God.  Allowing the power of God's love for us in Jesus to cast out our fear - this is hard work.  It is no easier for our communities of faith in the 21st. century than it was for that faithful band of believers in the 1st century.  They faced the power of Rome as an oppressed people.  We face a shifting society where American culture has pronounced organized religion and whatever spiritual life it offers as 'irrelevant'.  We watch our communities of faith shrink and find it hard to talk about our faith with new generations. We worry about the future of our congregations; we fear their death.

What did the earliest believers do when faced with not just the death of their communities, but their own death as well?  They prayed.  They shared a meal of thanksgiving.  They told one another the stories of Jesus.  All this so they might find the courage to trust when the future seemed impossible.

Let us pray for one another in our fear.  Let us pray for insight and courage to step forward.  Let us share the living bread at the communion table.  Let us tell one another the stories of God's love for us in Jesus - so we might find the courage to be faithful and to trust, that the future of our congregation is in God's hands - the very one who in Jesus said,

Have no fear little flock.  It's the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 

What exactly makes the world go 'round?

The old song tells us it is 'love' but I think it is fear. The root of most of our decisions is fear.

We buy a home in the suburbs out of fear of the violence in the city.
We get education so we can get a good job out of fear of living hand to mouth.
We put money in our retirement accounts out of fear of running out of money before we die.
We eat kale out of fear.......well, I have no idea why we eat kale.

And yet!  For some, a simple trip to the local WalMart to buy school supplies turns deadly.  For a 13 year old boy the decision to not remove his cap during the national anthem ended with a complete stranger slamming him to the ground and fracturing his skull.  Add to that the reality that
......some of us will run out of money.
......some will be overwhelmed with medical debt.
......some good jobs will disappear overnight.

On that day when our lives are measured not in years but in the number of breaths we have remaining we will not want to hear how the Dow Jones Industrial Average did that day, nor what the latest medical tests reveal.  We will want to have our loved ones close by and to hear these words

Have no fear little flock.  It's the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

It is an unqualified promise made to us by the one who from the very beginning of the story has coaxed the beloved creation to give up its fear and to trust the Divine Creator.  This is a promise made by the God who manifest faithfulness to Israelites through manna, quail and water in the wilderness.  This is the promise made by our Lord Jesus as he took on flesh, healed dangerous diseases, repaired the breech in communities and emptied the tomb.  

Have no fear little flock.

And yet!  We pile up our bricks of gold and build bigger barns knowing that when our breath fails we will jettison all the stuff of this world and seek the face of the one who has implored us to trust.

Henri Nouwen wrote, "You have a short time - 20,40, 60, 80 years - to discover and believe that you are a beloved child of God. It is a short opportunity to say to God 'I love you too.'"

Jesus speaks to his 'little flock' of disciples - both the 12 and the larger crowd that has gathered around him.  At least one of the 12 was overcome with his own fear.  Many of the larger flock fled from any association with his name.  Jesus preached love in the face of fear then, just as he reaches out in love today.

Have no fear little flock.

The Good Shepherd calls.

The problem with the wealthy

I recently read that people define 'wealthy' as anyone who has more money than they do. This could include those who have impressive "toys" or even those who don't have to worry about paying the rent or buying groceries.

To someone who can't pay the rent reliably each month, I am wealthy.  To me, someone who can maintain two homes without financial strain is wealthy, although even I recognize that these folks are just moderately better off than I am.  The truly wealthy don't even think about money.  Ever.

Which is exactly the situation in which what the rich man in Luke's story found himself.  He was overwhelmed with wealth in the form of an over the top bumper crop requiring the building of additional barns to hold it all.  He was set!  No worrying over next year's harvest.  No skimping on bread baking.  In fact, if the harvest was sold judiciously, he could 'eat, drink and be merry' which is exactly the conclusion he arrived at.  Many a business owner would probably have made a similar decision.

And yet!  That very night, his 'soul was required of him' or to put it bluntly, he died.  Now who was going to get all that grain?  What good did it do him in the last analysis?

Perhaps you are of the persuasion that a punitive God struck him down because of his decision.  I won't argue with you but the scripture does not say that, and that interpretation misses the main point Jesus is making throughout this section of Luke.  Jesus isn't worried about how much you have; Jesus is concerned about how you decide to do what you do with all that wealth.

Are your values God centered?  Are you a part of bringing in the kingdom by being a part of the mercy, grace, forgiveness, healing, invitational, generous kingdom which is breaking out wherever Jesus is?  Have you been turned upside down and inside out by the mercy of God in Jesus?

Is your wealth your security or is it your Lord, Jesus?  Are you honoring the transient and dishonoring the Divine?  Are you hoarding the transient and ignoring the Divine?

Our rich farmer could have purchased burlap bags, filled them with grain and given them away, thus orchestrating an abundant harvest for the whole village.  He could have sent every farm worker home with double his wages and shared his bounty.  He could have set up a storage unit for the whole community as a hedge against the famine that was sure to come at some time.

Instead he kept it all for himself and thought himself safe from hunger for years to come.  He was secure.  He could relax.

He would turn to God another year.  Or not.  Jesus warned him.

Oh yes.  What is the problem with the wealthy?  No one thinks they are truly wealthy; no one sees himself in the story of the man with the barns.  Everyone thinks that next year they can turn to God.

Jesus warns us as well.

Money is complicated.

Having money is complicated. Of course, not having money is complicated too.

Money complicates our lives, whether we have it or not.  We certainly want to have enough so that we do not have to scramble to survive every day.  Yet few of us live on the edge of survival; our lives are much more comfortable than that.   Sure something could go wrong in a minute and that security we've worked for melts away.....but if we tell the truth, few of us are worrying about where our next meal is coming from.  In fact, few of us have stood in a free meal line in order to eat.

I'm not judging, I am describing the truth.

To survival folks, our existence, with bank accounts and cars that usually run for us and medical insurance and a job that pays regularly is beyond their hope.....and to them we are wealthy beyond measure.  What could we possibly want?

Well, that is a subject deeper than the ocean.  Wanting is our middle name.  Perhaps desire is at the heart of 'original sin' or that innate brokenness of all humans that leads us to embarrassing, hurtful behaviors.  Adam and Eve wanted knowledge, and perhaps an apple too.  We want things like a little nicer car and a bigger cushion in the bank.

[Unless, of course, you have survived a life threatening disease and then perhaps all you want is another day with your loved ones and the sight of a beautiful sunrise.  Nice cars are sooooo not important.]

See how complicated money is?  It brings out our baser instincts.  It holds out to us the possibility that better is just around the corner.  Good is just down that block.  Safe is just a half mile walk.  Chasing that Franklin tied to the end of a stick, we believe the false promises.

Promises that are false because they are time stamped, due to expire, not good after the night when your soul is required of you and you come face to face with the Divine Creator.  [While your children/loved ones divide the booty.] That dollar bill convinces us that we will WIN! But then is life about winning?  or it it about living?  is it about being happy?  giving happiness to others?  Truth is, in the end, we all simply die.

Money pretends that it can solve all our problems forever.  It pretends that it can give meaning to our lives and comfort us when the clouds gather or hope is lost.  We choose to delude ourselves into thinking that this is true.  It isn't.  Only God - the one who created in the beginning and will create again - is forever, and ever, and ever.  If you fill your head and all your days and hours and years chasing a dream that can never be caught...there will be little time left for God and for what truly matters in the eternal long run.

Not judging.  Just pointing out that it is real easy to squeeze God out of your life, until, of course, your life is squeezed out of you.

Money is complicated.