The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon.
A Kingdom for the Little Flock
“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Jesus promises the kingdom to us, his little flock, straining our minds with this uninhibited generosity. Even to us, so little and undeserving? Even to us, in the face of so many things to be afraid of? Suddenly everything we hold dear in this world is repriced, and the true value of things becomes plainly clear. We are being given the kingdom! So why not sell our possessions and give to those in need? We are being given the kingdom! So why not wait on expectant tiptoes for the master? When he comes he will wait on us! The Father’s free generosity calls forth in us a generosity we have never before known. Fear is now met with anticipation, and tightfistedness with open hands. We are being given the kingdom, so now we know what true treasure looks like. And yet, like our fathers and mothers in faith that the Hebrews reading speaks of, we too “desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.” But in Christ our heavenly country has already arrived. In him, God has freely given us the kingdom.
Gospel: Luke 12:32-40
Jesus encourages disciples to invest their hearts and live fully into God’s reign. Instead of facing life with fear, those who know God’s generosity are always ready to receive from God and to give to others.
[Jesus said:] 32“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33Sell 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. 34For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
35“Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; 36be 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. 37Blessed 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. 38If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.
39“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. 40You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”