Have No Fear, Little Flock

Have no fear, little flock; have no fear little flock, for the Father has chosen to give you the kingdom; have no fear, little flock!   ELW 764

For many of us, though not all of us, this has been a very hard week.  For many of us, though not all of us, the path ahead looks frightening.  For many of us it looks especially frightening for the lives of the poor and marginalized.  In Jesus’ day, this included widows, orphans, strangers, lepers, and anyone else considered unclean.  In our day for those of us who are worried, it is hard not to believe that many, many people will experience greater suffering, except for those who like the rich man in the text from Luke 12 will do well, at least for a time…though the story is clear about a day of reckoning…

Hear again the soliloquy of the rich man:  I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’   But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’  So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”

We may wonder about the fate ahead for those we serve through the food pantry;   or about the fate of supplemental government programs meant to help the poor: single parents with children, working married parents living below the poverty line; or about the fate of pregnant women, who for many except for relatively wealthy, face serious health crises.  We may wonder about the fate of non-citizens like the six young men living in our parish house; or about up to estimated 20 million undocumented folks who may be deported.  We may wonder about the future for the LGBTQ community…All of these people above are, we confess, like us, children of our heavenly Father.

If these wonderings, these worries soon do come to pass, then if ever there was a time for us to be supportive of the ministries of the food pantry and the parish house, it is now.  If ever there was a time for us to be supportive of the ministry of Faith, this little flock, this Reconciling in Christ congregation, it is now.

Jesus says to us, 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…For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

We together are that little flock, that little flock cared for, loved, and protected by Jesus, who is the good shepherd.  Before we can seriously think about selling our possessions, we need to know, we need to believe and trust that we are loved, that we will be protected, that we will be led beside still waters, that our souls will be restored…our souls and the souls of our children and our grandchildren.

“Have no fear, little flock… for the Father has chosen to give you the kingdom….” [Please sing it with me, ELW 764]

Jesus is saying to us,” I understand your fear, but do not be afraid.   Absolutely nothing can separate you from my love.  No matter how awful the future might be, especially for the least of these, my sisters and brothers, I who suffered and died and rose again will be with you and with them.   Little flock, Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos Michigan, I will be with you.”

Do not be afraid…sell your possessions, and give alms.  This word is from the lips of Jesus who elsewhere also said to the worried and the weary, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  But his words here in Luke’s gospel about selling possessions and giving alms seem anything but easy or light.

This is a hard saying, to be sure.  But I wonder if Jesus is not speaking here so much about earthly possessions as about making room for the creation of a very rich heart, about a heart that is not afraid, a heart that knows it is deeply loved, a heart set free from defining our worth by our numerous possessions.  That heart is a very rich heart.  It is a heart content with simple things.   It is a very generous heart.

God knows we need food and clothing.  God knows we need a shelter for ourselves and for our families…as does every person on earth.  And God wills that all should have not only adequate food and clothing and a place to call home, but also a just government, access to health care, and good and trustworthy friends.   Our true worth is not how much of those things we have.  Our true and lasting treasure is measured by the priceless, unfathomable love God has so richly poured into our hearts, hearts so full of love that we cannot help but give it forward to both friend and stranger.

Do not be afraid…sell your possessions and give alms…for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  Hear again these words from Psalm 146 we read responsively this morning:  Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help…who gives justice to those who are oppressed, and food to those who hunger…The Lord cares for the stranger; the Lord sustains the orphan and widow, but frustrates the way of the wicked.

Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help.  In the next couple of weeks, hopefully we’ll all be thinking and praying and deciding about what portion of our hoped-for income in the coming year we want to give for the ministry of this little flock.  Mindful that when our fears are day by day allayed by the good shepherd, and mindful that in the words of scripture God loves a cheerful giver, we will boldly declare our generous, joyful, even radical intentions.

We hear in the story of today’s gospel in Mark a way of radical giving:

[Jesus] sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury.  Many people put in large sums.  A poor widow came and put in two small coins, which are worth a penny.   Then he called his disciples [including us] and said to them [and us], “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury.  For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

In a way I am confounded by Jesus’ words.  I don’t think Jesus meant these words to be woodenly prescriptive for all of us.  I do think they mean that radically loved people who belong to the kingdom of God are not afraid to give away everything they are and everything they have to express this radical love and mercy of God dwelling so abundantly in their hearts, in your heart and in mine.