The Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
August 7, 2016
Luke 12:32-40
“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night. But understand 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, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” (NIV1984
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
What does it mean to be a “disciple” of Jesus Christ? The answer to that question is actually quite simple. The Greek word which is translated as “disciple” very literally refers to a “student” or a “follower.” A “disciple” of Jesus Christ is someone who “follows” after Jesus. Jesus is their Leader. They follow Him wherever He goes. At the very same time, a “disciple” of Jesus Christ is someone who “learns” the Truth from Him. He is their Teacher. They are His “student.”
What does it mean to be a “disciple” of Jesus Christ? While the answer to that question is indeed rather simple the application of that answer to our own personal lives can be quite complex. Being a “disciple” of Jesus Christ can require different things from us depending on the type of situation in which we find ourselves. For example, when someone wants us to follow them down a road that we know is displeasing to our God, being a “disciple” of Jesus Christ will require us to remember that Jesus is our Leader and we only “follow” Him. Or, when someone is trying to teach us something that contradicts the Truth of holy Scripture, being a “disciple” of Jesus Christ will require us to remember that Jesus is our Teacher and we are His “student.”
What does it mean to be a “disciple” of Jesus Christ? That is the simple yet complex question that we are going to address as we follow a sermon series based on various portions of the Gospel of St. Luke. As we begin this sermon series today let’s focus our attention on this truth: As Disciples of Jesus— We live by Faith and Not in Fear. There are two questions we want to address this morning. The first question is, why. As disciples of Jesus why don’t we need to live in fear? The second question is what does this mean? As disciples of Jesus what does it mean for us to live by faith?
Purely by the grace and power of God alone you and I are disciples of Jesus Christ. Why does that mean that don’t we need to live in fear? Look at how Jesus answers that question in the opening portion of our text. He says, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
“Do not be afraid, little flock.” This is not a suggestion that is open to question or debate by the disciples of Jesus Christ. This is an imperative. This is a Gospel command. This is the One who is both our Brother and our God saying to us, “You are my disciples. As My disciples you do not need to live in fear!” Then why, my friends? Why does Jesus even have to give us a command such as this? Because there are so many things that can cause us to fear! If you have your Bibles open to our text for today look back to the beginning of Luke chapter twelve. Jesus had just warned His disciples about being persecuted for their faith (12:1-12), about how greed can take over one’s life with eternally fatal results (12:13-21) and about how easy it is for us to become overwhelmed with worry— What am I going to eat? What am I going to wear? How will I ever survive! All of this could become a source of fear in our life.
The fears that we face as disciples of Jesus today could also include the fear of being ridiculed for our faith or the fear of being judged by the world simply because we refuse to compromise God’s Truth for the sake of being politically correct. On a congregational level we might face the fear of the future or the fear of finances. On a more individual level we might face the fear of change or the fear of failure or the fear of disapproval, the fear of becoming dependant on others, or perhaps the greatest fear of all— the fear that guilt can bring into our heart. All of this could become a source of fear. That’s why Jesus says to us, “Remember, you are My disciples. Since you are My disciples you do not need to live in fear!”
“Do not be afraid, little flock.” Why can Jesus give a command such as this to us, His disciples? What gives Him the right, the power, the authority to give us such a command? Jesus gives us three reasons right here in our text! First, we are not just any “little flock.” We are His “little flock”! There are approximately 7.5 billion people on the face of this earth. Of those 7.5 billion people 2.2 billion claim at least some outward connection to Christianity. They may not go to church— except for maybe Christmas and Easter— but they still consider themselves to be a Christian. Of 2.2 billion people, 800 million claim to be Protestants. Protestant churches include Methodists and Presbyterians and Baptists and Lutherans along with others. Of those 800 million Protestants, 75 million claim at least some outward connection to the Lutheran Church— even if it is simply that they were born in a country where you are automatically a Lutheran. When you compare us to all the billions of people on earth we are indeed a “little flock”! What is important, however, is that we are indeed His “little flock”! So why live in fear? Jesus is our Good Shepherd. Jesus is the One who leads us and provides for us and protects us from our enemies.
Secondly, while we may indeed be a “little flock” Jesus assures us that our heavenly Father “has been pleased to give you the kingdom.” This is, of course, a reference to the eternal kingdom of heaven. Why is our heavenly Father “pleased” to “give” us His Kingdom— absolutely free of charge? Because of our connection to His Son, Jesus Christ! We are His Son’s “disciples.” We are His Son’s “students.” Since we “follow” His Son here on this earth we will “follow” His Son into eternity. So why live in fear? As disciples of Jesus Christ we know that our heavenly Father is “pleased” to “give” us His eternal heavenly Kingdom!
And finally, as disciples of Jesus we do not need to live in fear because we understand. We understand that because our heavenly Father was “pleased” to give us His eternal Kingdom, our true riches, our “treasure…that will not be exhausted,” that is, our “treasure” that cannot and will not run out, is stored up waiting for us in heaven. We could sell everything we have and give it to the poor and in His eyes (Pointing to the cross) we would still be listed among the richest people on earth! That, my friends, is why Jesus can and does say to us, “Do not be afraid, little flock.”
Our Lord makes it very clear to us as to why we, His disciples, do not need to live in fear. At the very same time, our Lord makes it very clear to as to why we, His disciples, are to live by faith. And to help us understand what it means to live our life by faith Jesus uses a picture that was extremely familiar to the people who originally heard Him speak these words. If you have your Bibles open to our text look at verses 35 to 38 where Jesus uses the example of a Jewish wedding. The key point in these verses, the point that helps us to understand what it means to live our life by faith, is found in the words, “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him.”
The picture here is not difficult to understand. When a master went away to a wedding banquet— whether as a guest or as the groom— his servants never knew how long he would be gone. What they did know is that their master would indeed be coming back. What they did know is that while their master was away he expected them to be “dressed ready for service.” The servants did not see their master’s absence as an opportunity for them to do whatever they wanted or to go wherever they wished. They lived in the faith that their master would return. They lived in the faith that when their master did return he would be pleased to find them “dressed ready for service.”
So also with us. Our Master, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, has returned Home to heaven as the Victor over sin, death and the devil. Our Master, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, has promised us that He is coming back— we just don’t know when! What we do know is that our Master, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, has told us that while He is gone He expects us to be “dressed ready for service.”
That is precisely what living our life by faith means for us as disciples of Jesus. Living our life by faith does not mean doing whatever we want while our Master is away. Living our life by faith does not mean just sitting back and enjoying life while our Master is gone. Living our life by faith means making sure that every single day we are “dressed ready for service.” Living our life in faith means that every single day we strive to faithfully carrying out the work that our Savior has given us to do while He is away— letting our light shine before others, sharing the message of Jesus with as many people as we can, supporting and carrying out His kingdom work here on this earth— all in joyful anticipation that today could be the day that Jesus returns to this earth!
While the whole picture of servants being “dressed ready for service” while their master is away at a wedding banquet was indeed extremely familiar to the people who heard Jesus speak these words, they would have undoubtedly been surprised at one detail Jesus includes here in our text. Look at verse 37, “I tell you the truth, he (the master) will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come to wait on them.” This is not what we would expect, is it! Our Master, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, will one day invite us to sit down at His heavenly feast and He will serve us! While this is not the way the world operates this is how our Master, our gracious Lord and Savior works. Therefore, as disciples of Jesus we can be “dressed ready for service” living every single day by the faith that when our Master returns He will invite us to enjoy His heavenly feast for all of eternity!
What does it mean to be a “disciple” of Jesus Christ? While answering that question might seem rather simple, applying that answer to our day-to-day lives is can indeed be rather complex. My prayer is that our sermon series on various selections from Luke’s Gospel will help us to grow in both our understanding of and in our appreciation for the fact that purely by the grace and power of God we are “disciples,” we are “followers,” we are “students” of Jesus Christ.
To God be the glory!
Amen
