Sermon

August 19, 2007
Pentecost 12
Luke 12:32-40
Pastor Joel Zank

Christian, Don’t Be Afraid!

(Luke 12:32-40)  "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. {33} 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. {34} For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. {35} "Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, {36} 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. {37} 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. {38} 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. {39} 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. {40} You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."

In Christ Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, dear fellow redeemed,

Here’s a little history quiz for you: Who said the following? “...the only thing we have to fear is fear itself–nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” Do you know the answer? President Franklin Delano Roosevelt first spoke those words in his 1933 Inaugural Address. In those days our country was in the midst of the Great Depression, and though it seemed like things could not possibly get worse, the nation’s fears that they might, kept people from moving forward.

The very same thing can happen to us as Christians. We often live as if we were in the midst of a great spiritual depression. We let our fears paralyze us and keep us from advancing the kingdom of God. So today our leader, one far greater than even FDR, urges us to put fear aside. It is our God himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, who says to all of us, to each of us, “Christian, Don’t Be Afraid!” Don’t be afraid to let faith guide your actions; and don’t be afraid to let faith shape your attitude.

Throughout Luke chapter 12, Jesus has been offering both words of encouragement and warning to his disciples. He has told us not to fear those who can only kill the body, but rather to fear God who has the power to throw us sinners into hell (Luke 12:5). Jesus has told us about a rich fool whose sudden death parted him forever from the earthly treasures he valued so dearly and then added this warning: “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:21).  And with those words still ringing in our ears, Jesus adds, “But seek [God’s] Kingdom, and [all that you need for life] will be given to you as well” (Luke 12:31).

Because we are people who think and do such sinful things, Jesus’ words of warning bring a good deal of anxiety and fear to our hearts. We wonder: “Are we doing enough to seek the kingdom of God? Will be able to hold onto that kingdom our whole life long, or in end will we sell out our souls to Satan for a few pleasures and treasures that will be short-lived at best?

Given our track record, we would seem to have good reason to be afraid. Jesus knows this. He got an up-close and personal look at our self-destructive ways during his days here on earth. Yet this same Jesus says to us today: “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). 

The kingdom of God is not something you can locate on a map. That’s because, as Jesus points out in Luke 17:21, “...the kingdom of God is within you.” God establishes his kingdom in a person when God moves into that person’s heart to rule there. The kingdom of God comes to a sinner the second God’s Holy Spirit brings him or her to faith. Now, neither this gift of faith nor the kingdom that comes with it are blessings that we sinners can earn. We cannot qualify for them by living or acting a certain way; in fact, before they come to us, we cannot even invite or beg God to grant us these gifts, because by nature we lack all power and all desire to do so. In other words, sinners don’t choose God. We can’t. No, in pure grace, in love that is totally unearned and completely undeserved, God chooses us; he chooses to give us faith and through it, his very kingdom. Why would he do such a thing? Jesus says: “Because it pleases God to do this.”

Isn’t that remarkable! Isn’t that most encouraging thing you’ve ever heard?  God has made you and me part of his flock because he wanted to and since God does not change, there is no fear that suddenly he will stop wanting us. God is for us! So neither the fact that we are a little flock or defenseless sheep is reason for us to be afraid. The One who is for us is so much greater than all who are against us.

That is a relief. Here’s something else that is good to know. Since God has already given us his kingdom, we should not regard the Savior’s words to us today as a directive on how to acquire the kingdom. It’s already ours with no strings attached. Instead Jesus is teaching us how we can avoid throwing his gift away.  Our future security hangs on Jesus’ words.

Jesus wants us to know that the faith he has given us is born of and built on God’s promises. Faith is a living thing. It has its very own desires and impulses. It longs to hear from Jesus and do what he says. I’ll give you an example. Do you remember the time Peter and the disciples saw Jesus walking toward them on the water? It was Peter’s faith that prompted him to say: “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water” (Matthew 14:28).  Jesus spoke but one word, “Come.” That’s all faith needed to hear. Peter got down out of the boat and began to do the impossible, that is, until he became afraid. It wasn’t the wind or the waves that posed any threat to Peter. It was his own fear that did him in.

Does that ever happen to you? Today Jesus says, “Don’t be afraid little flock! I’m your Good Shepherd – I’ll feed you, I’ll protect you, I’ll give you everything you need for body and soul.”  Our faith thrives on such a promise. Faith says, “I hear you, Lord! Say the word! Tell me what to do!”  That’s what Jesus does. He says: “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” (Luke 12:33).

Friends, here’s our chance to walk on water. If we trust Jesus to take care of us, we can afford to take what’s he’s given us and use it to meet people’s physical and spiritual needs. That sounds right, doesn’t it? Jesus has already given us his kingdom. Do you really suppose there’s anything he’d couldn’t or wouldn’t do for us? Faith, of course, knows the right answer to my question, but before it even has a chance to act, fear takes over and says, “Is Jesus crazy! He wants me to do what–to give way what is mine? I can’t, I won’t do that. It would ruin me!”

So just like that, fear trumps faith, keeping us from saying and doing all the bold and loving things that God would have us say and do in this lost and dying world. That’s certainly bad for the world, and equally bad for us. Do you see why? Think about it. The kind of fear that we’re talking about here is always a product of unbelief. It’s a slap in God’s face because fear says to God, “I can’t trust you; I don’t believe you.”  Fear kills faith, and if that thought is not sobering enough, remember, the kingdom of God comes to us only through faith. If fear is allowed to have its way, we’ll end up forfeiting the kingdom God has so graciously given us.

So what can we do? Not a thing. There’s nothing we can do to right our wrongs with God. He’s not interested in any excuses we may offer him or any promises we might make to him. Sinners don’t deserve a second chance; they earn only God’s punishment of hell. Christians who let their fears get the better of them deserve to have the kingdom ripped from their hearts.

That’s what I deserve and so do you, and so that’s the confession we want to make to our God today and every day. We want to lay our fears and sin before him, acknowledging their damning consequences, all the while telling God that we have nothing here on earth more valuable to us than the heavenly treasure of his merciful love. That’s it. For our part that’s all there is to say–there’s no defense to offer, only an admission of guilt. So now we await God’s response. What will he say? What will he do? Your faith knows; it trusts that God who is pleased to give us the kingdom, is just as pleased to speak yet another word of promise, a word that bolsters our faith and endears our hearts all the more to the treasure that is ours in Christ. God’s message is simple but oh so powerful: “I forgive you all your fears, all your sins for the sake of my Son who died to face my wrath in your place and who now lives to bring my peace to your heart.” What a powerful word!

God’s promises are no ordinary message. They have the power to work in us the very faith they call for. And as we live by those promises, experiencing each day their fulfillment in our lives, faith is made all the more eager and bold to move on to God’s next promise and put it to the test. Today our hearts experience the peace of God’s promised forgiveness. Perhaps tomorrow these same hearts will also know better the joy of trusting God’s promise to provide for us, trusting that promise to the point that we can take more of the earthly treasures God has given us and share them with others, converting dollars and cents into thank offerings of kindness and generosity that teach poor sinners what it is to know and believe in the saving love of Christ.

Christian, don’t be afraid to let faith guide your actions. God will accomplish great things in you, through you and for you. And while you’re at it, don’t be afraid to let faith shape your attitude. That’s Christ’s message to us in the remaining verses of our text. There Jesus tells us two parables both of which focus our attention on his second coming.

If you are like me, your fears have a tendency to make you so near-sighted that you can’t see beyond the troubles of this day. We get so caught up in our financial woes, and our health problems, and our rocky relationships, that there’s no thought of tomorrow, let alone eternity. We put all our energy in to fixing a life that can offer no lasting happiness, a life whose end might well come suddenly, unexpectedly, or as Jesus says like a thief in the night. He tells us this, not to frighten us, but to wake us up. He’s coming for us, not to steal something away from us, but to bring us at last into the full joys of his kingdom.

Jesus is the Master spoken of in the parable of the wedding banquet. Ever since he left this earth on the day of his ascension, the citizens of heaven have been celebrating his victorious homecoming like guests at a wedding. In a little while Jesus will leave that celebration to come back for us, his servants still here on earth. Will we be ready to meet and welcome him, or will his return catch us off guard? Again, that could only happen if we let our fears dim the expectations of our faith. Knowing this, our dear Savior gives us all the reason we need to stop staring at our troubles and instead scan the skies day and night for his reappearing. He says, “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” (Luke 12:37). 

Here Jesus promises to do for us what no earthly master would ever think of doing. He promises that when he comes back to this world, it will be to serve us in ways that we can’t possibly imagine. Now that shouldn’t surprise us. For at his first coming, this same Jesus put on a servant’s form to save us from our sins. He won’t have to do that again. He’s finished his saving work on the cross once and for all. What he’s looking forward to now is waiting on us hand and foot. Can you believe it my friends? Yes you can because Jesus says it will be so. Now I don’t pretend to comprehend the full meaning of his words, but I know this much, we truly have something to look forward to. And that’s exactly what our faith will do for us. When we turn our attention each day to the Savior’s gospel promises, promises like the ones in our text, faith will fill our imagination with the wonders of heaven. It will take our minds off our earthly fears and give us instead an attitude of expectation and hope.

Franklin Roosevelt was so right, the only thing you and I have to fear is fear itself, and even that enemy is easily overcome by the words and promises of our Good Shepherd, Jesus. So Christian, don’t be afraid. By the power of his promise, our God will give you all the faith you need to guide your actions and shape your attitude all the way to heaven. You know he will do this, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

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