Fear Not, but Be Ready

After telling them that God takes care of the birds of the air and wildflowers of the field and so God will take care of those who desire the kingdom, Jesus tells those listening not to be afraid, because it’s not just that God will give the kingdom. God delights in giving the kingdom. As Rev. Dr. David Lose noted a while back, “God isn't just sitting around waiting for us to earn God's favor or watching to make sure we're toeing the line. Rather, God wants to give us the kingdom and all good things.” 

Which is really good news, because I find the latter part of this passage rather unsettling. “Sell your possessions and give to those in need.” “You also must be ready because the Son of Man is coming at a time when you don’t expect him.”

Both of these sayings make me squirm, especially when taken at face value. Sell your possessions and give the money to those in need? For some, this may sound like Socialism or even Communism. For others, maybe it’s a great idea, but really hard to live out. I think of the possessions I have- not just treasures near and dear to my heart, even, but those things I’m not ready to let go of because I might need them. And being ready for Jesus’ coming again? Sounds like those predictions that the world would end and Jesus would return on a certain date: turn of the millenia, Harold Camping’s May of 2011, the end of the Mayan calendar in December of 2012.

But what if this morning’s Gospel lesson is about being ready to be part of the kingdom of God: not of some far off heaven or some distant future, but the kingdom here and now. Lose envisioned what that might mean for us today, saying “Jesus doesn't want us to miss when God comes in ways that might surprise us -- in generosity instead of accumulation, in community instead of looking out for ourselves, in vulnerability and relationship rather than in strength. It's easy to miss the God who comes in love and grace, you see, when all we expect is law and punishment.” And in one of her commentaries, Rev. Dr. Karoline Lewis redefined what being ready for the kingdom of God might mean: “Being ready for Jesus’ second coming is less about any actual time and place and more about imagining Jesus’ activity in the world, when and where you least expect it or imagine seeing it. …  Being without fear, knowing the source of your treasure -- that is, your identity, your worth -- makes it possible to be prepared for and an actual participant in God’s kingdom.” 

We don’t have to wait around, sitting on our hands, just making sure we’re awake to unlock the door when Jesus returns. Being ready for the kingdom means being open to it, seeing it where we might not otherwise!

Over the weekend, I listened to the book The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer; I’m thinking of reading it together for our fall book study in the next month or two. I’m sure some of you have heard of these trees that are part of the rose family, like pears and apples. They’re known as shadbush, shadwood or shadblow, serviceberry, juneberry, saskatoon, sugarplum, wild-plum or chuckley pear. From what I understand, they can be planted, but they can also be a pure gift from the land, springing up and providing different kinds of fruit which can feed the birds and us. Kimmerer uses these fruiting trees to talk about gift economy: giving out of abundance instead of hoarding for the future- something that especially pertained to the parable of the rich fool we heard last week. And I thought about “sell everything and give to the poor.” 

Kimmerer recognized that consumerism and the market economy isn’t going anywhere. But I think the concept of a gift economy gives us insight into the kingdom of God. She talked about neighbors stashing zucchinis in various mailboxes when zucchini season was at a height. And there was a “free farmstand” where people could come and take whatever seasonal vegetables they could use. Then in one story, Kimmerer discussed how her friends owned a farm and had multiple “pick your own” events over the seasons. One morning in the midst of COVID, her friend invited people to come and pick Juneberries for free, introducing some to these berries that never show up in grocery stores. People laughed and sampled, and joyfully plunked berries into buckets to take home. While the friend might have lost out on income for the day, she didn’t see it that way. She had gained so much more by inviting people to come and pick berries. It was a hard time for so many people, but there was only joy and laughter while picking the berries. With the abundance of the berries, the friend felt no need to hoard them for sale or even for paying customers. And inviting people to come and pick for free meant building relationships: maybe someone would come back and pay to pick pumpkins, or discover a love for Juneberries and come back the next year.

The kingdom of God is a community exchanging zucchini and tomatoes when the harvest is plentiful. It’s sharing a few pieces of cheesecake with someone who would appreciate it. It’s baking cookies for a recovery group. It’s laughing and picking berries together when time with other people is a precious commodity. It’s passing on a book when you’re done with it, or calling to check on someone. The kingdom of God is relationships and generosity and abundance. And we are invited to participate in this kingdom! In sharing God’s love, in working toward peace and an end to fear and violence. In watching for those small moments to share in the kingdom- listening to a story, loving a stranger, volunteering to help others in so many ways. Seeing our own abundance and sharing from it, while accepting from the abundance of others. The kingdom of God may not be here fully, but we can catch glimpses if we watch for it. And we can participate in it if we are open to those opportunities.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

*Resources for this sermon include:

Rev. Dr. David Lose, “Dear Working Preacher: The Heart of the Matter” August 5, 2013. Working Preacher. https://www.workingpreacher.org/dear-working-preacher/the-heart-of-the-matter    

Rev. Dr. Karoline Lewis, “Commentary on Luke 12:32-40” for August 11, 2013. Working Preacher. https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-19-3/commentary-on-luke-1232-40-3 

Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer, The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World. 

“Amelanchier” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelanchier