Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom

 

 "Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.  Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  

 

"Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately.  Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes will find watching.  Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.  And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.  But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.  Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect."

Then Peter said to Him, "Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?"  And the Lord said, "Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season?  Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.  Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has.  But if that servant says in his heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,' and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.  And that servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.  But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few.  For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more."

 

- Luke 12:32-48 

 

Then one from the crowd said to Him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."  But He said to him, "Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?  And He said to them, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses." Then He spoke a parable to them, saying:  "The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.  And he thought within himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?'  So he said, 'I will do this:  I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.  And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry."'  But God said to him, 'Fool!  This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?'  So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."  Then He said to His disciples, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on.  Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.  Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them.  Of how much more value are you than the birds?  And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?  If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest?  Consider the lilies, how they grow:  they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?  And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind.  For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things.  But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you."

 

  "Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.  Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  My study Bible comments that do not fear is a recurring theme in this discourse.  It is important to take it in the context of what Christ has just said as well (see yesterday's reading, above).  Little flock is a reference to all believers.  My study Bible explains that they are "little" in two ways.  First, they are insignificant in the eyes of the world.  Second, they are small in number when compared to the earthly and heavenly creation.  

"Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately.  Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes will find watching.  Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them."   My study Bible explains that this is a call for vigilance.  Note how it echoes the imagery of the parable of the wise and foolish virgins found at Matthew 25:1-13.  Let your waist be girded is an image of a person ready for work (traditional long garments would be pulled up and girded about the waist for labor or other physical effort).  As Jesus uses the expression here, it is a teaching to be ready at all times for virtuous action.  To keep lamps burning is to have spiritual discernment, another suggestion of alacrity and readiness.  Note the emphasis on watchfulness.  The idea of a master who will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them is an image of the graciousness of God, which echoes the action of Christ girding Himself and washing the feet of the disciples at the Last Supper (John 13:1-17).  See also the parable at Matthew 24:45-51.  My study Bible adds that the mark of a true disciple is vigilance in performing the work and exemplifying the virtue of the master.  

"Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.  And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.  But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into."  The second and third watch spread from 9:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m., which my study Bible says is interpreted as hours of heightened temptation.  Therefore, the servants are most blessed who remain faithful during the night.    

"Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect."  My study Bible notes here that it is not the place of anyone to try to predict the time of the return of the Son of Man, but rather to remain faithful and to be ready at every hour.  

Then Peter said to Him, "Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?"  And the Lord said, "Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season?  Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.  Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has.  But if that servant says in his heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,' and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers."  My study Bible explains that the previous parable (verses 35-40) is to all people, while the parable that begins here (and continues in the two verses that follow) is to the apostles and their successors, the ones who will become rulers and teachers of the Church.  It notes that the exhortations here to principles of virtue, and the warnings against corruption, apply specifically to those who are entrusted with spiritual leadership.  

"And that servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.  But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few.  For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more."   The judgment of the teachers of the Church will be strict (James 3:1).  My study Bible says that the many stripes given to those who are willfully and knowingly disobedient symbolize condemnation.  The few stripes are for those who are disobedient out of ignorance, and indicate chastisement or correction. 

Jesus speaks again in the light of His movement toward the Cross, preparing His disciples for what is to come.  We know about the Kingdom and its central importance.  But here Jesus begins to deal with the issues of the world into which they will go "as lambs among wolves" (Luke 10:3).  To become a good disciple of Christ is about being prepared for the return of the Master, and being a good servant.  Even if the rest of the world is chasing accumulation for its own sake, His disciples are to think about what it means to be rich toward God.  Our focus on acts of mercy or compassion sets us in a different kind of a place;  "for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."   If our heart is with Christ, then our focus is on more than what we accumulate only for ourselves, but on what we give also (and let us keep in mind that acts of giving include all kinds of kindnesses and compassion, even in a prayer for another who may be unaware of it).  When Christ says, "Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning," He prepares those who would become His disciples not for a life of leisure but for one of work -- of alertness, of being ready to follow commands and serve, to know what we are to be about.  We make ourselves prepared for His return.  Moreover, the privileged among the world of disciples, those who are made stewards, hold an even greater responsibility for serving, and will pay the steeper price for forgetting who they are in this life of service.   For even Christ will tell them that "I am among you as the One who serves" (see Luke 22:26-27).  Forgetfulness means that those who are appointed within the Church as stewards and servants to care for the "little flock" will lose their places, appointed  their "portion with the unbelievers."  Lest we forget, this is one of many times that Christ reminds us that the more we have spiritually, the greater the responsibility we bear for that understanding.  Spiritual knowledge is powerful; our abuse of what we're given renders us in a worse place than those who may do the same but who were not aware of God's will.  This is the way of the Cross, where understanding makes us prepared for living a different way of life from the world, and one in which we serve a Kingdom of love, in which compassion is currency, and service is greatness.  To know what God asks of us is to find ourselves in the love of Christ.  To fail to find that way of love is to lose even who we are.  The way of the Cross means responsibility, not forgetfulness.   "For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more." Let us consider what it means to live this blessed way of life and to cherish it in this world.