Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Luke 12:32
If only we actually believed Jesus we would have no fear. As were Jesus’ first disciples, we are often afraid because we are a little presence in the world, few and seemingly under threat. We do not like, in general, to be insignificant, small, and of no appreciable influence. We labor and sacrifice for the exact opposite, to gain power and importance, and to develop relationships with those who promise it. We easily fall into the trap of thinking we would not be afraid if we were many, if we held the reins of power, if we ruled the world. In contrast, Jesus says that the meek will inherit the earth and, here, that the Father gives us the kingdom in our littleness, fewness, and powerlessness in the world.
Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. Luke 12:33
Jesus immediately encourages his disciples to divest themselves of what we might use to secure our own lives. These are false saviors, though we might hope they will stave off fear, and are inherently liable to decay and destruction. The ultimate price we pay, for pursuing what the thief and moth snatches away, is that we lose the kingdom as well.
Jesus constantly spoke of the strength of smallness, the surprising effects of what seems insignificant, how the last is first, and the greatest is servant of all. But so many who embrace his teachings continue longing for being first, possessing influence and significance in the all the ways of this world, and so fail to witness to the truth of the gospel and the cross. There is no coexistence possible between the cross and the ways of the world, but only absolute incompatibility.
Jesus was no winner by any earthly and familiar measure. And yet, here we are, following one who fails most spectacularly, crucified publicly, but raised privately. As the risen One, he appears only to the few who believed and not the world.
May we stop longing for what God will not do, for it would be to capitulate to the ways of the world, not as he created it, but as we would foolishly wish it. In being the little flock we die to the grasping for worldly power, we sell what others scramble to accumulate, and we receive what the Father gives.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:34
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