“Do Not Be Afraid, Little Flock” - Luke 12:32-34

When we listen to the words of Jesus, we always should and must take what we hear to heart because, as Peter said, these are “the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). At the same time it is good for us to think about those Jesus first spoke to, what was happening to them and what was about to happen. This doesn’t remove Jesus’ words from us—it helps us apply them more carefully and understand them more deeply.

I.       You aren’t nobodys—your Father gives you the kingdom.
A.  Jesus said, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.” He was speaking to a larger group of his disciples—the Twelve were sitting closest to him (Peter comments later in v. 41). And what was about to happen to them? They would see Jesus preaching and teaching and they would see the opposition from Jesus’ enemies growing. They would see his suffering and death. After his resurrection, he would send them out into all the world—to Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. And as they went with the Gospel of Jesus, they faced opposition. Peter and John were arrested for preaching about Jesus and were brought before the Jewish council and taught not to say anything more about Jesus (Acts 5). That was when they said, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). James was the first of the Twelve to die for Jesus and the Gospel, killed by King Herod (Acts 12:2). We think of Paul—not one of the Twelve, but an apostle—traveling all over Turkey and Greece and Rome. One time people didn’t like what he was preaching, so they threw rocks at him and left him for dead (Acts 14:19). Another time his life was threatened and his friends helped him sneak away in the middle of the night by lowering him outside the city wall in a basket (Acts 9:25; 2 Corinthians 11:33).
 
B.  How do you feel when everything seems to be going wrong? How do you feel when people treat you badly? How do you feel when it seems the whole world is going in the wrong direction and you feel threatened because you don’t want to go along? When our society and culture approves and endorses things and in your heart you think—“But this is wrong.” It makes you feel small, doesn’t it? Helpless—like you can’t do anything about it. Like a ‘nobody.’ Paul wrote about this, too. “We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.” (1 Corinthians 4:13 ESV). To the first disciples and to you and me Jesus says, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.”
 
C.  And what is this kingdom? When Jesus was speaking to his disciples, there was a kingdom, a very large kingdom—the Roman Empire. The Romans ruled with fear and force. Think of a legion of Roman soldiers, marching through a town with their iron swords and their full-length body shields. They kept up a cruel image to cause fear. They taxed people heavily. When people wouldn’t cooperate, they were judged quickly and dealt with harshly. When a nation wouldn’t surrender, their armies and their cities were crushed. The Roman Empire was a kingdom of fear and force. That isn’t the kingdom or the kind of kingdom Jesus says the Father will give us. The kingdom the Father is pleased to give us is the very same kingdom he told us to pray about in the Lord’s Prayer when he said, “Your kingdom come” (Matthew 6:10, Luke 11:2) It’s the same kingdom he talked about with Pontius Pilate when he said, “My kingdom is not of this world… For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice” (John 18:36,37). The kingdom of God is the way he rules in people’s hearts when they hear his Word, take it to heart, and live their lives guided by his commands and empowered by the hope of his promise. God works a change in his people—moving them from selfishness to selflessness, from being enslaved by the world to being free servants of Christ, from being hateful and hurtful to self and others to knowing his love and reflecting that love to others. This is the kingdom. No fear or force. Instead, love and peace.

II.    You aren’t worthless—you have treasure in heaven.
A.  This is the basic Gospel message. God has chosen you out of the world—a world that has turned its back on him—a world that is on its own path of self-destruction. He has called us to hear that he has something better for us. JESUS! His own Son, who laid down his life—taking what you and I deserved for our mistakes, for our selfish choices, for the times we turned our backs on him—he took what we deserved, and raised us up. Gave us value. He gave us “the right to become children of God” (John 1:12), born anew because his Word has set up the kingdom of God in our hearts.
B.  Jesus said that we have “a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” We treasure many things. We spend our money on many things—things beyond food, clothing and shelter. Sometimes we lose sight of the things we need and blow our money on the things we think we need. Things that we think will give our life meaning and fulfillment, but leave us with very little. (Pastor Dorn preached a whole sermon on this last week.) Think of the new car. In time, it won’t be new anymore. In time it rusts. In time, it will become a piece of scrap metal. It doesn’t last forever. Think of a favorite piece of clothing. It wears out. It takes nothing more than a stain to turn a piece of designer clothing into a rag. All the earthly things we treasure have their time. Either they wear out, or we wear out—and we can’t take anything with us.
C.  But Jesus says we have “a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.” When this life is over, life is still ours. Jesus is the treasure we can take with us—the treasure that is already there, waiting for us. With Jesus, we have a place in God’s family, everlasting life, forgiveness of sins, and acceptance as children of God. Without him, our only treasures are the things that moth and rust destroy—the perishable things of this world. If we treasure those things most of all, when this life is over we have nothing—nothing to expect but God’s punishment. But with him, we have treasure and hope. Jesus says, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” St. Paul writes, “Seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. … your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:1-4 ESV). Everything else has its time. Nothing is worth more than the treasure he promsies. In our hearts, we set everything else aside—even our own desires—so that we can hold on to that kingdom of God more closely—a kingdom that has its fulfillment when we see Jesus face-to-face in heaven.
Amen.
Luke 12:32-34 (ESV) 
³² “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. ³³ Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. ³⁴ For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.