Sermon for August 10, 2025: Ready based upon Luke 12:32-40

Scripture: Luke 12:32-40 New International Version 

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, 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. 

Watchfulness 

“Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like servants 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.  It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. 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. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” ​

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      One of my favorite people in just about any situation is the person with the big purse. That purse has everything. Need a stick of gum? She has three flavors. A band-aid? She has multiple skin tones. Some Neosporin? She has that, too. A sewing kit, some safety pins, a tiny un-opened bottle of super glue, some mole skin in case you are getting a blister, small scissors, nail clippers, a bottle of Excedrin, and a rain poncho. All of these things are found within fathomless depths of her pocketbook. She probably has those little strawberry candies with the loud plastic wrappers. And, a pair of spare socks. And, some Kleenex.

     If something unexpected happens, this person is ready. She will be able to bandage up, stitch together, and feed most problems as they arise. She probably is also dealing with a lot of back and shoulder pain from carrying around so much stuff. I don’t know if it’s because once she got caught without what they needed and decided “Never again!” or if it’s because she is just prepared people with a purse full of contingencies plans... whatever the reason, she has just about anything you’d need. Like a scout, she is always prepared!

     In last week’s sermon, I noted that the book of Luke is leery of the idea that possessions will bring you security. Rather than wading into a family argument about inheritance, Jesus had told a story about a rich guy who God called a fool when he was going to build bigger barns to store an unexpectedly large harvest. Scholars I read suggested that the issue was that the man had only been thinking and planning with himself rather than consulting with others on how to share the abundance. He was kind of the opposite of the person with a big purse. She’s usually toted around all of what she has in order to help someone else out! Not just protect herself.  Today’s reading is some more of the follow-up to Jesus’ response to the man who had asked him to weigh in about inheritances.

     Jesus saw that at the core of these questions about stuff are questions about security. How will I have what I need to stay safe, or survive, or feel happy? Jesus, the itinerant preacher, living under the whims of the Roman government, was not inclined to think of safety in terms stuff he had. He likely had very little. He had learned that the security he sought to bring to others would not come with the collection of things or money. There’s a part of Jesus’ response to the man that we haven’t read together but you may have heard before. “Consider the ravens: they neither sow no reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them.... consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in al his glory was not clothed like one of these.” The security this man, and his disciples, were seeking would not come from things. Instead, it would come from God.

     “Strive for God’s Kindom, and these things will be given you as well.” That’s the verse directly before today’s reading. Today’s reading tells you how to strive for the kindom. I’ll give you a hint. It does not involve hoarding. Also, importantly, as Fred Craddock notes in his commentary on Luke, “Seek God’s kingdom, yes, but do not add the kingdom to the list of things about which to be anxious.” Instead, as Craddock describes the first verse in our reading saying, each of us should seek God’s kindom “in the firm belief that it is God desire to give it to you.” God is not going to play keep away with Grace. Instead, God will fish around in that big bag until she finds what you need, be it strawberry candy, some Lactaid, or a pair of tweezers.

     Jesus says to sell your possessions and give the money to those who need it. That is a pretty clear directive against amassing wealth. Craddock calls this Jesus offering us liberation from covetousness and anxiety through acts of generosity. Jesus, who is leery of keeping too much stuff because he knows we get easily tempted to spend time protecting the stuff rather than loving our neighbors, does talk about getting a purse, but it’s not like one of those big Dooney and Burke purse the church grandmothers have. Instead, it is a metaphor for your actions and your attention. Hold on to the things that can be worn away by the world. Guard your generosity and compassion because those are your true treasures. And, where your treasure is, that is, when you treasure caring for neighbor and tending your relationship with God, your heart will be there as well.

     In turning our attention to caring for those who need it, we are paying attention to God. “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit.” Pay attention. Because God can and will show up in surprising places and you don’t want to miss it! Readiness for God does not come in the form of building a bunker and hiding away from the world. Instead, Craddock argues, readiness for God comes from continuing faithfulness to your duties to God and neighbor.

     E. Trey Clark, in his commentary on this text, says, “Amid the dominance of fear in our modern world, Jesus’ words can sound like an impossibility.” We live in an abundant world. We are surrounded by productive land and people. There is enough, if only it is shared. Clark quotes the Christian Mystic Howard Thurman who “suggests that while fear can serve as ‘a kind of protective mechanism” for the disinherited, ultimately, it can lead to “death for the self.’” This scripture invites us not live in the anxiety that comes from not having access to what you need. Instead, as Clark shares from Thurman, “we ought to live in the fundamental reality that each one of us is ‘a child of God, the God of life that sustains all of nature.’” We can then understand ourselves to be connected to each other through God, and are called to be put to work contributing to one another’s flourishing.

     Keep your lamps trimmed and burning so that God’s light shines forth. God will show us the way forward, with each other, into the reign of love and justice. With our purses of provisions for the journey, ready to respond to needs as they arise, we can be ready to be a part of the kindom of God. Shine the light a little brighter. And, make sure to share something sweet. We have to keep our strength up for the journey.

Resources consulted while writing this sermon:
​E. Trey Clark: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-19-3/commentary-on-luke-1232-40-6
Fred. B. Craddock, Luke (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009)