The Thief will come
Sermon for August 8, 2010
First Baptist Church of Jefferson
William M. Howard – Preacher or Pastor du jour.
Prayer: Thank you Lord for the gift of the Kingdom. We look forward to the time when you come knocking on the door for us to receive. Amen.
In the past I have often read all the scripture selections for the Sunday service. The scripture selections come from the Revised Common Lectionary. If you would like more information about that please let me know.
Today, we read the Psalm selection. And due to the nature of today’s Gospel selection, I will just be staying with that. So, let us get right to it. Page: 76 in the New Testament section of your pew Bible.
Luke 12:32-40
12:32 "Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
12:33 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.
12:34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
12:35 "Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit;
12:36 be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks.
12:37 Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them.
12:38 If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.
12:39 "But know 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.
12:40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour."
This passage is like skimming a rock across the water. It goes so fast and touches so briefly that we don’t notice the ripples each contact makes.
Lets slow this down.
Who wrote this passage? Luke. Who is this guy?
This is one of the 4 Gospels. Gospel – means good news. There are only 4 books out of the 66 in the Bible essentially devoted to talking Jesus directly. And they are not long.
Who is Luke? He is a doctor, a medical physician who is well educated and he chronicles the series of events of Jesus’ life especially during the last three years.
And we see Jesus now causing all sorts of upheaval in the area. People are gathering, hundreds of people, thousands of people, and here we are.
It is like the before the bean supper where the crowd is pushing there way in and wanting what they came for.
Imagine if that crowd was not for beans and stuff but for “good news”? Imagine this church filled and packed to the walls with people clamoring to hear Jesus speak.
Luke 12:1
Meanwhile, when the crowd gathered by the thousands, so that they trampled on one another, he began to speak first to his disciples, "Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, that is, their hypocrisy.
The crowd is large and looming. That is they are getting restless. The tension is building not only of the crowd but the Pharisees. You know, the temple priests who dress really nice and pray with great fervor. Then this guy Jesus shows up and dresses like a, well, he dresses like a peasant carpenter on his day off. Simple clothes and worn out sandals.
But Jesus is getting all the attention. (More)
And the crowd wants to hear him. They want to hear Jesus talk about God.
Luke puts the story together with barely enough detail. We get the place and circumstance. A brief description of the event and the attitude of the Pharisees.
This passage is not about Jesus talking to the great crowd. This passage is about Jesus gathering his disciples in a side bar meeting. (More)
It would be like this church filled to the gills and standing room only while the pastor is up here in the corner paying little attention to the crowd and concentrating totally on the “little flock”.
He is saying: “It is really beginning to get serious now guys. You need to understand.” But he doesn’t say it like that. Luke’s reporting of the circumstances and what Jesus is saying is so brief. And full of metaphor and parable.
Can you imagine what these guys are thinking? They really don’t have a clue yet of what all this hubbub is all about. They are like children in total awe of what is going on looking and listening to this simple man who really is not so simple.
Come with me to the side bar, to the corner of the church and…..
Look and listen to this again.
12:32 "Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Don’t be afraid. I expect He said these words with such calmness and profound confidence. They are a captured audience. What else are they supposed to do but sit and listen.
Little flock. Sheep. Jesus has corralled these guys, herded them into the corner.
Father’s good pleasure. We have a crazy crowd out there and Jesus is talking about the pleasure of God. Is this really a good time for this?
Give you the kingdom. What kingdom? The reference of kingdom is something we know because we are familiar with the Bible. I am not so sure these guys really know what Jesus is talking about.
12:33 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.
This line is really in two parts. What’s that about? Jesus is telling them to eliminate the things you don’t really need. Don’t just throw them out. Sell them and use the money for some good. This is a sermon all by itself. For today, we skim through quickly.
12:33b Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.
Another sermon opportunity.
Purses in those days were just a simple fabric or leather pouch with a draw string to keep them closed. The hung off their waste and would swing back and forth eventually wearing a hole. The contents could be anything but in their case, Jesus is saying that all your worldly possessions may be what you think you have in a purse. Now…
Make purses that don’t wear out.
Another metaphor. First a visual illustration that they all intimately know. And Jesus draws up a concept of a purse that can’t wear out.
And, a thief can’t take it nor can a moth eat a hole in it. The purse is the unfailing treasure in heaven.
12:34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Put all your concept of value and possession in the treasure of heaven. Your heart, and soul, will be there. These two lines are also a sermon opportunity.
Then if that wasn’t enough to think about and contemplate, Jesus is relentless in bring up more. Jesus even in his soft tones and metaphors and parables, He is a hard hitter and doesn’t ease up. This is the coach talking to his team as the crowd is cheering.
Jesus continues. All pretty nice stuff up to this point. Now Jesus is turning up the heat on his little flock.
12:35 "Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit;
This line is truly more metaphor than actual directive. Be ready, keep your mind alert to what is going to take place. Do not stumble in the dark.
Then he goes on to who they are and their position and responsibilities.
12:36 be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks.
Wedding banquet. Who’s wedding? The Marriage in Heaven of Christ arriving to be at the right hand of the Father.
Not a couple of hours but days.
The master knocks. We need to be ready to open the door.
Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit
12:37 Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them.
Slaves: House hold servants. Constant presence. Versus hired workers who just do a job then go home.
Slaves. Who is a slave? You are. You take care of the Master and He will take care of you.
12:38 If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.
This is pretty happy stuff but then Jesus goes dark.. He warns the disciples.
12:39 "But know 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.
Jesus totally flip flops into a totally different concept of who is in the house and who is outside trying to get in. Or is it different?
Who is the thief? .Let’s see.
12:40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour."
And what is he going to take from you? Everything! When Jesus comes,
He is going to take away everything.
He is going to take away your money, all of it. He is going to take away your house and everything in it.
He is going to take from you your spouse and children and grandkids and all of your friends.
He is going to take your life as your know it.
Are you ready? Are you dressed and ready for action? Are the lamps lit so you won’t stumble in the dark? Will you answer and open the door wide to this Thief?
He is going to take everything….
But He is going to give you the Kingdom.
"Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
Amen (End of Sermon)
Calling: If these words, if this scripture and its presentation has moved you in spirit to get to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, please see up front here after the receiving line has passed.
Closing Hymn: #177 Wonderful Words of life.
Benediction: We are your little flock Lord Jesus. And we are waiting for you. Amen.