August 11, 2019
Luke 12:32-40
By Kristina L. Martin
Last weekend, I went to brunch with my husband and father-in-law. On our way out of the restaurant we passed a truck with lots of bumper stickers reading things like “Jesus Saves” and “Jesus Died for Your Sins”. In response to them, my husband shared that he had recently seen a bumper sticker that said: “If we don’t sin, Jesus died for nothing.” Then they embarked on a lengthy discussion about sin and redemption that I wish I had recorded. I could just push “play” right now and my job today would be done.
Sin. Redemption. These words have been floating around my head all this week. It’s been a week where nearly every news headline reminds us of sin. Death, destruction, pain, suffering. Ours is a world that has plenty of sin. What it needs is a lot more redemption. Or perhaps what we need to reframe our lives from avoiding sin to embracing redemption.
Back in the 90s, many young people I knew wore a rubber bracelet with the letters WWJD on them. WWJD – what would Jesus do? They were the brainchild of Janie Tinklenberg, a youth group leader at Calvary Reformed Church in Holland, Michigan. She had read a book titled, In His Steps: What Would Jesus Do? Written by Charles Sheldon in 1896, it was a book before it’s time. Sheldon advocated Christian socialism, gender and racial equality, and humane treatment of animals.
Ms. Tinklenberg was inspired by Sheldon’s essays, each of which ends with the question, “What would Jesus do?” As a youth leader, she hoped the teens she led would wear their WWJD bracelets and when in doubt, ask themselves what would Jesus do?
It occurs to me that we already know what Jesus would do. Over and over again Jesus showed us what he would do. He flipped over tables and healed lepers and turned water into wine. So we don’t really need to ask what Jesus would do as a way to help us make better decisions, as a way to avoid sin. Instead, imagine what would happen if we reframed the question to, what would we do for Jesus?
In the passage today from Luke, Jesus begins with telling us “Fear not, little flock, for it has pleased your Abba to give you the kingdom.” Ten verses earlier, Jesus reminded us that the ravens are fed in spite of neither sowing nor reaping, and the lilies of the field grow not because they toil or spin but purely because of God’s care. Over and over in chapter 12, Luke tells us to not worry. God will care for us. Indeed, our Abba God wants to care for us.
This reassurance is as good today, in fact and as needed today, as when it was first written. But what does it mean to be given the kingdom? Surely, we must do something in order to receive the kingdom of God?
Yes, we surely must. We are to sell what we own and give the money to poorer people. We are to be dressed and ready with our lamps lit. We are to be like the household staff awaiting the owner’s return – wide awake and prepared, regardless of the time.
It isn’t enough to wonder what Jesus would do. We must wonder what we would do.
How many of us are really able and willing to do these things? To sell what we own and give all our money away? How many of us are dressed and ready – in other translations these words mean to have “girded loins” or when one’s loose robes are pulled up and secured into something resembling pants so as to more easily run and do battle, to more easily fight for justice and mercy. And how many of us are prepared for the Promised One right now?
It is hard for me to imagine being in a place where it would make sense to sell my belongs and give away all my money. How would my children be cared for if I were to become penniless? If I left my job and responsibilities to go fight for justice and mercy, how would that impact people who count on me? Am I really prepared for the Promised One? If he walked through those doors right now, would I recognize him?
To be honest, I don’t think I could intentionally become penniless and homeless. I know I couldn’t potentially put my children and family in harm’s way by walking away from my life even if it was for a very good cause. And honestly, if a brown-skinned and road-weary man came into worship this morning, I’m not sure I would be as hospitable as I should be. Sadly, what Jesus would do and what I would do for Jesus are not the same.
Jesus did all these things and more. Think of all the things Jesus did that most likely many of us would not do today. He touched the unclean, he ate with outcast, he gave his time and attention to those most ignored or deemed unworthy. And most importantly to Jesus’ story, he stood up for people who had little to no rights – the unclean, the sinners, the elderly, widowed, orphaned or impoverished. He cared for them as if they were the most beloved children of God. Because they were.
One of the most difficult aspects of identifying as a Christian is differentiating myself from people who practice Christianity in ways that run counter to my own understanding of what it means to be a Christian. I don’t want to be one of “those” Christians, so I often don’t admit to being any sort of Christian.
That is our dilemma isn’t it? Being a person of faith is proven through your actions, not your words. It isn’t what you say that matters nearly as much as what you do. For many folks, being a Christian means believing Jesus died for your sins – as if there was some sort of accounting system in place and Jesus’ death meant all your sins, and my sins, and every human being’s sins were erased because of one man’s agonizing death.
Jesus died for our sins. For so many people, talk of sins means the list of ten carved upon Moses’ tablets. But what if we reframe that understanding of what it means to sin in light of the great commandment. God said it was time to do a new thing – and then Jesus came and taught us that there is only one rule now: to love the Lord God with all your heart and soul and mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself. To be a Christian is to understand that the greatest sin is to not love God or your neighbor. So, reframing Jesus’ death means that Jesus didn’t die for our sins, but because of humanity’s sin of not loving one another.
So, what would Jesus do? He loved God. He loved God with a faith that is pure and holy in its fullness. And what did his disciples do for Jesus? They gave up all their earthly possessions and left their families to go with him, to spread the word that God would give everyone the kingdom if they would just love one another as much as God loves them.
And that is why the flock should not fear. Instead, we should love. It is through love that we receive redemption. Redemption not because Jesus died, but because Jesus loved God and he loved his neighbor as much as himself. We are redeemed when we follow the great commandment and live in love.
Imagine how different our world would be if everyone could act first from a place of love. Imagine if we could do that for Jesus. Amen.