Trinity 9. Luke 12:32-40. A non-possessive life. 7.8.2022

For my Birthday or Christmas, I can’t remember which, my son gave me one of these.

He had to explain what it was and what it was for.

Have you ever received a gift and had no idea what it was or what you were supposed to do with it? 

Is that what happens when we hear Jesus say,

“It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

We often don’t know what to make of the kingdom or what to do with it.

For many of us Kingdom means royalty, wealth palaces and power.

That’s what a kingdom often looks like in films and history books. 

Is Jesus talking about heaven?

Is the kingdom a reward in the next life for being good, having faith, and believing?

If so, then is this life nothing more than an instalment to secure a future place in heaven?

Is the kingdom security.?

After all, Jesus prefaces the giving of the kingdom by saying,

“Do not be afraid.”

 We pray weekly, if not daily, for the kingdom to come on earth.

What are we praying for?

What comes to mind when you think of or pray for the kingdom?

Perhaps we think of the kingdom as something to be possessed.

A reward from God of a perfect life and everything goes our way.

An ideal world.

But what if it’s not?

What if the kingdom is not something to be possessed but a different way of being?

Right after Jesus says,

“It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom,”

he told his listeners to sell their possessions, give alms, and make purses that do not wear out.

He talks about thieves that do not come near and moths that do not destroy. 

I don’t think Jesus was saying you have to do these to receive the Kingdom.

Rather, they are descriptions of what the kingdom life is like. 

How you should live once you are part of the Kingdom.

What’s the best way to keep a purse from wearing out?

Don’t put anything in it.

What’s the best way to keep a thief away?

Don’t have anything worth stealing.

What’s the best way to keep moths from destroying?

Don’t have anything that can be destroyed. 

Don’t possess anything

So, what if the kingdom is a non-possessive life?

A life in which we sell our possessions and give alms.

A life in which our purses are empty.

A life in which there is nothing to steal or destroy.

Most of you know that I maintain that Jesus often used metaphors or picture language and therefore should not necessarily be taken literally.

I think Jesus is calling us into a new way of living.

I don’t think, for one minute, Jesus was saying that we shouldn’t own or have anything.

There is nothing virtuous about poverty.

The world does not need more poor people.

What the world needs is people who are not obsessed with their possessions.

A story.

A man spent a few days at a monastery.

The Abbott gave him an old book from his own library.

It was rare and valuable not only in terms of money but also in wisdom and insight.

The man was amazed that the abbot would so freely give him such a book.

He met a friend and said,

“The Abbott gave me his personal book.

Can you believe he did that?”

 After a while his friend interrupted him,

“May I have that book?”

The man replied,

“No, you can’t have it,” he said.

“It’s mine. He gave it to me!”

I tell that story, recognising that I would have given the same answer.

“No, you can’t have it. It’s mine.”

Most of us live a possessive life. 

Jesus is offering another vision of life.

A kingdom vision.

He is calling into question a possessive way of life.

The kingdom is not a different place, a reward, or a thing to be had.

 It is a different way of being, living, and relating.

The kingdom is not a “where” or a “what” but a “how.”

When I live a possessive life

I am more focused on me than we.

More passionate about my rights than my responsibilities.

 More concerned about being right than doing what’s right.

There was a story in the paper this week of a banker who complained that his bonus was only £300,000 on top of a salary of £700,000.

So many are always striving for more.

More money, more stuff, more status, more success, more control.  

Before you say, that doesn’t apply to me.

Have you ever been concerned about who was moving into your neighbourhood?

Have you ever become defensive when someone challenged your religious or political beliefs?

Have you ever needed to have the final word or to be right?

Who was most important?

Me or You?

We’re at our best when we live non-possessive lives.

We become more welcoming and hospitable.

We forgive more freely.

We’re more generous with our time, money, and resources.

We love more extravagantly.

We see more clearly our deep interconnection with and need of others.

A non-possessive life deepens our conversations and understanding.

 It makes us better parents, spouses, and friends.

We handle conflict and differences in better and more productive ways.

We open ourselves to other people and new possibilities.

We’re less judgmental of ourselves and others.

 Life is more full and we are more free to live.

Didn’t Jesus say that he came that we might have life and live it abundantly.

We want to live in the kingdom of life.

Perhaps we live in fear, consciously or unconsciously, of losing what we have.

Maybe that’s what Jesus is talking about when he says, “Do not be afraid.”

Do not be afraid of letting go. 

In what ways are we possessive of things, ideas or opinions, opportunities and resources, other people?

Perhaps we even try to possess God?

It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.