This Sunday, the lectionary invites us to ponder Luke 12:32-40. In the English Standard Version (ESV), verses 32-34 appear under the heading “Do not be anxious,” (22-34) and verses 35-40 appear under the heading “You must be ready” (35-48).
As I said last week, these portions are within a long “sermon” Jesus preached to a crowd of thousands.
I put “sermon” in quote marks because Luke may have strung together his summaries of several different speeches of Jesus.
The passage which the ESV summarizes with the heading “Do not be anxious” contains two speeches, each addressed to a different audience.
The first speech[1] is directed to the poor; to people who are barely able to feed and clothe themselves. The second speech is directed to people who are rich; to people who have more than they need.
To the poor who worry about where they will get their next meal, Jesus says, “Look at the ravens, God feeds them. Ravens are scavengers. They are dirty, filthy. They don’t plant, don’t harvest, don’t store food. But God feeds them. Since God feeds them, trust that God will feed you also.”
To the poor who worry about how they will replace their worn out, torn, clothing, Jesus says, “Look at the wild lilies. They grow taller, they bear leaves and flowers. They never do any work. But God clothes them. Since God clothes them, trust that God will clothe you also.”
Jesus sums it up by saying that people should seek the kingdom of God, because the king of the kingdom will care for all his people, like a father.
We too easily miss the fact that the word “kingdom” is politically and economically loaded; is dangerous. Because Jesus’ listeners were already in a kingdom. They were in the kingdom of Caesar, governed by Caesar’s appointees, like Herod, like Philip, like Pilate. And they were oppressed.
As I said last week, there was hardly any middle class. There were just the haves and the have-nots. Your status in society was determined by the number of servants or slaves you had.
You lived in a patronage system. You kept your people dependent on you by paying them just enough; just enough to be alive and hungry.
When Jesus said, “seek the kingdom,” he was sending a message. He was challenging the patronage system.
We see this in the second speech[2] under the same heading, “Do not be anxious.” He spoke to the rich; to people who had more than they needed. He told them to sell their possessions and give to the poor.
I believe he was using hyperbolic language, or exaggeration.
It’s like when people grasp my hands during the sharing of the peace on Sunday, then say, “your hands are frozen.” They don’t mean my hands are hard, immovable. They’re just saying my hands are very, very, cold.
But some say that Jesus wasn’t using hyperbolic language. They point to chapters 2 and 4 of the book of Acts, where Luke tells us that
… all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. (2:44-45)
and
Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. (4:32)
They say these verses require that followers of Jesus must live under the same roof and share everything with one another.
There’s no denying that what Luke describes in Acts 2 and 4 is the truth. But I think the words “all,” “the full number,” and “no one” are also hyperbole. The scholar Luke Johnson put it very well in his 1988 book titled “Sharing Possessions: Mandate and Symbol of Faith.” He says:
“… [since in Acts 2:46] the Christians were ‘‘breaking bread in their homes’’, some houses obviously were retained [by their owners].
It is also puzzling why, if the sharing was so successful, the Jerusalem community fell so quickly into trouble at the time of the famine and required help from the Antiochean church.
… Indeed, each Antiochean contributed ‘according to his ability,’ which indicates the existence of not only private possessions but differences in wealth (Acts 11:29). The whole affair sounds more like almsgiving than a community of goods in the strict sense. (Page 21)
The Bible’s teaching about wealth is mixed. Whatever standard we use to measure wealth, Christians can be rich or poor. And, regardless of whether they are rich or poor, they can be happy or unhappy.
I come now to my title. In what way is Jesus like a thief?
Jesus is like a thief because like a thief, he’ll come unannounced.
Like when my mother wanted to visit, I prayed she wouldn’t come unannounced. Because I needed to clean and tidy-up before she arrived.
Jesus is our master. He’s told us he will return. We should expect him anytime, anywhere. We should busy ourselves with the work of the kingdom, the work of keeping God’s promise to care for the needy.
He feeds the ravens; he clothes the lilies; he gives us a surplus, makes us “not-poor,” compared to the needy, so that we can see, feed and clothe them. If we don’t, he’ll give our wealth to others, to do the work.
Peace be with you.
[1] Verses 22-31.
[2] Verses 32-34.
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