Luke 12:32-40
"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. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”
One of the things I get asked over and over again as I continue to meet people here in Fredericksburg is “who are you related to?” Especially when folks learn my last name. “Are you related to any of the Meier's around here?” It’s clear that there are an abundance of Meier’s in this place. I am not sure at this point if we are related. Perhaps one day we’ll find out. I sure hope so. I don’t mind the question, it helps me to learn about you and you about me. I think that it’s a connectedness that we are seeking as we get to know one another. I think what we are really asking one another is “who are you?” It’s a question of identity.
Well what I do know for sure, and what I can tell you with clarity, is that I was born and raised in Brenham, Texas. My ancestors were farmers. They started to come over to Texas from Germany in 1848. We have had the same piece of land in Fayette County in my family since the 1880s. We farm it to this day. My grandfather’s a farmer. My dad’s a farmer. I have deep roots in that soil. It is truly my link to the world. My identity is intimately connected to that rich, Texas dirt. I know who I am because of that farm. It will continue to shape my life.
I am sure that if we were to go around this place, take the time to listen to just brief pieces of each other’s stories, we could catch a glimpse of what’s important to each of us, and in a way, begin to uncover our identities. Our family histories, our education, our preferences when we come to church, all of these factors go into forming our identities. Our journey of faith is written into the DNA of our identity, it’s written into our very bones. That’s why we come every week, sometimes multiple times a week. To hear the stories of faith. To be reminded of who we are as God’s people.
This morning we encounter Jesus teaching his disciples, who are also having their identities shaped through heeding the call and following Jesus. They have seen miracles on their journey with Jesus. They have been witness to healing, feedings, and resurrecting as Jesus lives out his mission to bring the good news to the poor, bring releases to the captives, and to let the oppressed go free. All of these events have gone into shaping the disciples identity as followers of Jesus. Their lives have been utterly changed by their journey with Jesus. They no longer encounter the world as they once did on the fishing dock or behind tax collecting table. They interact with the world through the identity of a disciple and this identity is continually being shaped. Jesus is trying to teach them how God encounters the world.
Again on the road today, we get another glimpse of how Jesus continues to shape their identity. This is not the first time the disciples have heard about the kingdom of God. This is not the first time they have heard Jesus speak about possessions and giving to those in need, but sometimes it takes more than once for a lesson to sink in. These are important lessons that need to be repeated. “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is God’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out...For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Wrapped up in these lines is a humbling statement about who the disciples are, and thus who we are, as followers of Jesus.
The word at the heart of this statement from Jesus is the word possessions. We cannot look past it, we cannot ignore it, we cannot dismiss it. Instead we must take it head-on, because that is what Jesus would do. It takes the center stage in this exchange, perhaps not because of what Jesus said, but because I think we make it so. We can’t let go of this word because it strikes close to our hearts. We do love our possessions, and they are intimately connected to our identity. We are what we posses if you will. That’s what our culture tells us. We work hard to collect and keep our possessions. We do not like their status in our lives to be threatened. So let’s dig into this word for a second to unwrap its meaning and what it might hold for our identity as disciples of Jesus.
For a long time I understood this word to mean pretty plainly “what we own.” To state it simply our possessions are what we possess. As I dug deeper into this word over the course of the past week I could not ignore the Greek word used by Luke that we translate as possessions. The word in Greek, ὑπάρχοντα (hoop-ar-khonta), appears to be a compound word made up of two words meaning “under” and “rule.” The word άρχω (ar’-kho) is a word that alludes to power in New Testament Greek. It points us to a ruler, to one who dominates over another. In a literal sense, the word that Luke uses for possessions can be understood as “under the power of.” Our possessions are what hold power over us. Or to put it another way, we are under the power of what we possess. This is quite opposite of the idea that we hold power over our possessions.
It’s alarming to think that what we possess has power over us, but I think that this is true more often than not. We are defined by our possessions. We define ourselves by the cars we drive, the phones we use, the cloths we wear. Our identity gets corrupted and wrapped up into this false sense of self. This understanding of identity puts a new spin on these words from Jesus. You see, I think Jesus knows that our stuff can be a weakness to following in his footsteps. That our possessions can get caught up in our identity and lead us down unhealthy paths. But Jesus also knows our true selves. He knows who God created us to be.
Jesus knows that we have been set free by God and that God has given us the kingdom. We are born and baptized into a love that lifts us up and out of our selfish habits. A love that sets us free from the power of our possessions. A love that points us to our true identity as children of God, as members of God’s kingdom. We are a kingdom people.
At the heart of it, the call to sell our possessions and give alms is not about the poor and the needy, it’s about us who do the giving. The call to sell our possessions is a reminder that we are not a possessions people in the eyes of God. Our possessions do not define our status with the creator of existence. God knows we are more than that. God knows that we are a kingdom people, and that’s what God has given us, the kingdom. The call from Jesus is to release our possessions and to give mercy to those in need and in doing so we are set free to fully live into God’s kingdom. Again, these acts says more about the us than they do about those in need. They remind us that our true identity is that we are a people of God’s kingdom. We are not defined by what we possess, but by God, who loves us and sets us free to love others.
The radical message from Jesus is to let loose of these things that hold us back. To release ourselves from their power. We gain back our lives by releasing ourselves from our stuff. We who have been so blessed can become true blessings to others. The possibilities for this life are endless.
I have seen the kingdom at work here in the last week. Even in the quiet of summer time, we are being reminded that we are a kingdom people. The confirmation kids just got back from camp reminded that they are children of God. They released a week of summer vacation to be reminded of who they are in God’s eyes. There are folks here at the church almost daily, releasing their possession of time into the creative hands of God as they prepare this place for Sunday School and for our investment in our kids and our future. The kingdom breaks into our world on a daily basis when we remember our identity as children of God and as a kingdom people.
No longer under the power of our possessions, we are free to live for others. We are free to live into the gracious gift of God’s kingdom that is already but not yet. The kingdom that is already here and among us, but not yet fully realized. We are a kingdom people. That is our true identity. God has blessed us so that we may be a blessing to those we encounter on our journey through this world. May God continue to bless you this week and always, as you strive to live into the kingdom that God has given to all people.
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