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Be Prepared                                             Luke 12:32-40


 

It is important to be prepared for whatever will come your way in life.  When taking a trip, it is best to have one’s tank filled with gasoline.  It is also good to have one’s passport if one is traveling outside the country.  And if one is traveling to England or Ireland, it is best to be prepared to drive on the left side of the road.  I am not certain how to prepare for driving on the left side if one has decades of experience driving on the right side in the USA.  When I was leaving Shannon Airport in Ireland, I noticed signs in several languages the boldly stated, “Drive on the Left.”  When traveling, it is good to be prepared.  Nearly 2000 years ago Jesus had a strong message for his disciples about being alert, awake and being prepared.  He calls us to be watchful and at the ready.

 

We find the “be prepared” message in several places in the Gospels.  Today’s Scripture reading is from Luke 12:32-40.  It contains two different teachings that at first don’t seem to flow together.  Luke takes teachings of Jesus from several sources and places them where he believes they fit in his Gospel.  We find Jesus dealing with a couple of different and tough subjects:  the disciples and wealth or possessions, and the importance of being alert and awake.

 

Jesus begins with the admonition: “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the Kingdom (Luke 12:32).”  This is a message for disciples, for people who are committed to and who follow Jesus.  Every generation has its special fears.  What are our fears today?  We worry about the economy and the terrible debt the nation has accumulated and wonder about the wellbeing of our children and grandchildren.  We worry about war and Islamic terror.  We worry about our health and wellbeing.  And many of us worry about the challenges of aging.  Are we to languish in our fears for today or tomorrow?  General Patton was wise in telling his troops, “Do not take counsel in your fears.”  Jesus tells his disciples not to be afraid and reminds them that the Father has promised us the Kingdom. 

 

It is easy to get caught up in the worries of today and become fearful of tomorrow.  Worry takes our focus off the Lord and places it on our fears.  Worry is a terrible distraction from living as men and women who trust in Jesus.  We need to recognize that we humans are pressed to worry about and fear many things. However, Jesus is greater than our worries and gives us confidence to face the future without fear.

 

Jesus then moves to a teaching on possessions.  This is not the only place in Scripture where he warns of the dangers of material possessions.  I find it interesting that people in the First Century had the same issues as we have.  They too found it easy to accumulate possessions and center their lives on them.  Jesus said, “Sell your possessions and give to the poor (Luke 12:33a).”  A key way of living as faithful disciples is giving for the needs of others.  It was a key way of living as a disciple in the First Century and it is a key way we live out our faith in the 21st Century.  The odd thing about contemporary Christian giving is that even though we live in a wealthy land the levels of giving does not reflect either faith or our economic condition.  Our giving is a serious reflection of the way we live out our faith in Christ Jesus.


Jesus teaches that there is something lasting that comes from giving.  What we own lasts for a few years but what we give lasts for eternity.  He tells us, “Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Luke 12:33b-34.”  What we give creates lasting treasure in heaven.  No one can steal it or destroy it. 

 

I recently moved to Fishers and am amazed how much stuff I collected over the years.  In order to off load stuff, I gave some of the best stuff to Goodwill.  Actually, I made 23 trips to Goodwill.  The not so good stuff found its place in the trash bin.  I know that my possessions literally weigh me down with heavy burdens.  In Indiana the standard house has a two car garage.  For many the garage contains excess possessions and is virtually a no-car garage.  There is a big industry in renting storage units so people can store stuff they don’t use.  Years ago I was preparing for a move and the woman from a Kokomo moving company said, “I don’t want to offend you but I have some advice for you.  If you have not used an item in the last two years, give it away.”  It’s good to let go of the burden of excess possessions.  Possessions are distractions that take our attention off the eternal and place it on the temporal.  They take our focus off what has genuine eternal value and onto the things that have no eternal value.  Jesus is clear that our possessions reveal where our treasure is and where our heart is focused.  This is a hard teaching.  This teaching is not about getting us to feel guilty but about getting us to reflect and act on this key teaching of Jesus.

 

The reading from Luke 12 then takes an abrupt change in direction.  The focus moves to being alert, to being prepared.  Jesus gives a First Century illustration.  A rich landowner is at a wedding banquet.  He has not told his servants when he will return.  He could come home anytime.  The wealthy man’s expectation is that he will be met at the door by his servants.  To come home to a dark house in which the servants are asleep is not an option.  Faithful servants are prepared for the master’s return at anytime—even during the wee hours of the morning.  Jesus says, “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning (Luke 12:35).”  It is during the wee hours that people are not alert and prepared.  The body cries for sleep.  It is hard to be awake, alert and watchful as the clock moves from Midnight to 2AM to 4AM.  But faithful servants are awake and watchful and do not want to be caught by the master asleep when he returns.  Jesus wants to find us awake, alert and watchful when he comes.

 

Recently I read a series of historical novels set in South America in the early 18th century.  They were about an English colonist in Virginia who escaped to South America.  He was being sought for opposing an English royal.  In South America he was shipwrecked on an island off the coast of Venezuela and meets up with two tribal Arawak men who were slaves on that wrecked ship.  They worked together to survive.  Later they traveled to the mainland and fought against the hostile Carib tribe.  The Caribs were known for their violence, cannibalism and for attacking villages just before daybreak.  The colonist suggested that the tribal chief put guards around the outskirts of the village who would warn them of an attack.  When the enemy tribe attacked, they were ready to do battle with them.  Being on alert is another way for being prepared.  The army does the same thing as we know that we are most vulnerable to attack in the early hours of the morning when soldiers are groggy and not alert.  A soldier does not want to be caught off guard by the enemy.  In the same way, one does not want to be caught off guard by our spiritual enemies.

 

Being prepared is not much of a part of our culture.  I am always amazed when I hear the statistics on the lack of preparedness of Baby Boomers for retirement.  A large percentage of the people born in the years 1946-1964 have not given much thought to how they will finance their non-working years.  Many have lived a lifestyle that focused on spending, not saving.  They accumulated debt, not savings for the future.  Many lived as though there would be no tomorrow.  While the Bible tells us that the borrower is a slave to the lender, being slaves to lenders is a significant part of the American economic scene.  While Jesus calls us to live faithfully and deal with possessions in a Christian manner, the culture around us tempts us to be slaves to lenders.  Many people get caught up in the temporal seductions of our culture and are not prepared for tomorrow or for eternity.

 

What are Christians to prepare for?  Jesus is clear about this.  “You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him (Luke 12:40).”  Just as the servants had to be ready for the return of their master from the wedding banquet, we are to be ready for the return of our Lord Jesus.  The church has been waiting nearly two thousand years for Jesus’ return and we are still waiting.  Although some writers and preachers think they know when Jesus will return, they are deceived.  No one knows when Jesus will return except the Lord God.  Although people have written many books about speculations on the End Times, our job as faithful followers is not to speculate on the day or hour of his return.  Our job is to be prepared, dressed for action and having our spiritual lamps filed with oil and lit.  We are to live each day prepared for his return.  It is about living each day as a follower of Jesus.

 

One of my favorite stories is about two men who were walking down a path.  They saw St. Francis working in his garden.  One man says to his friend; “Let’s ask him what he would do if he knew this were his last day on earth.”  They go over to the saint and put the question to him.  Francis replies, “I’d continue hoeing my garden.”  He lived such a life that he was prepared to meet the Lord at any time.  He did not feel a need to make special preparations just because he might have thought this day might be his last day on Earth.  He knew Jesus’ teaching about living each day as a person prepared to meet the Lord.  He was alert, awake, prepared.  Francis also knew that the best was yet to come.  He knew that the Father promised to give the faithful ones his Kingdom. 

 

What about you?  Are you prepared to meet the Lord face to face?  If Jesus were to come this afternoon or tonight would he find you alert and prepared?  What do you need to do to live as one who is awake, alert and prepared for the unexpected return of Jesus?

 

 

A sermon preached at Veterans Memorial Chapel on 20 October 2024

by CH (COL) Michael W. Malone, RET AUS.

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Veterans Memorial Chapel

SE Corner of East 59th St. and Brooks Blvd., Indianapolis, IN
(317) 697-0655
Worship Services are Sundays, 10:30 am

Adult Sunday School, 9:30 am

© 2018 by Veterans Memorial Chapel.

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