Somewhere time has gotten away from me as far as my blog goes. I was talking about the scripture in Isaiah. As I am preparing for the service tomorrow, the passage from Luke caught my imagination. He starts with Jesus saying do not be afraid. What strikes about the statement is how often today we live in a constant state of fear. Prior to this passage Jesus tells his disciples do not worry. I wonder what it would be not to worry about money, possessions, food, shelter, and keeping what I have. I was reading an article that stated unfortunately the bank does not take "treasures in heaven" for payment of mortgages or car payments. So the question is how to live today in harmony with what Jesus says about worry and fear and keep our residence and our means of transportation.
The radical approach would be like the early church. Members would often sell their possessions and pool their money and resources and support one another. That seems so foreign to us today. I grow up in an era that tried to live that way in communes throughout the country. For the most part they failed to exist for any length of time. We have moved away from that period of communal living. There continues to problems with possessions and ownership that are so ingrained in our society that to try to overcome them are difficult. I know that I desire to own books even when I could check them out of the library and even contribute the money that I spend so that the library could buy more books. I do recycle my books when I am done often to other people or to the library. Yet, I keep a large number of them.
So what is the answer. To live faithfully and to live joyfully do I need to give away everything? Or do I need to examine my life and determine what I need to live on and what is excess? And it is more than just money the scripture is talking about. It is time, the use of my talents, and my relationships with God and others. If I live comfortably and do nothing to help someone else who has no shelter, no food, no clothes, no clean water to drink, no sense of safety, what does that say about what Jesus is talking about.
We are called to be prepared for the return of Christ and to be able to open the door for him to enter into our lives. If we are so caught up in fear and worry, we may miss his presence. Somewhere we need to find that balance in our lives between worry and trust in God.