Sell your possessions?

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We're looking ahead to the bible texts for this Sunday, August 11: Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-15 & Luke 12:32-40.

Jesus says - "Do not be afraid, little flock - for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.  Sell your possessions . . ." 

How do you hear these verses together?  Is the second statement about selling your possessions jarring or comforting?

This week we broadcasted from outside Pawn Emporium - it's a place where people sell their possessions, but unfortunately usually out of need and thus pawn shops are ready to take advantage of that.  If Jesus were alive today, would send his disciples here to simplify their lives?  Or would he use Ebay?  Pawn shops, perhaps except for their recent popularity through reality television, have a certain connotation, even shamefulness associated . . . but who can judge?  This one in downtown Harrisonburg has an imposing fence around it - making us think of the way some people interpret the instruction to be prepared - being well-guarded.

We could not have prepared for the distractions and surprises as we recorded which re-emphasized these themes in the text - be prepared - God is breaking in the kingdom!  How fitting in a way that we were interrupted by what turned out to be funeral bells tolling from nearby Blessed Sacrament - a reminder that God is our sure promise, in proclaiming life that comes from death...  These bells were a reminder to me to be prepared and ready - to interpret things we see and hear as God's action in the world.

What if living as Christians, well prepared as Jesus describes in Luke, doesn't look like stockpiling or fearing the future, but opening your eyes looking for what God is doing?  What is God doing this week in your life, preparing you for abundant life in God's kingdom?  Read these verses from Hebrews and Luke - they contain some very familiar images of comfort and pure promise.  Take them to heart.  Then know, whatever God is preparing for you (assured as it is the father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom) be ready to catch it!