Eighth Sunday after Trinity
“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. ”
Overview
Is enough ever enough? In this week’s texts Abraham has been promised everything (Genesis 15:1-6), and Jesus’ followers have been promised the kingdom (Luke 12:32-40). But still they are behaving as if they do not have enough.They are acting out of a fear of scarcity.
In the midst of a cost of living crisis it is easy to do the same. But the advice given by God is “stop counting, start living”. The image of the thief in the night may seem like scaremongering, but it is really the opposite. Like the parable of the rich fool in last week’s gospel, its message is that all we need is right here before us. Fear makes us look inward. To look outward we require both hope and trust. Do we believe that life is about more than mere security? Can we risk behaving as if a different life is possible?
FIRST READING
Genesis 15:1-6
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, ‘Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.’ But Abram said, ‘O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?’ And Abram said, ‘You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.’ But the word of the Lord came to him, ‘This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.’ He brought him outside and said, ‘Look towards heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’ And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.
GOSPEL READING
Luke 12:32-40
‘Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
‘Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.
‘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.’
