Have no fear little flock, have no fear, little flock, For the Father has chosen to give you the Kingdom. Have no fear, little flock! [Marjorie A. Jillson, b.1931]

Oh, how I need to hear these words on this day! I need to hear them because one of the realities of present day twenty-first century life is that fear and anxiety seem to increasingly shape our lives. All we need do is look at the mass shootings last weekend and we again see why people live in fear. Even the youngest children among us now must go through the ritual of active shooting drills as part of their educational experience, something that I am sure creates anxiety and fear within these young minds and bodies. Ryan Thompson shared a blog article with me this last week that talked about this ritual, one I fear that is more commonplace in children’s lives than the ritual of worship. In the article sociologist, Kieran Healy, writes:

A fundamental lesson of Sociology is that, in the course of making everyday life seem orderly and sensible, arbitrary things are made to seem natural and inevitable. Rituals, especially the rituals of childhood, are a powerful way to naturalize arbitrary things. As a child in Ireland, I thought it natural to take the very body of Christ in the form of a wafer of bread on my tongue. My own boy and girl, in America, think it natural that a school is a place where you must know what to do when someone comes there to kill the children.



I must ask, what have we become and what kind of fear are we instilling in our children? In addition to this one aspect of life, the twenty-four-hour-a-day newsfeed instills all kinds of fear in people’s lives. The newsfeed communicates political voices spewing forth rhetoric that incite fear, especially fear of others. There is fear of terrorism – both foreign and domestic, fear of a volatile economy and our financial situation, fear of climate change, unemployment, war, hunger, poverty, homelessness, disease and death. The effect these forms of fear have on our culture and our lives has been and is devastating.

Consequently, I think many of us have deep concerns and ask questions like:

How might I live in order to know that I am safe and secure? Where is the place of security for me and those I love?

In the depth of these concerns and, on this day as we still are shaken by the events of the past couple of weeks, we desperately need to hear the words Jesus is speaking in Luke’s gospel. Into our fear, across centuries of human experience, Jesus’ teaching to us today offers an extraordinary word of comfort. The precious words Jesus speaks to us today can never be heard too often. “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is God’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” These words are some of my favorite words in Scripture because I believe they are a perfect summary of the Gospel. These words provide the absolute assurance we need to hear in order to resist the extensive fearmongering and the many voices of doom surrounding us every day. These words are so timely for us on this day.

In this passage from Luke’s gospel, we hear proclaimed in no uncertain terms that God loves us as only a parent can love, and God has not only promised we will belong to him forever….but Jesus says it is God’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom. God loves you! It is God’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. You are accepted and loved as you are by God, your loving parent. Do not fear! These are words of comfort and reassurance in an increasingly threatening world. And, they are not whistling-in-the-dark comfort, but rather the reassurance that what is seen is not all that is, a reminder that the fears associated with earthy living need not have the last word in defining one’s life. Oh, yes! We desperately need to hear these words.

Now, quite honestly, for those of us in this faith community who really have more than we need, one of the fears that beset us has to do with our “stuff,” our treasures and possessions. Fear often causes us to hold on tightly to what we have so that we can protect ourselves against what might happen. Fear leads us to believe that our treasures and wealth will protect us against some dark and terrible day. However, Jesus’ words remind us that even our “stuff” and our earthly treasures can be destroyed. Jesus reminds us that our earthly treasures are not ultimate. Earthly treasure is not where our true treasure is. Jesus really challenges us to go to that deeper place in life and examine what our hearts hold dear, what is truly ultimate. He challenges us to embrace the true treasure God desires to freely give us, because it is God’s “good pleasure” to give us the kingdom, a treasure that is imperishable, a treasure that does not fade or fail.

Yes, wherever there is fear in our lives, Jesus speaks a surprising word of comfort to us, “Do not be afraid little...