Fear not, little flock

"And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

"Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
_Luke 6

I just posted in my other blog about fear of man and how, as Christians, we need not fear anyone anymore - either for fear of being judged or being otherwise harmed. It got me thinking that, perhaps, fear comprises a great part of what holds us back from giving and serving.

Whether you call it suspicion or selfishness or worry or love of money or, sometimes, "financial prudence," I'm calling it fear, because that is what Jesus calls it here. Since the beginning of the chapter, he's been talking about both fear of man (hypocrisy, fearing those who kill the body), and money/possessions. Strange how he intermingles the two. After this passage, he's going to turn the conversation to preparing for the Kingdom. But right now, he's telling people not to "be worried" about earthly provisions, for two reasons - such cares are what godless Gentiles do and aren't becoming of God's people; and God knows perfectly well what you need and doesn't need your help. Then Jesus gives the famous line: "Instead, seek his kingdom."

So at first it seems like Jesus is just talking about us not fretting over bills or getting into a frenzy over sales at the mall. But then he started talking about the kingdom, which seems a little serious. Is he saying that, in some way, seeking the kingdom is somehow opposed to seeking worldly possessions? It looks like it... because he takes it even more seriously in the next sentence, which is one of my favorite quotations from Jesus' ministry:

Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Let that sit with you for a minute. I love it. "Little flock." It strikes me as fond, protective, maybe sympathetic. (Sheep aren't that bright, remember.) "Your Father's good pleasure" - God loves the fact that he's giving us the Kingdom. He doesn't begrudgingly give us gifts, because it's his prerogative. He's GOD; and yet he is never stingy with us. Even though most of the time we have no idea how valuable his gifts are. Sheep.

And that's the point, I think. Jesus goes on to give the "therefore" (imperative flows out of the indicative) - "Sell your possessions, and give...." Jesus is saying, I'm asking you to do something that you're going to think is your undoing, but don't be scared! You don't have to hold so tightly to what you have. If you give freely as God has given to you, you won't be losing a thing, because your Father's possessions are never depleted, and you get to inherit it all.

Fear not! For it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.