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."
Who's Watching YOUR House?
Because we watch way too much HGTV, "staging" has become part of our vocabulary. If you're selling or buying a home, you know how important staging is. Staging is when you pretend someone better lives there. A decorator comes in and makes it look like Barbie's Dream House. You put in new drapes and pillows and lamps. You create a sim house with stuff you'd never buy for yourself because it clashes with purple juice stains and cat hair. They're not your household effects. They're special effects. It's all staged.
A while back, Kristen and I went to a Model Home showing. It was a weekend and nobody was around, not even the realtor.
You know how model homes are. Staged to perfection. Living plants out front. The new house smell greets you at the door and reminds you - your house will never again smell this good. This realtor had really put on the dog. The living room had lovely knick-knacks. Like simulated family photos. Embroidered pillows. By the kitchen there was a little desk, with telephone and an appointment calendar. With appointments. And a coffee cup. With coffee still in it. And a stack of opened mail.
It was right about then that we looked at each other and realized: The Model Home was next door. This was somebody's REAL home.
Oh... shoot.
And that's the story of the time your pastor and his wife committed a home invasion.
We'll never know. We'll never know if the owner of the house was out walking his dog, or quivering in a closet loading a shotgun.
All we know is that he failed on a biblical basis to pay heed to scripture. For Jesus says,
"...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."
He warns (in direct quote in the King James), "Be ye therefore ready."
Not staged. Not suited up in simulated saintliness.
"Be ye therefore ready."
For the Lord is coming to your house.
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There's a distinction between staging and preparation. The two are easily confused. Especially in religious life.
Staging is pretend. Staging is counterfeit. Staging is an imitation of life. Staging is the illusion of a real good life.
Recently, I got an email from a Christian Magician who wanted us to pay him to come perform at our church. He would amaze people into following Jesus. However, he wanted us to know he himself was NOT Jesus. His website had the disclaimer, "The Amazing [Kevin?] does not perform miracles. He merely performs illusions."
Dangit. I was ready to hire him.
Staged.
It's enticing, though, for all of us who would be amazing. Staging is so much simpler.
Quite often I get behind a car with a bumper sticker that says, "Keep the Ten Commandments". They don't even say, "Please." No explanation. Not enough room. Keep 'em. Just do it, y'all.
Surely, keeping the Ten Commandments is a very good thing. Everyone should do it. But why stop there?
A careful reader of scripture would know that when God gave those tablets to Moses, he was just getting started.
Jewish teachers will tell you there are 613 commandments in the Old Testament.[1] Christian scholars have counted one thousand five hundred commandments in the New Testament.[2] Together, that's one-thousand six-hundred and sixty-three. 1663 boxes to tick. But I think you know that even if you could keep all those commandments, so what? Would that make you good? Or just paranoid? My dog obeys far less than ten commands - two, maybe three if I have a treat in my hand - but that's not what makes him a good boy. Rote obedience is just spiritual staging. You're just arranging the furniture in order to negotiate your price.
Preparation, however, is an act of hope. Preparation is not amazing. Preparation is the unpleasant act of doing your homework (kids). Homework today will not make your life feel real good. You'll probably miss something cool on your phone. Homework is dreaded preparation in the hope that someday you might have a good, real life. See the difference?
Jesus did.
Jesus preached all the time about the difference between a real good life and a good, real life. One is staged, an illusion. The other is hopeful, true. A good, real life takes preparation because you never know who or what's going to be walking in your door. Sometimes literally. A good, real life takes preparation because events good and bad WILL invade your personal sanctuary.
And when they do, which do you want? A pretty, staged faith? Or good, real faith?
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I think the end of today's scripture is really at its beginning.
Jesus is apparently talking to people who are afraid. Afraid of what? We don't know. Afraid of intruders? Afraid of terrorists? Afraid of death? Afraid of home and space invaders? Doesn't matter. Fear is fear. He says:
"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."
"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
You see, even though Jesus uses illustrations about theft it's not about the thieves. It's not about the loss. The stuff that can be taken from you? The physical stuff? Your possessions, some of which came at great price? Jesus says, sell 'em. Sell them and give the money to the poor. I don't think he's saying it as a commandment. Although if you can pull it off, good for you. I think Jesus is trying to make a bigger point. If your life is just staged, if your life is about looking real good, or feeling real good, or ticking off the boxes real good, then, you get what you pay for.
But if your life is a work of preparation, if your life is good because it is real, real in Christ, real in spirit, real in love and real in mercy, if your life is true, you will find treasure inside your doors and out. You will find your treasure in your heart. You will find your treasure in the things you love, those things that no one could ever buy, and no one could ever steal.
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