It is your Father’s pleasure to give you the kingdom

A Sermon preached at St Martin-in-the-Fields on August 10, 2025 by Revd Richard Carter

Reading for address: Luke 12: 32-40

What is it that we most fear? It is a good question to ask ourselves. It certainly seems that fear is something that modern society and culture generate so that more than ever we are anxious about the risks that surround and threaten us. All of us are mortal and death is a fear everyone at sometime faces. The top five causes of death in UK research show to be dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke and lung cancer in that order. But clearly the risks that most endanger life are not the ones that most fill the public imagination and cause the greatest fear. What are the things that dominate our national headlines, media and social media- serial killers, terrorism, sex offenders, plane crashes, natural disasters, scandals in hospital trusts, gangs and knife crime, and the threat of migration. Although we may be experiencing a heightened level of fear and insecurity, the truth is that our lives in this country are relatively less dangerous now than they were 50 years ago. The truth is that we are living longer, healthier lives than ever before and often our greatest fears bear no relation to the true statistics and facts. In the UK in the last twenty years there has been a significant long-term decline in burglary, theft, injury caused by violence, homicide, criminal damage and fire arm offences since 1995. There has however been an increase in other forms of crime like fraud, online crime and deception.

There is also a huge fear in our modern society of failure and rejection- that somehow we are not good enough or inadequate- fears exacerbated by social media- haunt people about their self-image and identity, their popularity, their personal relationships, their body image, their status, success, online profile and celebrity status. There has been a rise in reported levels of mental health issues like depression and stress. And of course marketers and media love to stir up fear. Look at how many of the television serials focus on plots of murder, abduction, betrayal, violence, conflict, brutality, deception, scandal. Fear sells- it stirs up our basic instincts, our primal reactions. And marketers, social media and headlines tap into that fear. Look also how much of our reality TV is based on being either hired or fired, voted on or off, voted in or out- with slowly more and more contestants told they are not good enough. And often it seems that politics and the work place have begun to reflect that same model. We all know those with mortgages and rents who feel anxious and threatened about losing their jobs and many young people so stressed as they start out.

Now this is not for a moment to suggest that fear is always a bad thing- we need to be aware and alert to the dangers that surround us but at the same time what I would like to suggest is that the Christian Gospel is a constant call not be overwhelmed by fear. Or rather a call to live the hope of the Gospel even in times of danger and uncertainty. Neither is that call a call to ignore what is happening around you because the Gospel calls us constantly to be alert. Yes alert but also faithful. Faithful and steadfast in the belief in a greater good.

The first words of our Gospel today are ‘Do not be afraid little flock for it is your Father’s pleasure to give you the kingdom’. Jesus is not calling people to an unreality or to live a delusionary world of innocence while around them evil reigns- no. Rather, Jesus is calling us to live and discover the true treasures of our lives even in the midst of danger and all that threatens. When he talks of the coming of the kingdom the Gospel is talking about the coming of Jesus himself. It is a call not to give into fear. Not to be possessed or poisoned by it. Not to become part of fear’s obsessive power- part of its threat and oppression. In other words not to let fear became the dominant master of our lives- destroying and ignoring all that blesses. Just because there is darkness in the world- all the more reason to celebrate the light. Just because there is violence all the more reason to live the power of peace. Just because there is greed and corruption and the misuse of wealth- all the more reason to discover the true joy of Jesus Christ’s truth, generosity and justice.

Last week I was invited by the Bose Community- a monastic ecumenical community in Northern Italy to help lead an international ecumenical week for Christians from different parts of the world aged between 20-30- people from different Christian denominations- Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Reformed- and from many places- Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Holland, France, UK, Tanzania and Egypt present and with me, Jolley and Maddie and Minos and Hazel. It was a week of real learning I think for everyone. When we arrived we were welcomed with such hospitality and kindness by a community of 45 brothers and sisters. We were given cold elderflower drinks  on arrival and shown to rooms which had been beautifully prepared for each of us- with a note to say there was no charge to stay. We entered into a world of spacious attentive hospitality. The three prayer times of the day beginning at 6.00am in the morning were so beautiful that they seemed like showers of fresh water on parched soil- falling like sweetness into the soul. Afterwards there were meal times- with simple food prepared in the community and shared around tables. We ate in silence tasting the fresh home-made bread, the vegetables from the garden- the freshly picked vine-ripe tomatoes and olive oil, the fruits and golden plums. The pasta was simply cooked with fresh herbs and olive oil. The food was at once completely simple and natural but also completely delicious.

Before arriving we had been surprised that 4 hours each morning from 8am-12pm were devoted to community work and I joked it sounded like a work camp. Far from it, the manual work together unlocked us as it took groups into the garden to dig potatoes, the flower beds to pull weeds, others to the orchards to pick plums, others to the printing press to bind books and most popular of all to the bakery to make bread and biscuits. Whatever task we were given we were given clear and kind instruction on how to do this work and encouragement with our efforts. It was a joy to work together with others from so many parts of Europe and the world. And working together unlocked natural conversation and trust.

In the afternoon we had time to rest before we studied Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians-  I realised that each day we were entering the rhythm of the monastic life ourselves- silence, prayer, manual work, study and rest. An ancient balanced life giving tradition. It really worked within us and felt like an unknotting of the soul. I noticed how everyone became freed by this process- there was a natural joy and gratitude that seemed released. The silence did not isolate- rather it made each person more attentive to the other- aware of the gift of difference and yet also a greater unity. As though the simplicity of our life together had helped everyone to put down their burdens and their fears and open up. I felt so encouraged by the life and faith and inspiration of this group of young people-it made me believe once again in a future of peace.

Our Gospel I believe reflects those same values which we had shared. We often think of religion as a thing which judges and controls-that is heavy and weighs us down with our failures- but listen. Christ says, ‘Do not be afraid little flock it is your Father’s pleasure to give you the kingdom’. It does not matter being little- little here is an attribute because it opens us up to receive the greater gifts of the Father. This gift is not earned nor based on merit. Rather, it is the Father’s pleasure. What a liberating concept that is- God’s pleasure in giving us freely the goodness of the kingdom, not taking it away or punishing us-which many people wrongly assume is the business of religion. In this passage from Luke’s Gospel and the proceeding verses- Jesus is calling upon us not to worry about our lives- this chapter is a call to trust in Jesus even in times of struggle and uncertainty. Look at the way in today’s Gospel Jesus calls his disciples to sell their possessions and give alms- and to make purses that do not wear out. Our instinct in times of danger or scarcity is perhaps to hoard or become more territorial and more grasping, more suspicious of those we consider outsiders and strangers- taking what is ours. Jesus’ advice is quite the opposite. It is the time not for greater covetousness and meanness of spirit but greater generosity and sharing. He says store up your real treasure in heaven where it cannot be taken by thieves or destroyed by moths-the things that are our really greatest treasures in life are not material things however much importance the world places on them- but the eternal things of God. How much have we loved, how much have we used our lives in the service of others?

And now Jesus calls his disciples to be ready and alert. To be awake- attentive to the moment. Attentive to the coming of Christ. Jesus is coming but actually is already here and in order to recognise him we need to be living in the present moment- a condition of absolute mindfulness and expectation. It’s so easy to get lost in our heads, so tangled up in our compulsive wants and desires, and so overwhelmed by fear of all we are lacking that we stop seeing the blessing- and miss God’s incarnation of love here and with us now. This recognition of belonging is what we celebrate in Daniel’s baptism today. His belonging- of placing his trust with ours in God- Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Baptism does not say you are hired or fired-you are in or out-  it says something far more significant it says- you belong to me forever. Come what may you belong with God’s family- you are my sons and daughters. Daniel you do not just belong to your own wonderful family on earth- you also belong to Christ and the eternal love and hope he brings.

At the Bose Community they paint icons. One of those icons which I have taken home with me shows Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. He is calling upon his disciples to stay awake with him- that the hour has come and he needs them to be present with him. Notice in this icon the body posture and the right hand of Jesus. Jesus is not only calling upon them to stay awake and pray with him, at the same time he is also blessing them- and us. Christ’s call is one both to wakefulness, to be present to the suffering of the world and yet at the same time a benediction – a prayer for them and us in our own struggle. We sense in Jesus both the urgency of his challenge to be awake to his presence and also at the same moment his forgiveness acceptance and blessing of us as we are. In the midst of the world as we look back on our past in faith, as we look towards the future with hope. We are called to be present to Jesus Christ and live his love NOW. That’s your calling Daniel. That’s all our calling. And it is your Father’s pleasure to give you the kingdom.