Ordinary Time 
Pause
There are so many ways to be brave in this world. Sometimes bravery involves laying down your life for something bigger than yourself, or for someone else. Sometimes it involves giving up everything you have ever known, or everyone you have ever loved, for the sake of something greater.
But sometimes it doesn’t.
Sometimes it is nothing more than gritting your teeth through pain, and the work of every day, the slow walk toward a better life.
Veronica Roth in Allegiant (2013)
Listen
“Don’t be afraid, little flock, because your Father delights in giving you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to those in need. Make for yourselves wallets that don’t wear out—a treasure in heaven that never runs out. No thief comes near there, and no moth destroys. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be too.”
Luke 12:32-34
Think
Jesus is extremely demanding. Has he not seen “Keeping Up With the Kardashians”? Does he not know that the point of life is to get rich and famous? Instead, he encourages his listeners to sell everything they own and give it away. This is a very hard teaching.
Most Christians would rather ignore Jesus when he starts talking like this. After all, if you’re rich, you probably have a lot to lose. But it’s also more likely that you live with fear, because your treasure is on earth, and therefore, what you value most can be stolen and broken.
But it’s possible to approach one’s life and one’s belongings lightly and to see them for what they are, as gifts from God. This is where true freedom is found. When we invest our lives into others and choose to store up our treasure in heaven, everyone wins. Fear is replaced with love. Scarcity is replaced with abundance. And keeping up begins to make less sense. So as hard as it may be, it might be worth it to take Jesus seriously.
Chris Robertson
Pray
God, help me to cling less tightly to what I have, and even who I am. Instead, it is my prayer that I might find everything I need in you. Amen.
Go
In Scripture we are told that God is at work in the world.
And that God’s work is also our work.
May we then go into the world and be brave,
ever ready to give of ourselves,
ever trusting in the goodness of God.
