Lessons in Kingdom Sharing--August 11, 2025

Lessons in Kingdom Sharing--August 11, 2025

[Jesus said:] “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:32)

What kind of king gives away his kingdom?  What kind of ruler resists the urge to conquer more and keep himself in power perpetually, and instead relinquishes the right to dictate and control?  And who would share a kingdom with a group of people so seemingly insignificant that they can be addressed a "little flock"?

Well, God, apparently.  

Jesus says that this is the way God runs the universe--the same God on whom we can call as "Father" chooses to give away "the kingdom" and share it with a ragtag band of little sheep like us. History shows us how rare it really is for people with power (kings, emperors, presidents, and the like) to share it or lay it down.  (And there are an alarming number of high-profile people in power still who have gone on record lately saying they would prefer taking further power away from people, like rescinding the right of women to vote in favor of "household voting," which is just another form of a power grab.)  But Jesus tells us that God isn't like that.  Whatever we think it means to speak of God as a "king" with a "kingdom," Jesus tells us that God intends to give that "kingdom" to an unlikely band of anybodies who are most aptly compared to "sheep." That's what we hear in this verse from Luke's Gospel, which many of us heard in worship this Sunday: "Have no fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."

What's the catch? Well, for us who are disciples of Jesus, we are not only recipients of the gifts (and kingdom) that God gives--but we are also being shaped in the likeness of this kingdom-sharing God.  And if God is willing to take the risk of sharing "the kingdom" with a bunch of wobbly-faithed, still-struggling-with-sin, sometimes-selfish-and-sometimes-sheepish, definitely-in-process disciples, then we are certainly going to be called to share this same "kingdom" with others, too.  In other words, the gifts God entrusts to us are meant to be shared, not hoarded.  The kingdom which we are receiving is also meant to be given to others. The Spirit that first came to us like a breath of fresh air is meant to be breathed out for others to receive.  The Good News that was first freely bestowed on us is intended to be passed along to the next person, and the next, and the next.  Because of who God is, the good things are not meant to be locked away in a vault or buried like a pirate's treasure, but handed out freely to any and all. To be disciples of Jesus, the Son of this particular God, will mean we are primed for lessons in kingdom sharing, too.

All too often, of course, our thinking runs counter to that sort of sharing.  We are often inclined toward clenching our fists around our possessions and being stingy with our resources (or skeptical of those who need them). And we are frequently resistant to sharing power or inviting more voices to the decision-making table. "If we let the new people make decisions, they'll do it wrong!" is a recurring refrain. "If other people are allowed in, they'll water down the level of influence that OUR GROUP currently has!" is another.  We are pretty good, it turns out, at inventing reasons not to welcome more people to the table--and yet, in spite of those very same reasons, Jesus tells us that God has chosen to share "the kingdom" with us in the first place. If we are indeed to receive this "kingdom" from God, it will come with the understanding that we are not the end-point in that giving, but are meant to widen the circle and allow others to find a place in God's beloved community as well, where their joys, struggles, loves, creativity, and voice are given expression.

What would that look like?  Well, for one, we'll resist the temptation to turn churches into exclusive social clubs for cliques of our friends or only like-minded neighbors.  Instead, we'll not only welcome new faces among us in our congregations, but also look to lift up their gifts, concerns, and leadership rather than merely using them to perpetuate the country-club atmosphere.  It will mean, too, that we strive to welcome new faces to our communities and to our common life, including our country, and to listen to their perspectives and concerns rather than shunning them or driving them away.  We won't be threatened by the idea of sharing the kingdom with new neighbors, because we can see that God has already taken the risk of sharing it with us in the first place.  Nor will we get sucked back into the Me-and-My-Group-First mentality that sees every good thing as a scarce resource and every interaction as a zero-sum game where sharing a good thing with others means less for me. If we are learning to see the world as God sees it (which is indeed a pretty important dimension of discipleship), then we will recognize that God's Reign--even though it is "God's"--was always intended to include anybody and everybody, and therefore it is not a bad thing when others are drawn to want to participate in it, but exactly what God has been aiming for all along. We won't be frightened to see other people--from every background, life situation, language, and story--being drawn to God's Reign; rather, we'll rejoice.

In a world where it is so easy to be tight-fisted with our good things and suspicious of everybody else who crosses our path, Jesus reminds us that the kingdom God is giving us is more like your local public library than a private country club: it is a good gift designed for being shared widely, not cordoned off behind a velvet rope. What would it look like for us to risk sharing the presence of the Kingdom far and wide in this day?  Who might that lead us into conversation with?  Who else might we find beside us at the table?

Let's find out.

Lord God, enable us both to receive your good kingdom... and to shared as you have shared it with us in the first place.