“Keeping your head about you”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Saturday, November 2, 2024
Luke 12: 32-48 (Forward, p. 4) CEV p. 1078
Keeping one’s focus and keeping one’s priorities firmly in sight are so very important. That’s what we mean by ‘keeping your head about you.’ It is that very thing that Jesus addresses in today’s passage, this time rather pointedly directed to His disciples.
Firstly, He hives in on the topic of money, always a very touchy topic. He mentions something that seems to be a recurrent theme of His, namely that we can pile up treasures for ourselves in heaven by giving generously to the poor (see also Matthew 6: 19-27 and Luke 18:22). Interestingly, this does not suggest that we thereby ‘earn’ salvation in so doing, but only that there is a way of accumulating award in heaven.
And secondly, He hives in on the topic of diligence, faithfulness, in our appointed tasks. He reveals that seeing as we can never be sure of when He might return, we should never take it for granted that we ‘have plenty of time’. Instead, we should dedicate ourselves fully and heartily to whatever task He has assigned us. And interestingly, here too He speaks of an award, the reward of being served by Him and being put in charge of even more things.
This sets up a dynamic that we probably have never considered. I have always thought of heaven, and of being with God, with Christ, forever, as being their own reward, our only reason for ‘keeping our heads about us’. But maybe there’s something else too, a reward in heaven. While it probably should not be something we aim at, or are working towards, it is certainly something to think about and consider. And certainly something very much appreciated. So, there is more to ‘keeping our heads about us’ that we might have originally considered.
Forward notes: “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded” (verse 48).
“Every week, as a communion hymn, my congregation sings, ‘Kanaka Waiwai’, an old Hawaiian hymn based on the gospel story of the rich young man asking Jesus what he needs to do get into heaven and Jesus responding that he needs to go and sell all of his possessions. Every Sunday, the hymn brings me close to tears. The people in my congregation are not rich. Many are on food stamps or receive housing aid. And yet, they are the most generous community I have ever been a part of.
“Being entrusted with wealth isn’t just financial or material. I think it also applies to being entrusted with care for God’s creatures, children, or parents—or being entrusted with much faith, generous hearts, or a great attitude. My congregation reminds me that wealth can be many things—but no matter what you are wealthy in, these riches are a gift from God, and we praise and honour God with how we use them.”
Moving Forward: “What do you have much of? Where is your wealth?”