When I was younger, I belonged to a troop of Boy Scouts. Our motto was “Be Prepared.” The whole text told us to “Be prepared in Mind, by having disciplined yourself to be obedient to every order, and also by having thought out beforehand any accident or situation that might occur, so that you know the right thing to do at the right moment, and are willing to do it.”
It’s that last part – “and are willing to do it” that makes things interesting. The reason the scouts have merit badges, is that these badges ask them to prepare themselves in mind and body for all the “situations that might occur.” Merit badges like First Aid, Fire Safety, Crime Prevention, Family Life, or even Citizenship in the Community. The idea was that we were prepared to handle these things, and therefore not be afraid when confronted with them. We were educated. We were trained. And we were informed. Because being informed can help to ward off danger, and therefore keep us from fear in unexpected situations.
Of course, you can always be too informed as well. If you turn anywhere and follow the news these days, you can find reason to worry: like the economy, history and politics walking hand in hand, theological arguments justifying genocide, the rise of health issues, and the threat of artificial intelligence. There is such a thing as being over-informed, and if you want to, you can search through the news and you most definitely will find something to worry about. The world is full of injustice and full of evil, and the world is full of hatred and destruction. There is so much that you could prepare yourselves for that your head might explode.
But at least you would be informed, and therefore you would be prepared – “for every accident or situation that might occur.” At least, that’s what we are told.
The truth is, fear sells. And fear motivates. And fear controls. The old adage in newspapers is, “If it bleeds, it leads.” That is, the more sensational something is, the more likely people will listen, watch, or read the news. But that just gets people into the story. It’s the interpretation of those facts that really drive up the engagement. And that is why so many newspapers and the opinion and propaganda television stations interpret the facts in a way that makes people afraid. The more afraid a population is, the more engaged they are. And the more engaged they are, the more likely they are to do as the talking heads suggest. And when people are prone to following suggestions, then they are controlled, they are manipulated, and therefore, docile in the face of real danger and angry at what the talking heads tell them they are supposed to fear.
Christianity is not immune to these temptations. That is, Christianity is not immune to using fear to motivate believers into action.
Consider this passage – and others similar to it. The most common way to preach these types of passages is to focus on the fact that God will come back at an unexpected hour, like a thief in the night, and that if you are found unprepared, then you will suffer the eternal consequences. I’ve heard this passage preached in a way that suggests that if you are found sinning the moment – the very second – that Christ comes back from heaven, then you will suffer eternal damnation. Why? Because you were unprepared. And the master came home like a thief in the night.
Forget about the fact that all of us are sinning constantly. Forget about the fact that God knows what is in our minds and in our hearts, and that none of us has a perfect and blameless heart or mind before God – at least on our own. Our minds think evil thoughts, our hearts demand vengeance, and our souls yearn for our own selfish desires. Left to our own devices, we are all completely unprepared – all the time.
It’s passages like this that are prone to preaching fear. And just like the news headlines, they are meant to pull you in, to engage you – and to manipulate you. These kinds of fear-mongering sermons serve the purpose of getting you to behave a certain way, to act a certain way, to live a certain way – twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. Because you are deathly afraid to miss the trumpet call that wakes you up for the homeward trip to heaven. You don’t want to be left behind, after all.
“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
What if I told you to “Be Prepared?” But what if I told you that being prepared has nothing to do with the perpetual sin in your life – because for one, no matter how hard you try, you’re going to be sinning 24/7, and two: Christ has already won the victory in that department? What if, instead, I told you that being prepared has more to do with faith? The belief that God desires to give you the kingdom?
Louis Pasteur, the French scientist is often credited with the phrase, “Fortune favors the prepared mind.” This phrase is used in business circles to point out that if you are prepared to handle any business opportunity that jumps out at you, then you will be able to take advantage of it.
I wonder what it would look like if we rewrote Louis Pasteur’s phrase to say: “God’s blessing favors those prepared to receive the kingdom?”
If we look at the passage today, we see these servants who are waiting for their master. Notice that it says “Blessed are those slaves,” and also, it says that the master will “fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them.” That is, with his own treasure, the master of the house will bless those who are prepared and are waiting.
That is, they are waiting for the blessing, rather than remaining awake to avoid the curse.
It’s a very subtle shift in thinking, but that change in mindset allows you to see miracles and blessings wherever you look. That is, it changes your mindset to one of gratitude, expectation of joy, and thankfulness. Rather than staring inward at your soul like in a mirror to determine all those things that need to change before the end arrives, you instead focus outward, on the blessings that God has given you, and the ways in which you can share that joy with others.
If you’ve been here the past few weeks, you may remember the 70 disciples being sent out to preach that “The Kingdom of God is near.” And that the disciples were to shake the dust off their feet against those who did not welcome them in peace – that is, someone who was unwilling to help the poor and needy – because they questioned the motives of these itinerant beggar preachers.
Or maybe you remember the parable of the Good Samaritan, who helped a mortal enemy recover from being attacked by robbers. But the parable was intended to help the lawyer question his own desire to attribute bad motives to others so that he might justify himself.
Or maybe you remember last week’s parable, where the rich fool tried to prepare himself for all the possible luxuries of life because he thought of no one but himself. And God takes his soul that very night. But the parable was meant to tell us that just as God cares for the birds of the air and the flowers of the field, we can be certain that God will provide for us.
“Do not be afraid, for it is God’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
This phrase implies two things: 1) you’re going to inherit eternal life – the kingdom and 2) God wants you to experience as much of the kingdom here and now. And you experience as much of the kingdom of God here and now as you are willing – and prepared – to receive it.
By being prepared to receive God’s blessing, I don’t mean that God will buy you that Mercedes Benz, or that God will pour out massive amounts of wealth on you. That’s still thinking about earthly treasures. God will allow you to experience the Kingdom of Heaven in the here and now when you sell everything – metaphorically, figuratively, sometimes even literally – and give alms to the poor. Including the poor in spirit.
There is a story of a very rich young man, named Giovanni di Pietro di Bernadone, who asked a priest to make the sign of the cross three times, and each time open the missal. The first time, the passage came out: “Go, sell all you have, and give it to the poor,” from Matthew 19:21. The second time, it came on the passage of the 70 disciples sent out to preach, saying, “Take nothing for your journey,” from Luke 9:3. And the final time, it ended up at Mark 8:34, which said, “Let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” And so the young man sold all he had, and gave alms to the poor. And he became richer and more blessed than ever before, because he saw the treasures of the kingdom of heaven all around him at every moment. He lived in peace with people and animals, and saw the blessings of God – the treasures of God – in this life and the next. Because he wasn’t afraid and he was prepared and willing to do what God asked, and it was God’s good pleasure to give him the kingdom.
You may know this man better as St. Francis of Assissi. He had nothing, but was prepared for everything. He was prepared for all occasions because he trusted God with everything, and therefore partnered with God to do the work that he was given to do.
We do not all have to sell everything we own, just like Francis did. But we need to learn to let go of our attachments to all the things of this earth. Because it is in the letting go of our attachments to all of these things, these desires and delights of earthly pleasures and riches that we come to see that the treasures of heaven are already all around us. In the birds of the air, in the flowers of the fields, in the early morning sunrise.
It’s the letting go that is the hard part. Which is why I think that St. Francis prayed this prayer every day:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred; let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.
O Lord, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; for it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
[This sermon was delivered at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Wickenburg, AZ on August 10, 2025.]
