I hate shopping for a new wallet. Even when I find one that looks something like my old one, the changeover is a chore and the result always feels bulkier and more cumbersome than the old broken-in wallet. It would be great to find one that would last the rest of my life, and at this point that feels somewhat more possible than it used to.
However, wallets–and purses, as my wife would tell you– do wear out. Our text for this Sunday, Luke 12:32-40, begins with Jesus recognizing that fact and urging us to seek a storage place for valuables which does not wear out. Last Sunday, thinking about the foolish man building bigger barns to store his grain, I quoted St. Augustine’s suggestion that the bellies of the poor are a better and eternal storage location for our goods.
The lectionary skips verses 22-31 in the chapter, probably because the images there are more familiar as read from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6. But in general Jesus warns against anxiety about length of life, food and clothing, asking us to trust God the Father for all these things.
So as we pick it up this week we read the conclusion of Jesus’ reflection on our attitude toward wealth and possessions in verses 32-34, including the well known words, “For where your treasure is, there you heart will be also.” Then the assigned reading moves in verse 35 into a couple of parables about readiness for Christ’s return. One focuses on slaves being ready and alert when their master arrives and the other on a rather famous image of a homeowner being ready for a “thief in the night.”
If we wish to make some connection between everlasting purses and relief from anxiety over money and posessions and the two little readiness parables, we might find it in the idea of faithful service. The slaves’ alert faithfulness to their master is a good cure for the material stuff worries of the world. If we are focused on whether we are doing what Jesus wishes us to do, we will be less concerned about hanging on to the stuff we have.