Friday, March 4

The words that jumped out at me when I first read this verse were "little flock." Who was Jesus talking to? Why did he tell his "little flock" not to be afraid? Reading the rest of Luke 12, it became clear that the "little flock" was his disciples who had gathered around him in the midst of a large crowd of people milling about, eager to hear what Jesus had to say. The disciples were probably nervous about what they had to do in order to continue following Jesus.

And he made multiple attempts to help them calm down, in this chapter of Luke. He spoke in order to help them find internal peace in the midst of all the excitement and activity. And Jesus reminded them that his Father was happy that they were learning to be more like Jesus—He had given them Jesus to help them understand what God's Kingdom is all about.

Today, in 2022, we are Jesus's "little flock" of disciples. Here we stand in the midst of chaos, especially with the pandemic still raging around us. Once again, we are unable to gather for worship in person (at least, not in January 2022). But God has given us multiple ways of remaining calm in His peace—there is faithful preaching by our Pastor, available to us through the modern miracle of livestreaming; we are able to read Scripture in our own Bibles (an advantage the disciples did not have); phones, texts, email, social media allow us to keep in touch with one another, share our concerns and receive reassurance; medical and scientific information that gives us guidelines as to how to live safely, leading to sensible decisions and less fear. That's Good News!