Beloved sparrows

"There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed" (Luke 12:3).

Eph 1:11-14; Luke 12:1-7

Reality is more real than a reality show, and truth endures and surfaces eventually, despite every effort to keep lies and illusions alive. History teaches this lesson over and over again. The Truth will out. Imposters and hypocrites, no matter how hard they try to conceal their schemes and motives, will be exposed. The "big" lies, hiding like coiled, poisonous snakes in the layers of culture and protected by powerful interests, wither and die in the light of truth.

Jesus dares to call out the hypocrites and the powerful liars of his time. The crowds surge to hear such bold talk. His message is the cry of the poor and the oppressed of history. His promise is the same promise his mother sang of in her Magnificat before he was born. The powerful will be pulled from their thrones, the rich and self-satisfied will be sent away empty while God's anawim will celebrate at the banquet of love.

For exposing the nerve of complicity between wealth and power, Jesus faced the fury of this world and died on a cross as a warning to other truth-tellers. But he rose again and reappears in every voice and movement for truth and justice, an unstoppable force on the side of good, affirming that reality is stronger than fantasy and that God is in control of history.

Jesus ends his indictment of hypocrisy with a word of comfort for those discouraged by what they see as the triumph of evil in the world. "Don't be afraid. If God watches over the sparrows, the smallest of birds, will God not care for you?" We are like tiny sparrows, lifted up against threatening skies and gathering storms. But God sees us and will never stop loving us. This is the joy of the Gospel.