11. Sunday after Pentecost, 08/08/2010

Sermon on Luke 12:32-40, by John E. Priest, STS

32 "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.35 "Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."

[ESV]

Money Crazy

Here's a New York City story - a true one. I found it in my file of "things to use in sermons when the using seems good," an old newspaper clipping that I clipped undated. So I don't know how long ago this happened. But it was in the newspaper, so it must be true.

It seems, you see, that some guy went up to the top of a big tall building in Manhattan with a briefcase bulging with hundreds of hundred dollar bills. He opened the briefcase up and started tossing the money over the side of the building - hundred dollar bills blowing in the wind, floating down to the street, where surprised pedestrians picked them up, not knowing where they came from. The New York Times had a giddy article about the incident - complete with a map of midtown Manhattan showing where the wind currents carried the cash. Eight injuries were reported, fortunately none of them serious, due to people dashing into the street to get the greenbacks. One fight broke out. And the man who threw the money off the building, he was arrested - partly because it's illegal to throw things of tall buildings in New York City, but mostly because the police figured the man needed a psychiatric examination. But of course! Just throwing money away? That's crazy! Right?

Well - Jesus, in today's Gospel lesson, tells us not to throw money away, but to give it away, which is almost as crazy. "Sell your possessions," he says. "Give alms." Is that crazy, or what?

Upping the Ante

This week's Gospel picks up where last week's left off. Last week, Jesus told us: "be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for your life does not consist in the abundance of your possessions." Don't get worked up about the things you'd like to but still don't have. The desire for more and more things will never be satisfied anyway, because there's always something more to want. And it'll rob you of the pleasure of enjoying what you already have. What a waste! So "be on your guard against all kinds of greed."

That was last week. This week Jesus ups the ante. It's not just "stop wanting more." It's "settle for less." "Sell your possessions," he says, "and give to the needy." Not more, but less. Will somebody please arrest that man? Is he crazy, or what?

Crazy in the Eyes of the World

Well, the whole idea is crazy - at least in the eyes of the world. But then again, Jesus never did quite fit in. And neither do those who follow him. He was, we are like "strangers and foreigners on earth," like people marching to the beat of a different drummer.

This is how it is in the world. What are you supposed to do in life? You're supposed to succeed. And success is usually measured in terms of more. More money. More clout. More A's instead of B's. More whatever. Whoever dies with the most toys wins the game.

So the successful business is the one that makes more profit. The successful school places more students in Ivy League colleges. And that's all fine and good when you're dealing with the way things are in the world.

But when you're dealing with the way things look in the eyes of God, big is not necessarily better, and success has little to do with more - certainly not according to Jesus, who says: "sell your possessions and give to the needy." And is that crazy, or what?

But Jesus means exactly what he says. It's the kind of life he lived. After all, if success is more in this life, then Jesus was a colossal failure. Naked he was born. Naked he died. He had no home and few, if any, possessions. In the end Jesus literally gave his whole life away, suffering and dying for us on the cross The world saw a failure. But Jesus' heavenly Father saw a smashing success. "My Son!" he said. "That's my Son!" And he showed it by raising him from the dead. And now our risen and ascended Lord passes the torch on to us. "It's your turn," he says. "Sell your possessions, and give to the needy"

And notice that Jesus means you. This no "Robin Hood take from the rich and give to the poor" scheme, as if, since there are people around who are wealthier than we are, we're somehow let off the hook. Jesus bequeaths his commandment not just to the rich, but to all.

St. Lawrence

Consider St. Lawrence. His commemoration day is this coming Tuesday. So maybe it's a good time to consider St. Lawrence.

Long before St. Lawrence was a river separating the U.S. and Canada, he was the treasurer of the Church in Rome during the third century. Well - so persecution arose against the Roman Christians, and Lawrence was arrested. The authorities demanded that he reveal to them where the treasury of the Church was. Doubtless they wanted to confiscate it. So Lawrence rounded up a great number of the poor the Church was supporting. "Here's the treasure of the Church," he said.

Jesus would approve. Last Sunday he told us the story about the rich man, who had so much stuff he tore down his old barns and built bigger ones only to die when he finally filled up the bigger barns so he never got to sit back and enjoy all his surplus. Well - most of us have houses, if not barns, pretty much filled up with all kinds of stuff we neither use nor need. What's the matter with a yard sale to unload some of that stuff and give the proceeds to a family that doesn't have what they need? What a concept! "Here is the treasure of the Church." Or, as Jesus said, "where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." And is this crazy, or what?

What the Giving's For

"Sell your possessions," Jesus says. "Give to the needy." The giving is good. It's good for you.

People do all kinds of crazy things because it's good for them. They run a hundred miles a week. They practically kill themselves on exercise machines. They try to survive on bean sprouts. It's good for them, so they do it. Why not do something that's going to benefit somebody else as well?

Think of it this way. When we spend so much of our time and energy simply trying to hang on to what we have, never thinking of giving anything away, our lives are like clenched fists holding on to every nickel and penny. The trouble with clenched fists is that, while they're great for holding on tight to nickels and pennies, they're really lousy for receiving anything. You can't receive a gift with a clenched-up fist. You have to open you're hand.

That's what the giving is for. When we give, we open up our hands. And that opens up the soul so we're ready to receive not just nickels and pennies, but the boundless and rich spiritual blessings of God.

What God Gives

"Fear not, little flock," says Jesus. "It's your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Notice Jesus says "give." "It's the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom," which is unfailing treasure that cannot be taken away form us.

So the heavenly Father gives. With open hands and hearts, we receive Christ himself, God's only Son, our Lord, who is like a treasure hidden in a field, for the sake of which a man will sell all that he has. He is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. And yet the Father gives him for us and to us, and calls us to follow him.

Is this crazy, or what? Crazy, maybe. And yet so wonderfully true.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Rev. John E. Priest, STS
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Delhi, NY

E-Mail: jpriest2@stny.rr.com

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