Ready to Receive – sermon on August 7, 2016
Luke 12: 32-40 Jesus said, “So don’t be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to those in need. This will store up treasure for you in heaven! And the purses of heaven never get old or develop holes. Your treasure will be safe; no thief can steal it and no moth can destroy it. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.
Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning, as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks. The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded. I tell you the truth, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat! He may come in the middle of the night or just before dawn. But whenever he comes, he will reward the servants who are ready.
Hebrews 11: 1-3, 8-16 Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation. By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen. It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God. It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed that God would keep God’s promise. And so a whole nation came from this one man who was as good as dead—a nation with so many people that, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore, there is no way to count them.
All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for God has prepared a city for them.
Sermon: Ready to Receive by Rev. Doreen Oughton
My children are leaving in the next few weeks, heading out west, across the country. They haven’t lived with me for quite some time, so over the past few years whenever they come to see me, I make sure the house is ready for them. Same when Quentin’s daughters come. Clean sheets on the bed, clean bathroom, toothbrushes available. If they are coming late, I wait up. I leave the lights on and listen for the car in the driveway, and when I hear it, get up and open the door to help with the luggage. I make sure there are snacks and drinks available. I want to sit with them and hear about how they are, how the trip was. These are the thoughts that came to me as I read the second part of the passage from Luke, where Jesus tells his listeners to wait like the servant waits for the master, ready to spring into action to serve as soon as there is a need. For this, Jesus says, you will be rewarded. So readiness is one theme of the morning’s scripture readings. The second reading – letter to Hebrews, lifts up the theme of faith – the faith of Abraham and Sarah, of Isaac and Jacob as they follow God’s command to go to foreign lands, to live as nomads, to believe there will be children no matter how long past child-bearing age one is. And the third theme is that of God’s steadfast and trustworthy love for us. It is this great truth that is the bedrock of my faith, the prompt for my readiness for service.
This passage from Luke is part of the same talk you heard about last week, where Jesus cautioned his listeners about greed and told the parable of the wealthy man talking to himself about building bigger barns and storehouses. In between that passage and this is his directive to consider the lilies and the ravens, whom God clothes and feeds. If God cares for them, surely God provides for us. We don’t need to worry and strive for necessities. God know our need. God cares and God will see to them. All we need to strive for is God’s kindom. And then he sets in with the first line in today’s reading – that it makes God happy to give us the kindom, so we don’t even need to strive so very hard for that!
But striving for that will keep us focused on the right things, on that which will lead us to that beloved community. If we are distracted by our stuff, by earning and stockpiling and guarding, we can’t see what God wants to offer us; can’t take in God’s loving care for us. Like the servant ready and waiting for the householder to come home, we may just find ourselves being served. But for this to happen, we must travel lightly through this life. We must see ourselves as servants, not masters.
Jesus tells us not to be afraid to let go of our possessions, those things that can be stolen or destroyed. They are poor substitutes for the purses of heaven. He says that where our treasure is, that is where our hearts will be. To me, that means that we can dictate where our hearts go by letting our trust in God guide us. Instead of giving in to our fears of not having enough, investing ourselves in treasures of the world, and having our hearts follow them there, we have a choice. We can choose to trust God, to listen to the words of Jesus and let go – give when asked and ask when in need. We can enter into the divine economy along with the lilies and the ravens. And our hearts will follow. And when our hearts are there, striving for the kindom, giving is easy, letting go of worry is easy, serving is joyful.
People whose hearts are still in this world, who are still striving and worrying about what they will eat and drink and wear, may not understand. The letter to Hebrews talks about our spiritual ancestors dying while still believe in God’s promise. It says they did not receive the promise while living, but saw it from afar and welcomed it. They didn’t get distracted by the promises of this world. They didn’t let themselves feel disappointed that their rewards for their faith were not recognized by those of this world. They were content being nomads, foreigners in this place, journeying to their heavenly homeland.
So what does it mean for us to store up treasure in heaven? How do we strive for the kindom? What I hear over and over and over in the gospels is service and generosity. Give of your time, give of your resources and you will be rewarded. No where do I hear “protect what is yours, keep others out, make sure someone is worthy before you help them.” And Jesus had no harsh words for those asking for help, only for those who refused them. God is eager to give you the kindom. Can we trust that enough to receive it?
