Sermon #2

As promised:

This sermon was done for Trinity in August.

Deal, or No Deal! How many of you are familiar with this show? For those of you who don’t know, this is a game show where a contestant is presented with 26 briefcases with monetary amounts in them from one dollar to a million dollars. They are to pick one of them with the hopes that it contains the one million dollars. That case is put aside and then the contestant is asked to ask one of the ladies holding the cases to open their case, exposing the amount of money contained within. It is a sort of elimination round – as the cases are opened, that monetary prize is eliminated. There is a person watching this and will make an offer to purchase the original case from the contestant based on which prizes remain and how likely it is that the contestant holds the million dollar case. Each round presents with eliminations and an offer. At the end of each offer, Howie Mandel, the host, says: “Deal or no Deal!” to the contestant and they have a choice to make. Should they accept the offer and potentially profit over what their case contains or should they refuse and try to find that million dollars, or stick with the case that they originally chose. The game is one of tension and greed. Often times people choose to go with their case and lose money they could have had, and sometimes people choose to go with the offer and walk away happy that they won something – if not the million dollars. It is interesting to see how people will reason out their decisions about money – especially where chance is involved.

We often see this behaviour when it comes to games of chance and money. People in the world are often willing to make a deal, or bargain for something better. We even hear of this behaviour with God. People sometimes pray saying: “God, if you could do this for me, I will do something that I think is equal in value for you.” Have you ever prayed like that? Why is it that people seem to want more than what they have? Why is it that we have turned life into a game of Deal or no Deal where we compete to keep up with our co-workers, our neighbours, or even the people we see on tv?

Our gospel lesson today opens with a man asking Jesus to command his brother to split the family wealth for his gain. Jesus takes this opportunity to teach a valuable lesson. First he warns about calling on people of authority to solve any problem that requires an authority. There are people with gifts and talents who have been called to the roles of judge and arbitrator – Jesus is neither of these. But perhaps more importantly, Jesus speaks to another issue.

Jesus speaks about greed. We may have a tendency to think of greed as merely trying to accumulate more money, more possessions, more food, just more and then some more on top of that. Greed is not only about accumulation, it is also about the ability to give away and it is about our sense of security and comfort. Jesus says all kinds of greed. A simple search in a dictionary revealed dozens of words associated with greed: acquisition, avarice, gluttony, materialism, self-indulgence, yearning, and a word we know from other places in the bible: coveting. In fact there are new words being created to describe greed. Pleonexia is a new word to describe the abnormal contemporary conditions of greed. Is described as more serious than greed: “Pleonexia is a heightened and unhealthy condition, as anorexia is the pathological extremity of a brand of asceticism. There is need, then there is desire, then there is greed, and then there is pleonexia.” Apparently the word greed is tough, but we have both the need to diminish it by dividing up the kinds of greed there are in the world and the need to say that greed isn’t that bad, but pleonexia – that means there’s a problem.

It can be easy to be heavy handed when talking about greed. Further on in Luke past today’s reading, Jesus speaks about what the disciples are to do to avoid falling victim to greed… and it can read as a list of systematically getting rid of everything that you might possibly own for a life of complete reliance on God to provide as the moments of life pass by. I imagine that complete and utter dependence on God to provide could be a terribly hard life to live, but Jesus does not mean to be taken literally. Here, in this lesson, Jesus explains what our greed leads to and why we are to be aware of it:

“Life does not consist of an abundance of possessions”: there is no freedom in “stuff”. What you accumulate you then have to care for, look after, worry about, and protect. When I was a child, my brother and I desperately wanted a puppy. We wanted our parents to get us a puppy, we drew pictures of puppies to put on the fridge and in the workshop so they were aware that our “greatest desire” was there for them to see. Finally, after what seemed like ages (and was probably closer to a couple of weeks) we were going to get a puppy. But there were some particulars to sort out. My brother and I were to pay for the puppy with equal portion of our savings. We were to walk, feed, and clean up after the puppy. The puppy was ours in every way. It was to be a great responsibility. Shortly after we got that puppy, there were many times when we didn’t want to have a puppy anymore. It was inconvenient, annoying, seemingly always hungry.. and then always having to go outside. We didn’t have a fenced yard so you had to go out with the puppy because it might run away and we had to clean up after it immediately lest we step in “something” when we were later running around in the yard.

It can feel as though you have become a slave to all of the things that you have collected as they require more and more of your time and presence. Some things we insure to protect ourselves from loss, some things we lock up in safe places so that nothing can happen to them. We want to feel reassured by the stuff in our lives, and are often left feeling burdened and worried about that very stuff. But sometimes we don’t feel that way. Sometimes we want to spend time with all of those acquisitions – that’s why we got them in the first place. There is a sense of accomplishment, wealth, comfort, and security knowing that we have. We have, we don’t need. And we did it. And yet, one person’s treasure often turns out to being another person’s trash.

However, Jesus isn’t speaking merely of the accumulation of things. In his parable, the rich man is merely looking to look after his abundance. His land produced well and he seeks to protect that wealth. And he invests time and energy into planning for safekeeping in the future so he can be comforted, relaxed and enjoy the rest of his life. And God comes into this picture and tells him that he is going to die and all that he has planned is for nothing because it will be for no one else.

“So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God.” God wants us to be aware of our lives and those around us. God wants us to have the freedom to see the world. And God wants us to share everything in our lives with those around us, and in so doing, become rich towards God. Our desire to be God’s people, to live lives shaped by Christ opens our eyes and provides a freedom from greed that can leave us blind and indifferent to the world, and turn us from a worship of God to a worship of wealth and accumulation. That is the bondage that Jesus speaks to free us from.

So how does being rich towards God change us and change the world? The life of a Christian is one of freedom from bondage – we are free to share the earthly treasures with those around us because we are freed from the desire to keep everything for ourselves. We can come to realize that it’s not really ours in the first place. Everything belongs to God. And all that we have is a gift from God. Through our baptism we die to sin, we die to earthly temptations and to earthly treasure. When we are baptized we are filled with God and all that is glorious in heaven. We are told to therefore put aside our earthly bindings and to embrace a new self that is not bound and tied to the earth, to sin, or to greed. We are washed clean by the waters of baptism, we are clothed in a new self, we are renewed and filled with Christ, who is all in all. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Time is flying by.

I've been having a couple of conversations today which revolve around this feeling of incredulity - being uncomfortable because I am not comfortable. Every now and again, in class, a thought passes through my mind: Can you believe that you are really here and all the people around you are discussing the Bible, theology, and their opinions on Lutheranism?! And then I realize that I have a comment to make in the current discussion. So, I make said comment. And my brain comes back deep in thought: This is totally surreal! How lucky you are to be here. So, surreal it doesn't feel real sometimes. I think that the problem was summed up by a good friend of mine: I am a work-in-progress (I have felt this way the last 1o years), and there's a part of me that thinks that maybe I should be completed by now. Shouldn't I? Something to come to terms with this month, maybe.

I have thought that some of you might like to read some of my sermons. I had a friend who used to do this on LiveJournal, and I really appreciated it. So I am going to catch up on the backlog, and when I write a new one, I will share it with all of you.

This first sermon (my first sermon EVER) was preached in April last year. It was for Chapel worship, and in front of all my peers. I apologize for its length -- still had to learn how much to preach and for how long. It was written with a close friend in mind, and she tells me that she appreciated it. The thing I found interesting was how many other people said that they found something in it for them. The Holy Spirit is awesome indeed.

The text: John 21: 1-19

Let us pray: Come Holy Spirit, inspire our souls and minds. Amen.

Here we are: nearing full circle. The disciples are processing what has happened – most likely spending a lot of time in silence together as they all ruminate on how the events surrounding Jesus are affecting them. Just previous to today’s gospel message Jesus appeared before the disciples and gave them peace. More than that, Jesus told the disciples that he was sending them out with the Holy Spirit – to be messengers of the news of God’s promise. Jesus appeared again a week later to show Thomas that he was indeed risen – and to teach them all that there will be many that will come to know Jesus and never see him, and those people will be blessed. We will be blessed – what good news, what great news!

And yet, here we are, back in a boat. The disciples apparently still needed some time to figure out what had just happened. They’re back in a boat, left in thought, ruminating on what’s happened. Simon Peter may be thinking about what happened when Jesus was arrested – how he denied Jesus three times. Three times Peter asserted that he was no friend of Jesus. And not having a way to talk to Jesus about what he’d done - Peter makes himself busy – he goes fishing. Out there on the water, obviously not catching any fish at all, Peter might be thinking about how he came to know Jesus, and the life he had as a follower of Jesus. And the thoughts are all building up in his head, thrumming and buzzing around as he falls deeper and deeper into his own thoughts.

In the morning, out there on the water, still no evidence of those darn fish that they had set out to catch, the disciples are lost in thought. And a man on the shore calls out to them to inquire about the fish. I imagine that the shortness of their answer may be part irritation about the disturbance and the lack of fish, but part shock of being called out of their thoughts. And the kooky guy on the shore tells them to recast their nets – there will be fish, he says – so why not, what’s one more cast in light of a less than productive night? Don’t you know it, they get a catch – quite a catch. And dawning slowly spreads from disciple to disciple. John says to Peter: that’s Jesus! And eager student, disciple, believer that Peter is, launches himself overboard and makes a straight line for Jesus – leaving the others to deal with the catch of fish. Jesus calmly deals with the excitement and ruckus by inviting the disciples to a breakfast of fish and bread. He centres them and calls them to a meal.

They had gone back to their responsibilities and are thinking about everything that still needs to get done – what they need to be doing, but haven’t started yet. They have spent the night on the lake, looking for fish. And hadn’t caught any. Jesus invites them back, shares a meal with them – a meal that might get them thinking again about their lives in their journeys with Jesus: being called from fishermen to fishers of men, feeding the many with fish and bread, sharing a particularly significant meal with Jesus before his death. This breakfast meal on the beach is slowly refocusing their minds to the world.

Then, sitting on the beach, mulling the significance of the last couple of years over in his mind, Simon Peter is stopped short. Jesus asks: Do you love me? Pardon, what? Yes, Jesus, I love you. You know that. “Feed my lambs.” Then maybe Peter’s overactive and tired mind thrums loudly, multiple thoughts all at once: Jesus has said he was a shepherd before, wasn’t he a carpenter’s son? Well, I know now that he’s the Son of God. What’s he getting at? Who are the sheep? How am I supposed to feed them? Does this go back to the fish? What does this have to do with fish? I like fish. And on and on. Jesus stops him. “Peter, do you love me?” What? Well yeah. You know I love you. “Tend my sheep.” Weird statement, must be a parable… Ooo-kay… and Peter’s mind starts going again, thought after thought all coming at once, trying to puzzle out what it is that Jesus is getting at. Thrum, thrum, thrumming louder and louder, drowning out the reality of what’s happening before him. Jesus stops Peter yet again. “Peter, do you love me?” Irritation bubbling up over the thrumming of his active mind, indignation that Jesus hasn’t got it yet. I said I love you – isn’t that good enough? But Peter gets through that, “Lord, you know everything. You know I love you.” And Jesus responds: “Feed my sheep”. And dawning descends on Peter – in that somewhat cryptic, somewhat one-sided conversation everything comes together and he gets it. It’s about thoughts and action.

The funny thing about thoughts is that thoughts have a way of taking over our being and doing. For most people in the world every year has a ‘hiccup’ moment where life and all of its responsibilities pile up. Everyone may feel overwhelmed at some point as they consider their ‘to-do’ lists of things that have to get done by deadline after deadline. Eventually all of those deadlines seem to be at the same time and every task falls onto another then another. We can get to a point where we are thinking hard about all of the things that need to get done, and we find that we are thinking more and more about that seemingly never shrinking “to-do” list, our pulses start to go faster and faster as our anxiety climbs higher and higher. Our brains start thrumming from all of the blood flowing while we are thinking and processing what we are doing and what we need to do. Thrum, thrum, thrumming – getting stronger and stronger and stronger still, and our ears switch to hearing only that racing, beating, thrumming. Perhaps it’s happening now as I talk about it. Our entire body hears only that thrumming. We can’t hear God gently prompting us, we can’t hear God in the world - we reach a point of only hearing our thoughts, ourselves drowning out the world, turning inward to our perceived failures or about to be failures. That dialogue is going on and on in our heads and God appears before us and calls us: refocusing us to what’s really going on around us, shocking us back into the world. Jesus comes before us through the symbols of a meal – refocusing us on God.

Simon Peter had that tangible signal about his focus, or lack thereof. Jesus appeared three times, spoke, called him to attention. Jesus sat him down to a meal. We may not get that tangible signal as Jesus stands near the lakes of our heavy thoughts, but that doesn’t mean that God isn’t there calling us to attention. We are called out of our tangled web of in-turned thought and sent out with a life-giving Christ. We are called to come to the table, to share in a meal. This bread and this wine are symbols of the love of God. Jesus is amongst us, as with the disciples, feasting with us - breaking us from our inner conflicts, our doubts and worries, our ruminations on the past. And we are doing this all together. We are invited to celebrate that love together – together with Jesus and with each other. Then dawning slowly passes from person to person. We are a community eating and drinking together – we are all here to be with Jesus, to be with God and to feel the love of God. We are here to say: Yes, God, we love you. You know that we love you. Through that meal it slowly creeps into our thoughts that everyone here at this table loves God, loves us, and we love them. And that thought gets bigger and goes further to encompass the church and the world. God is calling us to be at this meal and to see that in caring for and loving the people around us we are amplifying our love of God and God’s love for all of us. God is growing love abundantly to encompass the whole world. Our thoughts are retuned to love in Jesus through the action of a meal.

Peter gets it. Peter is on the beach with Jesus, and he knows that what Jesus is asking is not a commandment in the sense that this will be Peter’s responsibility, something to add to his “to-do” list, or even something that will become his new “to-do” list: Feed lambs – check, Tend sheep – check, Feed sheep – check! Peter is being invited into the love of God, absolving, forgiving, refocusing love that will reflect the love of God amplified back at Peter through sharing that love with the world. Jesus is refocusing the disciples to a previously stated commandment. Love others as I have loved you, go and share that good news. Refocus the world through a meal, through care, through love. So too, as we love Jesus, we will be prompted to action, to care for all the Jesus we see in everyone else, that we have seen in everyone else. We are tending each other and the world because we love. We are not ignoring what’s going on in our heads, but refocusing on the life around us so that what’s going in our heads doesn’t dominate us and pull us into ourselves, slowly blocking out the world around us. We are refocusing our throbbing ears and inner thoughts to those present before us. We get to encounter Jesus in a meal, in one another as we gather as community, and are called out of the thrumming pulse of our own lives, existing in the absolving, forgiving, refocusing love that is in our life. We are sent back out into the world to share that good news, encountering the love of God through the thoughts and action of tending the sheep as we have been tended. Amen.