TENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR C (Proper 14) August 11, 2019
Luke
12:32-40, Genesis 15:1-6, Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
Be Prepared
From
the time I was in junior high school, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. My
aunt was a medical technologist, and from the first time she took me to visit
her hospital lab in Dallas, I set my eye on the prize. It informed the classes
that I took in high school and the colleges I applied to. The degree work was
rigorous. Four years of class work in three years – no elective or soft
classes. A 12-month course of study at a med tech school. At the end of it all,
I landed the job of my dreams.
I
had it all planned out – two years as a tech, licensing as a specialist, onward
and upward to a supervisory position. Piece of cake. Until it wasn’t. When I
was offered that supervisor’s job at a new hospital in Florida, I hit a brick
wall. There were many tears and headaches that almost crippled me. I had
exactly the life I imagined so why couldn’t I stop crying?
The
day I had to give my answer, my pastor dropped by and took me to the cafeteria
for frozen yogurt. I poured out my heart. I was confused that I hadn’t found
happiness in fulfilling my plan. In the end he asked the important question,
“What if God has something else in mind? What if that was the plan all along?” So,
I said no to the new job and waited to figure out what would come next.
These
last few weeks we have been in the 11th and 12th chapters
of Luke’s gospel, and we have heard from Jesus the keys to discipleship. Today,
Jesus teaches us a lesson in personal and communal treasure: to keep our stuff and
our plans from owning us, we have to always be ready to change direction. Jesus
says this way … be ready, be alert, pay attention – wait for the Lord. In two words,
be prepared.
In
the Genesis lesson, God makes a promise to Abram that he will be the father to
many generations, and while Abram believes, the journey was not without its
detours. But God did not go back on the promises. In fact, God’s
trustworthiness lives on in us. God’s covenant with Abram is still in force
today.[i] Jesus tells us the same
thing. Yes, it’s easy for us to map out what we think will be the perfect life.
Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t. But even when we are not able to
see God’s promises before us, God is faithful and asks the same of us.
In
short, it’s all about faith. The epistle lesson reminds us that Abraham and
Sarah set out with little more than a promise to into a great unknown. They did
all of that because they had faith in the promise of God. What is faith? The Hebrews
passage opens up with this: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for,
the conviction of things not seen.” But I love a quote from Oswald Chambers
even more: “Faith is the deliberate confidence in the character of God whose
ways you may not understand at the time.”
The
unifying message is this: living faithfully means learning to think and act in
a whole new way. Which sounds really good until you are confronted with an
unknown future. My future in medical technology was detoured after a six years back and forth with God (and
others) over seminary. I remember the feeling as I watched my college roommate
and her fiancé drive away with the U-Haul truck and my Clemson season football
tickets… O Lord, what have I done? In the end, the answer was, “You paid your
way through school with a very marketable skill.”
A
few years later, I made a trip to Camp Daniel Boone to visit our churrch’s Boy
Scout troop at summer camp. I arrived midafternoon with three ice-cold
watermelons and a very sharp knife, expecting to find them swimming in the ice-cold
NC lake. But I couldn’t find them anywhere. Someone sent me to look for them at
the archery pit. But no boys there either. With no other options, I headed to
their campsite to see if they had left me a note.
As
I hiked up the road, I saw in a distance our boys, and as I got closer, I could
see them sitting in a half circle around a huge rock firepit, each boy reading
the 12 scout laws from the handbook, and talking about how they had not lived
up to them so far that week… a scout is trustworthy, kind, courteous… I
thought, “wow, it’s already been a very long week.”
When
their very easy-going scout masters finally lost their cool, these guys learned
an important lesson. Memorizing the rules of scouting is very different than
living them day in and day out. It took going back to the book to refocus their
week. And I remember the senior patrol leader saying, “We’re here to learn. Maybe
having three really bad days will remind us of why we’re in scouting and how
good it can be. We can do this. We can… and we will. Now let’s go eat lunch.”
Moments
of clarity like that often strike when we least expect them. In this passage,
Jesus is once again instructing us to pay attention to what’s going on around
us. He says it this way: Be alert for the master who might come in the night. Take
charge of your life and your living, rather than letting life take hold of you.
Live simply. Help others. Know what is important to you, and keep that always
at the front of your mind and in sync with how you live your life.
People
have often asked what gave me the courage to take that step of faith toward
something so different than my original dream. In the end, I just had to go. It
was the only way to find peace. Do I wish I had figured it out sooner? In the
beginning – yes, but today, no – because those steps of faith led me here… to
this husband, this life, this ministry, this moment, this word.
I caught a glimpse of the Wizard of Oz a few weeks ago,
and I realized that when the four main characters introduce themselves, it’s
always with the caveat “if only…” If I only had a brain. If I only had a heart.
If I only had courage. If I only could find my way home.
Jesus came to us to take the “if only” phrase out of our
speech. He did that by reminding of us of these things. First, “Don’t be
afraid.” To live in the Kingdom of God is to live in a realm without fear. Jesus
said here we are not to fear because it is God’s pleasure to give us the
kingdom. But the absence of fear is achieved only when we are filled with love.
Being filled with love for God is the door we open to enter the Kingdom of God.
This is good news. But it is also scary. Perhaps that’s what so many
life-changing angel encounters start with the phrase, “Fear not.” That doesn’t
mean not being vigilant. Instead, it means being open to the unexpected, for it
may be exactly the right thing at exactly the right time.
Today’s second promise is that we will always have enough
– enough to live and enough to give. I like to think of it as our eternal
purse. There is a parallel text in Matthew that says we are to “lay up treasure
in heaven.” Now the treasure of heaven, the stuff of an eternal purse, is not
money, but is rooted in relationship. It’s the love of neighbors and enemies. It’s
the gospel – the good news of Jesus Christ shared with the world – abundant and
eternal life. Through our sharing and our giving, God’s work is done in the
world.
How can we be ready for the Lord’s return? Some interpret
“being ready” in terms of morality, asking “are we good people who do good
things?” But in reality, none of us, no matter how good we are, is ready for
the Lord’s return just because we are good. Readiness for Jesus’ return is
grounded in the quality of relationship that we have with Him and with his
world. When someone you love walks in
the door after an absence, your response is immediate happiness – think coming
home from deployment or summer camp. Our
readiness to receive Jesus is a consequence of love which we have for God. And that
love must be reflected in the way we live.
Scott Harrison was a nightclub promoter and professional
partier. His wealth and popularity grew by leaps and bounds, but after his 28th
birthday, a health crisis revealed something much deeper… existential and
spiritual emptiness. Was this all there was to life? He looked for answers in
service, and spent almost two years on a hospital ship off the coast of Liberia
in Africa as a volunteer photo journalist, documenting life-changing surgical
stories and learning how the lack of clean drinking water is a major factor in
the health crises of the world. Over 600 million people live without access to
clean water. Women and children spend the majority of their days seeking water.
Maybe he could do something to change that. He returned to NYC and with the
help of 10 friends, started charity:water.
In the last 13 years, charity:water has dug wells, piped
water, and developed sand-filtered systems for collecting rainwater in over
38,000 projects. 9.8 million people in 27 countries now have access to clean
water, freeing up women to work, and children to go to school. All because a
man who thought he had everything realized he had nothing if he wasn’t doing
something to connect to people in need.[ii]
And in turn, reconnected with God.
Life in Christ is about growing into the promises he
makes. As we grow in love, we grow less and less afraid. As we grow in love, we
discover ourselves focused more and more on eternal relationships, and less and
less on what surrounds us. As we grow in love, we await Jesus’ coming not with
dread, but with joy. Jesus said, “Do not
be afraid, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” But
remember this: You never know when and where Jesus might call. So be prepared.
A Franciscan Benediction
May God bless you with
discomfort
At easy answers,
half-truths and superficial relationships
So that you may live deep
within your heart.
May God bless you with anger
At injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,
So that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.
May God bless you with
tears
To shed for those who
suffer pain, rejection, hunger, and war,
So that you may reach out
your hand to comfort them and
To turn their pain into
joy.
And may God bless us with just enough foolishness
To believe that we can make a difference in the world,
So that we can do what others claim cannot be done:
To bring justice and kindness to all our children and
all our neighbors who are poor. Amen.
Amen.[iii]
Deb Luther Teagan © 2019
Panzer Liturgical Service, USAG Stuttgart
[i] Sara
Koenig, The Working Preacher, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1730
[ii] https://my.charitywater.org/
[iii] https://brianmclaren.net/a-franciscan-benediction/
Also see Bruce Epperly, The Adventurous Lectionary for
August 11: The Gift of an Uneasy Conscience, https://www.patheos.com/blogs/livingaholyadventure/2013/08/the-adventurous-lectionary-the-gift-of-an-uneasy-conscience-august-11-2013/
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