Year C Proper 16 2022 Worth

 Year C Proper 16,  August 21, 2022

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Worth”

Collect: Grant, O merciful God, that your Church, being gathered together in unity by your Holy Spirit, may show forth your power among all peoples, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Jeremiah 1:4-10

The word of the Lord came to me saying,

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

and before you were born I consecrated you;

I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Then I said, "Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy." But the Lord said to me,

“Do not say, 'I am only a boy';

for you shall go to all to whom I send you,

and you shall speak whatever I command you,

Do not be afraid of them,

for I am with you to deliver you,

says the Lord.” 

Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me,

“Now I have put my words in your mouth.

See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,

to pluck up and to pull down,

to destroy and to overthrow,

to build and to plant.”

Luke 13:10-17

Now Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day." But the Lord answered him and said, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?" When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.

In our world, so many of us are reduced to transactional relationships. Scratch my back and I will scratch yours. We are seen not as human beings but consumers by the corporations who mine our data so they can mine our pockets.  Every minute of our lives become marketing opportunities so that we can trade our days for economic opportunities. 

This has hit home particularly this summer looking at colleges with my oldest. It is deeply disturbing to me and my liberal arts education when on tours one of the main “selling points,” and notice those words, by the way, “selling points,” of a school is the hire-ability of its graduates.  Like the only reason you would go to school is what type of money you can make when you get out. Learning for learning’s sake is no longer of importance or appreciated.

The other area where this came out was when my oldest got a job, trading hours for money. Sweat and time for dollars. We broke it down to how many minutes for every dollar. It was quite an education for both of us.

What is a minute worth to us?

What is an hour?

What is a day?

What is the value of a life? What is its worth?

At what point do we stop making life transactional? When do we value it for the priceless and precious commodity that it is?

We put so many things on our lists before the value of the breath in our lungs. With my father dying early I was taught far too young the value of life itself. None of us are promised another day. I made vows that I would live a life worth living, a life of value, or better put, a life of values. My life and those I love are worth so much more than any single thing I own or ever could.

We all know this deep down, and too often it is so deep down that we let it slip by unnoticed.

Repeatedly we see the Worth of each of us in today’s readings. And we must make the Worth of each and every child of God a priority in what we as a church do. In our clinic, in our Sunday Schools, in our Youth Group, Grief Group, 4th Quarter, or Worship. Each and every soul is worthy of love and respect.

Jeremiah heard it from God’s own lips, 

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

and before you were born I consecrated you…

and,

“Do not say, 'I am only a boy';

for you shall go to all to whom I send you,

and you shall speak whatever I command you,

Do not be afraid of them,

for I am with you to deliver you,

says the Lord.” 

The Call of God is not just for the special, the elect, or the elite. 

If you are a Child of God…  

if you have breath in your lungs… 

then the fingerprints of God are on you, 

and the Call of God can shape your days.

You are of Worth beyond measure, and there is nothing, absolutely nothing that can separate you from the Love of God, the Call of God, or the Image of God reflected in your very soul.

We see this in moments of clarity. Often with weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Worth is such a precious word to me. My father’s middle name was Worth. A family name shared down the generations, and Worth has such meaning unto itself as well. A thing of Value, of great price, expensive, royal. Our worthy is only in question to those who do not know and love us.

Liam Neeson portraying Oskar Schindler in Schindler’s List has the cathartic scene after the war is finally over. He traded his fortune made as a war profiteer for hundreds of workers in his factory, making bribes and trading favors so that 1,100 souls would not be destroyed in the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps. Driving away ahead of the Allied forces, he is sent away with a ring of gold made from the fillings and teeth of those he saved out of thanks for their very lives. And it hits him. The pin on his lapel could have been another life saved. The car he is about to drive a few more. Every wasted ounce of gold spent on illicit things and food and drink could have been another Child of God redeemed from the death camps. It is quite the image. Do we see it as true?

I ask again. What is the Worth of a soul?

Obviously for God there is nothing of any more value, no greater worth. He loves us to death, even death on a cross.

We put so many other things in the way. We put up rules and strictures, and then elevate them instead of the thing itself. As Jesus said in Mark 2(:27): “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath

The petty tyrants ranted about the Sabbath, but Jesus could show in seconds the hypocrisy of what they were saying.

“Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?”

What is the worth of a beast, whether ox or donkey, in comparison to a daughter of Abraham? Once it is so clearly shown one is a beast of burden given refreshment, and one a burdened child of God delivered from something plaguing them 18 years!

The choice is so obvious. To them. To us.

But I hear the angry voices raised denouncing so many things, race, color, heritage, who we love, who we are, so many lines we draw. And I see Jesus weep. I see him healing on the Sabbath out of love for the woman hurting and bent for 18 years. I see him erasing all those lines we draw. I often wonder if Jesus walked in here on a Sunday what lines have I drawn would he need to erase? What child of God have I excluded that he would embrace? What one that I declared worthless would he say is Worth all his love, his very life?

Friends, this radical declaration of Worth is still revolutionary. It is a message we need not just hear, but embody, and then boldly proclaim here in Ashland and Hanover County.

We hear denouncements when things are not what is expected, what used to be the norm. We are living in times where change is so drastic that our heads spin, and often the urge is to go back to the way things used to be. So easily wished for and so hard to do.

Friends, we have been given the gift of living in such a time as these. You have been equipped and enabled by living the life you have lived to proclaim a Gospel of radical Acceptance and unlimited Worth to each and every Child of God you meet, as am I. The nay-sayers urging us to keep things calm, to keep the peace, do not see the cost demanded of those who need Grace and Love today. TODAY! Not tomorrow. Not when you get comfortable, but 18 years ago so Today will have to do.

To name another movie, at the end of Saving Private Ryan, the main character leans into the eponymous character Private Ryan. Ryan is given a message that he must go home to his mother who had lost all her other sons on D-Day. With his dying breath, and after most of his unit is killed delivering the message, the main character whispers, “Earn this.”

He did not say Ryan was not worth this price. He is saying that the price that was paid was a high one. He is to live a life of value, the value of so many who gave their all for him to live a life of Worth, worthy of the price that was paid.

Friends, we all have lives which are given to us paid for dearly. We owe so much to so many. But Jesus does not say to us that there is a debt we owe, but to declare our freedom in word and deed. The crowds around the healed woman who had been bent over for 18 years rejoiced. It gave them hope, and may it give us hope, too. It gave them an image of who God is, and maybe who we are in God. May we, like them, “rejoic[e] at all the wonderful things that he was doing.” Was doing, and is doing. His declarations of freedom and release continue to this day. Thanks be to God!

You are Worth the world to the only One who can give it to you. Hold onto that, and praise God! Amen

Year C Proper 15 WED 2022 Creator Sets Free & Abundance

Year C Proper 15,  WEDNESDAY August 17, 2022

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Creator Sets Free & Abundance”

Collect

Almighty God, you have given your only Son to be for us a sacrifice for sin, and also an example of godly life: Give us grace to receive thankfully the fruits of his redeeming work, and to follow daily in the blessed steps of his most holy life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Acts 8:14-25

Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. The two went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit (for as yet the Spirit had not come* upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus). Then Peter and John* laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, ‘Give me also this power so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.’ But Peter said to him, ‘May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain God’s gift with money! You have no part or share in this, for your heart is not right before God. Repent therefore of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and the chains of wickedness.’ Simon answered, ‘Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you* have said may happen to me.’

Now after Peter and John* had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, proclaiming the good news to many villages of the Samaritans.

John 6:1-15

After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias.*  A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming towards him, Jesus said to Philip, ‘Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?’ He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, ‘Six months’ wages* would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.’ One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, ‘There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?’ Jesus said, ‘Make the people sit down.’ Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they* sat down, about five thousand in all.Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, ‘Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.’ So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, ‘This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.’

When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

A few thoughts this morning on Abundance. I recently watched a movie looking from the perspective of Native Americans, our first nations, how they saw the land and those coming into the land wanted to dominate and control. In our Acts reading I see that same perspective. We want to control and be in power, instead of residing and resting in the Abundance of God. The man wanting to “buy” the power of conveying the Holy Spirit is disgusting.

I mentioned a few Sundays ago how this desire to be in control shows a lack of faith on our part, a wish for us to be in the driver’s seat. The one offering funds for the “power” to convey the Holy Spirit showed how little he understood. How little we understand.

Then we flash to Jesus. Looking at what meager things they had, and how much abundance he could see. Unlearning to think from a deficit perspective, unlearning the need to control and conquer, unlearning the lessons so readily taught in our culture is the task set for all of us. Oh, us of little faith. 

To rethink and rehear this lesson, I would like to read to you from the First Nations Version of the New Testament of today’s lesson. It really emphasizes how it is not about control. It is about having faith.

John 6:1-15 First Nations Version, An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament

1After this Creator Sets Free (Jesus) went over to the other side of Lake of Circle of Nations (Sea of Galilee), also called Sea of Rolling Water (Sea of Tiberias). 2A great crowd of people followed him because they saw powerful signs he performed, healing the sick. 3Creator Sets Free (Jesus) walked up to the mountainside and sat down with his followers. 4Soon it would be time again for the yearly Passover festival for the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel).

5From the mountainside Creator Sets Free (Jesus) could see how large the crowd following behind him had become. There were over five thousand men, along with women and children! He then looked at Friend of Horses (Philip) and said, “Where will we find enough food to feed all these people?"

6He said this to test him, for he already knew what he would do. Friend of Horses (Philip) took a step back and looked at him with wide eyes. He was not sure whether Creator Sets Free (Jesus)was serious or not.

7Friend of Horses (Philip) answered, "Eight moons' worth of gathered food would only give them enough for one small bite apiece!"

8Stands with Courage (Andrew), one of the twelve, the brother of Stands on the Rock (Peter), tried to be helpful and said, 9"Here is a boy with five pieces of frybread and two small fish, but how would that possibly be enough?"

10Creator Sets Free (Jesus) said to them, "Have the people sit down on the grass."

There was much grass there, so all of the five thousand men began to sit down, along with women and children. Creator Sets Free (Jesus) waited patiently for them to finish. When they were all settled down, he had the ones who walked the road with him bring baskets and stand in a circle around him.

11He took the five pieces of frybread given by the little boy and held them up

to the sky. He gave thanks to the Great Spirit and began to break the frybread

into smaller pieces and gave them to his followers to give to the people. In the same manner he also divided the two fish, and they were given out to the people.

12 Everyone ate until they were full! When they were done eating, he instructed them to gather the leftovers of fish and frybread, so nothing would go to waste. 13It took twelve baskets to hold it all.

14The people began to realize what had happened. This was a powerful sign that Creator Sets Free Jesus) had just performed. They began to wonder who this man was who could do such amazing things. Like wildfire, the hopes and dreams of many generations began to rise in their hearts and minds. They were saying to one another, “This must be the Prophet, spoken of long ago, who would come into the world!?”

15Creator Sets Free (Jesus) knew in his spirit that the people were about to take

him by force to make him their chief, so he left the crowd and went to a quiet

place on the mountainside to be alone and pray. 

 

Year C Proper 15 Hard Truths

 Year C Proper 15, 14 August 2022

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Hard Truths”

Collect: Almighty God, you have given your only Son to be for us a sacrifice for sin, and also an example of godly life: Give us grace to receive thankfully the fruits of his redeeming work, and to follow daily in the blessed steps of his most holy life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Hebrews 12:1-2 (a portion of today's reading)

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

Luke 12:49-56

Jesus said, "I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided:

father against son

and son against father,

mother against daughter

and daughter against mother, 

mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law

and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

He also said to the crowds, "When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, `It is going to rain'; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, `There will be scorching heat'; and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?”

Friends, this Sunday is a inside the family conversation. Jesus is speaking plainly, honestly, and shockingly frankly to most ears. It may sound like Jesus needs a Snickers, but it is much more than that. What he says does not fit the mold we may have of Jesus of Nazareth. He speaks of how his teachings will be confrontational and divisive. And remember, there were times when he overturned tables as well as welcoming children. 

Truth is often a hard pill to swallow.

Sometimes our mental images are far more comforting than reality. And our denial may let us slip back into our prejudices and bad habits, friends, it is not where we really want to reside. Who wants to live in a lie?

We often forget that Jesus was murdered for political reasons, his teachings were dangerous and he needed to be silenced and his “divisive movement” must be quelled by the religious leaders that be in the precarious balance of powers they shared with the Romans who were occupying their state. To keep what little they had, they had to pay an expensive price. What is the life of one man to maintain the way things are?

To the Sanhedrin, the Jewish religious congress, obviously that this was worth it. Jesus’ prediction came true.

His message, if we really do what he calls us to do in the Gospel, not what we think it says, but truly says, is as shattering to the status quo today as it was then. 

Despite the current debates to the contrary, there is right and wrong. There is good and bad. There is Evil in this world out to undo the Kingdom of God. Every single one of us, not just the clergy or super-religious amongst us have the responsibility to discern. We all must do the work of discernment, listening to the prompting of the voice of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Think of it like Jiminy Cricket if you have to, or that still small voice while the world is in uproar, but each and every one of us are given the opportunity every day to “choose this day whom we will serve.” We are given the opportunity to choose the right, and turn away from the wrong. The high road or the low road, we all choose our path.

In the early church, in their baptismal practices before infants and children were baptized, the new initiates would gather in the predawn hours beside a stream or river of flowing water. They would get into the chilly waters, and as the sun cracked over the horizon they would turn and renounce the darkness, and turn back and embrace the light. Then they would be baptized into Christ. Claiming and residing in Christ in a lifelong commitment. Some of that language remains in our baptismal promises.

Even today, in countries where Christianity is not the norm or predominant, many are fine if their relatives are curious and attend a Bible study or church service, but if people are baptized, they understand that this is serious, a game changer. They understand the words of Jesus that there will be division.

“Father against son

and son against father,

mother against daughter

and daughter against mother, 

mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law

and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Somewhere along the way we have allowed our faith to become cultural, and I have seen images where people have drawn Jesus with American flags, or even worse, with a gun. Nothing could be further from the Jesus of Scripture than images like these.

Like the Hebrew prophets of old, Jesus knew that things were not as God would have them. Like Isaiah called out the hypocrisy of those who considered themselves righteous in Isaiah 5, just a little bit further down from today’s reading:

Woe to those who drag iniquity along with cords of falsehood,

    who drag sin along as with cart ropes,

who say, “Let him make haste;

    let him speed his work

    that we may see it;

let the plan of the Holy One of Israel hasten to fulfillment,

    that we may know it!”

Woe to those who call evil good

    and good evil,

who put darkness for light

    and light for darkness,

who put bitter for sweet

    and sweet for bitter!

Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes

    and shrewd in their own sight!

Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine

    and valiant at mixing drink,

who acquit the guilty for a bribe

    and deprive the innocent of their rights! [vv.18-23]

Jesus came to promote the Kingdom of God. Not his religion. Not the Empire. Not the Emperor. Not the Right to bear your sword. Jesus came to reframe our world, and have us step up into the reality of the Kingdom of God. A place of Grace. A place where all are welcome, no matter what has come before. A place divided from the way things are in this world. Jesus knew that his way of thinking, and living, and this message would drive a wedge into hearts and minds, and our society itself.

Jesus said, "I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided…

The way I read this is not that Jesus wants division, but he wants the Kingdom so badly that he knows the outcome. Don’t put the cart before the horse. The horse is the Kingdom of God, and the cart that follows is division. Treating people with Love and Grace goes against the power structures that were, and are still today. The hard truth that Jesus says here in Luke is not past tense. It is as true today as when he said it.

For so many outside the Church, they can almost see the divisions and the hypocrisy better than we can. When people claiming to follow Christ talk about needing jet airplanes or fancy cars or luxury items it is disgraceful. 

While I was traveling recently it made the news in England about the preacher in New York who was doing an online service and was robbed at gunpoint for a million to a million and a half dollars in jewelry that he and his wife were wearing. Not supposedly these two people are followers of Jesus who only had the robe on his back when he died, and even that was taken and gambled over by the soldiers at the foot of the cross. Surprisingly enough, when we landed at Dulles, the customs official who welcomed us back into the country asked if I had heard about it while I was in England. He brought it up when he found out I was a priest. He then mentioned that his uncle was the NYPD detective on that case. I told him that I would pray for his uncle and I have. I also encouraged him to have his uncle look into the minister who had a million plus in jewelry. That sounds more shady to me than the robbery.

Friends, we preach a message of love and sacrifice. Of life change and eternal reward. Of turning the other cheek and generosity. Of humility and prayer. Power, and Privilege, and Prejudice are not choices we can make when we are truly following Christ.

And none of us, not a one of us, especially me, gets it fully right on this side of heaven. There are and will be logs in our eyes as we slowly attempt the conversion of our hearts on our road to heaven. That is why we gather for encouragement and strength, for correction and confrontation, for reconciliation and absolution in our divided and divisive path into the Kingdom of God Christ brought about. There are many shoulders of the faithful that we are standing upon, and the world is slowly shifting to that final day when all shall be revealed and the Kingdom will come in its fullness. That is why the preacher in Hebrews can encourage and strengthen us with their admonition:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

Ashland is a train town, and an old standard that was actually a hit again in my teenage years echoed through my brain this week preparing for today. 

People get ready

There's a train a-coming

You don't need no baggage

You just get on board

All you need is faith

To hear the diesels humming

Don't need no ticket

You just thank the Lord

So much truth there. I need to let go of the baggage of this world and get on board. Do I have the faith to do so? Or will I let it go by? Ponder that friends. Jesus’ promises confront and welcome still. Amen

Year C Proper 14 2022 Dressed for Action

 Year C Proper 14, 7 August 2022

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Dressed for Action”

Collect: Grant to us, Lord, we pray, the spirit to think and do always those things that are right, that we, who cannot exist without you, may by you be enabled to live according to your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Luke 12:32-40

Jesus said to his disciples, "Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

"Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

"But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour."

This morning’s Gospel reading is almost a midrash on the Scout motto: Be Prepared. 

And that is not a bad thing, last week I warned about the “just in case” things we often do to make ourselves feel comforted. They may help or not, but we do them just to feel the comfort of having them with us. It is the adult equivalent of a security blanket.

This week, Jesus’ instructions are about the things that should bring us real and lasting comfort, Anticipation and Preparation.

Jesus instructs us of the Outcome of the hard work he asks of us. He starts with the destination so we understand the journey we are being asked to take. 

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

Like the Father speaking to the Elder Son in the Prodigal Son story, Jesus reminds us, “All that I have is yours.” We are being made a promise before the mentions of the costs are brought up. Keep your eyes on the Prize, and keep that thought through the struggles that are ahead.

Here in Luke we have instructions added to the phrase most of us know from Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

How do we show what we hold most dear? Generosity. Be generous like God is generous. We think we cannot be because we look in our hands and see so little, but God is generous so we can be generous. It is not our meager portion that we are giving from, it is from God’s abundance. We are to be good stewards, yes, but gracious stewards. That is why Jesus can say: 

“Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

It is in our valuing that we show what we hold most dear. Your house is burning down, and you have time to grab three things. What are they? When you look at those three things you have a good idea of what you value. 

What do you value most? What are your irreplaceable treasures?

In regards to Anticipation and Preparation, we must anticipate the hardships and struggles that the way may bring, and in the foreknowledge we can do what needs to be done to lighten our burdens in our service.

Jesus goes on. 

“Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.”

Serving someone takes a lot of Anticipation and Expectation. I trust we all have had the experience of going to a nice meal when every need was foreseen and we were cared for before we could even think to ask for anything. As our glass nears the bottom, a refill is offered. The butter has been set out soon enough so that it easily spreads. The plate is cleared once the last bite is taken. Quiet, unobtrusive, dedicated. A good servant is worth their weight in gold.

If you have ever watched the show Downton Abbey, we see Carson and so many others entirely dedicated to keeping up the pretense of the British upper class and their status. The interplay between the “downstairs” where the servants maintain the facade of the upstairs is fun to watch. They are all experiencing similar thoughts, feelings, and trevails. But the distinction between the servers and the served is intriguing to our supposedly classless society. I appreciate the British clear distinctions, as I find them a bit more honest. But from our classless American perspective (I will let you decide how to define classless), the difference is fun to watch.

In the show, the efforts made, some of them Herculean, are amazing to see. Anticipation. Preparation. The very things Jesus calls us to in our reading for this morning.

When I waited tables in seminary I learned much on how to care for people. When to step in. When to offer something. When to stay away. All of it is a dance in the service to others.

In the show, Downton Abbey, it was something special that brought the Lord and Ladies downstairs to celebrate or show appreciation to the staff. This is what Jesus is talking about. When we are attentive and encouraging, the Lord, THE Lord will serve us and show appreciation for the attentiveness and preparation that we have shown.

Anticipating the needs of the Master, and having the work done before it can even be asked is the best way to be attentive to what we are to be about.

Lastly, we are given that glimpse of the endgame again. Yes, we will be given the Kingdom, but the final step of that is the return of the Son of Man which will come “like a thief in the night.”

Be dressed for action. Keep your lamps full and lit. We never know when the day or hour could be. We need to plan and work as if Jesus were returning in another millennium, and our personal ethics need us to behave as if Jesus is coming back tonight. Both/And, not Either/Or.

We always need to be on guard. Especially when we see that things are different, or not the norm.

That is why so many of us are so tired these days. Our “New Normal” is so radically different from what came before. We are averaging about half our normal numbers before COVID. We are doing better than most. We are making the norm to have things videoed, and uploaded online. I have resigned myself that I will have a camera in my face for the rest of my career. I am not complaining, but the last three years have seen an entire rewrite to how things need to be done. Getting used to different expectations can be a hard lesson to learn.

When I used to help in the training of overseas missionaries, a story they told to help prepare people is for folks to know their context. 

Two missionaries were sent into the depths of the jungle in a southeast Asian country. The traditional homes were built on stilts, with the animals kept in pens below the houses. The missionary couple had all their belongings moved into a home built for them in a village, and it was quite different from the housing they were used to living in the States.

The wife of the couple was having a very hard time adapting. Between the heat and all the jungle and animal noises she had not had a decent night’s sleep in weeks. Beside herself, one night they woke up after a long night’s sleep. The woman said to her husband, “That was the best night’s sleep I have had since we moved here!” Relaxed finally, she stretched and sat up to get out of bed. She went to put her feet in her slippers, and found that they were gone. Then she noticed everything was gone. All their clothes. All their furniture. All the pots, pans, and food in her kitchen. Wrapping their sheets around them to cover themselves up, they went outside and called their neighbor.

The neighbor came over to their house and at this point the couple shared that everything in their house had been taken, literally everything.

The neighbor could not believe it. “Were you not on guard last night?”

The husband said, “No. We weren’t. In fact, we had the best night’s sleep we had since we have been here.”

The neighbor looked at them like they were crazy. “But how could you sleep?” the neighbor asked. “Didn’t you hear the quiet?”

The neighbor went on to explain that the silence the couple so appreciated came at the cost of all the dogs having their throats slit, as a gang of thieves had come into the village to steal the things of those who did not know the signs. What was seen as a gift was actually a signal to vigilance. 

When it comes to Anticipation and Preparation, a big part of that is preparing for the thief in the night, whether that be literal thief or the Son of Man’s return. Either way, the signs may change and we still need to maintain our post and be on guard.

“Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit…”

We never can know when the time is or when it could be. Anyone that tells you otherwise is a charlatan. But if we stay prepared, if we keep the faith, if we continue our vigilance when the Lord comes we will be rewarded. “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Amen