Year C Proper 13 2022 Packing Light

Year C Proper 13, 31 July 2022

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Packing Light”

Collect: Let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without

your help, protect and govern it always by your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the

Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Luke 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me." But he said to him,

"Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?" And he said to them, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of

greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." Then he told them a parable: "The land of a rich man

produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, `What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?' Then he said,

`I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to

my soul, `Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, `You fool! This

very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So it is with those who

store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God."

When I travel, my proclivity is to toss something in the suitcase, just in case. 

• Bring a flashlight, just in case.

• Extra sets of underwear and socks, just in case.

• A few extra days of medicine, and some antacid, and some anti-diarrhea medicine,

• just in case.

Those are things I might actually use, but there are other things that fall into that “just in

case” category, that just weigh me down.

• A nice outfit, just in case we get invited somewhere.

• Another pair of shoes, just in case because it goes with that outfit better.

• Another bag, just in case we bring more things home than what we brought. 

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st in case. It is a cautious thing. Too often, for me anyway, it gives me a sense of control, a

way to hang on to the reassurance that I am autonomous and the master of my neck of the

woods. But when we travel we are notoriously at risk. We are in the unknown, and we have

to trust our skills, our abilities, and the kindness of strangers.

Travel is a risky thing. There is a reason that our spiritual lives are often portrayed as

journeys. Today we are talking about packing light. In the middle of this vacation season, it is

more than just a travel tip. It is a spiritual metaphor.

From Poetry: We are put on earth but a little space to learn to bear the beams of love. -William Blake

From Scripture: For we are strangers and pilgrims before you, O Lord, as were all our ancestors; our days

on the earth are like a shadow… -I Chronicles 29:15

Friends, having just arrived back from an adventure, I have pondered these things long and

hard. It is amazing how little one can get by with when we allow ourselves to let go of that

much freedom, stepping into the unknown and into faith in ourselves and in our God.

Jesus, when he came to do what was his to do, had to give up more than I am asking any of

us to consider today. The early church has a hymn about it recorded by St. Paul in Philippians

2:5-8:

Let the same mind be in you that was a in Christ Jesus,

who, though he was in the form of God,

did not regard equality with God

as something to be exploited,

but emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave,

being born in human likeness.

And being found in human form,

he humbled himself

and became obedient to the point of death—

even death on a cross.

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esus packed light. With all the glories of heaven, he forsook it all so he could make himself at

home, and come be one of us. Had he been born into royalty, the story would not be

miraculous. But he did not. He chose to be humble. He chose to be poor. He chose to be a

refugee from political persecution. He chose to ashue politics and political power, as we know

them. He chose to ashue religion and traditional authority, as we know it. He chose to have

nothing so we could have everything. He chose this path because he loved us. He chose this

path so we would pay attention. Despite all these choices going against the expected way of

doing things, we are still wrestling, wrangling, and paying attention 2,000 years later.

When the man comes to Jesus to settle a family quarrel over inheritance, Jesus invites the

complainer to rethink and reframe his life. He is giving so much energy to something that

at the end of the day does not matter that much. “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of

possessions.”

So often, what we think we possess ends up possessing us. Hold on, yes, but hold on loosely.

Possessions, calendars, these are things that we need to look at as directions and intentions.

But we also need to be open to outcomes and possibilities. If we weigh ourselves down with

things external, we could very well miss out the gift that lands in our laps.

Tuesday, my oldest and I were walking through Oxford, getting a lay of the land. I had a

direction we were going, I knew where we wanted to end up. But in our walking, I took my

head out of the map, and glanced down a sidestreet. I turned and said, “Hey, there’s a castle!

Let’s go check it out!” And we did. And while scoping out Oxford Castle and Prison out we

saw a sign for A Midsummer Night’s Dream done outside in the cool of the evening. A

highlight of our trip came because we were open to outcomes. We followed our nose when it

caught a whiff of the serendipity of the moment. If we had been beholden to an agenda or

a predetermined course, this wonder would have been missed.

As Jesus said, “One's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” If we lug that

stuff around we cannot respond quickly.

When I was in high school I got to see Eddie Albert of Green Acres fame on Broadway in a

revival in the Depression Era play, You Can’t Take It With You. That phrase has stuck with me since.

My wife’s boss was the CFO of a Fortune 500 company who came to the realization that his

work, while rewarding and important, was killing his family and his soul. He stepped back,

and chose a different path. Rich i.e. wealthy) is very different when you no longer see it as

being rich monetarily. He chose to be rich in different ways.

The parable Jesus tells to make his point is about not majoring in the minors, about “Keeping the main thing the main thing.” Or, “Don’t put the cart before the horse.” Or from the play, “You can’t take it with you.” All that you have is your soul, to echo

Tracy Chapman. Friends, a few weeks ago we talked about our distractions and worries as

keeping us from God. Today we are talking about misplaced priorities. We focus on the small

with the looming giant above us.

Jesus' parable is about One Day verses Today. One Day I will get my life in Order. One Day I

will make enough to be comfortable and feel safe. One Day I will have time to be with my

family. One Day I will whatever.

Friends, Jesus’ Parable is that One Day may never come. One Day is not promised to any of

us. We are given the gift of Today. And that is why it is called the Present. Cliche, I know.

But that does not make it untrue.

Today we say goodbye to Becky+. She has blessed us with her ministry, her help, her

friendship. When she first mentioned possibly leaving I thought about the season she was

here. She has helped weather the worst storm the Church (big church and this church) has

weathered in our lifetimes. We were tossed and turned. Closed and frightened. Dispersed,

yet somehow still connected. And we are still here. And in the midst of even this chaos, she

felt a call to parish ministry and to leave St. Catherine’s. Becky+, if you can hear the call in

this, God’s still, small voice must be loud and clear.

The safety of staying where we are versus the call to venture forth is a huge dichotomy. And

when God calls us out of the harbor, we strip down and pack light. We want our boats riding

high in the water as we face the high seas. It may feel safe to stay in the harbor, but it is not

what ships are made for. Ships are made for sailing the seas.

Jesus was in heaven itself, Paradise Eternal, seated with God the Father. And for love of us

he forsook it all and sojourned with us. 

He humbled himself

and became obedient to the point of death—

even death on a cross.

And we were made to be on the High Seas of Faith as well.

For we are strangers and pilgrims before you, O Lord, as were all our ancestors; our days on the earth

are like a shadow…

And as we let go and let God, we see that our home, our harbor in and with and through

God is awaiting us, now and forever. Of what need we be afraid?

Pack light, friends. Venture forth. Live the faith by stepping out. As Jesus promised, “Lo,

I am with you always…”  Amen