9th Sunday after Pentecost

 

Luke 12:32-40

At least we are back inside this week, but I am sure it is any better in here and we are hot and we are tired, and then we get to hear yet another text from Luke about money.  Which actually should be pretty unsurprising because Luke loves to talk about money almost more than anything else, except perhaps maybe hospitality and food.  In fact, half of all the parables in Luke are about money, wealth and our resources.  Half.  Let that sink in for a moment.  Jesus talks about money 10 times as often as he talks about sex.  And much more often even than he talks about worship or the bible or even prayer. 

Now the fact that Jesus actually talks about money this much may really surprise you.  It certainly surprised me the first time I heard it.  Maybe it’s because the church it seems very often likes to take exactly the opposite approach.  We talk a whole lot about how to worship and pray, we deliberate deeply about worship styles, and music and every word in the BCP. And we also, especially across the wider church, remain very concerned and talk unceasingly about sex and gender and marriage and homosexuality what lines we draw where.  So it seems we spend a great deal of our time and energy worried about things Jesus talked about very little. 

And yet, the church is very often nearly silent when it comes to money. Most of the time we church leaders prefer to take a hands-off approach to personal finance.  Except maybe when we are doing a Stewardship drive or raising money for something specific when we trot out our favorite verses hat in hand until we have raised what we need and then we quickly fall silent again.  Maybe it’s because so much of what Jesus says runs deeply counter to what American capitalism has been teaching us all along about money, its value and what we should be doing with it and it’s hard to push against that tide.  Maybe it’s because many pastors feel uncomfortable preaching about something that seems like such a conflict of interest knowing our salary comes directly from the tithes and offering of those sitting before them. 

But all this is a problem because if we want to be faithful to Jesus, money is a part of that and we need to speak up.  Because this stuff matters.  And Jesus lays some real truth down on us today.  “For where your treasure is, your heart will be also.” 

“For where your treasure is, your heart will be also.”  To me that might be the truest statement of human nature in all the bible.  “Where your treasure is, your heart will be also.”  That what we invest our time, talent and money in is what ultimately matter to us.  Because talk is cheap and treasure is valuable.  So ask yourself, where is your treasure right now?  Where is it going?    Is it going where you want it to go?  Is it leading your heart to the right place?  Is it building the legacy your want to leave behind?  Keeping in mind that especially now, our most valuable treasure is often our time, attention and energy, our only truly non-renewable resource. Because even those of us who have rarely had two dimes to rub together have powerful treasure within them, even if it’s not cash money.  Out time, our attention, our love and care is deeply valuable, even if our society tends to undervalue anything that can’t be converted to hard currency.  But we still have to be intentional about how we spend it.

This weekend is a prime example of that.  It is really, really hot, and for 9 hours a day, we have had people out there collecting money, meeting our neighbors, providing comfort and hospitality.  Spending your valuable time and effort to make sure that we can do the outreach ministry that we are called to do all year. 

And Jesus tells us in our lesson today that something funny happens when we do this work.  “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.” This verse slips by so quick it is easy to miss.  But this is insane.  Ancient masters didn’t serve slaves.  This is not how this is supposed to work, but this is what Jesus means to do.  For all of us.  When we do the work, when we show up, we never serve alone, because Jesus comes to serve right there alongside us with unimaginable gifts of love and grace.  Not because we have earned it, but because that is God’s very nature and desire.

For this passage begins “Do not be afraid little flock, for it is my Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”  God wants to give you all these things, all these blessings, right now.  And all we need do is stop blocking him out.  Because we almost all have another voice in our heads that says that you can only have what you earn, that everyone is in it for themselves, that you need to protect what is yours, “That God helps those who help themselves.” (which is heresy, not anywhere in the Bible and a phrase invented by bitter Englishmen not Jesus).  Because the bible tells us the exact opposite. God tells us that he loves us, that it is his good pleasure, his joy, his deepest desire to simply give us the kingdom, as a gift, not as a contest prize, not as wages paid, not in return for services rendered but truly free of charge because that’s who he is.

And so knowing that, if we can truly learn that, we can put our treasure where our hearts want to be.  With others, with those we love, building a blessed future, caring for those in need.

But there is urgency in this matter as well.  Because as we learned last week, none of us has forever here on earth with our treasures.  In my particular line of work, I get to spend a lot of time with people near the end of their lives.  And I tell you what no one has ever told me “I wish I had worked more 60 hour weeks in my life.”  They often talk about wishing they had spent more time with family or been more present when their kids were young.  That they had devoted more time to hobbies and things that brought them joy, or that they had been more forgiving, healed rifts or reconciled their differences sooner.  And I think that is what the rather disturbing last parable is getting at here, that our time is short, our lives are limited and there is no time to waste.  That we are called to live a life of generosity, service and love right now today, every moment of our lives because we never know how much time we have left and there is so much to do. 

So ask yourself this week, where is the treasure of your heart being spent?  Because it is God’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.  To give you life and life in abundance.  And with it everything you need.  You need not fear for his provision.  So where does your heart long deeply to be?  And maybe it’s time to put some of your treasure behind it. Amen.