Just One More....
Second Sunday after Pentecost - May 25, 2008
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Please note: The following sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him. |
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Back on the farm each spring, we would clean out the foot-high accumulations under the chicken roosts and from the pigpens and from the cow barns and spread the fertilizer on the fields. At the right time, when the moisture in the soil is just right, Dad would say that it was time to plow. When the soil dried a bit, then it was time for disking and harrowing. When the oak leaves are as large as a squirrel's ear, it is time for planting corn. Later the corn has to be cultivated to keep the weeds at bay, but mostly it is a time of waiting. In some years, the corn in the lower fields would grow 9 feet high, easily. In other years when the rains did not fall at the right times, the stalks might be short and the ears not be filled out. But somehow, it was enough. Some years we had to sell some animals early because of less corn in the crib, and other years we could keep a few more. A few years we had some extra hay to sell when spring came, and other years we had to get the cows out to pasture early because the hay was running out, but somehow we managed. Yes, I think that farmers may live out a few insights from this Gospel today. Oh, there is plenty about which one can worry on the farm, and there is more than enough work to do there, but if one has one's eye and heart open, it becomes clear that God gives gifts, good gifts, and somehow it is enough.
The trouble is ....... it is tough to keep remembering this truth; indeed, we can so easily become... dissatisfied. Every one of us has an illness, the plague of “just one more.” That will do it...just one more: If only I could get one more bushel of corn or load of hay, then I would be satisfied and it would be enough. If only I could squeeze out a little more in my paycheck, then it would be enough and I would be satisfied. If only the children would be quiet one little hour, then I would have enough rest and everything would be fine.
If only......we could have just one more.... With chagrin, we know that we can fill in the blanks here with examples from our own lives, because the plague of “just one more” afflicts us in a multitude of ways, times, and places. The advertising that bombards us with messages every day so readily exploits our illness. Instead of simply giving us information, so often the ads are designed to make us dissatisfied with who we are and what we have, so that we will think... “If only I used that toothpaste, then I'll meet the perfect person. If only I drove that car, I'd be making a statement that I've arrived. If only ...I had just one more....”
The contrast that Jesus sets forth is profound and unsettling.
“Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness.... Store up treasures in heaven,” Jesus says, and you will have enough. They are nice phrases from Jesus. What do they mean?
Caught up as we are in our illness of grabbing, we might be surprised, distressed, or maybe even alarmed to discover that Jesus wants us to give ourselves away to those who are in genuine need. That activity is the heavenly treasure.
We're not talking about the kind of gift-exchanging that we tend to do at Christmastime, where one reciprocates in exact value for the gift one receives. We all know how this works: when we receive a gift, then we must rush out to the stores and purchase a gift of at least equal value to give back, lest the other person be miffed. Jesus is not talking about this at all.
Rather, the heavenly-treasured gift is the activity of gift-giving to those who will not be reciprocating a like value soon ... if ever. This kind of gift-giving is the kind that is modeled on the way God deals with us; in generosity, in plenty, and without demands attached.
During the harsh persecutions of the church in Rome in the year 258, the bishop and many others were beheaded, and one remaining deacon was being interrogated. The Roman governor demanded that the deacon give up the location of all the gold treasure that he was sure that the church must be hiding somewhere. “I'll be glad to show you the treasure” replied deacon Lawrence, “first thing tomorrow morning.” At the appointed hour, Lawrence returned, bringing with him a huge crowd of the poor, the blind, the lame, the lepers, orphans, and widows of Rome, those whom the church was helping in various ways, and announced to the governor, “Here is the treasure of the church!” His martyrdom soon followed, but not before his people understood the message. True treasure is about giving ourselves away. As much as we like, enjoy, and use the things of gold, wood, brick, or oil, in themselves they are not treasure, but only become treasured when we are busy in the activities of using them or giving them away in the name of Jesus, who is the origin of every good gift, giving them to whomever is most in need of those particular gifts.
The treasured activities then serve several purposes: (1) they give material aid to those who can most benefit from it. (2) they serve as a sign of the kingdom of God, the generous relationship the Lord God who has made us wants to have with us when his creation is complete. (3) they also loosen our grip on the things that will ultimately choke us.
A lifeguard learns that although the victim's life is precious, that person cannot be grasped too closely, lest in panic he drown the rescuer. That's what wealth of any amount can do to us.
Some may think that this lesson is only for those with four brokers, three cars, two homes, and a partridge in a pear tree, but it applies just as much to a person who has very few material goods. We can be just as miserly and miserable over a very little as well as over much. One can worship money or other wealth whether one is rich or poor.
The character that comes to my mind is the evil uncle in Robert Louis Stevenson's book “Kidnapped”, the hunched-over miser who would be glad to try to murder or sell into servitude his only nephew rather than part with any of the things that he was hoarding.
The uncle in Stevenson's story hadn't even worked for that which was in his trust: he had inherited it, and merely let it sit, land unkempt, the house unfinished, a life without shared love. He has great anxiety when the nephew appears, in need of hope and family as much as he needs things or money. The uncle refuses to share anything, and is drowning in his lonely wealth. Let this not become our story!
We can turn that old phrase “just one more” into a positive thing. Because God has blessed us in so many different ways, we can undertake “just one more” response, and then 'just one more”, and “ just one more” as we continue to grow in joy and trust. If we are already remembering our missionary Bette McCrandall in prayer, then we could undergird her work with a financial contribution. Just one more.... If we have already given Becky something to help with a Habitat worker lunch, then we could show up on Friday May 30 at 11:30 and join in the prayers for the work and workers before the groundbreaking taking place that day. Just one more.... Since we at St. Mark's have already said that we would be a host congregation for Family Promise when it finally is able to get underway, then we could be encouraging friends to stir their congregations to action. Just one more.... Just one more thing and activity to give instead of trying to clutch tightly. It is by the grace of God that our hearts and minds can be re-molded in this new shape. And as this re-shaping, re-molding of our lives takes place, the intensity of our worries will fade. We will continue to have concerns to address, problems to solve, management situations of all sorts that must be handled, but not with fruitless worrying. It is not our set of possessions; God made them and maintains his ownership. It is not our own life; God made it, God saves, God undergirds it.
The Psalm for today set the thoughtful mood: O Lord, I am not proud; I have no haughty looks. I do not occupy myself with great matters, with things that are too hard for me. But I still my soul and make it quiet, like a child upon its mother's breast; my soul is quieted within me. O Israel, wait upon the Lord, from this time forth, forevermore.
Just one more...now not a plague, but an opportunity for life that grows from our heavenly birth. We live it with joy and confidence, and it is enough.
Grant that I only you may love And seek those things that are above, Till I behold you face to face, O Light eternal, through your grace. [LBW#511.4] Amen. |