Because God....

When we hear those verses about treasures, as we did a moment ago, it seems as though there ought to be a sermon lurking around here somewhere on the occasion of a funeral service for an archivist.

Let's see if we can find it.

Many have had the experience of attending a concert where a major work by a famous composer was featured in the advertizing, but discovered that another work on the program by a not as well-known composer was the one that sang with power.

Jesus' parable is pointing in that direction, and even more strongly.

He asks us to think of the scribe, the one who worries about words and their power, who is trained for the kingdom, like an athlete who is disciplined and organized and focused.

This scribe is compared with a householder who takes out of his treasure what is old and what is new,

which are the words and actions that have stood the test of time and experience as well as the not as well-known things that are now able to speak with even more power.

In the action of such a householder there is a constant process of discernment, of sorting though the old and new for what is truly valuable.

Dot certainly understood that process.

In addition to her years as archivist at Little League, she also helped Dr. Larson in the process of collecting, sorting, and cataloging the historic records and memorabilia of St. Mark's.

They worked diligently at the task of discovering and indexing exactly what is in each box, getting rid of junk and excess duplicates, and organizing the contents.

For a person less disciplined than she, it would become tedious.

But as a practicing musician, she was already conditioned to the long hours and purposeful actions needed to accomplish tasks like these.

One might think that an archivist lives only for gathering up the past, but not so!

Most every time I visited her, Dot would ask what was going on here at church this week.

And I had better have a good synopsis ready to tell her!

She wanted to know what is going on right now, things that will in due course become a part of the catalog.

I suppose in a sense she was archiving the present and future as well as the past.

We too will sort through the archive of God's actions with his people.

We're not like computers that store everything equally; for us some things can be remembered easily

and others have to be sought out,

and still others move to the back of the archive until they are needed.

Scripture, tradition, creed, hymnody, and leaders together constitute the key archive for us.

What is the first bit of the archive that each of us remembers?

I suspect it might be a bit of Gospel in a song.

Will you sing with me:

Jesus loves me, this I know,

for the Bible tells me so.

Little ones to him belong;

I am weak but he is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me,(3x) the Bible tells me so.

The Bible, teachers, musicians, parents – they are all archive-sharers, both of the past and God's future.

The first stanza of Hymn #518 points to the future goal as well as to the past and present.

Let's sing: Beautiful Savior, King of creation,

Son of God and Son of Man!

Truly I'd love thee, Truly I'd serve thee,

Light of my soul, my joy, my crown.

In that hymn stanza “King of creation” points to God from before the beginning.

“My joy” is possible because God is with us now.

“My crown” indicates the culmination, the goal of creation.

Origin, experience, and goal are brought together in those terms.

These are valuable things, worthy of being kept in heart and mind.

Worthy also of being valued over much else, even as Jesus compares it to a person selling all that he has and buying the field where a treasure is buried.

Dot chose many of the lessons and pieces of music for this service today.

She wanted us to discern what is important and to speak and sing it to each other today.

We are to hear what is old as well as what is new, what surprises and startles us.

As we listen to Jesus through the archive, we realize that what is new is truly wonderful:

--Where we thought that death always wins, we hear now that it is defeated by Jesus.

--Where we thought we were going mostly alone, we hear that the Holy Spirit of the risen Lord Jesus is with us now and always, not just with people back in Bible times.

There is always the question of “So what?” or better, “What next?”

This is where our second lesson today is most helpful.

It is filled with imperatives:

admonish...encourage...help...do good...rejoice always...pray without ceasing, ..test everything...hold fast to what is good...give thanks in all circumstances.

They were not just for Dot the archive-maker, but are now for all of us who have received the treasure from her.

Because God has given us the treasure in Holy Baptism,

in thanksgiving we can hear and take on those admonitions ourselves; help...rejoice...pray...test...and all the rest.

In thanksgiving, that is the key.

Hymn #534 sets the mood well.

Let's sing the first stanza:

Now thank we all our God

with hearts and hands and voices,

Who wondrous things has done,

In whom his world rejoices.

Who from our mothers' arms

Has blessed us on our way

With countless gifts of love,

And still is ours today.

So now we see that Dot still had things to teach us, even in these recent days:

things about perseverance, determination, and what to value.

Grab hold of them, dear friends.

For she has indeed sold everything, even life itself, for the surpassing value of the treasure of Jesus' promise, and now she passes it to us.

In thanksgiving for Dot, and Jesus' treasure, let all say. Amen.

Please note: The preceding 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.