graces me with more
embraces in the street
Like last
week, we have a question projected. This question is a part of our stewardship
campaign for the month. Last week we asked everyone to meditate on the ways
that God has already blessed us with enough.
This week
the questions are:
What do we
have "enough" of?
and
What can we
give up to simplify our lives?
Now all of
us in the stewardship committee know y'all aren't a bunch of millionaires here.
Important
note, though! If you are a secret millionaire come talk to me, I want to tell
you about some exciting investment opportunities here at Trinity.
Presuming
that no one will come up to let me know that actually they are secretly
wealthy, the stewardship committee still thought this was an important question
to ask during our stewardship formation month. Yes, it's not like we all have a
bunch of extra habits or activities to give up, but still we decided to pose
the question, "what can we give up to simplify our lives."
And admitly,
it is a difficult thing to ask. We're all dealing with our own struggles, and
so one wonders if it is fair to ask people to give up even more...
Well,
honestly, there probably not are any clear answers to this question.
In light of
today's challenging Gospel reading, however, one wonders if Jesus was all that
interested in whether such questions are "fair."
There is
this joke pastors love to tell:
I've got a great deal for you! Tell you what,
just give us ten percent and we're cool. We won't ask for any more!
...
What's that you say, ten percent is a lot?
Maybe, but compared to what Jesus calls for, I'm giving you the deal of a
lifetime.
Now, jokes
aside, Jesus really does ask for everything. Take a listen to today's Gospel.
We hear about a man running to Jesus and falling on his knees asking what he
must do to inherit eternal life.
Jesus begins
by upbraiding this man for his flattery, and ends by telling him to give
everything he has to the poor. Everything!
It is easy
to think, that is too much. Or to think, how could Jesus ask this of us.
But jumping
to our own responses so quickly robs us of the chance to really see this scene
play out. Mark tells us that before Jesus called that man to give away
everything he owned and follow Jesus, that Jesus looked at this man in love.
Jesus looks
at this man in love, and then still calls him to give everything away and
follow.
Now, in a
world that tells us we earn our worth by purchasing things, Jesus words to sell
all that you own and give the money to the poor hardly sound fair or like love.
But Mark assures us that Jesus calls this man to disinvest himself out of love.
Mark wants
to tell us that Jesus doesn't call this man, and so also us, to sell all that
we own as some strict task-master. No, Jesus calls us to give away what we have
as someone who has our own interests, often much more so than we even have, in
mind.
In other
words, Jesus calls us to this kind of life for our own good. Hard as
that might be to believe, Jesus does make this call upon us for our own good.
You see, in
a world that tells us our value comes from our shoes, cars or cosmetics; Jesus
tells us our worth comes from God, God who loves us freely.
Jesus called
that man, and so also us, to a life that is free from constantly proving we're
lovable by wearing the right brand of shirt, having the right hairstyle, and so
on. Jesus calls us to a life free from proving ourselves, a life of enough.
Jesus calls
us to stop trying to prove our worth, to give all that up; and instead
be freed to truly follow.
Jesus asks
for that because God wants all of you. God wants all of us, not just the
made-up part that is wearing the right shoes, teeth-cleaned and looking just
so.
Later today
we will be honoring and celebrating Ben and Fran's 65th anniversary with them.
When they made those vows to each other those years ago here, they promised to
love each other in sickness and in health. In other words, they promised to
love each other not just as first-date looks and hair just so, but also the
down and out bad day, Ben and Fran too. To love all of each other.
Same with
God. God wants all of you, just as you are. Martin Luther has a wonderful
saying: "It is not because we are beautiful that God loves us. God's love
makes us beautiful."
Jesus calls
us to give everything away and stop proving ourselves, because God wants all of
us. Jesus proves this by giving all of himself to us first. God doesn't hold
back anything from us, so that we all may have complete life with God.
But this is
not the only reason Jesus calls us to sell all we own. Jesus also calls us to
do so for our own good.
That is the
thing commercials never tell you.
Buy this
that and the other thing and you will be happy. But the commercials never say
anything about the buyers-remorse so many people feel later.
Buying this
brand of shoes will let everyone know you're trendy and beautiful. But the
commercials never say anything about what happens when those shoes get scuffed.
Jesus calls
us to give all our junk away for our own good, so that we might find true
treasures. Jesus calls us to sell everything so that we might finally get what
we truly want; eternal life.
Finally,
those are not the only reasons Jesus calls us to sell everything. Jesus makes
this call on us so that we may finally become the people we long to be; radical
disciples. Listen, I'm not fooling myself. I don't suppose it is just to hear
me preach that you bring yourself here each week.
No, we come
here week in and week out because we are waiting. We are waiting for that spark.
We are waiting to encounter that risen Lord of ours to return, to speak to us.
We come here each week because there is something deep in us that longs,
because there is something deep in us that really believes.
Jesus calls
us to give everything away so that we can truly follow and become those
disciples we long to be.
Jesus calls
us to give everything away because Jesus frees us all of the way.
The same is
true at Trinity. The stewardship committee poses the question of what we have
enough of, how can we simplify for all of our own good.
The simple
life, friends, is the good life. Life with enough, fellow believers, is the
blessed life.
That we can
remove those things, that junk, that keeps us from following, is good news.
That we can get rid of that stuff that tells us we are only beautiful if we
wear the right brand, is good news.
That we can
be the people God loves, the people we want to be without all of that other
clutter of trying to prove ourselves is good news, friends.
Perhaps the
question I mused about at the beginning of the sermon, is it fair to ask y'all
what can be given up to simplify missed the point. In fact, maybe it is
an unfair question to ask in a world that insists our worth only comes from our
purchasing power.
But whether
such a question is, or isn't fair; I think in light of Jesus' words it is fair
to say that these kind of questions are good ones.
So then,
where has God already blessed you
with enough?
Has God
already blessed us with more than enough family, as Jesus suggests? Do we
already have more than we need in the love that we're always surrounded by?
If so, then
where are those places where you, where we, already have enough stuff? What can be given up, what
clutter can be cleared away to follow more easily?
Take some
time.
I know this
is a big question. Take some time. Where can we all simplify our lives?
Write your
answer down on those slips, they will be a part of our offering again this
week.
Yes, these
are hard questions, all of us on the stewardship committee know this.
And Yes,
Jesus' call to us is incredible.
But let us
remember that Jesus not only poses these questions for our own good, he also
lives out this example.
God, in
Jesus, gives up all power. God descends from heaven to walk here amongst us.
Jesus did not demand that people treat him like God, instead Jesus gave up all
that power and spent his life among people in need.
Jesus lives
out this example for our own sake, so that we might see what full life before
God looks like. Jesus makes this call on us for our own good; so that, little
by little, we come to see that God's love, not the brand of our sneakers, is
what makes us beautiful.
God loves us
freely. This love frees us from all that clutter and attempts to prove we have
value. We are freed so now we can ask the tough questions, we can make the
challenging commitments.
God gives us
more than enough of what we really need, family, love and acceptance to be free
of all that other stuff we don't need.
Amen
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