August 11th:
Call: 1 Timothy 2b - 10
Text: Luke 12: 32-34 (originally to run through 40)
Worshipping With Chuck - Week Three
Heart and Treasure
Back in May of 1995,
Two of the 15 students in the eight day school I attended
so that I could receive my license
as a United Methodist pastor.
were rushed to the hospital
One for about three days
The other until her death a few months later
This was an unprecedented part of the curriculum
And at lunch after the second student went to the hospital,
the dean of the school said to me,
"It appears that God has decided to teach us about flexibility in ministry."
[Recognizing the challenges of the lesson, she also told me that she wasn't going to invite God back the next year.]
But, having been dramatically taught a lesson of flexibility by God
I knew what I had to do
When this week I realized that I only felt called
To speak on the first three verses of the scripture shown in our bulletin.
And so, today's text from Luke 12 has been pared down
To only those three verses: 32-34.
In verse 32 Jesus begins the passage by emphasizing a point that we touched on last week
"Do not be afraid, little flock
for it is your father's good pleasure
to give you the kingdom."
That is what God wants to do
That is what God wants for us:
God wants to have us in the kingdom.
In the second of our three verses, Jesus goes on to say,
"Sell your possessions and give alms.
Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out,
An unfailing treasure in heaven
Where no thief comes near
And no moth destroys.
This also makes us think of last week
When we looked at the portion of Paul's letter to the Colossians in which he wrote,
"seek the things that are above
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God."
And to
"Set your mind on things that are above,
not on things that are on earth."
So we should, as Paul told us to do,
Look for things that are above
Knowing that those things are eternal
And knowing that, as Jesus told us,
The purses in which we carry our valuables in heaven
Won't wear out
Won't be stolen
Won't be eaten away by moths.
There remains one more verse in our text.
But before we look at that third and final verse
I have two questions for each individual here to ask
(Whether in the pews, the pulpit or the balcony)
Both questions require facts - not opinions
Question number one:
Let us each ask ourselves: What is my gross worth?
To answer this question, we each need to add up the values of all our assets:
Property (both real and personal)
Investments
and possessions.
In other words I ask each of us to roughly calculate
how much he/she owns how much he/she is worth
Now, in answering this question we need to include
All of our cars
All of our televisions
All of our phones
All of our sporting goods
And yes, even all of our shoes
Everything !
[pause]
Question number two:
This one also requires us to do some quick calculating:
"During the last month how much of
our gross worth
our income
our time
and our energy
Have we used to help others?
Through the church
Through other charities
Through direct personal actions."
I would suggest that each of us then quietly and honestly
compare our answers
to the amount we have used
for non essential items for ourselves.
Now, verse 34 [It is short, but poignant]
"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
In the two questions we asked ourselves,
We figured out where our treasure is
Applying this third verse of out text
We have also figured out where our hearts are.
Are our hearts where we want them to be?
Or did the contents of this verse,
Slap us in our faces
Kick us in our backsides
And/or distress us in our misplaced hearts?
And those of us who found that we were slapped, kicked, and distressed,
Probably have to admit that now that we think of it
This was the second time that happened this morning.
For we were called to worship by the first letter to Timothy,
Where after first telling us that if we
do "not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ"
Then we are conceited and [we] understand nothing,"
Paul goes on to write,
"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil,
and in their eagerness to be rich
some have wandered away from the faith
and pierced themselves with many pains."
I am convinced that Paul would agree
That among evil's roots, we would find
not only love of money
But also love of power and love of prestige
In a sense, this morning's scriptures are like
those old commercials (from the 70s I believe)
where after-shave lotion Is slapped on a man's face
and he says: "Thanks, I needed that."
But in addition to slapping us in the face
To correct our poor stewardship of God's gifts,
This short three verse passage
Can also correct our negative perceptions of others
By showing us where their hearts are.
I stumbled onto this aspect because perhaps no one in my lifetime
Has had her heart in the right place more than Mother Theresa.
Thinking of that, I recalled that on the Sunday after the week
In which both she and Diana, Princess of Wales had died
I had preached a sermon on those two women.
So I pulled out and reread my sermon of September 7, 1997.
I did so, to refresh my recollection and to find the quote attributed to Germaine Greer where she said of Mother Theresa,
"She is not ministering to the poor of Calcutta for their sake
but for the sake of her Catholic God."
[a quote to which I wanted to reply, "Duh!"]
But as that quote reveals, even her critic could tell
where Mother Theresa's heart and treasure were.
But, as I reviewed that almost 16 year old sermon,
I found that I had spent more of it on the other woman
The vivacious young nursery school teacher who became a princess
And who died in an alcohol related motor vehicle accident
After her less than successful marriage had ended.
I admitted from the pulpit that Sunday
That I had not been an ardent admirer of Princess Diana
[although I know exactly where I watched her wedding]
After all, she had been a jet setter and international partier.
Too, she, like her husband, had been guilty of infidelity
But I told the congregation that that day
that while watching the television coverage
I had seen her holding sick and diseased children
I had seen her comfortably and physically
Interacting with Aids patients
At a time when many wouldn't have anything to
do with them
I had seen her sitting cross legged on the floor of a gymnasium
With volley ball players
Who had lost their legs to land mines.
And so,
instead of a rich and famous party girl and dilettante
I saw a woman demonstrating as much compassion as I had ever seen.
As I recall that today, I realize Diana - despite her imperfections -
Had placed the treasure
of some of her time and some of her love
With those hurting and disadvantaged people
And that by looking at that treasure, I had found her heart.
I am sure Christ found it as well
You and I, like Diana, are imperfect
But I would hope that when Christ searches for our treasures
He will find our hearts in places like I found hers,
places where the purses do not wear out.
May we pray with the prayer that Charles Wesley
Put into our closing hymn
"Thy nature, gracious Lord impart
Come quickly from above
Write thy new name upon my heart
Thy new, best name of love."
["O For A Heart To Praise My Lord" No. 417 (4)]