Amos 8:4–7
Psalm 113:1-9
1 Timothy 2:1–7
Luke 16:1–13
Audio Version with Childrens Sermon
Link to Video of Sermon
At first glance, it would seem that the scripture today from Luke, does not have much in common with that of Amos or 1 Timothy. You might be asking the same question I was when I first read the scriptures, what is in common? Even in Text Study on Tuesday, the focus became on Luke, seeing how it is the gospel that is not all bad. We never spoke of the connection and the crux of the discussion on Luke boiled down to a stewardship sermon. I have told you before, that at times I struggle to make the connection between the scriptures in our lectionary and this was no exception.
We can see what we want to see, see what is easy or just rely upon someone else’s opinion or even a commentary to guide us. God challenges us all the time to go beyond the obvious. To do what others would not. To stand out as Christians and not conform to the World but be transformed by the Word in such a way that we are insulated from the worldly ways and act in the ways that God does towards us and all of humanity, yes how God acts towards EVERYONE.
Just what is wealth? What does it mean to be wealthy? Is wealth solely the ability to meet all your financial needs? Maybe we add in to that to be wealthy also means to be able to live in such a way as to be healthy. So I am guessing that would mean you can pay to eat right, pay for the exercise facility and even be able to pay for health insurance and meet all of our health care expenses. That sounds like a lot of money there and does money make us wealthy?
Our God is a radical God who calls us to be radical in our response to the world. God provides us with everything that we have, from the very breath we take, down to the shoes and socks we wear. God’s abundance of love is given to us. God gives us our ability to pray, our ability to share, our ability to love. All the resources that we have at our disposal comes from a single source and for a single reason. It all is about the Love of God towards everyone in the world. Not just those that believe in God’s Son. It is not just those that do right. God’s love is there for everyone, for the taking, for the sharing, forever and ever.
God has called each of you and me to share in our wealth of what God has given and continues to give to us. God calls us to share with others, share in our wealth, in our abundance of what we have. Do we need money to be happy, to be healthy? It is not about money it is about wealth in whatever God has given us. If try to hold onto what God gives, then those things and even the Love of God that we hold to, become other gods. In verse 13 today, it said; “13 No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”[1] So what does God tell us to do with this wealth? We must share!
By Thursday of this week, I was pretty confident on how the sermon was going to go and I had been going over ideas, praying about the sermon and feeling some ideas out through some research. On Friday I heard of a story that changed everything.
There was this pastor one day sitting in his office writing his sermon for the week. Normally when the office closed, he would just leave the church office doors closed but the church front doors open and this way he could work in private. However that day, for some reason he decided to leave the office doors unlocked and even propped open. He heard a noise out in the church. He knew people were milling about in the church do various things but decided to investigate the noise.
Upon exiting his office, he encountered a couple with a baby. They explained that they were looking for a church to get married in, and they were looking in this vicinity because it was about mid-point for all the families. The pastor and the couple began to speak about some of the necessary information for a wedding. When he asked where they currently attend, the man said he was a non-practicing Catholic and the woman would only say that she was “Open”. Very easily this could have been taken to be that nether attended church and had no real intention to but were simply looking for a building in which to get married.
All three sat and spoke for a while. During that time, much was shared between the couple and the pastor. The woman said that when she does go to church, due to her past, she feels like others are judging her and she might as well wear a billboard around her neck to advertise all of her sins. The man said that all he has felt in the Catholic Church was, condemnation towards himself and his actions. The Pastor began to share the Gospel message with them. The Pastor recalls the conversation but was not able to recall much of the details that occurred over the next two hours of the conversation, the crying, hand holding and hugging. It was the Holy Spirit at work that day. It was the Pastor being open to sharing, walking with the couple. Sharing the wealth that God has given him. He, through the Spirit was able to share the love of Christ, the Love of God, the importance of communion and baptism and many other aspects of the Christian faith.
The Pastor was told by the couple, that they had never heard the love of God before. They had never heard that God was there in their bad times, coming to them, holding them and wants nothing but the best for them and everyone. A prayer and tears were shared before the couple left saying they really want to be married there, have their child baptized there and find a church that they can attend near home.
God calls you to share in your wealth, to walk with others, be prayerful in your lives. It is in your sharing that the peace of God, which transcends all understanding and takes hold of you. Your wealth is not what you can get and hold onto. It is not how many frequent flyer miles you can rack up and use. It is about sharing your abilities, your wealth as Christians with everyone in the world. In your failures to share your wealth, you worship other gods, take advantage of others instead of helping others. Jesus, who is God in the flesh tells us in Matthew chapter 5, “40…truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’[2] He also says; “45… Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.”[3]
We should pray for all people, share with all people, walk with all people. Maybe we here in America have it to easy in our Christian lives and we have become complacent. The Apostles could have become complacent and blended back into the norm of society as some of us Christians do. The Apostles decided to be radical and bold, reaching to make disciples of all nations. We too need be radical in our response to God.
Please repeat after me and join in this prayer to our God of Wealth and Abundance;
Heavenly Father:
We give you thanks for everyone, ……..not some but everyone in the world.
We pray to you this day, giving thanks for all of our wealth.
We pray that you take mercy upon us.
We pray that you take mercy upon all of humanity.
We pray for those that love us
We pray for those that hate us
We pray for those of our same political beliefs.
We pray for those of differing political beliefs.
We pray for those that have hurt us and those that have helped us.
God of all our gifts, talents, wealth and life,
we ask that you continue to be with us as we share our wealth
with all we encounter.
Teach us to be strong in your Son’s name
Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior
And all of God’s children say; Amen
Sort of anti-Catholic, isn’t it? I thought we were all in this together.
I would not say anything I said in this sermon was anti-Catholic at all. I only told the truth about some events that occurred. If you are referring to the non-practicing Catholic’s comments, I cannot control how they felt. I can only say, that from his perspective, what was spoken to him that day apparently was contrary to what he believed he has heard.
I am not saying that the Catholic Church or any other church has it wrong and only the ELCA Lutherans have it right. By far the contrary I believe is the case. There are many denominations that preach the Grace by Faith and the Gospel. I believe in Ecumenism full heartedly. I try to involve the other faiths and denominations here in Platteville where I am Vicar. Some are open to being in a joint ministry. It would appear that many are not however. Since the ELCA 2009 sexuality vote, other denominations have become more distant in ecumenical ties to the ELCA. However, even though I believe I know what the answer will be by inviting others outside of my denomination, I will always extend the hand to them and embrace them as fellow Christian and Children of God. I would rather find commonalities and bind with that, then look for what is different. We can agree to disagree on some issues but through commonalities we can also begin to see each other through new lenses and also get a sense of walking in their shoes.
Would it be better for me to leave out the story because the man’s feelings and/or views were not aligned with another denomination? The point of the story and the point of the sermon is that we all have a wealth from God. We, as Christians, are called by God to be good stewards of our wealth and share with others. Share not based upon the denomination, race, religion, etc. We are called to share with EVERYONE, ALL of God’s creation, ALL of humanity. Especially when we look at the Gospel reading in light of the reading from 1 Timothy, it is not some that we pray and share with but EVERYONE.
May God’s face shine upon you always and may God give you peace.