9 Pentecost, Proper 14
7 Aug 2022
I came across this thought from a seminary instructor: we can talk about Biblical inerrancy and literalism when you have sold all your possessions and given your money to the poor. If you say the Bible is literally true, then that is what you need to do.
I don’t believe the Bible is literally true, norI do not believe in the prosperity Gospe. Being a Christian has not brought me wealth or fame; that is apparently limited to a few people like Joel Osteen. It reminds me of the false belief in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s that rain followed the plow. I remember learning in school that as Americans moved in droves to the Great Plains and started farming, there was a period of increased precipitation which led to people thinking this was true. The dust bowl of the 1930’s literally buried that belief in dirt. More recently I learned that, as lands were forced from the Native Americans and then distributed to the public, the best lands were given to the railroads. Now I knew they had been given land to build the railroads but had never realized how calculated the land grab was. At the time the first transcontinental railroad was laid (at a cost of hundreds if not thousands of lives) there was no economic viability for it, not reason to exist; money needed to be made in some other fashion, so it was the sale of the land at significant profit that really made money for the few people who owned the railroads. What was left in the Homestead Act for the individual who wanted to own farmland were marginal lands. If the intent was to make landowners and successful farmers to enable a stable prosperous society, it was a colossal failure. More likely the intent was to pretend the goal was more small and successful farmers. If you failed it was because you were flawed; the economic system had nothing to do with it.
But I digress. The Lukan reading today is full of advice from Jesus. The first line (“Don’t be afraid, little flock, because your Father delights in giving you the kingdom”) should set the tone yet seems to me to be making a promise of a gift and then tying it up with all kinds of strings. Jesus is continuing on the road to Jerusalem; he is teaching his followers as he heads for what he knows will be his own death.
1. Sell your possessions and give to those in need. Has anyone in this room ever done that? Does anyone believe enough in Jesus’ words to take the plunge into actual poverty? I don’t think so; and I number myself among those who have not sold everything and given it all away. Economists, so fond of promoting the virtues of capitalism, would look like deer in the headlights. They simply could not imagine it. Sadly, with only individual exceptions in Christian history, it has never been a realized kingdom because we do not have faith that it would work. What if those with much distributed their wealth to those with little or nothing. Ironically, perhaps, buying power would be made greater. The point for us who have, however, is that, to use a trite expression, you cannot buy happiness; you cannot buy your way into the kingdom. Yet the treasure God offers is one that is truly fully indestructible.
2. Where you put your resources, you put your heart. God becomes for us the thing, or even the idea, we treasure the most. We worship it. It could be money; it could be land or art or even music (and I love music) but if it becomes what drives us, it is our god. Work is god for some. Not even an object, but a concept. For some, hate and the desire to destroy literally become a treasure, a god.
3. Be ready. We are called to live the Christian life 24/7. God should be at the top of our list, not like children who stay on their best behavior so they won’t get caught by their parents, but as people to whom the beauty of living the Christian life is so second nature that we do not have to think about it. Remember how Jesus separates the sheep and the goats in Matthew’s testimony? The sheep weren’t looking over their shoulders worried that God was watching; they simply lived the Gospel life. Their lamps were lit. Are yours? I love the spiritual Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning. Over and over Jesus gives the same testimony; the Kingdom is at hand, be prepared and do the right thing for your fellow human beings.
4. In living the life, in being prepared without the need to even think about being prepared, you become the honored guests. I want to be in that number!
5. The kingdom appears when it is least expected. Now I could read that line as talking about the last days, about the second coming, about the end of the earth. Or, as Revelations really says, I could understand that what God is trying to do is make a new heaven, a new Jerusalem, here on earth.
There is a lot about which to think as I read through this passage. It starts with a promise: God’s pleasure in sharing with all of us. It is a promise made by God. It begs us to be faithful and have trust. It begs us not necessarily to give up everything, but to temper our wants and desires and to be generous to all, not asking if they are nice or deserving or even Christian (markers for charity in much of Christian history) but because this is the way the kingdom of God should be. Jesus is also telling us not to be fearful or anxious of the future but to be eager and expectant that a new heaven and a new earth can and will happen. I like what David Lose, a Lutheran theologian, had to say: that Jesus announces a promise in the way that a loving parent would promise to a child. That promise of the Kingdom, should help us create relationship, hope, and faith in God. We are enabled to keep that faith by following the true tenets of the Christian life: prayer, correct stewardship of wealth of any sort, care of God’s creation, care of neighbor and of every human being, is based in that promise that the kingdom is ours. [1]
In the next verse, not included in the reading, Peter asks, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for everyone?"
I would love to answer that by saying it is for everyone. Your kingdom come; your will be done.
[1] David Lose, Working Preacher, 8 Aug 2010. https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-19-3/commentary-on-luke-1232-40
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