Sermon for the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
Lectionary 19  Proper 14
August 8, 2010
Texts:  Genesis 15:1-6; Psalm 33:12-22; Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16; Luke 12:32-40

Fear not!
Don’t be afraid!
Somehow those words are always spoken in the Bible
When the natural human response IS fear.

God said these words to Abram in this morning’s lesson
When God showed up in a vision
To tell him how God’s promises would be fulfilled.

The angel said these words to Zechariah
When he told him that his aged wife
Would finally bear a son.

The angel also said them to Mary
When she was informed
That she would become a pregnant teenager,
The mother to God’s son.

Jesus said these words, in today’s Gospel,
To his disciples, as he challenged them
About their use of resources, and their preparedness for what is to come. 

When we hear these words “Fear Not” today
It is probably with a sense of skepticism.

How can we NOT be afraid?
Don’t you listen to CNN?
Or even more so, Fox Network?

There is so much to be afraid of!
World events, terrorism,
Local nuts—nine people killed in Connecticut this week,
Because someone decided to steal beer and got caught.
The fear we have for our personal security,
And then what might happen to us and our families
In this economic climate.

Yet God says these words to us
Because God means them,
And they are meant to be freeing. 
After the command to fear not,
God offers words that soothe
And words designed to comfort. 

First Jesus refers to the disciples as little flock,
An affectionate diminutive term,
Then Jesus explains why the disciples should not be afraid:

Because God takes joy in giving them everything.

God gives God’s people a future with abundance,
And the opportunity to live life in grace.

God does not want us to act out of fear.
Decisions made in fear,
Except, obviously, in emergency adrenaline-infused situations,
Are rarely good decisions,
Particularly good decisions for the long term.

This past week, coming back from Europe,
In the Copenhagen airport
John picked up a copy of Newsweek,
A magazine we rarely read.

There was an interesting article in this magazine
About how fear is driving corporate decision making today.

Economists have been puzzled,
Why, with most corporations reporting excellent financial gains,
Employment has not ratcheted up.

The speculation is,
That top executives whose compensation is tied to stock prices,
Are too afraid to invest in either additional workers or in equipment.

These business leaders are acting out of the fear that such investments
Might affect the short term stock prices and decrease their pay.
Yet failure to invest
Will ultimately decrease the company’s long term potential and success.

If this speculation is true,
It is an excellent example of one of Jesus’ other statements to his disciples,
In this morning’s Gospel.

Jesus says, “Where your treasure is,
There your heart will be also.”
Notice that Jesus does not say,
Where your heart is,
You’ll put your treasure.

Rather Jesus says you can tell where your heart is
By how you’ve decided to invest your treasure.

Corporate decision makers,
Who invest their treasure—their corporate energies and assets
On short term gains that raise their salaries,
Are demonstrating that their hearts are in their own back pockets,
Not in the long term welfare of the companies they lead. 

And their hearts are certainly not in the overall economic well being of the country. 

Although I have illustrated Jesus’ statement
With an example from 21st century corporate decision making
It truly has profound implications for the ways,
In which each of us lives our individual lives,
And the ways in which we live as church together.

The decisions we make about how
To invest our treasure or in other words our resources,
Determine where our heart is. 

Our doing drags our heart along. 

Think back into the history of this congregation.

What have been examples of times
When people have been willing to put fear aside,
And invest their treasure: time, talents and yes, money
In something just because it was something God was calling us to do.

One example that comes to mind for me
Was the sponsoring of a Laotian refugee family.
Time, skills, resources and money were invested
To a give a family a new start in this country.

The heart of this congregation
Was found in the well-being of people new to this country.
The heart of this congregation was found outside the walls of the church.

Another example is the annual Thanksgiving in-gathering.
Each year, this event captures the energy and resources of this congregation
As well as our ecumenical partners.
Each fall, our hearts are found in those cardboard boxes
That sit on someone else’s holiday table.

The decisions to proceed with both of these activities
Are not made in an atmosphere of fear,
Or in worrying about whether we have enough treasure to pull them off.

Somehow, we knew and we continue to know,
That with the grace of God,
We can make these things happen. 

God has promised us abundance,
Freeing us up to share that abundance with others.

When we are able to live into God’s abundance,
We know that the Kingdom of God is at hand.

Mary promises in her song
That the poor will be lifted up
And the hungry will be fed with good things.

When we use our treasure:
Our time, our talents, and our money
In ways that level the playing field
And lift up those who are disadvantaged,
Then our hearts can be found in God’s Kingdom. 

It takes faith to make the decisions to proceed
With investing our assets,
Into the Kingdom of God 
And for someone else’s benefit.

Faith, according to the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews,
Is the assurance of things hoped for,
The conviction of things not seen.

We hope to be part of God’s Kingdom
Even though we cannot see it.

We know there are times when it is close at hand,
And we know there are things we can do to advance it.

Faith, given by the grace of God,
Is an assurance that what we hope for,
Particularly in our relationship with God
Will actually come about. 
It is only with God’s grace
And the faith that arises from God’s grace,
That we can make decisions
To invest our treasures
In ways that God calls us to do so.

And the amazing thing,
Is that with God’s grace
And faith in the assurance of things hoped for,
We are freed to decide and act our way
Into things that help to bring about God’s reign here on earth.

We don’t have to acquiesce to fear.
We don’t have to feel the noose of worry and anxiety tighten around our hearts.
We don’t have to close our hands to the needs of others.

God has told us that God wants us to live life abundantly.
God has told us to ask and we will receive.

If faith is the assurance of things hoped for,
Reflect for a minute on things that have happened recently
In the life of this congregation.

We prayed for additional choir members,
And they showed up.
We prayed for someone who could play the guitar,
To add a new dimension to our music life
And two guitar players showed up.
We prayed for young people in this congregation,
And a young couple was married here yesterday,
Who intend to stay an active part of this faith community. 

We prayed that we might reach more children in our community.
And twenty seven children showed up here for Vacation Bible Camp,
And heard the good news about Jesus Christ. 

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for.

What are you hoping for?
What dreams do you dream?
To what visions is God calling you?

Fear not.
Do not be afraid, little flock.
It is your father’s good grace to give you the kingdom.

Living in God’s grace,
How are you called to invest your treasure,
Your time, skills, gifts and money?
Where will God find your heart?

Will your heart be turned in on itself
Strangled with fear and worry,
As you invest your treasure,
In things that will protect it and keep it safe?

Will you want your heart to be focused outside yourself,
But you keep it so resource starved,
That it effectively still looks inward.

Will you open your hands,
And your purse,
And your appointment calendar
To feed a dream
To staff an opportunity
To invest in someone else’s hope,
To effectively plant your heart outside yourself
In the midst of God’s kingdom, which is at hand?

It is Good News that God does not want you to be afraid.
God wants you to live into the assurance of things hoped for.
God wants to find your heart
Alive, well and beating in the midst of people who are living in God’s Kingdom. 

Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Amen