Luke 21.5-19
It is my pleasure to be with you this morning as you celebrate your Consecration Sunday. Although I am retired now, I still recall those Sundays when I was back in the parish when we concluded our Stewardship emphasis with a Consecration Sunday, even including a brunch, as you are doing today.
I’m not sure if Father Mark has shared with you much about our connection which brings me here this morning. That interaction goes back over forty years when I was serving my first parish in Fredonia, North Dakota, and Mark was still a young teenager from a neighboring town, Kulm, North Dakota. Through my wife Kathy’s involvement in directing the High School play in Kulm, in which Mark had a role, we forged a link. That went on to our playing tennis together, to having roles together in a summer theater production of “South Pacific”, to an Adult Confirmation at Martin Luther Lutheran Church, to seminary education and ordination, and the list goes on. It has been a joy for Kathy and me to follow Mark’s family life and career in pastoral ministry, and so it gives me great pleasure in being invited to be with you today.
Our gospel text, on the other hand, may not lead to much joy. This assigned gospel reading for this day may not seem like much of a motivation to be moved to gratitude and generosity in making a Consecration commitment today. But as Mark assured me, “(my) spiritual wisdom and insight that comes from a lifetime of wisdom, or bravery,” could enable me to find a connection. So we’ll see about that.
Do you recall how a couple of months ago there was a lot of talk about the Rapture? There was even a date suggested when the Rapture was supposed to occur. Ok, either that didn’t happen or all of us here were part of the left behind.
There have been many predictions over the years about when the world was coming to an end. Whether it was related to technology and the Y2K back in the year 2000 (remember that?), or an understanding of the Mayan calendar some years back when all recorded history would come to an end, or predictions of the end based on global nuclear warfare or asteroids hitting the earth, and so on, there have been numerous predictions that the world is in imminent peril and the end is near. With all that talk, it would be very easy to withdraw into a kind of catatonic state and wait for the end to arrive. It seems that each year we look at the number of current conflicts, terrorist movements, natural disasters with loss of life, and we think, “See, the world is getting pretty bad. It must be approaching the end soon.” It is very easy for us as humans to look for the worst and our fears get in the way of thinking positively about our planet and our civilization. We sometimes feel coaxed into a kind of apathy which says, “The world is going to hell and I can’t do a thing about it.”
That sometimes translates into the same way we think of our lives. We may worry about the possibilities of catastrophes in our own lives, whether by illness, accident, violence, death, and feel as if we are strait-jacketed by life, unable to cope or accomplish anything.
That’s nothing new. In fact, I think Jesus speaks to a similar attitude in our gospel for today. It’s a text we rarely look at, and then, when we do, it’s at the end of the church year. It comes from what is sometimes called “the little apocalypse of Luke”. Jesus, in this passage seems to be talking about end times – signs of what would occur, hints as to what Christians might expect.
One thing seems to be evident here and in Mark’s gospel – Jesus makes reference to the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. This temple, adorned with precious ornaments, the symbol for Jews of their political and religious heritage and life, was to be destroyed. By the time of the writing of Luke’s gospel, it had already taken place. By 70 AD the temple lay in ruins, pulled down by the Roman armies under Titus after a yearlong siege of Jerusalem. The city was captured, the temple treasures pillaged, and the beautiful temple destroyed. What would be the attitude of the people then? – Shock, horror, fear, helplessness, apathy – what’s the use? Who cares anymore?
The words of Jesus in this text are intended not so much to paint a picture of future gloom, not to describe in detail a scenario of the end, not to scare people into the kingdom, but to speak to the life of the disciple in difficult times. Things could get very tough, he said; you may even be persecuted, hated, betrayed – even by family members. And we know so well how true that was for early Christians, and for some Christians today. What to do in the face of that? Endure patiently, Jesus says, without weariness or fear, to the end. Speak the good news, as you are empowered by the Holy Spirit. Simple, straightforward words, and yet powerful, profound words from one who within a short time from the speaking of these words was to himself die a violent death.
Because he was the resurrected Son of God, those words also speak to us today. His words are not intended to make us pessimists of the present or the future, not hermits in the world, but people who actively live as followers, servants of Christ, in the world.
“Don’t be weary in doing what is right,” Paul says in our second lesson. When you’re bound by fears, worries, or even resignation, it’s easy to lose patience or the desire to do what is right, what is best for all. Paul’s words cause us to think hard about our patience with people, our need to serve rather than be served, to minister to others rather than be ministered unto. It causes us to think about the talents, the potential God has given us and how we can use them in our world. In an apathetic age it is easy to be like the man who was supposedly in a prison cell for twenty years, until one day he tried the door and found it unlocked. The words of Jesus speak to the prison cells of apathy and lethargy and call us out of them as we testify to his goodness.
“I will give you words and wisdom,” he says. We are not alone, for his presence and power go with us. As repentant and forgiven people of God, we are called to serve God and neighbor boldly and persistently, to work for peace and justice and the preservation of our planet home.
All of that boils down to what we are doing here today. As you consider your gifts to the work of this parish in its ministry to this community and the world, what is your motivation?
My wife Kathy and I are currently members of a church in Grand Forks which recently went through a self-study to assess our church’s current health and its needs for the future. As part of that, we individually completed a survey about our place in the parish. As I recently filled out that survey, I came across one question that read, “As you think about your financial giving to the church, what influences your decision?” Five influences were listed which were to be ranked from most important to least important. The five influences were:
- How engaged our church is in reaching out to the needs of the world.
- How well our church manages its finances.
- The effectiveness of our congregation in making a difference in my life and the lives of others.
- The current state of the economy.
- My personal faith and understanding of being generous in supporting God’s work in the world.
How would you rank these? All of them have been motivating factors for people in contributing to their churches, so there is not necessarily a right or wrong answer. But based on the message of scripture and my personal understanding of the gospel, the last one speaks mightily to my comprehension of financial giving. Let me read it again: My personal faith and understanding of being generous in supporting God’s work in the world.
That generosity is based in gratitude. Gratitude for the gracious gifts of God centered in Jesus results in generosity. Do you recall the story of the ten lepers that were healed in the gospel from a month ago? All of them were healed and returned to society but only one was filled with gratitude and returned to personally thank Jesus.
In the words of that great biblical scholar and theologian, my wife Kathy Fick, “The Samaritan didn’t earn more mercy by being thankful. But his deep gratitude drove him back to Jesus. His gratitude opened his heart to see God’s presence more clearly. His gratitude allowed him to live from healing into wholeness.”
That gratitude leads to generosity. Gratitude begets generosity. When we live into the gratitude of God’s mercy, we are changed. We become walking, talking reminders that God’s mercy is real. And that God’s grace is for everyone.
“Tell out my soul” is the theme you have chosen for this stewardship emphasis and commitment Sunday. I don’t know about you Episcopalians, but we Lutherans have often been categorized as being somewhat private Christians, never terribly vocal about our faith. “Tell out my soul” speaks dramatically about a verbal and outward expression of our faith that is evident in all our lives. That incudes our expressions of gratitude which leads to generosity in our giving.
I’ve been known in our home to sometimes carry the label of “cheap”. That’s partly due to my growing-up experience. But it also comes from the notion that my livelihood was centered in working and saving money for retirement and for emergency needs. Yes, my wife and I always made it a practice to tithe our resources to the church. But with my retirement I had to discover what generous spending of my pension and retirement savings were about. I had to reflect more about gratitude in my personal life.
Here’s a rather unusual example of that. Our home in Grand Forks is situated next to a coulee which in flood years connects to the Red River and rises to flood levels. After experiencing devastating and threatening floods in 1997 and 2009, we built a clay dike in our back yard which ever since has held back flood waters. The unfortunate side effect of that is that I have to mow this rather steep dike with a walk-behind push mower, a job I sometimes shirk to think about. However, I learned this past summer to say out loud as I’m mowing this mound of inanimate dirt, “Thank you, dike, for holding back flood waters again and again to save my home.” That little expression of gratitude has made a difference in how I mow my lawn. Gratitude can make a difference in how we live out our lives.
Back to that challenging gospel reading we started out with.
The meaning of this text is not to give us a road map to help us predict the coming of the final days. After all, that has been attempted throughout history, resulting more in fear and panic than comfort and hope. Rather, the point is to help us focus our faith on what is really important. As God’s people, whatever may come our way, we have nothing to fear: the one who has conquered death gives life to all who believe in him. And that gives us hope. Hope that is lived out in gratitude. Gratitude that leads to generosity.
When fears of the end of the world or, for that matter, our own lives paralyze us, or when apathy silently suffocates us, the words of Jesus become critical for us. Live as generous disciples of Christ, heirs of the kingdom. Tell out your soul! Thanks be to God!
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