Sermons from Mission Hills UCC San Diego, California Rev. Dr. David Bahr [email protected] August 7, 2022 “Stuff and More Stuff” Luke 12: 32-34 – Common English Bible Don’t be afraid, little flock, because God delights in giving you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions and give to those in need. Make for yourselves wallets that don’t wear out—a treasure in heaven that never runs out. No thief comes near there, and no moth destroys. 34 Where your treasure is, there your heart will be too. Listen to this story by Byrd Baylor: If you could see us sitting here at our old, beat-up, scratched-up, messed-up kitchen table, you’d know we aren’t rich. My father tries to tell us we are, but can’t he see my worn-out shoes? Or that my little brother’s pants are just patches sewn together? “You can’t fool me,” I say to him. “We’re poor. Would rich people sit at a table like this?” My mother pats the table and agrees with my father. “We’re rich because we sit here every day.” Now understand, I like this table just fine. My parents made it themselves out of lumber someone else threw away. They even had a celebration when they finished it. All I’m saying is, you can tell that we didn’t pay anything for it. You can tell that it didn’t come from a furniture store. It’s not a table where rich people would sit. Sometimes I think I’m the only sensible one in my whole family. So, I called a family meeting and told them the subject is money and that my parents don’t have enough of it. I tell my parents they should both get better jobs so we could buy some nicer things. And add, “I hate to bring this up, but it would really help if both of you had a little more ambition.” My father just smiles and asks, “How many people are as lucky as we are?” My parents have some strange ideas about working. They think the only jobs worth having are outdoors. They want cliffs or canyons or desert or mountains around them wherever they work. They want a good view of the sky. And they want to always work together. Their favorite thing to do is to pan for gold. They pile us in the back of a beat-up old truck and head for rocky desert hills or some narrow mountain gully where all the roads are eventually just coyote trails. They love to walk the wide arroyos where little flecks of gold are found. After a month or two out there, they always find a little bit of gold to sell, but it’s never made us rich. And as far as I can see, it’s just an excuse to camp in some beautiful wild place again. They also don’t mind planting fields of sweet corn or alfalfa. They like picking chilies and squash and tomatoes. They’ll put up strong fences or train wild young horses. But I’ve called this family meeting to say, “You could make more money working in a building somewhere in town.” “But,” he says, “our number one rule is that we have to see the sky.” “You could look through a window.” But they won’t even think about it. Do you see what I mean about being the only sensible one in this family? My mother hands my brother and I a pencil and some yellow paper. “OK,” she said, “let’s add up our assets. You be the bookkeeper.” We start with $20,000. That’s how much my father says it’s worth to him to work outdoors, where he can see sky all day and feel the wind and smell rain coming an hour before it’s really raining. He says it’s worth that much because, if he feels like singing, he can sing out loud and no one will mind. I have just written $20,000 when my mother adds, “You better make that $30,000 because it’s worth at least another $10,000 to hear coyotes howling back in the hills.” So, I write down $30,000. Then she remembers that they like to see long distances and faraway mountains that change color about 10 times a day. “That’s worth around $5,000 to me,” she says. I scratch out what I had written and put down $35,000. My father thinks of something else. “When a cactus blooms, you should be there to watch it because it might be a color you never see again.” He asks my brother, “How much would you say that color is worth?” “50 cents?” But they decide it’s worth another $5,000. So now I write $40,000 on the yellow pad. My father loves to make bird sounds. He can copy any bird, but he’s best at white-winged doves and ravens and red-tailed hawks and quail. He’s good at eagles too, and great horned owls. So, of course, he tells me to write down another $10,000 for having both day and night birds around us. I cross out what I had. The total is now $50,000. My mother asks me how much I’m worth to them. I suggest they could add another $10,000 to the list of assets. But my father said, “Don’t underestimate yourself. Remember how good you are at making lists for us.” He’s right. I am very good at making lists. Someone in this family has to. They end up deciding I’m worth about a million dollars. I tell them that’s a little high, but I smile and write it down anyway. Naturally I have to add another million for my brother, though at 7 years old, he doesn’t do much yet to add to our bottom line. And then I add one million each for my parents. So, I scratch out all the previous numbers and write 4 million, $50,000. My brother says we should add $7 for all the nights we get to sleep outside under the stars. We all agree that’s really worth more like $5,000. Then I decide I want to add $5,000 for the pleasure of wandering around in open country alone, free as a lizard, not following trails, not having a plan, just turning whatever way the wind blows me. Now my yellow pad says we have 4 million, $60,000. And we haven’t even started counting actual cash. But by then I realize the cash part doesn’t really matter. And I suggest it shouldn’t be included on our list of riches. So, I declare the meeting is over. The rest of them go outside to see the sliver of a new moon while I sit at our beautiful, stunning, hand-carved, homemade kitchen table. I think, no one can ever be rich enough to afford something as nice as this. This wonderful story is entitled The Table Where Rich People Sit. It’s so beautiful to watch the transformation of this girl – a literal revolution of her values, very much in the upside-down spirit of the gospel. A good illustration of Jesus’ teaching. Today’s reading is in the middle of a long section about money and possessions, about worry and greed. Did you know that if you removed all of Jesus’ references to money and economic issues, one third of the gospel would disappear? Jesus does not have an obsession with sex and sexuality, as many Christians would have you believe. But he does care a great deal about economic issues that affect our communities and our personal relationships with money – both of which are spiritual issues at heart. Last week you heard the gospel reading about a guy who told Jesus to tell his brother to divide their inheritance. Jesus asked, “Who am I to be your referee?” And so, he told a parable. A man had a big harvest and decided to tear down his barns and build bigger storage bins. He felt good about himself – now I can eat, drink, and enjoy myself. Take it easy. But, what we might think of as a very sensible idea, Jesus described as hoarding things for one self. Rather, he said, be rich toward God. And before we could argue the merits of financial planning, he continued, saying, “Therefore, I say to you, don’t worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. 23 There is more to life than food and more to the body than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they neither plant nor harvest, they have no silo or barn, yet God feeds them. You are worth so much more than birds!” To which I say, “Yes, thank you Jesus. However, what about…” But he doesn’t bother to listen and just keeps going. 25 Who among you by worrying can add a single moment to your life? 26 If you can’t do such a small thing, why worry about the rest? Well, yes that’s certainly true, but wait a minute Jesus. Listen. But he doesn’t. 27 Notice how the lilies grow. They don’t wear themselves out with work, and they don’t spin cloth. But I say to you that even Solomon in all his splendor wasn’t dressed like one of these. 28 If God dresses grass in the field so beautifully, even though it’s alive today and tomorrow it’s thrown into the furnace, how much more will God do for you, you people of weak faith! But Jesus, this isn’t about weak faith. This is about being sensible. I have legitimate concerns. And yet, he just keeps talking. 29 Don’t chase after what you will eat and what you will drink. Stop worrying. 30 All the nations of the world long for these things. Your Divine Parent knows that you need them. 31 Instead, desire God’s kingdom and these things will be given to you as well. That’s the introduction to today’s reading. It’s as if he knew my discomfort and anticipated my questions. He said: 32 “Don’t be afraid, little flock, because God delights in giving you the kingdom. Don’t be afraid. OK. But then he said the most terrifying thing of all: 33 Sell your possessions and give to those in need. Make for yourselves wallets that don’t wear out—a treasure in heaven that never runs out. Where no thief comes and no moth destroys. Because 34 Where your treasure is, there your heart will be too. Jesus told the crowd, consider the ravens. Notice the lilies. He points to the grass in the field and exhorts his followers not to chase after what we will eat or what we will we drink, but instead, desire the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you. But just when I think all the talk of ravens and lilies is lovely but silly, or at least impractical, there’s one more verse I want to add. It comes 14 verses later. Jesus said, “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be expected.” Sit with that for a few seconds. Jesus isn’t speaking spiritual-eze. “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be expected.” It’s not a judgment. It’s not “you bad people…” It’s not a even demand. It’s simply a statement, but I think even more so, it’s an invitation. His guide for living faithfully with money – the practical side of lilies and ravens and Solomon in all his splendor. Notably, it also isn’t about heaven. Jesus is talking about our real communities right here on earth and our personal relationship with money. Put another way, you could say he’s talking about our stuff. Because where your stuff is, there your heart is too. A few years ago, Art and I did the Marie Kondo thing. In her book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, people are supposed to pick up every possession and ask, does this bring me joy? If it doesn’t, then donate it or throw it out. He was much better at it than I. When he wasn’t looking, I hid some things in a drawer, but not surprisingly, when we went through all our possessions in preparation for moving here, I didn’t want anything I had hidden away in a drawer. I just wanted to keep it. Why did I want to keep it? Instead, Jesus said, desire the kingdom of God – a world that is loving toward others as well as toward ourselves – and we’ll find we have everything we really need. Think about all our stuff, stuff that’s stuffed into corners and down in basements and up in attics and in all those storage locker places along the freeway so we don’t have to look at how much stuff we have… What if all our stuff has nothing to do with our heart? What if our stuff is just about… having stuff? And more stuff to go with it. What if all that stuff was really about fear, like the fear of missing out? And if we really thought about it, wouldn’t we be better off selling it and giving away the proceeds? To help people who actually need stuff? Once again, Jesus has this habit of talking about our real communities right here on earth and our personal relationship with money. And before we say, but what about… just imagine that it’s true, because… 25 Who among you by worrying can add a single moment to your life? 26 If you can’t do such a small thing, why worry about the rest? Byrd Baylor, The Table Where Rich People Sit, Aladin Paperbacks, 1998
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