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Sermon - August 12th, 2007
Unexptected Hour
Rev. Gwen Drake
Scripture: Luke 12:32-40
“Do not be afraid!” Jesus said, getting to the very heart of everything. “Do not be afraid.” I would love to live a life without fear. Jesus says to the disciples not to be afraid after he tells them not to be hypocrites, not to worry, not to be greedy. He’s not telling them this because they think they have seen a ghost. He’s not calming them in the midst of a storm, either. He is talking about the very core of their existence. Live as if you are not afraid. Be bold. Be courageous.
It sounds like such a simple message. And it is, but living a life that is not based on fear, is far from easy. It takes a whole new perspective. That is what Jesus has been trying to teach his disciples. He is trying to teach them to imagine themselves in a whole new way.
You see they lived in a world that defined who they were, period, end of the story. Each of them had a role and a place in the order of their family and in society. It was stamped on them from birth. It was a world of very little choice about what your lot in life was going to be.
Today, we also have all these unsolicited definitions of ourselves, voices that come to us from outside ourselves, describing us as successes or failures based on our looks, our performance, our income. For example, the ideal human being in America is wealthy, thin, attractive, powerful, and smart. And a consequence of this is we have voices inside our heads, reminding us what we will never be enough, never do enough, never have enough. I have a relentless critical chorus that never seems to tire of telling me how clumsy, lazy, weak, stupid, thick-headed, ridiculous, and doomed to failure I am. And some days it all sounds true. It is the voice of my grandmother. It is the voice of that one teacher in the 6th grade. It’s the voice of Mary Anne in the seventh grade who announced to the whole class that my first boyfriend whom I had a crush on didn’t like me anymore. It’s the voice of the Tempter. It’s the voice of fear.
Other days, I recognize the voice and I am able to tell it to go to hell. I am able to fight back and say, you have overstated your case, you have gone too far. I am able to believe that while there is a splinter of truth in all those accusations (after all I’m not perfect) those voices have missed the central truth: God made me and God does not make trash!
How do I know that? Because I have an alternative authority in my life that says something different than the voices of our culture. The stories in the Bible tell me that God can make a human being out of a pile of dirt, that God can make a barren old couple proud parents of a chosen people, that God can heal the sick and feed the hungry and raise the dead. If I can believe even a little of that, then I simply cannot believe that I or anyone else is a lost cause. Nor can I believe ONLY what my culture tells me about myself. This what Jesus was finally getting at when he said “do not be afraid.”
When our culture treats us as if all we are good for is to produce or to consume, Jesus invites us to love. When the culture encourages us to think of ourselves as the rugged individualist or the self-made man or woman, Jesus calls us to be neighbors. When the culture conditions us to become spectators rather than participants, Jesus tells us to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God. Over and over again, Jesus offers us an alternative vision, not only of ourselves but of other people and ultimately the whole world. Sometimes it seems far-fetched and a little crazy, but other times it seems truer than what is suppose to be true.
Then Jesus says, “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit, be ready, for God is coming at an unexpected hour.” Jesus explained that God is like a thief in the night. Not one of the most flattering images of God. God, a thief? But what Jesus appears to be saying is don’t be afraid of poverty and dependence. Don’t be afraid of the judgment of the world upon your life because God is the one who shows up just when least expected (or least desired), in the middle of the night. God, the thief, shows up and rips off everything that you thought was secure in your life! If you have to be afraid, if you need to be fearful, then be afraid of God!
Be ready all the time. For every hour has the potential to be an unexpected hour. Be not afraid, Jesus said, but if you have to be afraid of something--be afraid of God.
And he also said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. He not talking about buried treasure, although it could be buried. He’s not talking about riches, although he could be. He’s talking about where we invest our time, money and energy. What is it that we spend our energy on? Our money? Our time? Be mathematical about it. Chart it. Make a graph. Do whatever you need to do to take a good hard, close look at your life. Because where your treasure is, there’s your heart. Where is your treasure leading you? Where is your heart?
Jesus was so aware of the human predicament. He knew about our fears, our anxieties. He knew we would rather be good and generous people. No one wants to be selfish. But we can be, sometimes without realizing it. Because, sometimes it takes all we have to simply take care of ourselves. Sometimes we are bombarded by a media that seduces us into reaching for the latest in technology, toy, gadget, or or cosmetic treatment.
Jesus is telling us that we are shaped by our commitments and loyalties, which add up to a particular way of life. “Where our treasure is, there our heart will be also.” He says, wake up now! Be ready now. Because you never know what to expect. Every hour is an unexpected hour.
I grew up on a ranch where I remember my Dad worrying about whether we would have enough money to do our annual trip to the city for new school clothes.
I adored and worshiped my father. I would have done anything to please him. So, going without stuff was one of the ways I did that. Not my younger brother--he wanted everything he saw. He was the spoiled one in the family. I was the angel, most of the time. I was the third child who learned very well how to stay out of trouble from my older brother and sister. (smile) I never expected much and I certainly did not ask for anything.
When I participated in my first 4-H Horse Show, I had to borrow a saddle that fit me. I had learned to ride bareback. So, when the judge had us do everything in the arena, I had trouble keeping my feet in the stirrups. I fought back tears when I got last place. But the judge did something that I will never forget. He went to every participant in that class, down the whole line and said something personal to them. When he got to me, he said to me, “You would have been the best rider in this class, if it was a bareback class.”
What really shocked me, though, was that after harvest, we all piled in the car, drove to Pendleton Grain Growers. We walked in and I immediately looked around wide-eyed. I saw the saddles. My Dad told me to pick out the saddle I wanted. I simply couldn’t believe it, especially after I got last place in the horse show. I still have that saddle. The next year I came home with blue ribbons.
So, going without stuff is a way of life for me. If I sold all my possessions, I really wouldn’t have that much to give to the poor.
But it took me a long time to stand up for those values. Because another one of my qualities in the family was I was the one who wanted peace. I’m a people pleaser through and through. For a long time I was afraid to stand up for myself. I still have to kick myself several times before I do something that I know people won’t like. Even if I know I am right and they are wrong. And Jesus said, “Do not be afraid.” “Where your treasure is, there will also be your heart.
Because, really, the treasure is you. Jesus said, “Do not be afraid.“ God made you, and you are the treasure. Live you your life as if you are not afraid. You only have your one precious, holy, beautiful, passionate life. Treasure it. Pour your heart into it, for God’s sake. For your sake. For the sake of your loved ones. The treasure is within us, for God created us. Thanks be to God!
Amen.