Hebrews 11:1-3; 8-16
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old—and Sarah herself was barren—because he considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, “as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.”
All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.
Luke 12:32-40
“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
“Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.
“But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”
In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit...
In one of the schools I used to visit as school chaplain, there was a poster on the Head Teacher’s door that asked: “What have you done today to make you feel proud?”
What have you done today to make you feel proud?
That came back to me this week as I read these texts - particularly the Hebrews passage, where we find these words:
Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God....
I wonder if that accolade - God is not ashamed to be called their God, would be attributed to us today?
God is not ashamed to be called their God.
In a similar vein to the question What have you done today to make you feel proud, we might ask:
What have we done today that would make God unashamed to be called our God?
That accolade is one not lightly given in the history of the people of God, a history liberally peppered with so much oppression and injustice.
Yet, of Abraham and Sarah and Isaac and Jacob, people of faith, who followed where God called, God was not ashamed to be called their God.
Unless we’ve been living in a hole in the ground, we all know too well, that, everyday, God weeps at the way we treat one another and at the way we are so careless with creation.
And at how often, we do such things in the name of God.
God’s challenge to us today, people of faith, people who live in hope, people who are convicted by God’s will, God’s challenge to us is to set out, with God, to make a difference.
To leave what we know.
To stop being resigned to all that brings despair.
To step out and step up and make a difference.
God is calling us as he called Abraham and Sarah and Jacob and Isaac, God is calling us to leave what we know, to embrace the faith we profess and, by that faith, to follow God to the places we are called today.
Each of us here is uniquely called and gifted by God.
Each of us has a task to perform that no one else can do.
And, as we are called, those words from today’s gospel, go with us:
“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Do not be afraid... Words God speaks again and again throughout history as words of calling:
Do not be afraid.
Why shouldn’t we be afraid?
Because God gives us the kingdom.
Along with God’s call, and along with God’s gifting, we are presented with God’s kingdom.
Let’s think for a moment to whom Jesus addressed these words, words that inform and convict us today.
There was the crowd around him, who eagerly soaked up all the words that this teacher shared as he toured the region.
There were his disciples, whom he was preparing to take on God’s mission.
And there were also the scribes and the Pharisees whom Jesus had consistently criticised for putting such heavy burdens on the folk by their teaching, heavy burdens that they didn’t lift a finger to ease. Telling folk all that they must do and not helping them in any way to see how that might be accomplished.
The crowd, the disciples, the Scribes and Pharisees.
All hearing this teaching that Jesus shared.
And the huge difference in Jesus teaching, from other teachers of the day was that Jesus teaching also provided the means by which the calling he set before us can be lived out.
Jesus presented the teaching and the way.
“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Christ presents us with all we need to live into our calling today.
Just as surely as Abraham was presented with all he needed to perform the task God set him, so we are presented with all we need to respond to God’s call today.
The question is - if God has already given us the kingdom, if the kingdom is here now - and not something that is to come - a long way in the future - why aren’t we seeing more kingdom signs in our world.
Why aren’t we seeing justice done, loved lived out?
I’d suggest that it’s because we don’t really believe that we can experience the kingdom of God today.
We’ve convinced ourselves that the kingdom of God is something for the future, something we can only experience in the future when God deigns to make all right with the world.
In spite of Jesus teaching, in spite of those words in our gospel:
“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
We don’t believe it is something we can really know today.
We still think of God’s kingdom as a future event, unattainable in our time.
And yet Jesus constantly asserted that the kingdom is near.
We simply don’t believe it.
Because believing in the kingdom would demand too much of us.
Believing that we can be part of justice, that we can live in love means we would have to drastically change our way of life.
More than counting our blessings, we’d have to view our blessings as gifts for others - we’d have to see ourselves as blessed to be a blessing, view God’s gifts not as rewards for our faithfulness but as the means by which we see God’s kingdom today, when we share those gifts with others.
Even as believers, we often find ourselves asking: Why, God is there so much suffering in the world?
And God weeps.
Because we already have all that is required to ensure that no one goes hungry, that no one lacks clean water.
We already have all that is needed for all to find shelter, for all to be clothed.
God has given and continues to give us the kingdom so that we can live in peace, sharing with all.
But we have made of that gift a pipe dream for the future... something we pray for.
And God tires of our prayers that are unaccompanied by action.
And let’s hear again those other words of Jesus contained in the text, words that are often misappropriated:
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
How often we interpret that as - Follow you heart, and the rest will fall into place.
And that’s not the message Jesus shares.
Jesus exhorts us to give our treasures - and then we will be invested in what we give away.
Giving away what we have, sharing the gifts we have been given, results in us being invested in seeing that those gifts are put to good use, that they bear fruit.
Do you see how that’s different to us “following our heart?”
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
The task and the outcome is quite different when we follow Jesus teaching.
Of course it is our hope that we will find our passion by following our treasure - but we have to do it that way around - using the gifts we have been given, squandering those gifts, if you like, for God, so that we can find the passion that will follow.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Today we might ask - how are we going to begin to be the answer to the prayers we make in all sincerity and hopefulness?
How can we use our gifts in the service of God, finding passion through our giving?
And -
How can we live in God’s kingdom NOW so that God is unashamed to be called our God?
The unique call of God to each of us today is every bit as challenging as it was to Abraham and Sarah - to leave what we know, what has become comfortable and to step out in faith knowing that the promises of God and the kingdom, present now, are enough.
And that the gifts we have been given are enough.
Enough to sustain and enough to make a difference if we have the faith.
Because faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
May we know God’s grace accompanying us today as we follow God’s call, as we step out and step up in faith.
May we share our gifts, discover our passion and know that, with God, we are enough.
God’s kingdom is here.
For the glory of God
Amen
