The Rev. Carol S Wedell

Today is your lucky day!  You may not have known it, but just by showing up today you are a winner!  Each of you will receive a free gift - just for you.  There are no forms to fill out, no ticket to purchase.  You didn't even have to answer the phone or respond to any questions.  You personally, have been selected.

Sound too good to be true?  Listening for the "catch?"  Ready to "hang up" on the preacher?  After all, there is no such thing as a "free lunch" - right? 

We all wish for it, though, don't we?  If you could wave a magic wand right now, what gift would you ask for?  Winning the lottery?  A new car?  A new job?  A trip to some wonderful tropical place? (or maybe these days, a trip to a nice cool location?)

To be sure, we all know that the best gifts aren't ones that money can buy.   Perhaps some of us would wish instead for happy children or good health or strong relationships.  We are wise enough to know that we miss the concept of "gift" if we limit it to money or material items.  One of the most touching "gifts" I received surrounding my surgery was the gift of time - sitting with me in the hospital, weeding my garden, taking me to appointments, preparing meals or  calling me on the phone.

In Luke's gospel this morning, we are told about the special gift that's available to us.  Jesus says, "It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."  God's new world - God's free gift to us.  No advanced payment.  There aren't any "entrance requirements" that have to be met.  The gift is ours, if we are ready receive it.

Often, being ready to receive a gift implies a willingness to take on the responsibilities that come with the gift.  When I received the piano from the home in which I had grown up, I knew that meant that I would have to care for it:  move it with special care, see that it was tuned and kept clean.  If you have received a generous gift of money, most of us would feel obligated to put it to good use.  Every child who has ever received a pet has undoubtedly heard some variation of "you'll need to take good care of him (her)."

What's the best gift you have ever been given? For many of us the gift of our children would head the list.  Think about the excitement that precedes the birth of a child.  I'm guessing that many of us can remember the kind of euphoria that occurs after the pain of childbirth has dissipated. 

Yet what if someone showed up in the hospital and said, "You now have the gift of a child.  Oh and by the way, you'll also lose more sleep than you can imagine, learn why parents of adolescents have a very active prayer life, and spend tens of thousands of dollars on diapers, clothes, food and education.  To top it all off, there may be times when your child wants absolutely nothing to do with you!"  Most new parents do NOT want that kind of reality test!  The responsibility of parenting a newborn is enough in itself.  When parents of teenagers would share "horror" stories with parents of young ones, one of my clergy friends used to say, "that's why God gives us newborns - so we can grow with them!"

Jesus is talking with his worried and anxious disciples.  Prior to the verses we heard read this morning, he has reminded them of God's unfailing care.  He continues with the same assurance, acknowledging the real fear and anxiety which accompany so many of them.  "Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."  An incredible gift, to be sure - a new world, a new realm, where God's agenda, God's love has domain. 

But this gift, this realm also comes with responsibilities.  We have to be ready to receive it.  And this is where it gets a bit tricky.  Not tricky, actually - just tough.  What sounded like good news pretty quickly begins to sound like bad news to most of us.  "Sell your possessions."  Can you imagine the giant rummage sale we could have?!!! "Give to those in need."

Now you may think that I've pulled a fast one on you and snuck in a stewardship sermon right in the middle of summer.  Let's just say that it snuck itself in on all of us!  Here's one of the reasons I appreciate the lectionary. Although I am not bound to it, it often challenges me with topics I would rather avoid. Friends, I wouldn't have gone looking for this passage. It is every bit as difficult for me as it is for you. 

I think God must have a terrific sense of humor, as this has been my annual "August anxiety about money" week!  I was not really wanting to hear about giving it all away.  As the DOW tumbled this week, I would guess that more than a few of you felt your anxiety rise.  Sell your possessions?  Jesus must be crazy!

But remember the context.  Jesus begins by saying, yet again, "do not be afraid."  He gets that you and I do fret about paying our bills or taking care of our loved ones. He also understands that our attachment to our money and possessions may prevent us from receiving the gift that we are being offered. 

To be a faithful disciple of Jesus has implications for how we spend our money, our time, our lives.  To be good "stewards" of what God has entrusted to us is a much broader topic than simply responding to an annual pledge campaign.   In fact, Jesus spent a lot of time talking about our relationship with our money and "stuff."  Much more time than he spent talking about current "hot-button" issues!   He knew that our attachment to material goods was a significant barrier to our receiving the marvelous gift he longs to give us.

Comedian George Carlin puts it this way:  "That's all your house is-a place to keep your stuff. If you didn't have so much stuff, you wouldn't need a house. You could just walk around all the time. A house is just a pile of stuff with a cover on it, and when you leave your house, you've got to lock it up. You wouldn't want somebody to come by and take some of your stuff. That's what your house is-a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get more stuff. Sometimes you've got to move-got to get a bigger house. Why? No room for your stuff anymore."

To be sure, many, if not all of us have dealt with an accumulation of "stuff."  I remember years ago when good friends were moving across the country.  As a group of friends gathered to help them empty and pack up their very large Cleveland Heights home we were astounded by the amount of "stuff" they had collected.  It truly was overwhelming. Somehow, it is easier to see with other folks, isn't it?   Many of us left making sweeping statements that we would go home and promptly clean out our basements or attics.  Promises, promises!

The problem isn't the stuff itself.  The problem is our inability to let go of it, to see it for what it is - just stuff. The problem is that it gets in the way of other things.  My kids have been cleaning out their rooms this summer and have "found" all kinds of things they thought were lost!   Amazing what gets buried - what gets lost when our "stuff' is out of control.

Have you ever walked into a room and been overwhelmed by how much "stuff" was there?  There is a reason why realtors tell you to "clear out the clutter" before placing a house on the market.  You can see a house better when it isn't packed to the brim.  You can get down to what's really important.

God is offering us a priceless gift - a life lived without anxiety - a life in which we see the world as God would have it be - a life lived with hope and joy - a life lived in service to others -- but our hands have to be open to receive it.  What are you holding on to so tightly that you can't let go of?  Sadly, as Jesus knew all too well, many of us are hanging on to an illusion that having more "stuff" is what will satisfy the hunger deep within, what will make us feel safe and secure.  So out of love for us, he says, "sell your possessions."

Whether or not we take that literally, as in "give all your stuff away," there is no missing the point - don't let your stuff rule your life.  Why?  Because, "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  The minister I worked with right out of college suggested looking in your checkbook and seeing where the money went.  That, he said, was a good indicator of what was most important to us.  I've heard it said that every financial decision was a spiritual decision.  On what basis do we make financial choices?

This isn't just true for adults, but for kids and youth, as well.  Even if you don't have a checkbook, even if you have very little of your own money to spend, you are as easily sucked in by a culture that tells you that happiness is in the next thing you buy as anyone else.  When we think a new "Wii" or the latest cell phone, the hottest clothes or video game will make us happy, we're setting ourselves up for disappointment.  Adults, just substitute grown up "toys" and you can see we are all in this together.

I used to think that if I just got my heart in the right place it would be easy to part with the money I so value.  But I think that is backwards.  I don't think that's what Jesus is saying.  I think he's saying, "give your stuff away, give your money to those who need it, help build the kind of world I've been talking about and your heart will follow."  If we wait for our heart to lead, we may wait a very long time.  And our hands will never be open to receive what God wants to give us.

An interesting thing happens when you give generously to something or someone.  Have you noticed?  When you give a lot - whether time or money - you truly "invest" in that person or place.  You care about what happens.   If you give a lot of money to a school, you want to know what's happening there.  If you spend a lot of time working on behalf of a group, you want that group to succeed.  It is like it is a part of you - in the best sense. You guessed it - your heart is there.  "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Great gifts include great responsibilities.  But what parent would pass up the responsibilities of raising a child for the joy it can bring?  The gift God offers us is more valuable still:  knowing that we are loved no matter what the status of our bank account,  no matter how young or old we may be, no matter what others think about us, or what we may think about ourselves, no matter how frightened or overwhelmed we might be, knowing that we are invited to be a part of God's realm.  That's treasure that can't be purchased - only received.  That's the gift of freedom from being held captive to those things which simply can't last or ultimately satisfy.

Where's your treasure this morning?  Where's your heart?