Today’s sermon is about a bag and five guys. Just wanted to let you know.
So, what did we hear from the scripture lessons that we can fill the sermon time with? These are all familiar passages, and they seem to be pointing to a common theme.
We know from the OT passage that for the past several weeks Jeremiah has been the OT reading, and as Mike has mentioned that it is not a very happy time for the Israelites. The Golden Age of Israel under King David has come to an end. Solomon his son came next, and things started going down for Israel and up for the surrounding countries, especially the Babylonians. VS 32:2 It says: “the army of the king of Babylon was then besieging Jerusalem”.
And what does Jeremiah do? He buys some land. In an economic down turn – a time when the stock in Judah must be going south fast, the wolf is at the door, the Babylonians are in Jerusalem, and this guy is dealing in real estate.
Why? Because Jeremiah has a faith, a faith in verse 15: “For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: houses , fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.
For Jeremiah that faith is all he needed. To Jeremiah it the national ruler could be the king of Judah, the King of Babylon, the Wig Party or the Tories – his faith was not in the White House. His faith is in the future, that God will still be in control regardless of what is going on around him.
I Tim 6:6-19
And then there is our NT reading, Paul’s instructions to Timothy. Did you hear these words of Paul? Some often quoted thoughts here such as: For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it --- and (10) For the love of money is the root of all evil.
And then to our Gospel lesson, Luke 16:19-31. Here we have one of Jesus best known parables. What is it called? The Rich Man and Lazarus. Every bible with headings probably titles it this way. They are two main characters here. The rich man dressed in purple and fine linen living in luxury. Lazarus, the poor beggar who lived just outside the gated community. He waited day after day for the garbage truck to leave the high scale neighborhood. Maybe there would be some good things drop off as the truck made that turn onto the highway.
And then they are in the afterlife. The rich man buried in hell. Lazarus is in the bosom of Abraham.
And the teaching? Abraham says to the rich man: Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted. You are in agony.
The lesson? Today, these passages are being used around the world by preachers who use the lectionary scripture readings week after week. A couple of days ago I received the weekly church news note from the Bukit Doa International Church in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia. This is one of two English Language Congregations that Hiroko and I are involved in when in Indonesia. Another retired pastor and friend, Dan Bruch is the current pastors at Bukit Doa. Concerning today’s Gospel lesson Dan wrote:
“Have you ever looked for yourself in this parable? In the parable, Lazarus and the rich man have lived out their earthly lives and gone to the life beyond death, but the five younger brothers are on this side of death. Consequently we are where they are. We are in the same place. The characters of the rich man and Lazarus are important to us, and we can learn from them, but the point of the parable is most powerfully made in our lives when we see ourselves in relationship to the five brothers. We share a common ground”
See his point? We can listen and consider the Rich Man and Lazarus, but they are not where we are – or we are not where they are. They are in an afterlife, one in hell, one in the bosom of Abraham. But the other ones in the parable that we forget about are the Rich Man’s five brothers. They are where we are today. They are among the living, the living of this world – like you and I. And the Rich Man wants to send Lazarus back from the dead to warn them of their rich and calloused ways of treating the poor.
Abraham’s answer is, they have Moses and the Prophets – if they will not listen to them, then they will not listen to someone returning from the dead.
See Dan’s point? We are one of the five brothers - we know and live a life on this earth. And Jesus answer for the five brothers is the same answer for you and me – we who are among the living of a earthly life of four score and ten or twenty.
And the answer Jesus leaves us, and the five brothers with; – “Listen to Moses and Prophets.”
And we have the benefit of one who has returned from the dead, Jesus the Resurrected Christ. So what do we do? What can we learn from Moses, the Prophets, the Resurrected Jesus and these scripture lessons that are for our study and sermonizing?
Maybe the answer is in the bag!? This is a bag that Clarksbury UM has distributed in our community this past week. We are to fill it with food items and leave it for pick up today. Then it will be distributed in their food bank this coming Saturday. The instructions are on the bag. There is an article in this past week’s Sentinel giving the same information.
Last night Hiroko and I stopped by Wal-Mart to buy a few extra things for the bag.
And it occurred to me that in our choices of things for the bag we had different visions of how to do it. I looked for the boxes of Macaroni & Cheese. Great Value brand, 50 cents a box. For four dollars I can get eight boxes – that is half a bag full. Right?
Hiroko starts picking up Hormel Roast Beef & Gravy in little cans. $4.18 a can!
$4.18 a can? Eight cans, quick math, 8 x $4 equals $32!
I suggest to Hiroko that my math works out better – half a bag for $4 as opposed to $30. Her response is’ “well people without much money can buy the Macaroni & Cheese, but they can’t afford the much better and tasty canned Roast Beef and Gravy”.
I am interested in filling the bag and getting what I consider a good value on my dollar. She is interested in filling the bag and given someone a better meal than they might have otherwise. Both will help a hungry person, or a hungry family.
Who is right? We have Moses and the Prophets and even the Resurrected Jesus for guidance on this. We are the living brothers of the parable living out our faith on this side of the grave.
How are we going to fill the bag? Marconi & Cheese or some of the good stuff?
And the parable doesn’t stop with this shopping bag – it starts with the shopping bag. It starts with serving those close by, with the Clarksbury Bag, with the Cryer Center, HANDS, HFH and other community bags.
The bag includes own congregation, for this is the vehicle that comes together once a week for worship, to share God’s word and Jesus’ table. But it is a vehicle, an instrument of God, the Body of Christ in our midst. And there is another bag. Called an offering envelope. How are you to fill it? How comes our budget is 10 or 20 thousand behind? Have we forgotten the bag? $1000 a piece today from ten or twenty people here would bring us up to date.
The bag includes the work we do together as Disciple Churches. There are a number of things we do better joined together as a Region. One is the Craig Springs camping program – for our own youth and a special camp for the Lazarus’s children in our Commonwealth. How are we going to deal with that bag?
And the bag goes around the world with the Body of Christ that we are a part of – how do you and I and the Rich Man’s brothers deal with that bag? The bag includes Global Missions.
There was an article in Thursday’s Daily Press about Global Poverty. Did you know that the international poverty level is $1.25 per day? Internationally, around the world, anyone who makes less than $1.25 is considered to be in poverty.
The map goes from 5.3 % for the Commonwealth of Independent States (much of the old USSR) to 50.9% for Sub-Saharan Africa.
As residents of North America we set on a piece of the wealthiest real estate in God’s entire creation. More water, good soil, climate, natural resources, mineral deposits etc. per capita than anyplace else in the world. We have fish in the sea and cows in the pastures. In the Parable as residents of the North American Continent we are the ones wearing the purple robes and the linen garments.
What do we do with that bag?
May we mix in a little of Jeremiah’s faith - a faith that God is ultimately in charge. Jeremiah’s faith is steadfast even when the Babylonians are burning Jerusalem. Even when land prices are going south – it is okay to believe that God is in ultimate control.
So – there we have the same challenges as the five brothers. We are to hear God’s word and put our priorities in order.
And – don’t forget the bag!
Amen.
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