Pentecost 11C

Luke 12:32-40

August 7/8, 2010

            “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” 

            The request smacks of a sense of entitlement, a desire to get the good stuff, a wish to profit at the expense of someone’s life.  And in first century Palestine, the mind set of the day was that there was only so much wealth to be had.  In order for me to gain wealth one of you must lose out.  So, when a death occurred, and wealth was redistributed, at least it wasn’t at the expense of a living human being. 

            This was probably this man’s one chance at increasing the value of his assets and he didn’t want to be robbed of a single penny.  How many of us have been there?  Grandma has died, there’s only one heirloom quilt, four children and sixteen grandchildren.  And we all start vying for position.  Or grandpa has died and he only made three cabinets.  Which of the five children receives one?  Or Mom and Dad are both gone and they left a rather large estate.  Who gets the biggest share?  The eldest?  The one with the most debt?  The one with the most children?  The one who did the most nursing through the parent’s illness? 

            We all have our ideas of what is fair and just.  We argue them in our homes, in the public arena, in our courts and in our politics.  And so much of it is based on that first century view that if someone else gets ahead in the world, gets an unearned shot at a new life, we just might lose something. 

            Our inner city schools are in desperate need of more funding.  Teachers work with meager resources to nurture, care for and even teach when they are able, at risk children.  Pay higher taxes in order to fund these schools?  “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.”  I want my fair share, even if someone else has to do without.

            There are illegal immigrants coming over our borders, searching for a sustainable income, a chance for their children to succeed, a way to provide for families back home.  We argue that our inheritance is being taken from us.  We argue that we will somehow lose out if we provide education and health care to the most marginalized of society.  “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.”  I want my fair share, even if someone else goes without.

            Times haven’t really changed. 

            Jesus answers the man with a magnificent, beautiful complex series of statements.  In good lectionary fashion, we have hacked Jesus words to pieces and only hear them in part.  In doing so, we miss the wonder of God’s kingdom, the gift of grace presented to us and our call to respond out of gratitude and mercy.  Let me paraphrase for you Jesus answer to our age old demand, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” 

            Jesus said, “Be careful, friend, lest you forget that you have a brother.  Be careful that things don’t rule and ruin your life. 

            “Once there was a man who planted crops.  Through no efforts of his own, the sun shone, the rains came and the lands produced abundantly.  It was a bumper crop year for him.  And so, in good business fashion he decided to store up the grain for a more profitable year.  But not only did he store up his grain.  He tore down all his barns.  He built bigger barns.  Over the years he had accumulated so much wealth that he was shoving all his stuff into the barns.  He was so isolated from the world that the only person he had to talk to was himself.  And he was quite generous with the praise of his “self.”  He was ready to kick back, relax and enjoy the good, albeit lonely, life. 

            “But that night God demanded his life from him.  And with no family, with no heirs, with no friends, who was going to claim all of the stuff? 

            “So, friends, stop worrying about the things of life.  Don’t worry about what you’re going to eat, or wear or how many goods you can accumulate.  God will provide for you.  God will meet all that you need.  Just look around you.  The birds don’t gather goods into barns, they don’t plant or figure or plot for the future and God gives them everything they need to survive.  And you, you are of so much more value in the sight of God than the birds.

            “Or look at the flowers.  They grow and bloom and are absolutely gorgeous without dying cloth or spinning fibers.  No queen in Solomon’s court can compare to the beauty that God bestows on the lowly field flower which thrives for a day and then withers.  So, stop worrying.  For your worrying isn’t going to add one thing to your life, not one day, not one instance of pure pleasure, nothing!  God is giving you everything you need.

            “Don’t be afraid, friends.  God isn’t giving to you out of a sense of obligation.  Since the first day of creation it has delighted God to be generous to you.  God wants nothing more than to give you the kingdom.  Heck, you could sell everything you have, give away all your possessions and because of God’s generosity, you would have plenty.  For the blessings that come from God cannot be stolen from you. 

            “Let me tell you how God works, over and against our expectations of justice in this world:  We are like servants, expectantly awaiting our master’s return.  As good servants of a benevolent master we are alert and ready to wait on him hand and foot.  The minute he comes through the door, we’re going to pounce into action!!

            “And yet when he comes through the door, he hangs up his own coat, tells you to take a seat, hikes up his pants and starts rattling the pots and pans.  And the meal he provides for you—woohoo—it’s the best and finest you’ve ever had.  He washes your feet, sets the plates before you and sits back delighted to perform such an act for you. 

            “Really.  It’s not doom and gloom when he shows up.  It’s joy and laughter.  How could you not want to be ready for that?  How could you start taking advantage of one another in his absence?  How could you start thinking that you are in control of anything?  You are a servant of the master. A servant whose master gives his life in service to you.

            “Your master wishes to provide for you.  It is your call and duty to provide for others.  Why?  Because you have so much.  And God has so very many more blessings and delights to give you.  They will never run out.  You can share them and share them and share them and you will still have enough.  And so will everyone else.  As God is generous to you, so you are to be generous to others.”

            This weekend, friends, we are asked to share our inheritance again.  We welcome Anabelle Keenan into our fellowship of faith.  We welcome her as a child of the heavenly father, an inheritor of eternal life.  Because Anabelle shares our inheritance, we lose nothing.  In fact, with her, the kingdom of God become bigger, broader, full of more possibilities and hope.  And our fellowship becomes richer, fuller, new horizons open before us because we in turn now inherit her gifts for ministry.

            In response to this amazing gift with which God has blessed us, we in turn are called to care for her, to assist her mother in raising her.  For Katie has before her an awesome task.  As a mother, she will provide for her children, she will take them for shots, see that they get to school, help with their homework, housebreak their puppy some day, prepare their meals, and the list goes on.  On top of that, today she has promised to raise them in the faith.  She will place in their hands the scriptures and read it with them, she will teach them the creeds, the Lord’s Prayer, and bring them to the Lord’s house.  It’s a huge undertaking.  She needs the community to support and sustain her.

            It is not our call to sit back and grin, remembering “those days.”  It is not our task to think, “I raised my kids, I’m done.”  Rather, God who has been generous with us invites us to surround yet another saint with the blessings of the community.  To hike up our pants and chase Anabelle’s brother as he bolts for the door, put the burp rag over our shoulder and cuddle this little bundle of joy; to give this Mom a hand teaching, training, loving and nurturing our little brother and sister in Christ. 

            For they have been given to us, entrusted to us and much is expected of us as we work together as servants of a generous and merciful master who gives us every good thing.  Amen