Wadhams United Church of Christ
2569 County Route 10, Wadhams, NY 12993
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Luke 12:13-21, 33-34
What I’m about to tell you is a heavily guarded secret. Authorities at the highest levels are working night and day to keep this information from leaking out to the general public, so if you are detained and questioned about the source of your information, it would be better for you (and obviously for me) if you developed a case of selective amnesia. While I don’t have any documented scientific research to back my claims, my sources inside the beltway have confirmed that which I have long suspected: people in the television industry are in collusion with the ad agencies and the FCC to control our minds.
It’s true! One group tried to leak this vital information by posing Alec Baldwin as an alien in the guise of a television executive, taunting the watching public to try to do something to stop them from controlling us. I tried once, and look at what happened to me. I know: it’s scary, isn’t it? Here’s my theory on how they do it: the electromagnetic field emanating from the television set subtly changes our brain waves, leaving us much more susceptible to suggestion. Once they have weakened our defenses, they use a mix of subliminal messages and cryptic controls that are scattered through the millions of pixels dancing around on billions of television sets all over the world.
I have long held the opinion that I have a giant television magnet in my head, so that when a television is playing, I have little to no resistance to fight the impulse to turn my head and watch what is playing. Obviously, this new information is far more insidious. Not long ago, I was getting ready to head off to work when “The People’s Court” came on. I was in the middle of tying my shoes at the time, but once the big TV magnet in my head gets activated, it’s hard to turn away without wrenching my neck.
The case the judge was presiding over that day involved some unpaid bills run up by the former boyfriend of the plaintiff, who was suing to be reimbursed for a sizeable cable TV bill that had ballooned up because of the viewing habits of her ex. Unlike some of the other people who show up on these kinds of programs, the plaintiff had paperwork to document her case. So in front of millions of viewers like myself who were now glued to the gripping drama unfolding in front of us, Judge Marilyn Milian began listing the defendant’s pay-per-view cable charges.
The most striking offense came on Thanksgiving Day of the year in question, when the ex-boyfriend viewed no fewer than 19 adult movies on that fateful day. When the camera panned over to him, the defendant was wearing a smile that looked like a cross between a sheepish grin and a smirk. The judge, on her part, was not amused. Instead, she gave him a razor sharp look and asked him, “Sir, do you have any idea what this makes you look like?” I had to leave before his answer, but I don’t really think she was expecting an answer from him. For my part, I’ve never been able to figure out why people would want to go on national television and air their differences out for the world to see. I hope I never find myself in that kind of situation, but I tend to think I would pay up rather than look like a fool in everyone’s eyes.
All of which raises one of the most intriguing questions I’ve pondered in recent months: what did people do for entertainment before these kinds of programs came on the air? You can imagine my shock, then, when I discovered that the concept of having people divulge family secrets in front of large audiences was not invented by modern media moguls. In today’s gospel lesson, I discovered that people were airing their dirty laundry in front of large audiences even in Jesus’ time. If you look back at the first verse in chapter 12 of Luke’s gospel, here’s what you’ll find: Meanwhile, the crowds grew until thousands were milling about and crushing each other.
Slide that together with the opening phrase of our passage: Someone called out from the crowd, “Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father’s estate with me.” So in front of this milling, crushing crowd of thousands of people, some desperate soul risks public humiliation in an effort to shame a family member into sharing the spoils of the family inheritance. Instead of nibbling on the bait, the teacher finds a friendly, good natured way to say, “I’m not touching that one”: Friend, who made me your judge to decide those kinds of things? Instead of being sucked into the deadly vortex of a family squabble, Jesus turns it around to use it as a teachable moment: Be careful! Don’t be greedy for what you don’t have. Real life is not measured by how much we own.
These are great words, but the lesson is incredibly difficult to apply. It’s comparatively easy to see how the greed of others is making them miserable, and to see the solution to their problem. For instance, television has been casting the plight of the rich bankers and other fat cats in very sympathetic tones, so much so that I’ve begun to suspect that they’ve been courting the favor of the FCC. When you see these miserable wretches jetting back and forth to congressional hearings, their agony is oozing out of them, and it’s clear to all of us that what they need to do is pay back all the money they’ve stolen from the pockets of their workers and their stockholders. Apparently that thought hasn’t occurred to them yet.
But when we’re the ones making ourselves miserable by comparing our belongings to those of others, somehow it always seems a lot more complicated. For years, I told God in my pietistic zeal that God could have everything in my life: “all of my belongings are yours; use them as you will.” That was my prayer, and at many levels I truly embraced the theory. It sounded pretty spiritual. The problem began when God took me at my word, and we started having to sell our belongings off just to survive. The inner dialogue changed; it wasn’t quite as spiritual.
“God, this isn’t quite what I had in mind. Since it’s just stuff, why don’t you let us hang on to it for a while. We’ll watch it for you.” Meanwhile, I had to stop driving through certain kinds of neighborhoods, because I got so jealous of their showcase homes, or their upscale electronics, or their jazzy luxury cars with all the accessories. The same was true of driving along the coast or lake’s edge. I used to dream of owning a place like that some day. Now I just get angry that other people are making so much more money than I am that they can afford these second and third homes. For years now, I’ve had to forcibly change the inner dialogue so I can stop making myself so miserable: Be careful, Steve! Don’t be greedy for what you don’t have. Real life is not measured by how much you own or don’t own.
Even though those words make a lot of sense, and they seem especially sensible when we’ve got a lot of stuff to make us comfortable in life, the peace they’re intended to give can still be elusive. My mission trip to Philadelphia with a group of college students a few years ago made these words come alive in powerful and unexpected ways. I’ve often heard missionaries talk about the gratitude and spirituality of the poor, but I never had much first-hand experience with the truly impoverished. One night, we went out on the streets to hand out bag lunches, blankets, and devotional booklets with a woman whose ministry focuses on the homeless. She encouraged us to get right down on the sidewalk and strike up a conversation with the people on the street. “Remember, they’re human beings, too,” she told us, “and they appreciate the human touch of a conversation or a hand on the shoulder.”
I was amazed by the sincere gratitude people expressed when we offered them something as simple as a hastily made sandwich or an extra blanket on a chilly night. A couple of students spent more than half an hour inside the tent of one group. They listened as one of the homeless men talked about his wife being in a hospital, being treated for cancer, and how they prayed together to ask God to help his wife. They were stunned by the depth of this man’s simple beliefs, and they couldn’t get over how thankful he was that they had taken the time to listen to him in a time of need. These folks, pushed to the very brink of survival, were living proof of Jesus’ challenging words: Real life is not measured by how much we own. They owned nothing more than what they could carry in a bag or push around in a grocery cart, and they were more vitally connected to God than I’ve ever been. And I had to push myself to go out to meet them.
Jesus went on to illustrate his point by telling a story that emphasized how tenuous our existence really is, even when we think we’ve got it made. It reminded me of life in the upscale suburbs, where people keep trading up with their homes, because they need to have bigger places to keep all their stuff. I remember visiting the home of a couple that seemed like a lavish mansion compared to the 900 square foot apartment we were living in at the time. Their master bedroom suite was bigger than our entire apartment, and their walk-in closet was bigger than our whole bedroom. I was speechless several months later when they talked about the new place they had moved into: “Yeah, the old place was getting too cramped. We wanted something bigger so we could spread out a little.” As hard as I tried, I just couldn’t feel their pain in being so cramped.
As a counselor and as a parent, I learned that just saying “no” to a troubling urge or impulse is usually inadequate: you have to provide a substitute thought or activity, or the original behavior will soon come back, bigger and stronger than ever before. The Teacher doesn’t provide an antidote for our poisonous greed in the immediate context. He starts it in verse 21: Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God. Developing a rich relationship with God is the substitute, but we have to look a little further down in verse 33 to find out what that means. I have to warn you, though, it’s a radical thought: Sell what you have and give to those in need. This will store up treasure for you in heaven… Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will be also.
Being made to look foolish in front of large groups of people may be a popular pastime for some, especially when they get their check for appearing on such a program, but looking at the Teacher’s solution to our greed from our worldly-wise approach to modern financing, his advice seems counter-intuitive. We may never get caught doing something as stupid as watching 19 adult movies on a holiday, but isn’t it just as foolish to sell our stuff so we can be generous toward the needy? Jesus said it himself: “you’re always going to have poor people around.”
Maybe it is a fool’s folly to follow in Jesus’ footsteps, but here’s the thing: we can’t harvest heaven’s treasures if we’re only ever looking out for ourselves. We can’t harvest God’s future for us or for our church if all we ever sow are the seeds of selfishness. In order to see heaven on earth, we have to wrench our gaze away from the craziness of this world and forcibly focus on a God who doesn’t think the way we do. If we want to see God’s enterprise thrive in our lives, we have to be willing to part with some of our stuff so that God can provide a human touch in the lives of people living with inhumane conditions.
Welcome, Announcements, Joys and Concerns
A Candle for Peace NC #575 (vs 3)
Call to Worship
Leader: God of mystery, calm our minds and quiet our souls as we come together in your presence.
People: Return us to that quiet center, where trust resides and worries fade away.
Leader: Guide us in this time, so that we may know your plans for us. Give us the faith to do your work.
People: Grant us your peace, that we might understand what is important and follow your call.
Leader: Open our ears, O God, to hear your voice. Open our lives, to feel your healing touch.
People: Open our hearts, that we may hear your word. May your word live within us and inspire us as we journey toward your future for us.
Hymn NC #275 Come Now, Almighty God
Responsive Prayer
Leader: God of blessing, you call us to venture into the unknown and trust that you know the way.
People: We are sometimes afraid, or reluctant to answer you, or hesitant to take the risks.
Leader: Give us faith to overcome our fears. Remind us of your power to sustain us when we are weak.
People: Jesus, come to us now, we need you. Heal what is broken and bring us back to life.
Leader: In the Gospel stories, it was touch that healed: someone touching you, or your touch in someone’s life. It is your touch that changes us.
People: It is your touch that makes us strong again. Draw near, that we may reach for you. Touch the tender places of our lives, that we might grow strong.
Leader: Heal our despair, our fear, our lack of trust, that we might follow you with hope.
People: When we are afraid to answer your call, give us faith and courage.
Leader: When we feel life seeping from us, draw near that we may experience anew your life-giving touch.
People: When we feel dead and unable to respond, touch and fill our lives with your renewing love.
Leader: When we are filled with doubts or lost in despair, may we feel your reassuring touch.
People: When we feel cut off from your love or left in the lurch, may your loving touch reconnect us.
Leader: May we live in the midst of your blessings, ever rejoicing in your love and sharing that love with those in need.
Pastoral Prayer, Lords Prayer
Hymn NC #290 Spirit of God
Psalm 105:1-8, Ezekiel 36:24-36, Luke 12:13-21
Sermon A Fool’s Folly
Offering, Doxology, Dedication
Hymn NC #438 When Peace Like a River
Benediction
Leader: God has not given us a spirit of slavery to fear, but a spirit of strength and love.
People: Touch us with your Holy Spirit. Let your Spirit renew us, nourish us, strengthen us, guide us and intercede for us.
Leader: As redeemed children of God, go forth with confidence to love God and serve your neighbor. Go in God’s peace.
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