+ Have you ever tried to receive communion with
clenched hands and a closed mouth? It can’t be done!
I think it’s easier for a camel to get through the
eye of a needle than for us to receive the gifts of God through clenched teeth,
clenched hands and clenched hearts.
Because, to fully receive the Gifts of God, we must
be open, receptive and willing to let go of everything: our fear, our worry,
our doubt and, as Jesus told the man in today’s Gospel, our possessions.
Everything. Because without open-ness and
willingness, we can't fully receive God; without open-ness and willingness the
Gifts of God will fall to the floor, discarded, unused, and unappreciated.
“Jesus
said, ‘You are lacking one thing. Go, sell what you own, and give the money to
the poor.’”
When the man heard this, when Peter and the rest of
the disciples heard this, when we
hear this, we’re all very sad.
Sad because we think, like the man and the
disciples thought, it means giving up the stuff we like—kind of like giving up
chocolate for Lent—but I don’t think that’s it at all. I think we’re shocked, dismayed,
and sad because of the realization that no matter how much we’ve said we love
Jesus, how much we’ve insisted that we’ve turned our lives over to the care of
God, we really haven’t. Because to completely turn our life over to God, to
completely believe all that Jesus is saying, to be willing to live as God wants
us to live, we must discard all that stands in our way. And frankly, a lot stands
in our way…
But hear me clearly—Jesus isn’t telling us to
become destitute, he’s not saying that having stuff---even being wealthy--- is
BAD, it’s when we allow the stuff of life—our material possessions, our petty
jealousies, our worries, our fears, to get in the way of God’s love for us, as given
to us, through Jesus Christ we’re not living the life God intends for us.
Jesus is
saying, open those hands, unclench those teeth and let me in.
Jesus is telling us that what stands in the way of
our spiritual health, are our attachments. To make his point Jesus references
the material attachments the man had---his stuff--- But if you read more
carefully, what Jesus is suggesting isn’t a pauper’s existence, or a life of
scarcity but rather, a life of richness, abundance, and love. That is, a life
that begins and ends and dwells in God. A life where we remember that all Love
flows from God. That our love of spouse, parents, children, friends, fellow
parishioners all comes from God. Jesus wants us to remember that to fully
receive the love that surpasses all understanding is to be receptive. And to be
receptive, we must be unencumbered, open and willing to receive all
manifestations of God's love available to us. The only way to be in this
receptive stance is to trust God to help us through the worry and the doubt and
the clenched hands and teeth of life in this world.
Which is precisely Jesus’ point.
Those things that close us up and shut us down;
those things that distract us, those things that color all that we do-- the
worries of our lives---these are the things that keep us from entering into the
fullness of God’s Love. When our fear takes center stage, we block out God.
When our worry takes center stage, we block out God, when our fretting takes
center stage we block out God.
God’s love is abundant, it's expansive, it's never
ending and it is available to us, all of us, all the time, no matter what. As
long as we’re open and attentive enough to let God in!
When we live in a constant state of fear, scarcity,
and worry, we can’t receive the gifts, we block all the love that's constantly,
abundantly flowing from God. And then? Then it's easier for a camel to fit
through the eye of a needle then for us to take our rest in the Love that is
God.
Jesus gave us this parable
for the same reason he gives us all the parables: to turn our thinking inside
out and upside down. To make us question everything, to make us confused, to
make us dizzy to cause us to lose our way. And that’s good.
The way of THIS world, more often than not, leads
us to a place of worry, scarcity, and loss, a place of closing and clenching.
While God’s way, the way that seems so illogical,
the Way that at times seems so impossible, the Way that, frankly, at times
seems down right irresponsible is the Only Way.
This week marks the
beginning stewardship campaigns across the church. It's when rectors and
stewardship committees try to come up with just the right catch phrase and
theme to garner the greatest gain. GS' letters went out earlier in the week,
Ascension's are available today. There's no catchy or idyllic theme. Nope, this
year we’re simply focusing on how God's love is manifested to us through our
communities of faith. We're asking folks to consider what it is they love about
Good Shepherd and Ascension and then, out of that stance of Love and gratitude,
to make their commitment to the church for the coming year.
This year is, simply, a
love and gratitude drive. This year we trust that, as a community, we’ll act as
Jesus has taught us: we’ll detach from worry, from doubt, from sadness. This
year we’ll open our hands, unclench our teeth and welcome the crazy Love from
which all other love emanates: God. I believe that if we do this---if we
approach the future of our two faith communities—from a stance of openness and willingness,
from a place of gratitude and love, miracles, like camels sneaking through the
eye of a needle, will occur.
Amen.
Sermon 2:
OK, so this Gospel reading is one of those that creates
groans across all of Christendom. It’s as if the designers of the lectionary
thought, “well October is the month when most churches hold their stewardship
drives, so let’s give ‘em a reading that talks about the evils of wealth.” And
you know what, I’m sure it does sound like that, but that’s really not what
Jesus was saying. As a matter of fact, Jesus just uses the man’s “stuff”—his
possessions-- to make a point about how God’s unending gift of Love, given
repeatedly, freely and abundantly by God will just lie on the ground, unused
and rejected unless we ACCEPT it. Unless we receive it. This reading is about
all of us accepting God’s Love, Receiving God’s grace, opening ourselves up to
all that God offers.
The point Jesus makes is that it’s our stuff—both material
and, more importantly, spiritual, emotional and mental stuff that BLOCKS us
from receiving what God offers us. Jesus is imploring us: let go, release, open
up and LET ME IN.
By presenting ourselves to Jesus, just like the man in today’s
Gospel so that Jesus can grasp us by the shoulders, gaze into our eyes, and
LOVE us. This is what we need, each and everyone of us more than anything else:
to accept, to receive to allow ourselves to be washed over in God’s gracious,
abundant, never ending, no strings attached, Love.
Amen.
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