The Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

August 12, 2007

Preached at Providence Lutheran Church, Holland, O.

by Pastor Dennis R. King

"Do You See Him!"

Luke 12:32-40

The Grace and Mercy of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, be with You All. Amen

Do you see Jesus working in your life? The head of one of Great Britain’s most successful financial institutions did something unusual and totally out of character for her. She had worked hard all her life and at a young age had worked her way to the top. But one day she did something she had never done before. She slept in. She doesn’t know why. She just made a conscious decision to sleep in that day. Something she had never done before or since. But on that day she slept in and was late getting into her office. That day was 9-11 and her office was on one of the upper floors of the World Trade Center. She claims no favor from God. While she feels it a miracle of God that she will never quite understand. Her life has been changed forever. She has learned that in the midst of personal success, there are many other things that are far more important. She says she is different now. She is more aware of the need to appreciate every day and make the most of it. She is more aware of nurturing friendships. More aware of what needs protection in our world. More aware of Jesus presence in her life and what He see as valuable.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus warns His disciples to be dressed for action and have (their) lamps lit; (to) be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks.” Jesus then concludes with this warning, ‘You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

Over the centuries this warming has been interpreted to mean that true Christians are supposed to be prepared at every moment of their lives for the end of the world, when the entire planet is surrounded by a great flash of light and Jesus himself descends on a cloud to judge every human being. Often this warning was used as a way of making Christians nervous and edgy, as a way of scaring them into being good.

Even today, there are whole churches and denominations that are driven by the fear of that singular great day. You still see bumper stickers that say WARNING: IN CASE OF RAPTURE THIS VEHICLE WILL BE UNOCCUPIED.

Isn’t it possible that, by waiting for some obvious appearance of the Lord, you can miss the His appearances along the way? Isn’t it possible to look so hard for Jesus in Heaven that you miss Him on earth?

One of the great Lutheran doctrines is that by the help of the Holy Spirit, the Bible interprets itself. What that means is that you let other parts of scripture inform you about the meaning of the particular passage you are studying. In the case of today’s Gospel, Jesus urges us to be prepared for His sudden and unexpected coming. Elsewhere, in St. Matthew’s account of the Gospel, Jesus tells a story of the Last Judgment in which people, who had spent their entire lifetime being good and waiting for Him, actually missed Him when He appeared to them in their needy brothers and sisters. These fine religious people were so busy waiting for the Lord that they failed to see Him in their neighbors who were hungry, and thirsty, and unsheltered, and falsely imprisoned, and alienated from friends and family.

If you look at today’s Gospel in light of this passage from Matthew, and I believe you must, then it is obvious that the preparedness Jesus speaks about is preparedness for the possibility of His coming to us through every one of our neighbors. That means we must be alert not only for the great cosmic show that will illuminate the world on that one future day when Christ becomes obvious to everyone. We must be alert to all those times when Christ’s presence occurs here and now. We must be alert to all the opportunities given us every day to love Christ by loving our neighbor, to welcome Christ by welcoming our neighbor, to serve Christ by serving our neighbor.

And you need not be afraid to do just that. Jesus says in today’s Gospel that “it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” And what is this kingdom that God the Father gives us? It is the kingdom of eternal companionship with His Son, Jesus Christ. It is the kingdom of Heaven on earth, where caring for your neighbors is caring for Christ, where using up your time, energy, talent, and treasure is an investment in eternity, where giving your life away results in having life more fully than you could every have imagined you would have it.

Near Ohio State University there used to be a tiny restaurant called Ptomaine Ptommy’s. A sign in the window said in big letters, “Seating Capacity: 3000.” And then, in small print underneath, it said, “35 at a time.”

Faithful discipleship has to do with capacity, not just with quantity alone. It has to do with our capacity for receiving all the gifts God gives us and then passing those gifts along to others. Our worth in the kingdom of God is not measured by what we have accumulated, but by what we have passed along to others. The paradox of Christian discipleship is that the more we give away, the more God provides for us to give.

Once I saw a news clip on the delivery of food to the people starving in Somalia. Trucks were being unloaded and food was being passed along a line of people from one person to the next, like the old bucket brigade, until it ended up in a pile from which it could be distributed. As each person in the line received a package of food and then turned and gave it to the next person, I marveled over the fact that everyone in the line was fully committed to getting the food delivered to its ultimate destination, where it could be given to the hungry who were waiting for it.

But what would have happened if one person in the line had decided not to pass along the food packages, but had simply kept them for himself? The mission would not have been accomplished. The food would not have gotten where it was most needed. The mission in that moment went forward, simply because a whole bunch of people kept receiving and giving, receiving, and giving, receiving and giving.

So it is with the church and with all who would follow Christ. We are alert to Christ’s presence in the neighbors around us, and we are ready to give to others what God has given us. We support the mission of God in history by receiving and giving, so that all of our brothers and sisters I whom Christ dwells may have fullness of life.

Now, one thing more. In the Gospel for today, Jesus describes what happens when the servants welcome their master home from the wedding banquet. He says. “Blessed are those whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, He will fasten His belt and have them sit down to eat, and He will come and serve them!” Just picture it! The servants are waiting for their master to return so they can serve him, but upon his arrival, he reverses the roles and serves them!

That is exactly what happens to us in the Sacrament of Holy Communion. We serve Christ in our worship through hymns and scriptures and prayers, and then we welcome Him in communion often with the words of the Sanctus, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”

And just then the mysterious reversal happens. Christ, whom we are prepared to serve, suddenly invites us to be served by Him. It is strange turn of events, that our Master becomes our Servant. Only those who are present and alert are able to receive the incredible but paradoxical blessedness that Christ gives us in this sacramental reversal of roles.

But that is what Holy Communion is. It is a foretaste of the feast to come. It is a brief glimpse of the treasure in Heaven, which is laid up for all who dare to see Christ in their neighbor here and now, and who dare to give to their neighbor, in word and deed, the love God has given them through His Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.