A Sermon for 11 August 2019

A reading from the gospel of Luke 12:22-34. In this continuation from the gospel reading assigned by the lectionary to last week, listen for God’s word to us.

“Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. ²³ For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. ²⁴ Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! ²⁵ And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? ²⁶ If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? ²⁷ Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. ²⁸ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will God clothe you—you of little faith! ²⁹ And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. ³⁰ For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. ³¹ Instead, strive for God’s kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. ³² “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. ³³ Sell your possessions and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. ³⁴ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

This is the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.

Perhaps you are familiar with a story recorded in the book called First Things First. It goes like this: One day, a time management expert was speaking to a group of business students and, to drive home a point, he used an unforgettable illustration. As the man stood in front of the group of high-powered overachievers, he said: “Okay, time for a quiz.” Then, he pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed Mason jar and set it on a table in front of him. The man produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, “Is this jar full?” Everyone in the class said, “Yes.” Then he said, “Really?” He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Dumping some gravel in the jar, he shook it causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks. He asked the group once more, “Is the jar full?” By this time, the class was hesitant. “Probably not?” one of them answered. The man replied: “Good!” Next, he reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping in the sand and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, “Is this jar full” “No!” the class shouted. “Good!” the man said. He grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. The time management expert looked at the class and asked, “What is the point of this illustration?” A student raised his hand and said, “The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard, you always can fit more into it!” The time management expert replied: “No. That is NOT the point. The truth this illustration teaches is: if you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all.” The author of the book where this story is recorded goes on to ask: “What are the big rocks in your life? . . . A project that you want to accomplish? Time with your loved ones? Your faith, your education, your finances? A cause? Teaching or mentoring others? . . . Remember to put the BIG ROCKS in first or you’ll never get them in at all.” (First Things First, Stephen Covey, 2002; http://www.worklifecoach.com/Big_Rocks.pdf).

What are the big rocks of your life? If I were to stop right now to give you a few moments of quiet, what would you list as your big rocks? What are the things that are most important to you? The things you want to put in first in your life, whether you’re doing so right now or not, because they are the most significant things to you. Go ahead: take a few moments right now to list your big rocks – the 3-5 things that are most important to you. You won’t have to show them to anyone else. You don’t even have to put them in priority order. You can think about them in your mind or literally list them somewhere right now.

(SILENCE)

There’s another story about an old recipe for cooking a rabbit. The instructions read: “First, catch the rabbit.” First, put the first things first. The big rocks. It is written that: “That’s what we do when we establish priorities – we put the things that should be in first place in their proper order” (http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/p/priorities.htm).

Big rocks – priorities. The things that should be in first place in their proper order.

That’s what Jesus is talking about in the section of the gospel of Luke we heard this morning and the section from last week that precedes it. After telling the parable about a fool of a man whose biggest rocks are himself and his abundant possessions – the rich man who executes the most ridiculous plan by tearing down his FULL storage barns to build bigger ones, for him to keep more stuff for himself. After telling that parable, Jesus jumps into a teaching about what not to put as biggest rocks. “Do not to worry about your life,” Jesus is recorded as saying. “Don’t make your biggest rocks what you will eat or what you will wear” (Luke 12:22 paraphrase). Even if everybody else around us does it, Jesus charges us NOT to make our biggest rocks the kinds of things that give physical security. He lifts up the beauty of the world around us. Birds that neither sow nor reap but always find enough. Lilies of the field. Wild flowers that grow without toil. Without constant effort. It’s a reminder that God knows our needs. The question is, do we?

Do we know the God-sized hole in us nothing but God can fill? Do we realize that the big rocks for followers of Christ have to include things like daily time connecting with God, the constant who always is present. We need priorities around things like prayer, the reading of scripture and creation and all of life to hear God speaking to us through it all. Conversation with others about our faith and what God seems to be up to in our lives. Thought about who God really is to us each day, and why we love the One creating, redeeming, and sustaining our lives every day more and more. If we don’t have enough time because of the hustle and bustle of children or aging parents or demanding jobs, maybe it’s time to figure out a new way to integrate God in somehow with the other priorities that mean so much. I mean, children are naturals at wonder – ask any parent of a two or three-year-old. All they want to know is why? We can see those as conversations about our marvelous Creator. Ask an aging parent or spouse or friend about what is sustaining them. Then listen carefully for the God-tracings all over their lives. Even if they don’t use words like Jesus or God or Holy Spirit, that doesn’t mean that’s not what really is beneath, holding it all. Demanding jobs – paid and unpaid – can be experiences for us to ask God what life-lessons we are supposed to be gaining from the co-worker who seems to push all our buttons, or the boss who keeps piling on more. If we feel we can’t put God in as the first big rock – though that’s exactly what Jesus is saying, and is really the only big rock that ever will be a constant no matter what comes in life or in death. But if we’re not ready honestly to assign God as our first big rock – maybe we can at least make God one of the top 2-3s. Truly – not just in some passing fancy of: o, I attend worship every now and again, except for in the summer when it seems I deserve a break.

Supposedly September is the best time to make New Year resolutions; so August ought to be a time to reflect upon priorities – our big rocks. Those things in our lives that we want and in fact need to put first. Jesus stated it frankly: “The nations of the world strive after the wrong big rocks. As for you, strive instead for God and God’s kingdom” (paraphrase, Luke 12:30-31).

In the quiet of this time, review the lists of your big rocks. If you feel you need to edit, either crossing one out or adding another, do so now. Then in the quiet, lift your big rocks to the One who holds it all.

(SILENCE)

In the name of the life-giving Father, the life-redeeming Son, and the life-sustaining Spirit, Amen.

© Copyright JMN – 2019 (All rights reserved.)