Pentecost 10, Proper 14, August 8, 2004:

Shirley and I have a new cat at our house. She is about two years old and was retrieved from the SPCA in Roanoke. So far, with the exception of an occasional scratch on the sofa, she is well behaved. There really is something therapeutic about running your fingers through fur and it costs a lot less than $150 per hour.

There are cat people and dog people. Recent surveys indicate that more people have dogs than cats, (except at Margie Guthrie’s house) but Garfield-the Movie has to rank right up there with Old Yeller as an all-time great, plus you don’t have to take a box of Kleenex to see Garfield-the Movie. Jim Davis, the creator of the Garfield comic strip, understands cats, I think. In one strip some time back Garfield is lying around, as he usually does, and thinking to himself, "Boy, am I bored!"

Just then, Jon comes running into the room, all excited, and says, "Hey, Garfield! Let’s go to the store and try on socks."

Garfield, with a resigned and disgusted look on his face, thinks, "Every time I think I’ve hit bottom, somebody throws me a shovel."

Well, life can feel that way sometimes. In spite of our best efforts, our most sincere prayers, and our deepest desires bad things come and we feel like we’re in a hole and God and/or life has thrown us a shovel. It is in times like those that we need to hear the Gospel for this Sunday. Jesus said to the disciples, both then and now, "Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom." What does that knowledge do for our living? What is that statement of the best Good News ever to reach human ears suppose to do for the way we live in this upside down world? How are we Christian sheep being led in this interim time between the first coming of the Good Shepherd and the second time he shall appear to establish the Kingdom?

I want to suggest that this Good News can mean something in the day to day living in this world. We can live confident lives. We know that God keeps the promises made to God’s people. It is God’s good pleasure to give the sheep the Kingdom. That battle has been won, the obstacles that stood in the way have been torn down by an obedient son, and we are moving toward our destiny. What we are meant to do is to put ourselves and everything we have and everything we are on the side of God in this world. Confidence comes from remembering whom we serve. The Israelite soldiers stood trembling in front of the Philistine Goliath and said, "He’s so big! We can’t possibly kill him." David stepped forward and said, "He’s so big! I can’t possibly miss him."

Our freedom to choose is both our greatest burden and the greatest demonstration of God’s love for us. I like the supposedly true story told by the first violinist of an orchestra being led by Toscanini. The orchestra was only half trying out of fear of displeasing the great conductor. After a few terrible rehearsals of a particular composition Toscanini quietly laid the baton down and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, God has told me how God wants this piece of music played, and you, you are hindering God." Confident living comes from putting ourselves squarely on God’s side, knowing that God is the one who leads us beside still waters and restores our soul and puts oil on out wounds when we stumble and fall.

I also believe we can live wisely in this world. That has very little to do with the worldly definition of that word. As a matter of fact, what the world calls wisdom is labeled foolishness by God. Last weeks story of the rich man who built bigger barns only to amass more stuff comes to mind. Wise living is based on acceptance of the truth of the Lord’s words, "for where you treasure is, there will your heart be also." We really are shaped by what we give ourselves to as first priority. One way to paraphrase the words of Jesus is, "live in such a way that you use the earthly possessions you have to help you gain the eternal Kingdom. To live any other way makes finding the Kingdom problematic."

A wealthy man retired and one of his friends asked him what he did now during the day. "I go down to my broker’s office every day and watch the stock ticker."

"Every day?"

"Every day the market is open," the wealthy man said.

"Why go every day," the friend asked?

"Because that’s where my money is, so I go down to keep a careful eye on it," the man replied.

That’s where his treasure is and that where his heart is also. I believe it is in keeping with the mind of Christ to call such behavior foolish. Wise lively, on the other hand, means we take all that we have and all that we are and invest it with God and God’s people.

Finally, I believe we are to live with our eyes fixed on what is to come. We are to expect joyful living. Those who live with their gaze forward are usually the ones who seek out ways to serve, those who step forward when they see something that needs to be done in the church and community, and those who say "Yes" when asked to take on a job that needs to be done. This church has a large number of joyful, forward-looking members. I am particularly grateful to them. They make my job a whole lot easier. Of course, we have a way-to-large group who expect the church to be here when they have need of its ministry. Marriages, baptisms, and death call them forth. They are members of the Matching, Hatching, and Dispatching Society. They are first cousins of the members of the C and E Society (the Christmas and Easter group). I believe we have to be as pastoral and loving as we can be to those who come for whatever reason. I invite you to be welcoming and nonjudgmental to such folk.

Those who live with their eyes fixed on what is to come also allow that attitude to carry over into worship. When we live that way we come together with family and friends to give and not to get. We do not assume that God was captured in some golden age in the past but we look for the one who said, "I have yet many things to reveal to you," to be present. What this, or any other church, does for you in terms of your spiritual life is directly related to what you give to it.

Living with our gaze fixed on what is to come means we intentionally place ourselves in the Lord’s path and expect to be used. The call can come at any time and the servants who are alert will be blessed.

So, dear friends of St. John’s Episcopal Church, where are you in your Christian living? Are you living confidently, wisely, and looking to the future? We don’t have to. Just as we don’t have to tithe. But, by the grace of Almighty God, you and I are allowed to do so. God loves us enough to give us the freedom to give, to live confidently, wisely, and looking for what is to come. We have God’s promise and it is always true, "Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Thanks be to God! Amen.