Priority

Pentecost 21 Proper 23

Fr. Tim Nunez

October 13, 2024

May my spoken word be true to God’s written word and bring us all closer to the living word, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)

It has been quite a week! All of us had our plans and expectations for the week completely change as hurricane Milton approached, and, almost surprisingly, stayed pretty much on the track that was predicted even before it became organized as a named storm.

We are very much thankful that our area seems to have come through without too much trouble. Lot of limbs down, some trees, lots of debris, and many people were without electricity for varying lengths of time. We are extremely thankful for the cool weather that followed Milton, which made clean up and sleeping more bearable.

But of course, we have all been horrified by the damage done by these two recent hurricanes. First Helene along our Gulf coast and up through Georgia and especially in western North Carolina. Then Milton landed at Siesta Key, causing record storm surges there and south of the eye. We prepared, but not knowing for exactly what. A hurricane? A tornado within the hurricane? Storm surge? Torrential rains and flooding?

My parents have friends from Bartow, who were in their home on the side of a mountain in North Carolina during Helene. Their daughter happened to look out the back window and saw a wall of mud coming at them quickly. They all ran out of the house barefoot to a nearby barn. When they turned back to look at the house, it was gone along with their vehicles. They were able to get safely out after the storm and are back in Bartow. But it was that close.

I expect we’ve all thought about what we would want to grab in such an emergency, or what we would want to pack up to take with us if we had a home on the water and knew that a massive storm surge was coming. If everything could be washed away, and you can only carry so much, what would you take? Valuables? Important documents? Keepsakes and pictures? Pets? People?

When we run through such a mental exercise, and make actual preparations, we really are sorting through what is most important to us, in this life anyway. And I expect that all of us would prioritize people and pets over things that can be replaced.

In today’s gospel, Jesus flips these priorities around in his conversations with this rich young man and his disciples. The young man says he is observing the Commandments faithfully that pertain to “Loving your neighbor as yourself.” And perhaps he has, as far as he goes. There’s a lot of wiggle room in there, isn’t there? How often and how much care does it take to satisfy the Commandment? And do we get to be the judges of that?

Jesus rightly perceives that there’s something far more important to him than how well he follows God’s commandments. He really likes his many possessions, and he’s not using his economic opportunity to the service of God’s people. There is nothing wrong with having many possessions or wealth. In fact, Paul cites the capacity for generosity as one of the spiritual gifts. And, like any spiritual gift, it is uncommon. Rare.

The problem comes in that it is all together too easy for us to put our creature comforts ahead of our love of God and our daily decision-making. When Jesus tells his disciples that it’s difficult for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God, it is because of that very issue. His disciples are surprised by that because they correlate success with God’s favor. And there is scripture to support that view. How often do we hear the prophets or the psalms talk about how the obedient will prosper in life, and the wicked will suffer?

Now let’s think about that storm surge in a little bit of a different way. What if instead of several days’ notice and a vehicle to hold whatever you can save, you are evacuating in an emergency vehicle and you are not able to take anything with you? You cannot take any valuables. You cannot carry important documents. You cannot take any keepsakes or pictures. You cannot take your pets. You’re not able to take anyone. And you’re not able to put anyone in your own place because each person is responsible for themselves.

Or, let’s say the mudslide is coming down the mountain. You don’t have time to grab anything. Would you try to grab the valuables, or the keepsakes or run back for your phone or whatever else you think you need? I think any of us would risk death for those we love. But, again there is no time. Everyone is responsible for themselves. Except you know that if you do and they will just follow you, they can all be saved.

That is what Jesus has done for us. He has provided our way out of utter destruction if we will just follow him without turning back for anything.

But if we turn back to hang onto the valuables, or the sentiments and nostalgia of this life, or even any relationships that we have, in other words, putting them ahead of him and his call, the mud side is coming.

And we think we have time, but truly the only time we have is now. The past is gone, the future is always coming, but we need to have integrity moment by moment the way that our faith in Christ shapes our lives. Therefore, we must not allow any of these things to get between us and him, to distract us from the call of his voice.

And when we take that very seriously, what we will find is that he will use whatever prosperity we have, be it financial or relational or artistic in some way, creative, serving, HOSPITALITY, just loving our friends and families as well as our pets. When we place all of these things at his feet, he blesses and uses and multiplies them. So never be afraid turn over anything and everything to him. Trust that he will bring great abundance out of it in this life and in the age to come. That is what he does.

We tend to think of God and Christ as being above us and dictating the way that we should live, and our behavior is the key issue. But that’s not how Jesus works. That’s not how Jesus demonstrated the kingdom. He invested in the people he touched. He planted seeds in them, that would grow abundantly in whatever ways they were gifted. He is the One “through whom all things were created and have their being.”

The disciples then took their witness to him out into the world, village by village, city by city, and planted the seed wherever they went. Those seeds grew in whatever ways those people were gifted.

Don’t be afraid to lay your gifts at his feet thinking that he’s going to take them away from you. Far from it. He will plant whatever you give him as seeds which will bear abundantly for you in this life and in the life to come.

AMEN!