Sermons


	Mastering Life Epiphany VIII February 27, 2011 Matthew 6:24-34 The first reading from Isaiah today ends with this marvelous promise, "See I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands." In other words, you are obviously important to God, important enough to keep the prophet's promise by inscribing marks in Jesus hands that are a sign of how deep his love truly is. You are important enough for Jesus to be concerned about the things that shape you -- the people and values that have your attention. He wants you to have a perspective that keeps you in relationship with him in your daily lives. That isn't evidenced anyplace more than in his sermon on the mount where our text for today is located. Jesus talk about money is about the relationship we have to the things we possess. He wants us to master life, to navigate life successfully and with a wholeness that only God can give. No one can serve two masters. You cannot serve God and wealth. Jesus immediately challenges an assumption I have had and he calls it a wrong-headed assumption. No one can serve two masters. It means I am not the master... and I assumed I was. To quote the poet, I am the master of my destiny and captain of my soul. I am in charge here... and I have been in charge of my life for a long time now. This is a wrong assumption that most of us make... we are in charge... we are masters. As an example look at how effective we have been in keeping oil prices low and the stock market stable. Look how effective we have been in reducing crime and erasing fear from the center of our lives. We are masters... not really. The Gospel is right... we are doing the serving. What if someone or something else owns us and what if you have a choice of which master you will ultimately serve? Here comes Jesus again. You cannot serve two masters, you cannot serve God and wealth (possessions). Let's make a choice... which one would you want. I want the one that will take the best care of me and my family. I want the master I can depend upon. I know... the answer must be Jesus... but that isn't my experience. My real-life experience shows me that I have made another wrong assumption.... In practice Jesus isn't always my master. Financial security is my master. My possessions receive a lot of my attention.... and loyalty. My Dad taught me well... enough financial resources will guarantee your future and they are your first choice for what will control and master your lives. Enough resources and you and your family will have a safe and secure place to live. You will have food and clothing, home and family and all you need from day to day, all supplied by your hard work And they all belong to you... but in a subtle twist we may actually belong to them. We may have a different relationship to our wealth... our possessions... than we first thought. Let's face it, life is messy. It seems apparent that life is experienced more by disorder than it is by order... a kind of chaos. I was so relieved a month ago to see the stock market beginning to show signs of strength. I am, after all, 65 and you need good investments to guarantee your future. Then Egypt and Libya happened... and there seems to be no end in sight. It seems there is always another Egypt and Libya to mess around with my possessions. I thought after the Wall Street debacle three years ago that the financial institutions would police themselves well and we wouldn't see people who are so controlled by wealth that they will do anything to celebrate their greed, even to the point of ruining other people's future and to destroy trustworthy community. But the Economist notes that the old ways are still around. My home is worth 30% less today than it was in 2005. We were counting on the increasing equity to help guarantee the future. And I had such good plans in place. Someone once told me that if you want to make God laugh then tell God your plans. This entire section in Matthew 6... about birds of the air, flowers of the field, and our natural inclination to worry... is addressed to the things that have us by the throat in the first quarter of 2011. It is addressed to us as we have chosen the wrong master and now that master is letting us down. This wrong master has a way of increasing your anxiety level and filling you with fear and worry. There is another way to live. I want you to know that Jesus is messing around with your lives. Jesus is talking directly to you about your money, your possessions and the place they have in how you live your lives. Jesus is asking each of us questions we would rather not hear. Jesus loves to poke around in the things that are most important to us. This is where Jesus ends up today. Indeed... your heavenly father knows that you need all these things. BUT STRIVE FIRST FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS AND ALL THESE THINGS WILL BE GIVEN TO YOU AS WELL. God in Christ is inviting us to boldly believe this is true, that ultimately there is no separation between your spiritual lives and the reality of our everyday lives. God is not oblivious to the challenges we face from day to day. God does promise that when you and I clear away our wrong assumptions we can then begin to live in a wholeness that we had been seeking all along. No one can serve two masters... and in Jesus we do know which Master we will serve. You might say that when heart and head are finally around this promise we will master life. Amen Rev. Glenn Taibl, Interim Senior Pastor Lutheran Church of the Cross, Nisswa, Minnesota
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