Stewardship

Our congregation is in the midst of our annual Stewardship campaign. This week in lieu of a sermon our narrative budget is being presented. Here is a sermon preached three years ago.

PProper 33
Year B

Readings: 1 Samuel 1:4-20; 1 Samuel 2:1-10; Hebrews 10:11-25; Mark 13:1-8

Most of us don’t spend much time thinking in terms of apocalypse. We dismiss readings about the end of times as unfulfilled or irrelevant. After two thousand years it seems useless to even try to update them to maintain a vision of what they were about. And yet when you are in a moment of crisis and everything is in total chaos you wonder if it will ever end. You ask ‘where is God in this?’ Then the resilience of our human nature causes us to take a step backward and ask ourselves what is truly important. What is truly lasting?

What if everything you owned was suddenly gone?
Both California and British Columbia have experienced devastating forest fires this year. They destroyed not only large tracts of forests, but also many people lost their homes and possessions as the fire raged through populated areas. Listening to the news I could not help but be struck by the resilience of people. The comments from those who had lost everything were about what they had not lost. “We are all safe!” you would hear as they surveyed the ruins of their homes. “We have only the clothes on our backs, but we are fine!” It really struck home to me after receiving an e-mail from a former parishioner now living in B. C. He mentioned that they had lost everything. Yet what they wanted from us was their baptismal and confirmation records.

It is the kind of response that arises from a question such as the one a disciple is asking as he leaves the temple. He is suddenly struck by its awesome size and beauty. He remarks to Jesus, “Look teacher! What large stones and what large buildings!”

“Wake up!” Jesus says to him. “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.” He and the other disciples must have looked at Jesus in bewilderment. These were buildings made to last. They were monuments to human ingenuity. Only something of apocalyptic proportion could bring them tumbling down. There are more important wonders to be experienced in life.

Hannah knew that. Her life was defined for her by the barrenness of her womb. Even her husband’s understanding and love are not enough to overcome the sense of despair that she feels. She comes to God in her need. She prays with such fervour that Eli thinks she must be drunk. God hears her prayer. Samuel’s birth is miraculous, the answer to a barren woman’s prayer. Beyond that, it is part of the divine plan at a crucial time in Israel’s history. Samuel becomes the mouthpiece through whom they come to know God.

We often think that there is nothing we can do about the state of the world. Yet our prayers, actively putting our trust in God, does more than we can imagine. It is what Jesus is saying to the disciples.

These were difficult times for Jesus and his disciples. In the three short years of his ministry, Jesus had managed to anger, not only the temple authorities, the scribes and the Pharisees, but also the Roman authorities. They were under attack from all sides. Jesus knew that it was only a matter of time until something happens. Jesus prepared his disciples for the inevitable. “Endure to the end,” he tells them. “When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come,” must have been reassuring to that faithful remnant.

And yet there is so much terror to be experienced in our world. Isn’t it what we experienced as the Trade Centre came crashing down? We all watched in horror. Could this be the end of time? Isn’t that what was on people’s minds? Whenever there are wars or rumours of wars speculations arise. Some of the speculations even lead to people deciding that it is a good time to “get right with God”. Our churches filled up for a time as people gathered to pray for an end to war and violence.

And the Church surely is called to be the voice of reason, the voice that says as Jesus said to his disciples, ‘there is no cause for alarm’. The voice that says ‘it is all part of God’s plan for us’. The voice that says ‘put your faith in God and in the future despite every appearance to the contrary’.

Hannah’s barren future turned to joy. “My heart exults in the Lord,” she sang out. The disciples fear was transformed as they experienced the joy of resurrection. We experience the love of God and see into the very kingdom of Heaven.