August 10th ~ Pay Attention! God Shows Up at Unexpected Times.
- Ottawa Lutherans Communications
- Aug 12
- 6 min read
Wisdom 18:6-9
Psalm 33
Hebrews 11:1-19
Luke 12:32-48
Sermon by Pastor Ronald Nelson
(filling in for Pastor Joel)
Do not be afraid.
Gird your loins.
Light your lamps.
Sell your goods.
Give to those in need.
Put on your traveling clothes.
Keep your porch light on.
Lock up your valuables.
Today’s Gospel lesson opens with these eight statements. Are they commandments? Are they suggestions? Are they warnings?
In fact, maybe two through eight are actually a list of instructions for how to do the first one, do not be afraid!
Jesus illustrates his instructions with metaphorical stories about servants and masters. Jesus speaks of servants who can hardly wait for the householder to return. The servants linger at the door like kids waiting for daddy to come home. But what if he does not show up in time? Then there are the second and third watches of the night that sound like the waiting for the passion, waiting for Jesus’ arrest, and waiting for Peter’s denial and fear, which seems to overwhelm them.
What if he does not show up at all? Who among the disciples knew at what hour they would be put to the test? What kind of servants remain ready even when it seems the master may not return at all?
The author of Wisdom, our first lesson, was convinced that only those enslaved Israelites who were looking forward to Yahweh destroying their enemies actually interpreted the Exodus correctly. If you remember that the writer of Exodus said the majority of jews argued against Moses but the author of Wisdom, written many years later, says, “the deliverance of the righteous and the destruction by their enemies was expected by your people.” In other words, today’s first reading from Wisdom says that, at God’s instructions, the ancestors celebrated their Passover supper so that they would be ready to follow Moses to freedom. Sharing a solemn meal with their loins girded and their sandals on would mean they were prepared to flee and/or fight.
Sometimes we Christians have failed God by our passivity. Are we prepared to flee and/or fight the enemy or just roll over and let them walk all over us? Our second lesson to the Hebrews wants to make certain blindness to evil never happens to Jesus’ followers. So Hebrews constantly hammers away at Abraham and Sarah’s faith.
Hebrews provides a theological perspective to make sense of the above. “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.”
While that may sound like a riddle, it is actually a very pragmatic explanation of the effect of believing in God’s caring for us. In effect, Hebrews tells us that Abraham’s faith led him to venture into the conditions in which his hopes could become a reality.
Our Biblical authors were convinced that faith enables us to notice what others around us ignore. I think that is what I tried to say last week. Luke’s Jesus wants us to be certain about where “our treasure” is located. What Jesus asked of his disciples was – to give away their goods, to be on the move, to be ready for what is coming rather than to be satisfied with what is – all of that was an invitation to put faith into action.
Quite simply, Jesus wanted them to act like they believed because that was the way to bring about the world they hoped to see. The historical Jesus presumed his followers would see what he chose to see during his earthly ministry. In 2025 do we feel we are anywhere like that today?
This story tries to explain what Jesus was saying about what goes on behind closed doors when the master is out of town. That is; faithful servants should act in the style of the master whether or not there are security cameras recording their actions; and that their belief/our belief in the message should continue to make the reign of God visible, even when they/we have nothing more than their/our hope that God’s message of hope will be fulfilled.
“Do not be afraid.” That is where Jesus started. Jesus said do not be afraid to let go of those things, places, and attitudes that you have relied on for security. [I realize that is my biggest problem, as some have recently reminded me. Even though I left the USA 60 years ago I still believed that the USA was not all bad, they would save us. One time I came to the USA border without my passport. I offered to go back and get it. But after explaining that I was an American citizen, the USA immigration officer said come on in and they did not throw me in jail. Yes, I believed I could still visit the USA. I still believed that if the Russian bombers came over the North Pole, the USA would protect me, etc. I cannot believe any of that anymore.]
Pope Francis once said, “when we realize that everything is a gift, our goods and even our beliefs take on new meaning.” Human beings are so made that they cannot live, develop and find fulfillment except ‘in the sincere gift of self to others.’ “Life exists where there is communion, and life is stronger than death when it is built on true relationships.’”
What if I/we really believed that?
What if I/we believed that we have nothing to fear but fear itself?
What if I/we really believed that we have nothing to fear in sharing what gives us
security because it is all a free gift in the first place?
What if we believed, like Abraham, that the unknowable future God offers us is worth more than the present we are used to?
What if we believed that loving relationships are the only treasure that will never wear out and that our greatest potential is to be in communion with all of God’s creation?
What if we believed, like the Hebrews did about the ‘Wisdom of Solomon’s’ day written about 30-40 years before Christ?
What if we believed like they did, that the promises of Abraham had been realized.
What if each time we come together as the community of the body of Christ, that we remember our story, and celebrate the Exodus of Jesus from death to life and to rejoice in the fact that Jesus the Christ has pioneered the way for all of us? I know some of my readers and listeners wish I would not share my personal doubts.
I know it is easy to put our faith on the back burner as we deal with life’s demands. But today’s scripture lessons, even if they were written thousands of years ago, are still clear that we are always expected to be aware and prepared. God usually shows up in our lives under unexpected circumstances and in unexpected people. We will only recognize the many opportunities we have if we are paying attention. If we try to coast along in life, we do it at our own risk.
Faith and readiness are lifelong attitudes, honed one careful day at a time. Today, we are invited into the future we long for at the deepest level of our being. We will only get there by leaving behind our fears and pessimism.
Donating our riches, venturing beyond our normal surroundings, treasuring our connections with all of God’s people, watching for God to show up unpredictably and in unfamiliar disguises; those are all the steps that make life possible.
So, again today as we participate in worship, instead of girding our loins and putting on our sandals, let us instead don our metaphorical hiking boots and let our celebration launch us into the venture of faith that will transform our hopes into reality. In Jesus the Christ, God continually invites us to dream beyond reasonable expectations. Jesus invites us to be unafraid of the unknown, to trust that what God has to offer us is more than we could ask for or even imagine.
With that kind of faith we can stop worrying or calculating and venture forth, taking the risk to do what we believe is of God, impractical as it may seem. When we let go of our securities we discover the reign of God that She is patiently offering us.
For the troubles and the sufferings
Of the world,
God, we call upon your mercy,
The whole creation’s labouring in pain!
Lend an ear to the rising cry for help
From oppressed and hopeless people,
We say come!
Hasten your salvation, and healing love!
We pray for peace,
The blessed peace that comes
From making justice,
To cover and embrace us.
Have mercy, lord!
We pray for power,
The power that will sustain
Your people’s witness,
Until your reign comes.
Lord have mercy!
[acs 1051]
God who fulfills all promises, You call us into the unknown territory and urge us to be open to unseen possibilities. Keep us alert when the duties of life distract us, and when our focus on the coming of your reign wanes. We pray in the name of God, who calls us to be ready.
Amen.
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