Homily 610 – 11 APE
Holy Transfiguration, Ames, Iowa
September 8, 2024
Epistle:  (215) – Galatians 6:11-18 (Sunday before the Elevation), (158) – 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, (240) – Philippians 2:5-11 (Nativity of the Theotokos)
Gospel:  (9) – John 3:13-17 (Sunday before the Elevation),  (79) – Matthew 19:16-26,  (54) – Luke 10:38-42; 11:27-28 (Nativity of the Theotokos)

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God.

This morning, Christ speaks of several things that we need to hear to navigate our lives.

The themes are the dangers of wealth.  It’s not a message that our society wants to hear.  Our society is built on a dream.  In my estimation, that dream that society has for us is based on one thing, and that is wealth.  Accumulating things, and making sure that others don’t have access to the things that – quote unquote – “belong” to us.

It isn’t really wealth that is condemned in the Gospels.  What is condemned in the Gospels is selfishness.  It is keeping others from using what we consider ours.  It is building fences and gates around the land, it is stockpiling food in places where people are hungry, it is leaving the homeless outside while we have room to spare in our homes.

This idea of keeping others off our property seems to be uniquely American.  I can’t speak to Canada, but in America, you are perfectly within your rights to fence in your land, to refuse others access.

In other societies, even western societies, that isn’t the case.  Most all of Europe, for instance, has what are known as “right to roam” laws.  Everyone can cross someone’s land, even camp out there, as long as the land isn’t disturbed.

Even in the United States, the exclusivity of ownership wasn’t always a thing.  Some of us are familiar with the idea that on the other side of the Missouri River, in places like South Dakota and Wyoming and Montana, range laws were the norm.  Great herds of cattle were allowed to roam fairly freely.

You could fence in cultivated areas, to preserve your crops.  But that was pretty much it.  Oh, and ownership of the cattle wasn’t depending on the herd.  A herd may have several different owners represented.  Thus, each member of the herd had a brand, later on an ear tag or other means to identify which head of livestock belonged to whom.  When they were taken to market, the brands were used to pay the owners.

In our day with confined animal feeding operations, that isn’t the case, at least hear in Iowa.  But it is still true on the ranch lands of the western United States.

You may ask, what relevance that has to the Gospel messages of Christ from 2,000 years ago.  A worthy question!  The answer is simple.  Some things we simply cannot own.  At least, not to the exclusion of everyone else.

The native peoples of this land had private ownership for sure.  But one thing that can’t be owned in the understanding of the indigenous peoples was the land.  It had to be shared.  It is this idea of exclusion that violates the Gospel.  The idea that we own something and nobody else can violate that space – that is where the Gospel conflicts with our modern world.

In the ancient world, the world of the children of Israel, there were laws about such things.  There were laws that allowed travelers to take grain from the edges of fields for their own use and well-being.  There were laws – and these are religious laws, not civil laws – that require hospitality to strangers.

As we may expect, Christ takes it even further.  He declares that excess of anything – food, clothing, shelter – is a bad thing.  Maybe not an evil thing, but a hindrance to the attainment of what we are supposed to be in God.  Of course, taken to the extreme, bad things can become evil things.

The rich man who came to Jesus asked what he needed to attain eternal life, and later, what he needed to be perfect.  To be clear – our goal as Christians is to be perfect, as Christ is perfect.  So, we should pay attention.  Christ said, “Sell all you have, give it to the poor, and follow Me.”

That is trust.  That is faith.  That action, when taken, says to everyone that I don’t rely on myself, but on God alone.  That action is one that says if I have excess of what can meet your need, you can have it.

The question inevitably arises – what is excess?  How much is too much?  The Lord’s prayer I think gives us our answer.  Give us this day our daily bread.  Anything that we have stored up for over a day, meaning what we can use before the next season, is available for the use of others.  Anything that a farmer had that would keep them alive until the time of the next harvest was not excess.

More than that was excess, and was to be shared with those in need.  In some respects I think Christ is less interested in us being known as givers, and more to be known as sharers.

Which leaves the question – what do we do with ourselves if we aren’t accumulating stuff?  The account of Mary and Martha serve as an example.  Martha was completely absorbed in a worthy act – serving the people in her home.  Extending hospitality.  Yet Christ tells her not to worry so much – that Mary, sitting listening at His feet, had chosen the better path.

We should prioritize, for ourselves, hearing the words of Christ.  And having heard them, listen to them.  For listening involves action – change.  We need to listen and follow.  And Mary was listening.

The lesson for us is again, not to be anxious.  Not to worry.  Christ provides.  He proves that time and again, in the feeding of the 5,000 and the feeding of the 4,000.  Yes, we serve others – but in the presence of our Lord, the serving takes a back seat.  We can serve later – now, we all, both the people who live here and the guests in the home, hear the words and teachings of our Lord.  That is in fact the better part.

That is the food that we all need to survive.  The food that Martha was so worried about was to feed the temporal body, which will die.  The food that Mary consumed was eternal – she was feeding her soul.

Given the choice, she picked the better option.  Serving isn’t bad – in fact, it is necessary.  But not when are feeding the soul, which is eternal life.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God.  Glory to Jesus Christ.