Sunday
07/31/16 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s
Sermon Title: “A U-Haul behind a hearse”
Old Testament
Scripture: Psalm 107:1-9, 43
New Testament
Scripture: Colossians 3:1-11
Gospel Lesson:
Luke 12:13-21
My dear friends, my sisters and brothers, welcome again on
this the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost. Eleven Sundays after the day that the
Holy Spirit moved in a mighty way, and the Christian Church was born. The day
that the first disciples of Jesus Christ went forth loving, healing, and forgiving,
through Jesus Christ.
Those first disciples, which included both men and women,
were not millionaires. They were not television evangelists that encouraged you
to send in all of your hard earned money, while they secretly or not secretly owned
mansions and yachts. According to Christian Church tradition, all but one of the
original twelve disciples died brutal deaths, and none of them had great
wealth.
On the day of Pentecost, when the Christian Church was
born, the disciples had nothing, but the clothing on their backs. Perhaps they
also had a little bit of money and food, but probably nothing more. The
Christian Church for a period of time, in its early days, did not consist of
buildings, endowment funds, salaries, benefits, and etc. The early Christian
Church was the first men and women who followed Jesus Christ, serving with
virtually nothing.
If Christian Church tradition holds true then, all but one
the disciples, who is John by the way, died a brutal death. As far as we know,
these men and early women had very little if anything. Yet if they had wealth
and possessions, could they have taken those things to heaven with them?
This morning, I want to talk about the very tough and
uncomfortable topic of wealth and possessions. In the gospel of Luke reading
for this morning, Jesus begins with speaking regarding a debate over an
inheritance (Lk. 12:13, CEB). The person disputing the inheritance wants Jesus
to back his cause for some of the inheritance, but Jesus says, “Man, who
appointed me as judge or referee between you and your brother?” (Lk. 12:14,
CEB).
Jesus then says, “Watch out! Guard yourself against all
kinds of greed. After all, one’s life isn’t determined by one’s possessions,
even when someone is very wealthy” (Lk. 12:15, CEB). To then illustrate this,
Jesus then tells a parable or a story about a wealthy farmer. Jesus says:
“A
certain rich man’s land produced a bountiful crop. He said to himself, What
will I do? I have no place to store my harvest! Then he thought, Here’s what I’ll
do. I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. That’s where I’ll store my
grain and my goods. I’ll say to myself, You have stored up plenty of goods,
enough for several tears. Take it easy! Eat, drink, and enjoy yourself” (Lk.
12:16-19, CEB).
So a rich farmer, instead of trusting in God, put his trust
in his food supply, his bigger buildings, and his possessions.
The parable then ends with:
“But God said to him, ‘Fool,
tonight you will die. Now who will get the things you have prepared for
yourself?’ This is the way it will be for those who hoard things for themselves
and aren’t rich toward God” (Lk. 12:20-21, CEB). Tough words from Jesus Christ,
brothers and sisters.
Given this gospel reading for this morning, when I was
thinking about and praying about what to preach on, I kept thinking of an old
Rev. Billy Graham quote. This is quote is simple and a little humorous. The quote
is, “I never saw a U-Haul behind a hearse”. Interesting quote. For those of us
that have been to funerals at a cemetery, and I’m sure we have been to many,
how many of you have ever seen a U-haul attached behind a hearse? By this I
mean, how many of you know someone who took all of their possessions, their wealth,
and their stuff with them to the grave? How many of you know people that took
the things they owned and possessed to the cemetery with them?
What Jesus Christ, and the Rev. Billy Graham were pointing
out, is that Jesus tells us to put our trust not in things, or wealth, or possessions,
but in God. This is a hard thing to do. Many of us are concerned about things
like bills, and having enough money, a reliable car, a good place to live, and
etc. Sometimes, some of us have financial worries and other worries.
Has anyone here ever seen the televisions shows “Hoarders,”
or the show “American Pickers.” To me, these are both shows that illustrate
what Jesus Christ, and what the Rev. Billy Graham were talking about. In the
show “Hoarders,” people that have a real diagnosable mental condition causing
them to hoard things, and these people often have houses full of endless
things. So many things, that they probably don’t even know much of what they
have or they own. The goal of this show, is to get people to give, sell, and or
remove much of things, the possessions, and the clutter that they own, so they
can have normal life, with a normal amount of things.
I remember watching the show “American Pickers” on the
History Channel a few times. This is a show where a couple of guys buy things
from people, fix them up, and re-sell them. In an episode that I saw, these two
guys went to man’s house, and the man had stuff everywhere. The man had old
cars on his lawn, possessions on his lawn, and a pole barn or two packed full
of stuff. The two men scurried through what seemed to be piles and piles of
stuff, possessions, and items. They then attempted to buy some of these things
from the man. The man sold them some, but oddly enough seem attached to many of
his possessions, stuff, and things.
Now, I am not making the claim that any of us here this
morning are hoarders, or that any of us have pole barns full of stuff, but the
rich farmer that Jesus talked about this morning was a man that built massive
barns for his food, his drink, and as the gospel says his possessions, or his “goods”
(Lk. 12:18b, CEB). I would think that if this rich farmer lived in 2016, we
might see him on an episode of “Hoarders” or “American Pickers”.
The point that Jesus Christ, and the Rev. Billy Graham were
making then, once again, is that we should not place our trust in things. We
should not place our trust in homes, cars, money, possessions, and etc.
In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus says in 6:19-21:
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where
moth and rust consume
and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in
heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break
in and steal. For
where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Mt. 6:19-21, NRSV).
Jesus Christ
tells us to put our trust in him, in God, not in things, not in possessions,
and not in wealth. Next Sunday I am starting a four part series on pursing or
getting deeper in God’s kingdom. The idea of our heart being where our treasure
is, will be my sermon topic next Sunday.
This Sunday
though, we have Jesus warning us about greed, about the love of money,
possessions, and stuff, and how all of the things of this earth can and will
decay, but that God is eternal. The Rev. Billy Graham summed this up by saying
that, “I never saw a U-Haul behind a hearse”.
The reality
then my brothers and sisters, is we can’t take our things, our money, our possessions
with us to heaven. When the Lord calls us home, we will depart largely the way
we can into this world.
My Grandpa
Winkelman, who has passed on to be with the Lord, grew up in the Great
Depression. Due to this, he always had a big food pantry, and always had more
food than he needed. He didn’t have a lifetime supply though, and I think that
it is ok for us to “stock up,” but how far do we go?
For example,
how many of us honestly have more stuff, more possessions, and more things than
we truly need? How many of us have old boxes and bins filled with countless
items, and other things? Has anyone here ever had to clean out a house for a
relative that died for example, and in cleaning out there house, you felt like
you were going through a department store?
If we have a
lot, if we have more than we need, if have things that we don’t even know we
have, then why don’t we give some away. Why we don’t sell some of it, or let
someone who needs it have it. I know that I have been guilty of accumulating,
and buying at different times in my own life. I used to love to go to garage
sales and buy all kinds of stuff. I loved to buy old history books, until
Melissa told me that I cannot buy any more history books. I am still on what I like
to call “book buying probation”. I would go to garage sales and buy things I
didn’t need, because “they were a great deal!” I remember one time I came home
with a nice end table. I had gotten this end table at a garage sale for about
10-20 dollars. What a deal! It normally would have cost much more than this.
When I took it out of the back seat of my car, Melissa smiled and said, “Paul,
that is beautiful table, but where are we going to put it?” I then looked at
Melissa having not even thought about it and said, “I didn’t even think about
that”.
My step-dad
Mike Therio has also been known in my family as a notorious accumulator of
tools and household items. One of the best stories around this is the story of
the door hinges:
* Tell the story of the door hinges *
Friends, do we
have things, possessions, and or stuff that we don’t need? Why don’t we give
some of that stuff away? Maybe in the coming days and weeks we can do an “audit”
of our own homes to realize how we can bless others with the things that we
have, that we don’t need. We also have a clothing and household items give away
coming up in October, and we could give things to that.
Well friends,
brothers and sisters, I told you that when enter this world and that when we leave,
we tend to come in and leave with nothing. I want to tell you the story of one
man though who convinced God to let him take a suitcase to heaven:
* Suitcase to heaven story *
In the Apostle Peter’s first epistle or letter, he says in
1:3-5:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By
his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and
unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for
a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Pet. 1:3-5, NRSV).
We are told
that eternity with God, that heaven, is the true source of wealth and riches.
Together then, when work together, when we share with other, we are stronger.
When we divide people against other people, then we begin to have fear, we
being to store up and hoard, and God says to trust in Him, and to love each
other.
Friends,
sisters and brothers, I don’t know about you, but God has blessed Melissa and I
so richly. Due to this, we give as much as we can, and sometimes more than we
can. Melissa and I know though, that we cannot take the things of this world
with us, when go to be with the Lord. What do we all have then, that we don’t
need? What possessions, stuff, or things do we have that we can part with? I
would challenge us all this week and in the weeks to come to as I said, do an “audit”
of what we have, so that we might bless others who need what we have and don’t
need. Let us build heaven on earth, as we await the heaven to come. For the
Rev. Bill Graham said, “I never saw a U-Haul behind a hearse”. Amen.
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