Luke 20:27-38; Haggai 2:6-9; Psalm 145:1-4, 17-19; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17
I bet when you think about Consecration Sunday, you don’t immediately go to the Gospel story for today. It’s a little weird, this story about seven brothers who all married the same wife and all died childless, and whose wife is she going to be when they all get to heaven?
Actually, it sounds like a great plot for a soap opera. You could call it The Days of Our (After)lives, All My Husbands (But None of My Children), My Seven Sons...my point is, it sounds a little scandalous; and the Sadducees point is, wouldn’t it just be more convenient if there was no resurrection, because isn’t that going to be one messed up family fight? It’d be way better if all the characters just stay dead.
And Jesus is listening to all this, probably thinking the real soap opera drama is what’s going on in front of him.
The big deal about this marriage thing, which is called Levirate marriage, is that it’s all about money. Marriage throughout Biblical times became about property acquisition, and a wife was regarded as property. If the husband died, a brother was required to marry the wife to produce heirs to carry on his brother’s family fortune, and to provide for his brother’s widow, otherwise the widow was out of luck. This meant the brother was left with less of his own inheritance and fortune. Now the widow is obviously out of luck in this case, (and I think she kind of was all along), but the point is, Jesus isn't worried about money and property and inheritance in heaven. Jesus is concerned about relationships that are bigger than property lines and inheritance. Jesus is concerned that people are just valued for who they are, not what wealth and security they can provide.
Jesus is basically saying here, guys, you are not dreaming big enough. Heaven can’t be bothered with these earthly hangups. We are all children of God, alive in the Resurrection, and not mere property. We're meant for something bigger.
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You remember the song Imagine, by John Lennon? I was listening to it again this week and have been thinking it over. It’s really not a godless song, as some have criticized it, but actually a very Godly one. I especially appreciate the line which says, “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one….”
What if we could dream big enough, and weren’t limited by our own pre-set mindsets?
When I dream bigger, I realize everything I have belongs to God. I’m more willing to share, more willing to forgive. More willing to think outside the box.
In our own lives, we are more than our property, right? God doesn’t call on us to simply pay the bills and that’s that. After all, whose heart can be stirred by the monthly bills? Is your joy and purpose for being when your water and sewage bill arrives at home? ( If so, we need to talk.) No, but the joy comes in watering flowers and seeing them grow, or seeing the kids splash around in the backyard on a hot summer day, tubtime when they’re little, or even all those showers when they’re teenagers. We can be proud of a fine-looking house, but chances are good we sacrificed for that house so that it could be a home where our loved ones gather and are fed and nurtured and where everyone inside knows they are loved and safe.
Church is more than an hour on Sunday mornings, we know. But, “Church” used to be held in people’s homes--the places where they ate, went to the bathroom, washed the dishes, slept, read, sometimes fought, and where they raised their children; often where they gathered as friends and maybe even where they earned their livelihood. The connection between worship and daily life were unmistakable.
On this Consecration Sunday, are we dreaming big enough? Sure, the lights and mortgage need to be paid. But why? Is that where it all ends? No, of course not. Everything we do here we need to do for mission, to make God’s presence and God’s kingdom, a kingdom of good news, known here on this earth and all around us. Sure, pay the light bill--in fact, run it up because we’ve got people filling this place, filling the rooms, using up the toilet paper and paper towels and such. Even clean that greasetrap some more--and that is the number one least glamorous thing in our yearly budget--because we’ve had to wash so many dishes, because so many people were welcomed in and fed here, not just feeding their bodies but feeding their minds and spirits here.
So yep, let’s pay that snowplow bill--so people can find a home of welcome here all year round. Let’s pay to maintain our lawnmower, so our lawn can be filled with people enjoying God’s good creation, whether playing sports or listening to a lawn concert or planting flowers or watching the wildlife go by. Let’s even maybe pay off the mortgage on this house of worship early, so we can start spending that money building houses for people who need them.
Let’s ask ourselves, what is this lightbulb, that chair, this table, that greasetrap doing to advance God’s reign of love and welcome in this corner of the world? Don’t let your dreams stop at the property line. Dream bigger, break down the barriers, and together let us be living, fully alive, and joyful children of God. Amen!
Prayers this week:
People of the Philippines and others suffering from the storm
For all struggling with addiction, and those who love and care for them
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