How Casual is Your Faith - Luke 6 - Epiphany 6C

How Casual is Your Faith

Tony E Hansen

Sermon based Luke 6:17-26, Psalm 1

Opening prayer

When people go to church and when we give gifts or money, what do we expect from the church, as a result of our gifts, or from those around us? 

If people don’t give quite as much as us or just dont, what goes through our minds? If we don’t quite reach campaign goals, what do we think? Is there some blame, soul-searching or otherwise?  

What does what we give to church, to our families, to our friends, to our society mean to us? What should it?

Our broken society gives us plenty of examples of free-riders and people that game the system. 

This is often what people point to when talking about taxes. There are people who provide, and they, arguably, wonder about folks who appear to just consume and don’t really pay much: those who cannot or wont.

Why is that concerning? Is it fairness or something else?

What does that mean for us who give of our time and money? What do we attach to those gifts that might cause those concerns?

Similarly, when we think of our faith, what do we think of? What does it mean for us? Maybe, the better question is how to make faith be strong.

Today we have this sermon on the level place echoes much of the sermon on the mount. (Matthew 5). 

I want to posit this sermon from Jesus as more than good blessings, though welcome, challenges us.

This sermon does not just issue blessings but also “woes.” Things that say to be mindful.

Many want to stop at the blessings, but where is faith in that?  That is casual faith that only wants the good without doing the necessary. That is faith as long as others contribute, others doing their part: Faith that is transactional: something that expects ROI before giving anything.

True faith pays attention to the blessings and the woes because we do not ignore actual truth for convenience, what neighbors do, or avoid hurt feelings. 

We don’t just get our cake to eat, but when we get cake, we are to do something with it - share it. 

This is foundational to our faith. To share our faith and our abundance because our abundance comes from our Creator. 

We are only stewards of God’s blessings because God wants us to use those blessings and abundance: To be examples of how to best use those sacred blessings.

That out of our abundance, we share what God has given to us with those around us.

Faith is tough, for loving God - loving neighbor is tough (not always welcomed dishes of blessings), and faith includes what we are called to do.

Unfortunately, faith, dismissing woes, is something small and has been sold false promises. 

Instead, your faith could be as strong and big as the Spirit itself. 

Consider, Is your faith only great when things are going well, when you have money in the bank, food on the table, or people contributing with you? 

Is our faith only great when government does what we want because we get fairness for us (When we don’t just see people consuming?)

That is us trusting broken human eyes and broken institutions.

“Humans and humans’ ways are not worth investing your ultimate trust.” The human way is broken and will fail. 

Your trust, as followers of Christ, ought to be in God rather than fleeting wealth or judgments of who gives and who cannot. 

Additionally, we, as Christians, ought to compel our broken institutions to do good work on our behalf rather than hoard and exclude. 

Why? Because Jesus reminds us that material wealth wont last, and to always be prepared for when it isn’t there. 

That is one of the reasons I participate in organizations like UBFM because I know there are many times in my life where I have been one bill away from homelessness, where decisions to pay bills or for food was questionable.

Thus, for material wealth that we have, we must understand that it is fleeting - can be gone in a moment - no matter how much we save. Just ask the folks in Ukraine who didn’t ask for war, but war showed up, blowed up and took away from folks who were going about their day, saving, “staying safe” and living in community. This happens with natural disasters like floods, fires, tornado, etc) 

In a moment, apartments, houses, businesses or entire communities suddenly are gone. People who are given terminal illness diagnosis will suddenly realize how worthless money is. 

Whatever materials people had is gone, and no government, whether president, court or royal can provide immunity. 

God, however, invites us to abundance that is not bound to earthly brokenness or materials but sacred purpose and place. 

Jesus tells us to have the mindset of the poor, the weeping, the hungry, and even those we disagree because God will be with us and that is all the abundance we need.

Jesus reminds us that “unfortunate” does not belong only to those who are currently poor, hungry and needing friends… for there will be time when all is gone. Enjoy your time that you have, knowing that all of that can be erased without notice. 

Besides when unfortunate happens, we need God more than we know. That is when we need God the most. So why would we, who are comfortable today, look down on or give grief to those who are experiencing unfortunate today without a sense of compassion or empathy? Isn’t that convenient? 

Do we lean into our faith and believe the Spirit is working with us only when we see it working and only when things seem to go our way? 

That is like picking your favorite team as the winner of the Super Bowl this year without enduring all the years when they weren’t. 

Good thing God isn’t  a fair-weather fan of us like that.

Thus, God calls us to service, to share, and to contribute even when it’s tough. 

I submit: let the Spirit work in spaces and gaps of what we know and don’t.

One can find strength in those gaps because there the Spirit is too. 

Find strength in the Spirit despite the tough and uncertain; celebrate good and abundance. 

Strength of faith isn’t measured by broken standards and transactions but that of God. Here, faith goes beyond casually what we want - to include all that God provides.

When you share and let the Spirit fill you completely, you will find all the fairness, healing, and blessings are right there for you.

There you will find strength in faith.

There, your concern will not be free-riders. That is because Jesus welcomes all of us, and so should we.

Thanks Be to God