With the decline of church attendance in modern times, United States citizens have forfeited one of our most vital and necessary mediating structures. So many of our freedoms and rights are enshrined in the all-important freedom of religion clause, and these have been voluntarily abandoned through decline in attendance, leaving nothing that stands between an avaricious government and its direct assault on freedoms and rights of isolated individuals currently seen as “society.”
Last Sunday at All Saints Episcopal, Pastor Joseph Snider drew out the implications of Luke 12:13 – 40, for the question of security. He spoke on fear and the forfeiture of our rights and freedoms hoping to find refuge in the provisions of the heartless, invasive Patriot Act.
“Where is real security to be found?” Jesus says it is not to be found by living in fear. It is to be found in seeking the Kingdom of God; …
And what does this mean?
At the very least it means what Isaiah called for, as we read earlier this morning: “cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.”
Continue reading to take in this worthy sermon, offering Biblical perspectives on the current unconstitutional NSA and TSA Leviathan intruding into the lives of Americans.
REAL SECURITY
Luke 12:13-40
August 11, 2013
[NOTE: Indebtedness to the United Methodist GBOD lectionary web site for interpretative insights is herewith acknowledged.]
In last week’s gospel reading Luke has Jesus telling the story of an already rich man who amassed even greater wealth. But his wealth did not give him life.
Then Jesus went on to tell his hearers they were not to be anxious or fearful about getting the things they needed need in life. He urged them to trust God who knew their needs and, instead of seeking things, to seek God’s kingdom.
The first few verses of today’s gospel reading are actually the conclusion to last week’s lesson about possessions and our anxiety about things. “Have no fear, little flock, for your Father has chosen to give you the Kingdom. Sell your possessions and give in charity. Provide for yourselves purses that do not wear out, and never failing treasure in heaven, where no thief can get near it, no moth destroy it. For where your treasure is there will your heart be also.”
One of the questions these texts raise is: Where is real security to be found?
We hear Jesus’ words, “Have no fear…for your Father has chosen to give you the Kingdom” and we want to believe them, but sometimes it is hard. It is hard because we live in a world that is defined and driven by fear.
We know that fear is a great motivator for all human beings. We also know that fear isn’t altogether a bad thing. A marketing consultant at a seminar he was leading reminded his hearers that “fear is a primal instinct that served us as cave dwellers and serves us today. It keeps us alive, because if we survive a bad experience, we never forget how to avoid it in the future. Our most vivid memories are born in fear. Adrenaline etches them into our brains.” Fear plays its part in keeping us alert and careful in given situations.
So fear is not altogether a bad thing but it does have its negative impacts.
Consider National Security which has been in the forefront of the nation’s consciousness the last decade or so, and particularly so in recent weeks.
Fear leads people to believe the mantra of National Security that says: “I can only preserve the security of my country by threatening the security of yours.” So we engage in preemptive wars and drone strikes and such.
In post-9/11 America the nation, kept in constant fear by FBI alerts and their color codes, was lulled into believing that our security would be served best by accepting a piece of legislation, the USA Patriot Act, which infringes on basic civil rights.
Fear is what compels many of us to willingly relinquish our rights and allow our government to track our phone calls and e-mails, something that has come about as a direct result of the aforementioned legislation.
We are afraid of the terrorists and we long for security. So we reason that if keeping a record of all of our phone calls and e-mails is the sacrifice we must make in order for our government to be able to keep us all secure, then so be it.
But deep down we know that our security is not to be found in turning our lives over to the Patriot Act and the NSA. Even though we have sold our birthright of freedom and justice for a bowl of porridge labeled “National Security,” you can be sure that that doesn’t guarantee our security either nationally or personally.
And what of possessions and wealth which are the focus of our gospel texts of last week and this. Fear, and not just greed as in the case of last week’s gospel lesson, can motivate people to seek security in possessions and wealth. It is the fear of never having enough in this culture where the pervasive, if often unacknowledged, belief is: ‘Some is good, more is better, and too much is just enough.’
You and I know that possessions and wealth are morally neutral in and of themselves. We also know that wealth, in particular, affords people certain freedoms, opportunities, and privileges not available to them in its absence. And let’s be honest, in the “Upstairs/Downstairs” world of Masterpiece Theater who wouldn’t like a shot at being those who live “Upstairs;” what the local CBS evening news calls in one if its segments “living large.”
The problem arises when we fail to see that possessions and wealth do not offer real security; that they do not give us life as last week’s gospel story made plain.
Moreover, possessions and wealth concentrated in the hands of the few as opposed to being more equitably distributed among the many, gives rise to an unjust and ultimately unsustainable economic disparity.
Further, if we center our lives on our possessions and wealth, then our whole lives will be about protecting and keeping those things — so much so that we may live in constant fear that they will be taken from us. Even our neighbors become suspect and unworthy of our trust. Will they keep a neighborhood watch out for us? Or might they be the ones who will rob us?
As we accumulate more and more, we compounds or gated communities, lock our doors, protect our neighborhoods, circle our wagons, form our tribes, pass stand your ground as well as open and concealed carry gun laws, all in an effort to keep that what we have safeguarded against others. If anything all this does is make us less rather than more secure.
Fear has also been used as a motivator in Christian evangelism. Some Christians have used fear to motivate people toward faith in Jesus by telling them that their eternal security is in following him and believing in him, and if they don’t they will face the ultimate punishment of spending eternity in hell.
Seeking eternal security by saying yes to God’s love in Christ out of fear is, at best, a dubious beginning to the life of discipleship.
So we return to the question: “Where is real security to be found?” Jesus says it is not to be found by living in fear. It is to be found in seeking the Kingdom of God; in claiming the promise that God wants the kingdom to be ours both in the here and now and forevermore, and in living up to our calling as citizens of that kingdom. He tells us to store up treasures that can’t be taken from us.
And what does this mean? At the very least it means what Isaiah called for, as we read earlier this morning: “cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.”
It means to meet God’s most basic requirement to love our neighbors, do real good in the world, make sure all are cared for, especially the most vulnerable. It means caring radically and deeply for one another. It means turning away from fear and the violence, destructiveness, injustices, and inequities, to which fear (and, yes, greed) give rise. Those are the choices that offer real security; they are treasures that nothing can destroy.
Have no fear, little flock, for your Father has chosen to give you the Kingdom. Can we believe the words of our Lord? Can we let his love and his promises take away our fears? Can he free us to live with courage and conviction, hope and trust? Can he inspire us to store up treasures that cannot be taken from us?