Proper 21B sermon

What do the Collect for the day, St. Peter’s by-the-Sea and a pirate all have in common today? Give up? A focus on treasure.
Now, a good pirate is always very concerned with treasure, so that, I believe is self-explanatory, but the other two may need a bit of explanation.
Let’s look at the collect of the day: “O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace; that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure…”
In this prayer, we are ultimately asking God that we may be partakers of God’s heavenly treasure. Well, what does that mean? What exactly do we think we are asking for when we ask to be partakers of God’s heavenly treasure? ‘Pie in the sky when you die’ or something more pertinent to the here and the now? And how on earth do we run to obtain it?
The epistle reading for today from James gives us some help with this. The writer of James seems to be talking about different forms of prayer in our reading for today, but it goes even deeper than that. He is writing about common life, the grace and power that we receive when we are all united with God and each other through prayer. This is God’s heavenly treasure, what Jesus taught over and over again—love God and love each other. It was what he was referring to when he said “Whoever is not against us is for us.” Anything that doesn’t grow out of those two commandments is sin—that which separates us from God. God’s heavenly treasure is offered to us even now, when we try to live our lives faithfully according to Jesus’ teachings and are mindful of how our lives and choices and actions impact all people.
So much of our lives are spent running to obtain treasure, but it is not always God’s heavenly treasure that is found through loving God and loving others that we pursue. Our culture has very different ideas of what treasure is, and the message of what we should want, what we should need, often overpowers the gospel message of God’s grace, abundance, and invitation. It is all too easy for our own ideas of treasure to get all tangled up, and we lose focus on the offer of being partakers of God’s heavenly treasure.
The Anglican priest, Herbert O’Driscoll writes about a Celtic endearment—that is one of the most loving ways to refer to someone in that culture: “mo stor” or “my treasure.”
I’ve been wondering this week…..If I were to sit down and take an inventory of all that I am and all that I hope to be, what people and things, what gifts and talents would I consider to be ‘my treasure’. Treasure is not just about our income or our possessions, it is about what we afford value to (rightly or wrongly). For many people, time itself is considered a treasure because lives are so busy ,and time is such a precious commodity. What in my life do I most value…what people, places, experiences…what talents and dreams…what possessions. That is my treasure.
I learn so many spiritual lessons and truths from my children and this area is no exception. When we were preparing to move here, I was immersed in the business of moving, packing up all our things, buying a house…One day, Mary Margaret, who had been having some bad dreams, found a picture of us 4 Lemburgs taken at a Christmas parade last year. She asked if she could have it, and we put it into a frame that we found, and she told me that she planned to put it on her bedside table so that when she awoke from a bad dream, she could look at it and remember—no matter what happens, we’ll be together. That photo and all that it symbolized to her became a treasure.
What is your treasure? How does your treasure overlap with God’s treasure or are there gaping inconsistencies? All that we are and all that we have comes from God, so all is God’s treasure that is entrusted to our care. But in God’s economy some treasures have higher priority, such as acts of mercy and pity.
Today at St. Peter’s we have a two-part focus on treasure. Today is the beginning of our fall financial commitment campaign (a.k.a. the stewardship drive). Today we begin a 5 week focus on the various gifts that we have, the treasures that have been given to each of us by God and God alone and entrusted into our care, and how we are called to share these treasures, as individuals and as a church, to spread the good news of God’s saving work through Jesus Christ. Today we have our Parish Opportunity Day, a time when most of our ministries and programs are represented at tables in our parish hall, and all are invited to walk around, pray and discern where your gifts, your talents, your treasure can best be used in promoting the spread of the gospel through the work of the church.
Also today, we celebrate another treasure of St. Peter’s in the life and ministry of The Rev. Diane Livingston. You all know, better than I, how Diane’s presence among you during a time of intense transition served as a source of comfort and care, a graceful example of the servant ministry to which we all are called in our baptism and an icon of God’s loving care and presence for each of you. Diane has truly been a treasure here, and we give thanks for her witness and presence among us.
What exactly is God’s treasure that is promised us? What do you consider to be your treasure? Where do the two meet (or not meet), and how might you live your life or adjust your priorities so that your treasure and God’s treasure are one and the same? Our pursuit of treasure can be a source of hope and life for us, but it can also be something that separates us from the love of God and slowly kills our souls. Which do you choose?
In closing, I share with you a story by the clergyperson, John Westerhoff. “At an informal family Eucharist I celebrated last year during Lent, I asked the group to name persons whom they knew were suffering. A little girl sitting next to her father said, “My father’s suffering but he will not tell anyone.” While I was thinking of a response, she began to hug him. In embarrassment he said, “Oh, Beth, stop; you’re going to hug me to death.” No Daddy,” she exclaimed, “I’m hugging you to life.”
What is your treasure? What is God’s treasure? Are they the same?