This is the sermon I prepared for Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Beatrice, Neb., for the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Sept. 26, 2010.

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Readings

Amos 6:1a, 4–7
Psalm 146 (antiphon v. 7)
1 Timothy 6:6–19
Luke 16:19–31

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Prayer

Gracious Father, by your Holy Spirit open our ears to hear your calling to faithful service and empower us to respond to that calling, following your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Message

Most little children just love it
when parents toss them
up into the air and then catch them
gently in their arms.

If they can talk,
they’ll exclaim, “Again! Do it again!”
When you’ve played this way with a child,
you know that your arms will tire out
long before your child’s enthusiasm wanes.

Eventually, though, we hope,
they grow too big, too heavy,
to be tossed into the air.

But fortunately, that comes about the age
when they have grown big enough
to sit safely on a swing.

And then the fun begins anew.
We discover, to our relief,
that pushing a swing is easier
than tossing a boy or a girl into the air.
Little, gentle pushes made at the just right time
will launch them much higher
and let them swing much faster
than we could ever accomplish
by tossing them straight up.

Today’s four readings are like a swing,
and we are the children riding upon it,
and God our Father is the one
standing patiently behind us,
pushing gently, again and again,
at just the right time,
to launch us, seated upon these readings
higher and further and faster
than might happen if he used brute force.

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Amos pronounces God’s judgment
on all who are not troubled
by the calamities facing his people.
He announces that God will judge them
because they place their faith in their wealth,
depending upon themselves and their possessions
rather than relying upon the God
who in fact gave them everything they have:

“Alas for those who lie on beds of ivory…
but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph.
Therefore they shall now be the first
to go into exile….” (Amos 6:4a,6b,7a, NRSV)

Do you feel the first push on the swing?
God judges those who tend to their own comfort
rather than grieving over the ruin facing his people.

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In Psalm 146, we sing together with Israel,
reminding ourselves not to place our ultimate trust
in people who come and go in our lives,
but to seek help from God.
He is the LORD who gives his all for those who are weak,
but who executes his judgment upon the wicked:

“Do not put your trust…in mortals,
in whom there is no help.
Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob….
The LORD loves the righteous…
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.” (Psalm 146:3,5a,8c,9c, NRSV)

And our Father in heaven pushes on the swing once again.
He judges the wicked—those who ignore the weak—
but showers his love upon the weak and those who aid them.

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St. Paul offers wise spiritual guidance
to his companion, Timothy,
advising him on how to live a good and godly life.
At the root, the question for Timothy
is whether he will live under and witness to and serve fully
the God of Israel and the Church
or bow down to some other god, some false god, some idol.
The choice is clear and the outcome is eternal:

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil,
and in their eagerness to be rich
some have wandered away from the faith
and pierced themselves with many pains. …
As for those who in the present age are rich,
command them not to be haughty,
or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches,
but rather on God who richly provides us
with everything for our enjoyment.” (1 Timothy 6:10,17, NRSV)

And with another push, God sends us higher and faster.
When we love money more than him,
then we have forsaken him and have placed our faith in an idol.
He gives us everything, not only for need, but also for enjoyment.
But in return, we often commit idolatry, breaking the first commandment.

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And finally, in the Gospel from Luke,
Jesus tells the parable
of Father Abraham, the rich man, and poor Lazarus.
We learn that the rich enjoy their fleeting reward,
but that the poor may hope for eternal comfort.
Jesus reminds us through the words of Father Abraham
that this judgment from God ought not catch us by surprise:

“They have Moses and the prophets;
they should listen to them. …
If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be convinced
even if someone rises from the dead.” (Luke 16:29,31, NRSV)

And with a last push, we swing high and fast,
knowing that God our Father stands behind us,
pushing, reminding, pushing, rebuking, pushing, reassuring.

He doesn’t throw us up into the air abruptly,
sending us flying aloft by brute force.
Instead, with patience and gentleness,
he firmly, insistently, repeatedly, inexorably
tells us again and again,
first this way and then that way,
through the prophets, by the psalmist,
in the gospel, by the apostles,
what is his will and his way and his word.

He judges and he saves.
He unmasks our idols and he invites our worship.
He rebukes all who trust in wealth
and reassures all who tolerate want.

Perhaps now we are squirming in our swing,
a little uncomfortable with the height and the speed,
a little unsure about whether we want God pushing us.

Maybe his warnings about wealth are not for us.
Maybe.
But then the facts confront us.

Americans make up five percent of the world’s population,
but we consume twenty-four percent of its energy,
where access to energy is the clearest measure of affluence.
The average American uses as much energy
as 307 Tanzanians or 370 Ethiopians,
just to pick out the citizens of two countries
where our fellow Lutherans outnumber the membership of the ELCA.

We could pick other measures,
other ways to assess wealth and poverty.
But in the end, the truth remains.
Despite the differences among us in this nation,
the discrepancies between the wealth of Warren Buffet
and the poverty of our permanent underclass,
we Americans are among the world’s wealthy.

And so, today’s Word of judgment is for us,
just as surely as God extends his promise of salvation
to all who turn to him.
As Father Abraham reminds us,
we have heard Moses and the prophets.
But then, God be praised,
we also have witnessed one who has risen from the dead.
We have felt him splash upon us,
we have heard him in teaching and preaching,
and we have tasted him in the bread and the wine.

We have received the grace of God in many and various ways,
so that we can take to heart
St. Paul’s admonition to Timothy, his friend and companion:

“But as for you, man of God,
shun all this;
pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love,
endurance, gentleness.
Fight the good fight of the faith;
take hold of the eternal life to which you were called
and for which you made the good confession
in the presence of many witnesses.” (1 Timothy 6:11–12, NRSV)

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Get back on the swing.
Grab the chains with both hands.
Call out over your shoulder to God our Father,
“Again! Higher! Faster! Do it again!” Amen.