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St. Charles Episcopal Church - Saint Charles, IL

The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost - Proper 12 RCL Year A

Sunday, July 10, 2011                                                                                                                                                                                    

Genesis 29:15-28 – Psalm 128 – Romans 8:26-39 – Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

Rev. William R. Nesbit, Jr.

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

What is your treasure? What is it that you value above all else? Is your treasure an accumulation of money? A beautiful house? An heirloom? Is your treasure a loved one, a spouse, a child, a grandchild? These may sound like casual questions, but according to today’s lessons they are vital. In a world where bigger is better, where materialism reigns, where we have become addicted to our stuff, and where we are so busy that many of us can no longer find time even for prayer, let alone coming to church every week,

these questions are truly the heart of the matter.

For Jacob, his treasure was Rachel – He was willing to serve her father Laban for seven years in order to obtain his permission to marry Rachel. In Laban, however, the trickster Jacob met his match when he was married off to Leah and ended up serving another seven years before he could marry Rachel. Fourteen years of servitude is quite a bride price. In Jacob’s eyes and heart she must have been a treasure indeed.

In our Gospel this morning Jesus speaks to us of his treasure, the treasure that is enough; the kingdom of heaven. As He shares his vision of the kingdom of heaven in a series of parables, we catch glimpses of the whole wonderful kingdom like images seen briefly through the sparkling facets of a diamond. It is a stunning vision. In the parable of the mustard seed we see a flash of the amazing potential that lies within the kingdom of heaven, a potential far beyond all outward appearances. In the parable of the yeast we see a glimpse of the transforming power of the kingdom of heaven, the power of small actions to affect large outcomes. In the parable of the treasure hidden in a field, the mysterious and hidden nature of the kingdom of heaven, and the lengths we may need to go to before it is revealed, sparkles before our eyes. In the parable of the merchant in search of fine pearls we see shining before us the lengths to which the kingdom of heaven will go in pursuit of us, and reflected in that image the value that each one of us has in the kingdom. And in the parable of the net cast into the sea, catching fish of every kind, we see the all embracing nature of the kingdom of heaven shimmering in front of us like those myriad kinds of fish.

All these parables, all these images, give us glimpses of the kingdom Jesus came to proclaim and reveal. It is the same kingdom that has come near to us as well though we may not always see it, may have forgotten the power it has to change lives, our lives. It is this kingdom that we as Christians proclaim, or should be proclaiming, when we go about God’s will in the world. And so with all these images dancing in our heads we come back to where we began. What is our treasure?

Today we have baptized Mary Katherine McCleary Griswold, better known to most of us as Molly. We know that all children are a treasure to their family, but Molly represents a treasure to the rest of us as well. She represents the hope for our future. Baptism is a powerful two-fold grace that has been given to us by God. It is a gift we have been given to share abundantly. Baptism is the well out of which we draw all our gifts for ministry. It is also the door through which we all come into the Body of Christ. In this way the grace of Baptism lies at the core of our hope for the future, for it is only through baptism that we will ever hope to get there.

About six years ago we started on a project to address some shortcomings of our building. We planned on air-conditioning the worship space, re-designing our back entry space and bathrooms, and upgrading our back parking lot. As the project developed, rising costs put the parking lot on hold, but the rest of the project greatly improved the usability of our building space. At the time we were in a bit of a growth spurt and there was an urgency to get the work done. As the growth rate dropped off, so did the urgency, and so here we are six years later.

Our numbers haven’t changed much in the last few years, but we have changed. It is hard to remember sometimes that just because our numbers haven’t grown doesn’t mean that we haven’t grown. It hasn’t been easy, but then no one ever said change was easy.

Like the mustard seed growing, or like the bread rising, the Spirit has been brooding over us, working on us a little at a time. St. Charles’ is a very different church than the one I came to eleven years ago. I too am changed, as you are as well. The city in which we live has changed, as are the times in which we live. We are surrounded by change.

The parables we heard this morning remind us of the amazing potential and the transforming power of the kingdom of heaven. When we work for the kingdom, God works on us, and works for us; and if God is for us, who can stand against us.

As you have probably heard by now, we are again looking at upgrading our parking lot. The cumulative damage sustained over the intervening years now makes it a necessity. But instead of responding by reflex, we have decided to take this as an opportunity to look at who we are now and who we think God is calling us to be in the near future, and to take the time to make the plans needed to be prepared for that eventuality. It has become clear to us that it will take more than a parking lot. It is also clear to us that in these economic times we need to carefully discriminate between what we need and what we merely want.

Every week we ask God to help us be a true light in our community. What we are doing is working to describe what we believe that will look like; how we are to be light to others in this place at this time. The vision and mission of our parish throughout it’s history is what leads us down this road. It is the grace of baptism which will get us to the future. It will take all our gifts, both small and great.

In the weeks and months ahead we will be working hard to manage this path to the future. We will make some mistakes, not on purpose, but they are inevitable... we are only human. We will learn from our mistakes. There will be anxiety, because there is always anxiety. The first normal response to even the potential for change is fear. Fear of change and fear of failure. But even in the face of this fear there will be hope, as well. Hope that comes from being grounded in faith. When fear pushes us down God comes to our rescue, through faith, by sending the Holy Spirit.

In the section of Romans we heard this morning, Paul speaks very eloquently about the actions of the Spirit in our lives.

“The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

Even when fear stops our lips, or holds us back, the Spirit prays for us; leads us.    Hope will not be silenced. And so as we move ahead I ask you to be involved in the process. Ask questions. Offer answers. Point out problems. Offer solutions. Volunteer. But most importantly, pray for us all. Together we are moving ahead. Without the power of prayer all our plans would be doomed from the start. Pray for the words to pray as we ought, and if words fail, pray for sighs of the Spirit. Pray for the diligence of Jacob and the strength of the Spirit when our diligence flags. Pray for the potential of the mustard seed and the transformative power of the yeast in our actions. Pray that in heart and mind we will seek the right treasure and that God will find and reveal within ourselves all the pearls we so often try to hide. Pray that we will keep before us an awareness of the ever present reality that God’s kingdom will come with us or without us.

And pray that it comes with us.

Amen.