Sermon - 8/10/25

Year C – 9th Sunday after Pentecost; Lectionary 19 – August 10, 2025

Pastor Megan Floyd

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

Luke 12:32-40

Grace and peace to you from our Lord, Jesus Christ, and from God, our Creator, in whose faithfulness we trust. Amen.

***

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

Faith… is our trust that God is faithful… our trust that God is good for what God promises… it is our trust that Jesus really meant it when he said, “it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32)

Faith… is not certainty… it’s an act of holy listening to what the Holy Spirit is whispering to you… and then responding accordingly… it’s an act of holy acknowledgment of the nudges felt deep in your gut… and then going where you feel the Spirit guiding you.

Even when we don’t know the outcome… when we can’t see the final destination of the journey… we go anyway… Faith is not certainty… it’s trusting that God’s got you… that God loves you… and that God delights in providing for you.

This past week, I met an amazing woman named Mona… and after talking with her for a long time, I learned that she knows many of you, too.

Mona exudes joy …and hope for all that her life has been and what it will be… and gratitude to God for it all. Her energy just… sparkled!

She came to the United States as an immigrant from Namibia when she was only a teenager. I’m not the best at guessing ages, but she might be around my age now.

While I didn’t catch the specifics of why she needed to immigrate, I heard in her story the struggle her family faced when it became plain that sending her to the US… far away from everything she’d known… was the best solution.

They trusted that God would be with her through it all… that no matter what, she was cradled by the Spirit.

I gathered that she was sponsored by Samaritas, and she said that her father told her… whenever you find yourself in trouble, go to the Lutherans… the Lutherans will help you.

…I love that part, obviously…

But sure enough… that’s what she’s done, and that’s how she has come to know so many of you here!

Mona told me that Ceclia helped her with her green card paperwork, and she checked in with Pr. Ellen many times.

She was excited to share that she’s graduated summa cum laude from LCC and is going to start at Cooley Law School this winter.

She’s also just started a job at a hotel that she loves and will be able to work around her class schedule.

She is in a really good place and she’s excited for life… but more than anything, she gives glory and praise to God for it all…

Her joy comes from trusting God’s presence in her life, for guiding her when she didn’t know if her needs would be met… and living every day according to God’s will.

Her witness was a beautiful testament to her faith in God’s promise for us all… And… she makes it look easy!

The honest truth is, that when you live as close to daily struggle and hardship as it sounded like she does, there is little confusion as to the source of all good things… the source of our daily bread.

God really does show up in profound ways when we’re paying attention!

But for those who live with a fair amount of comfort… it is much easier to confuse God’s provision with our own resourcefulness…

It’s easier to ignore the nudging of the Spirit to follow God’s way of caring for others, and instead, go our own way that cares only for ourselves.

Like the parable from last week, we are tempted to stockpile our resources… our abundance… to ensure that no matter what, OUR needs will be met… but the only way to create such a stockpile… is to ignore the needs of all those around us.

And yet… Jesus shows up and brings good news… Have no fear, he says… release your anxiety! For it is God’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Do not be afraid! The one who created you… delights in caring for you.

Now hear this… a flock is not an individual… the “you” in this assurance from Jesus is plural.

It is God’s good pleasure to give you, as a people… as a community… to give you and all your neighbors… the full body of Christ… to give you all the kingdom.

And Jesus also tells us how this will be achieved… but we tend to skip over that part.

Don’t get me wrong, though… this isn’t about receiving salvation… we are not responsible for earning our own salvation or redemption… for that is what Jesus has already done for us.

But we do, however, have a responsibility… our lives need to be ready to receive the good gifts that God offers, and the sooner the better!

…because the gifts are so good!

The kingdom of God is not an afterlife eventuality… it is something God is building here and now, with us, inviting us in as co-creators for God’s glory!

So then… Have no fear, for it is God’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom, and Jesus then tells us how we are to receive this gift…

…Sell your possessions and give alms to the poor… build up your treasure by building up those in need!

Build up your treasure… by building up those whom Jesus consistently favors…

Build up your treasure… by building up those who are cast out… by building up those who are sick… by building up those who are alone… those who are hungry… those who are strangers in a foreign land.

Build up your treasure… by directing your heart toward those whom Jesus favors… time and time again throughout scriptures…

Build up your treasure… by building a full and diverse community where all have their needs met, including you! …where all are valued and where all are loved.

THAT is the kingdom of God…

and where your treasure is… there your heart will be. Your heart.

It’s not really about your treasure… although for your neighbor in need, it kind of is… but your treasure is both a means to an end… and something that can get in between you and God…

Giving of your treasure is how you train yourself to pay attention… it’s how you train your heart to care… it’s how you actively engage with the fullness of the community around you.

So it’s not as much about your treasure… as it is about your heart… your love… Jesus wants your heart.

Giving of your treasure… is how we train our hearts to go where our human nature wouldn’t normally go.

Our human nature is to look at our resources and see scarcity, and to feed our anxiety by storing up our treasure in earthly containers.

But in God’s kingdom… we look out at our resources and see an abundance, enough to feed all who are hungry, and in our sharing, we are richly blessed.

So have no fear! Trust in God, your Creator, for it is God’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom… and here is how we are to receive such a splendid gift…

…by letting go of our fear… by becoming more like Mona…

By trusting that God will continue to provide, and God will continue to guide us each day to those we can share our life with and build our community with… so we can delight in the ways that we bless each other, each according to their gifts…

…in the promised and ever-unfolding kingdom of God.

Our God delights in you… delights in providing for you… and God is delighted when we figure out how to receive God’s blessing for us.

For it is God’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom. So trust in the promises and provision of the Lord, your God… and have no fear. Amen.