Genesis 15:1-6
Hebrews 11:1-16
Luke 12:32-40
Years ago, when I used to take Girl Scouts to visit Saint. John's Abbey, the monks loved to take the girls down into one of the tiny basement chapels, where there are statues of various saints, and tell them the story of St. Laurence – patron saint of McDonald's.
St. Laurence's feast day was just two days ago, on Friday, August 10.
Laurence was a deacon in Rome 1700 years ago. As archdeacon, he was in charge of all the church's treasures. He was principal financial officer to the Pope. But the emperor back then decided that going to church was against the law and that he was going to take all of the church's property and kill all the clergy. But, tradition says that the emperor's officials didn't want to kill Laurence because they wanted to know where all the treasure and money was.
So the other deacons, priests, and bishops, including the Pope, were killed,
but Laurence was left alive.
They promised him freedom if he would give them the treasures of the church.
Laurence said that
he needed three days to gather and calculate the total worth
of the treasures of the church to give to the emperor.
After three days, Laurence returned with a large crowd of people –
the sick, the crippled, the aged, and the poor;
the widows and orphans.
Laurence held out his hands toward the crowd and said to the Roman officials:
"These are the treasures of the Church."
The officials were not amused. They ordered him to be roasted alive on a gridiron – a heavy, red-hot grill. Laurence bore the torture with great calmness, saying to his executioners at one time, "You may turn me over; I am done on this side."
And so St. Laurence is the patron of all cooks, including those under the golden arches. St. Laurence really knew the truth of today's gospel reading, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Laurence understood Jesus' command to sell your possessions and give to the poor. He sold everything, including the church's precious altar vessels, and gave the money to the poor. If the church had owned any real estate, he'd have sold that too, but church in Laurence's time had no temples or other property except cemeteries. Their treasures were the people, not the possessions. It seems that they did have faith that God would provide for their needs, just as God provided for the ravens and the lilies.
After Laurence was martyred for naming the poor people "the treasures of the church," the church experienced a flood of new converts. The church gained respect, not only for the courage of its martyrs, but also for its social outreach, inspired by concern for the rights of the poor.
Yet Laurence was no financially irresponsible servant of the church. Apparently he kept such clear, organized records that he is also patron saint of archivists and librarians. He must have known the rest of today's gospel passage – the part about always being prepared. Laurence was a good steward of the early church's money
because he knew that the real treasure was what that money could do for God's people. It's not that Jesus is saying possessions or balancing the bank account is bad just because the birds and the flowers do fine without it. I think Jesus is saying that the real value of our possessions and our money is that they make us better able to care for other people.
So the church is not about beautiful buildings or elegant vestments or bursting bank accounts. The church is about mission and ministry – about caring for others, about reaching out to those in need. That is the church's treasure; the only reason for the church to have buildings, vestments, and money is to build up that mission and ministry. Otherwise, Jesus says clearly, sell it and give to the poor.
That's what Laurence did, because he understood that Jesus isn't talking about tithing, or just giving our spare cash; he's asking for more than that – to sell our the things we have so we can give to the poor.
So let's sell our church, our houses and cars, our businesses and the heirloom silver, so we can feed the hungry and shelter the homeless.... Are you ready to act on that? But of course that's crazy and irresponsible. Jesus and Laurence must both be crazy because then we really would be like those lilies and ravens.
Laurence is also the patron saint of comedians. Though I don't know who laughed when roasting on the grill he said, "You may turn me over; I am done on this side."
Certainly the saint had the sense of humor that would appreciate the absurdity of Abraham and Sarah's story. When Sarah heard that they were going to have a child, she laughed. And who can blame her. They were OLD! Who'd ever believe that a 90-year-old woman and her 100-year-old husband would produce a baby? It belongs on one of those tabloids in the grocery store.
Which one of you would believe me if I said to Bunny here, "This time next year, you'll give birth to a son!"? Like, Sarah, we'd all laugh. And like Sarah we'd try to figure some way around it – like adoption. So Sarah sent her young, fertile maid to her husband, hoping that way to get a son she could adopt. She did get a son to adopt that way.... AND she got pregnant, too.
Abraham laughs, too-- after all, how, in God's name, are these old folks, who are as good as dead, going to be fruitful? But still, Abraham believes. Abraham is not afraid to hope.
"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Abraham had faith in God's promise, and those faithful old geezers became parents. That's craziness too. It seems that we are never old or too near death that God can't make us fruitful.
God has promised us "an unfailing treasure in heaven." Jesus has promised us eternal life ... talk about crazy ideas! Now, that's a treasure to set your heart on. Like Laurence's treasure, it's a treasure that grows in the sharing. Why worry about a bank account or a building, when there's a treasure waiting for us? Setting our hearts on maintaining an old and beautiful building, or building a new and accessible one won't guarantee our survival.
But if we set our hearts on God's kingdom, on a vision of a world where all are cared for, then all these things will be given to us as well. That's the promise of the kingdom – that when we find our treasure in serving and loving and giving to those who need it, then we will have everything we need to do that – clothing, shelter, friends or children... for yourself, whatever you need; and accessible buildings, food, bathrooms, or new members for our churches; whatever it takes will be ours. Sounds crazy. Sounds unbelievable. Sounds scarey. Sounds like Jesus.
"Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
God wants you to have it all. Set your heart on God's kingdom and the treasure is yours – you will have life as abundant as the stars. "Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them....."
Try it some night. About this time of year, near the Feast of St. Laurence, if you look to the stars and wait long enough you will see them – the falling stars known as "the tears of St. Laurence."
Perhaps the saint is weeping because the church has become so enamored of budgets and buildings that she has forgotten her real treasure.
Or maybe this patron saint of comedians is making yet another joke: throwing away heaven's starry jewels, watching them dissolve into nothingness, and laughing as he sends us a reminder that the real treasure is found in the giving.