Sermon for Ordinary 19, 10th August 2025

Welcome friends and peace be with you. MAY the words of my mouth and the meditations in our hearts be acceptable in your sight O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. <Amen>

Here, once again, is the first line of today’s Gospel. “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

I think I latched onto that first statement because the rest of the passage seemed like a pretty long “To Do List.” Sell your possessions… Give alms… Make purses that don’t wear out… Be dressed for action… Have your lamps lit… Do this… Do that… Be ready at all costs.

You see, I’m not wild about “To Do Lists” when they come from somebody else – just ask my wife!

Thank you very much but I can have my own list of things to do – and I do.

I keep one in “Notes” on my computer or on a pad of paper on my desk. But as soon as someone else makes a suggestion or adds something to my list that doesn’t line-up with my plans, I can procrastinate, get unwilling. I’m not necessarily proud of this. It’s not one of my better qualities. Again, just ask Kim.

Truth be told, Jesus’ “To Do List” today, doesn’t always line up with mine. And, I’m guessing it doesn’t always line up with your list of things to do at every turn, either. “Sell your possessions… Give alms… Store up for yourselves heavenly sorts of treasures – not all of this earthly stuff, like cars and houses and clothes and shoes; like savings accounts and retirement funds and be dressed for action … Have your lamps lit … Be ready at all costs for God’s coming among you.

Live a life that would make God happy and proud enough that should God show up at your door, you would swing it wide with joy, show God around, such that God would be so happy, so pleased, so proud of your life and faith. <PAUSE>

Yes, this is a challenge of our life and faith. It’s the “To Do List” of keeping our priorities straight and our actions pure and our faith strong so that we’re living a life (as a said last week) that is “rich towards God”. We strive to be right in the eyes of God and in keeping with our best intentions for ourselves, for our family, and for the sake of the world around us.

I think that’s what Jesus is encouraging us toward today. To live with an expectation that God is always and already with us, or watching, or on the way to us – as God has always been.

Jesus himself – his very incarnate presence among us – was a reminder and an embodiment of that reality. So His words and His teaching today are a call to keep God’s “To Do List” ahead of our own when it comes to the choices we make, from one day to the next. <PAUSE>

Sure, God’s “To Do List” can be long, challenging and even intimidating.

It means making do with less so that the least among us can have more.
It means accepting God’s forgiveness for our own sins and it means forgiving the sins of those we’d rather not.

It means loving one another, and our enemies.
It means standing up to injustice when we see it.

It means praying for and voting for and working for peace in the world.
It means living and shopping and consuming in ways that care for creation.

It means eating and drinking and exercising in ways that care for the temples that our bodies are meant to be.

God’s “To Do List” is long and hard and exhausting - especially when I look at it as someone else’s list of priorities, instead of my own.

Which is why I keep going back to that first statement from Jesus; that thing he says before he gets to the list: “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.” … yes … “It is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.”

This is Christ telling us how God operates, “It is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.” Or “God wants this for you.” Or “God desires this for you.” Or …

Do these things, live in these ways, and just see God pour out the blessings of heaven on you.

See, the other thing I’m reminded of in all of this is that God’s Kingdom is already among us, thanks to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. I mean, it’s not only something we’re waiting for at the end of time or on that day when we’ll meet our maker. <PAUSE>

So Jesus’ word for today is an invitation to live in ways that will allow us to experience the Kingdom of God, right where we are, here, now, today.

If you want to see for yourself some of The Kingdom, if you want to experience for yourself what The Kingdom is like:

Be generous in ways that surprise even yourself.

Sacrifice something for someone who needs it.

Seek out the least in our community and give them a hand.

Forgive that someone who makes your blood pressure rise whenever they cross your mind.

Start a conversation with someone who looks or lives or who believes differently than you do.

Send a note to someone who’d be surprised to know they were even on your radar, let alone in your prayers.

Oh yes, and because I struggle with the “To Do” lists of others Jesus reminds me\us Jesus reminds us today that we don’t have to do any of the many, various things on God’s cosmic “To Do List,” but that because of God’s grace – God wants to give us the kingdom, after all – we are blessed to do whatever we can manage.

I runga e te Ingoa o te Atua, te Matua, te Tama me te Wairua Tapu. <AMINE>