A commentary on our Gospel lesson, the story of Jesus\u2019 raising of Jairus\u2019 daughter, suggests that \u201cstories like this one seem to promise too much.\u201d (New Interpreter\u2019s Bible, Vol. VIII, page 590.) One is tempted to ask, \u201cHow much is too much?\u201d In John\u2019s Gospel, Jesus says, \u201cI came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.\u201d (John 10:10b NRSV.) This story in Mark\u2019s Gospel is an illustration of God\u2019s profligate giving. This is a story of God\u2019s abundant generosity. It might have been enough for Jairus and his wife if Jesus had ministered to them, had comforted them in their grief and made it possible for them to remember with gratitude the daughter whom they had lost. But that is not what Jesus did! Instead, Jesus restored their daughter to life and health. This story does not \u201cpromise too much;\u201d it demonstrates the profligate largesse of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A traditional Passover song, \u201cDayenu,\u201d has been sung over a thousand years old. It begins, \u201cHow many levels of favors has the Omnipresent One bestowed upon us.\u201d The lyrics tell the Passover story:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nIf He had brought us out from Egypt, and had not carried out judgments against them \u2026
Dayenu! (It would have sufficed us!)
If He had carried out judgments against them, and not against their idols \u2026
Dayenu! (It would have sufficed us!)
If He had destroyed their idols, and had not smitten their first-born \u2026
Dayenu! (It would have sufficed us!)
If He had smitten their first-born, and had not given us their wealth \u2026
Dayenu! (It would have sufficed us!)
If He had given us their wealth, and had not split the sea for us \u2026
Dayenu! (It would have sufficed us!)
If He had split the sea for us, and had not taken us through it on dry land \u2026
Dayenu! (It would have sufficed us!)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nAnd the song goes on for several more verses. It would have been enough, but God never gives us simply enough. God does for us more \u201cthan we can desire or pray for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are called up on to live in the spirit of \u201cDayenu,\u201d to live a theology of abundance. Moses called upon the Hebrews, and through his words recorded in Deuteronomy, God calls upon us to \u201cgive liberally and be ungrudging when [we] do so.\u201d We are summoned to emulate God\u2019s spirit of generosity. Do we? Do we live as if we trusted in God\u2019s abundance?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bible scholar and author Walter Brueggemann is one who says that we don\u2019t, although the Christian story is one of abundance. Rather, says Brueggemann, we live a \u201cnarrative of scarcity [which] posits that the past is barren of miracles and the only way to get anywhere is to invent yourself and scramble for whatever you can get. A past without gifts and a future without hope,\u201d he continues, \u201cgives a present as an arena for anxiety\u2013an anxiety endlessly stirred by those who generate the great theology of scarcity\u2013a theology which says our neighbors are a threat; which creates more suicides, murders and prisons.\u201d (Kay Collier-Slone, \u201cStewardship conference challenged to move beyond scarcity to abundance,\u201d ENS Release 99-064.) The alternative is the narrative of abundance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We heard some of that narratives in the lessons today. First, Moses\u2019 admonition to the People of God, \u201cDo not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your needy neighbor. You should rather open your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need, whatever it may be.\u201d (Deut. 15:7-8) Moses calls upon us to believe, and live, in abundance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is easy to believe in scarcity. Our culture, as Brueggemann said, encourages us to think that way. The philosophy of consumerism encourages what Brueggemann calls a \u201clove affair with commodity that is a spiritually demonic force.\u201d But every once in a while, even the consumerist system contains a glimpse of the true story. Not too long ago there was a Ruffles potato chip ad showing two Eskimoes sitting in the midst of a vast, uninhabited, frozen waste. One fellow was having a wonderful time eating the contents of his bag of Ruffles, while the other was looking longingly in his direction. In reply to his request for a chip, the first man declares to his lone companion, \u201cBut if I gave one to you, I would have to give one to everybody.\u201d Then we heard the Ruffles slogan: \u201cSo good you\u2019d better get your own bag!\u201d At the same time, there was a Nacho Cheese Doritos ad employing comedian Jay Leno as philosopher-spokesperson. After extolling the chips\u2019 great flavor and radical crunch, Leno gave us Doritos eaters free rein: \u201cCrunch all you want \u2026 we\u2019ll make more!\u201d The Christian theology of abundance is more Nachos than Ruffles. Share all you have. God will provide! We live in abundance; we just need to open our eyes and realize it, open our hands and share it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here are a few statistics that underscore how abundant our blessings are. During the 1990s, Americans, including church members, annually spent an average of $164 on soft drinks, $657 on restaurant meals and over $1,000 on recreation activities per person. In 1995, Americans spent $2.5 billion on chewing gum, $4.9 billion on movies, $8 billion on adventure travel, $12 billion on candy, $20 billion on cosmetics, and $49 billion on soft drinks. Now that is abundance! At the same time in the 1990\u2019s, the average American church member spent less than $20 a year on global outreach\u2013including activities to provide temporal and spiritual aid to the 35,000 children who die of starvation around the globe everyday. (Statistics from the Collier-Slone article.) So, I ask you again, \u201cDo we live as if we trusted in God\u2019s abundance?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In today\u2019s Epistle lesson Paul writes about the Christians in Macedonia: \u201cDuring a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.\u201d (2 Cor. 8:2) As Paul suggests, joy and generosity are linked. Our Psalm today makes the same point: \u201cHappy are they who fear the Lord \u2026 They have given freely to the poor.\u201d (Ps.112:1,9) The great German theologian Paul Tillich taught that joy is different from pleasure or superficial happiness: Tillich said that joy, which is deep and abiding, is the result of fulfillment of purpose. When we are loving, when we abide in the loving spirit of our Lord, then we realize the fulfillment of our true purpose. The result is joy. We find joy in fulfillment; we find fulfillment in God\u2019s abundance; and God\u2019s abundance is love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Jesus completed his act of abundant love in raising Jairus\u2019s daughter he turned to her family and said, \u201cGive her something to eat.\u201d (Mark 5:43) This is also what Moses told the People of God to do for anyone in need, \u201cOpen your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.\u201d (Deut. 15:11) This is what Paul called upon the Corinthians to do, following the example of their Macedonian brothers and sisters who \u201cgave according to their means, and even beyond their means.\u201d (2 Cor. 8:3) This is what we are called upon to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It might have been enough for Jairus and his family to have been comforted, but it was not enough for Jesus. It is not enough for us to pray for the souls of the 35,000 children who starve to death every day; it is not enough for us to comfort their parents. \u201cIf a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, \u2018Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,\u2019 and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?\u201d asked James in his general epistle. (James 2:15-16) We know the answer; it isn\u2019t any good at all! We who live in abundance are called upon share it in the same way God shares it, with profligate generosity. Then and only then will we be privileged to \u201chold up [our] heads with honor\u201d and say \u201cDayenu! It is enough!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This sermon was written by Eric Funston<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A commentary on our Gospel lesson, the story of Jesus\u2019 raising of Jairus\u2019 daughter, suggests that \u201cstories like this one seem to promise too much.\u201d (New Interpreter\u2019s Bible, Vol. VIII, page 590.) One is tempted to ask, \u201cHow much is too much?\u201d In John\u2019s Gospel, Jesus says, \u201cI came that they may have life, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":201212,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[43,52,33,1953],"tags":[373],"class_list":["post-511528","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sermons","category-sermons-that-work","category-the-season-after-pentecost","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-proper-8b"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":43,"label":"Sermons"},{"value":52,"label":"Sermons That Work"},{"value":33,"label":"The Season After Pentecost"},{"value":1953,"label":"worship_and_prayer_menu"}],"post_tag":[{"value":373,"label":"Proper 8B"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/511528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/sermon"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/511528\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3475773,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/511528\/revisions\/3475773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=511528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=511528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=511528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}