Staking a Claim

September 26, 2010 Jeremiah 32: 1-2, 6-15 (Children’s Sermon) 1 Timothy 6: 6-11, 17-19

Rev. Catherine Purves

Can you bring to mind the picture of an old prospector? Have you watched enough TV westerns to do that? The old prospector is usually kind of scruffy looking. He’ll have wild hair and a bushy unkempt beard, dusty old clothes and a beaten up hat. He is short and spare, but deceptively strong and wiry. He walks like he’s been a long time in the saddle riding the burro that carries his tools. But this may be because he’s spent so much time in some cave on his knees hacking away at the rock face. The old prospector is determined, ever-hopeful, and eager to stake a claim once he finds gold. And when he stakes his claim, he will work diligently, passionately, and expectantly. The words, “I give up,” are not in his vocabulary.

We are gathered today to worship God and to re-dedicate this beautiful sanctuary to God’s glory and praise. This transformation, this investment of money and time and love in this place, is our way of staking a claim here in Bellevue. We are not passing through; we are here to stay. Like the old prospector who has staked his claim, we are going to be working here, diligently, passionately, and expectantly. The words, “I give up,” are not in our vocabulary. And if we sometimes look a bit the worse for wear because of our labors, so be it. And if we walk like we’ve been in the saddle for a good long time, let us hope that it is really only because we’ve been on our knees a lot in prayer. Together, we have made this commitment to make our sanctuary a place of beauty that can speak to us and to others of the beauty and grace of God revealed in Jesus Christ.

It has always been - and now I think more than ever - it is a sanctuary, a safe place where God’s peace can enfold you, a place of hope where prayer and Scripture and Sacraments bind us to Christ, a place of joy and fellowship where our shared worship declares and celebrates our common faith in Jesus. We have staked a claim here. Like the old prospector, we can rejoice that we have found gold here. And like the old prospector, we are now pledged to work our claim with all of the energy and stubborn determination that we have in us. That is what we are celebrating today.

The story of Jeremiah that I shared with the children earlier reminds us of another important truth. When Jeremiah was directed by God to buy his cousin’s field when Jerusalem was under siege and about to be overrun by the army of the king of Babylon, this was not just Jeremiah staking a claim, picking up some property when the price was right. This was God staking a claim in that place. Though the inhabitants of Jerusalem were about to be carted off into exile, God would not abandon that land and that people. Jeremiah’s act was really God staking a claim for the future.

And we believe that God has staked a claim here too. It is not only our claim, it is God’s. And that is what gives us prospectors the courage and the will to keep on digging, to keep on working the seam, investing ourselves and our efforts in the work of the church. God has claimed not only this space, but us - each one of us, and all of us together. In that story of Jeremiah, God did not just claim the territory of that field as a symbol the continuing relationship between God and Israel. God had also staked a claim in Jeremiah himself as a prophet, as one who would proclaim in word and deed the will and the work of God. So too, God has staked a claim in each of our lives, so that in this place together we will be witnesses to all that God has done and is doing in Jesus Christ.

So, today, we are staking a claim, tenaciously committing ourselves to this place and all that it means for us and for our community. And God is staking a claim, confirming our place here and our work here, and, more than that, directing and fortifying us for that work through the presence of the Spirit in our midst. That all sounds very encouraging, very upbeat. But let’s take another look at that old prospector. Because there are also dangers here that we should not overlook, and our reading from 1st Timothy highlights some of them.

You cannot move from a major capital campaign, to on-going discussions about the use of a large bequest, and then to months and months of planning for renovations on our living room, our sanctuary, without being immersed in the world of money and finance. I’m reminded of that song from the musical Cabaret that repeats over and over again the word Money and then concludes, “Money makes the world go around; it make the world go round.”

Yes, we have staked our claim. Yes, we recognize that God has staked a claim in us. But in the process of all this, we have spent so much time and energy speaking about money and the use of money. Just like our prospector, the glint of gold has an unmistakable allure for us. We have tried to use the unexpected wealth that we received to give glory to God, but we must continue to guard against our attraction to the trappings of wealth. We dare not become more enamored with the place where we have staked our claim, than we are with the God whom we seek to serve and who has staked his claim on us. If that is the case, our efforts would then be largely self-serving and self-indulgent.

And, as our reading from Timothy shows, this is a danger that we must take very seriously. “Those who want to be rich,” our text warns, “fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil…” We know about the danger of putting anything else in God’s place. Even a sanctuary, and the beauty of that sanctuary (made possible by money), can subtly take the place of God. This is, indeed, a slippery slope, and one that is, frankly, difficult to avoid. In the case of a sanctuary, we are trying to use the trappings of this world to point beyond the mere material to the powerful presence and claim of God upon us. Sometimes, though, we end up just feasting our eyes on the beauty before us, and we forget the real treasure which is not so easily seen and known, but which is so much more real.

As prospectors who really do want to be true to our calling, staking our claim here in Bellevue and acknowledging God’s claim on our lives, what then can we do to remain faithful? As the letter to Timothy urges, we must not set our hopes on the uncertainty of riches and material things. Realistically, our roof could blow off tomorrow. Instead, we must set our hopes on God who has provided this beautiful sanctuary for our enjoyment. And then, we must get to work on our claim. We have been told what to do. We are “to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share.” We are to “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, [and] gentleness.” And we are to do all of this right here, where we have staked our claim, where God has staked his claim.

This is our real treasure. This life lived in communion with Christ and in joyful service is what really makes the world go round. In the words of 1st Timothy, this is “the life that really is life.” And we are urged to take hold of it, to stake our claim, to make our confession, and then to live our lives faithfully giving glory to Jesus in all that we say and do. This is what we are celebrating today. And we thank God that we can do that in this re-dedicated sanctuary, this very special place of worship, peace, and beauty.

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