The Tenth Sunday after Pentecost – July 24, 2005

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

            What do you expect to find at a yard sale? I often wonder what it is that sends people out early in the morning hoping to be the first at the yard sale and somehow get that great treasure…whatever it may be.

            I do realize that one person’s trash can be another person’s treasure. That is true. And certainly yard sales do a wonderful job recycling things that might otherwise be thrown away.

            Bishop Lavern Franzen is a friend who tells me he is often on the hunt at yard sales for golf equipment. He buys old clubs, balls, bags, and just about anything to do with golf. These purchases help feed his addiction to golf.

            You would think that perhaps our Lord had been to a yard sale or two because Jesus tells a parable today about a worker who finds treasure in a field. It was not anticipated, and the worker goes and buys the field, knowing the great treasure that is there for the taking.

            The kingdom of God is like that. It is a hidden treasure; we only see it through eyes of faith. Citizenship in the kingdom of God is a gift from God. It is not something we make happen. Today the gospel lesson reminds us that it is God who brings the kingdom and gives it to us. Today we hear again that God loves us unconditionally.

            Let me get at that another way: Philip Yancey, a writer, has said that nothing you do can make God love you less. And nothing you do can make God love you more.

            Imagine that! God loves you regardless.

            Think with me about Philip Yancey’s first proposal: nothing you do can make God love you less.

            Yes, Yancey is right. In faith we believe that there is no sin that God will not forgive. Perhaps blasphemy against the Holy Spirit might be the only exception, but if it is, it is indeed the only exception.

            So all your sin is forgiven; your distrust of God, your profane use of God’s name, and your failure to keep the Word of God at the center of your life is all forgiven. And those are only the first three commandments. God loves you unconditionally and nothing you can do will make God love you less.

            We call that “amazing grace” and it is the grace of the cross. On the cross God loves us unconditionally. So unconditional is God’s love for us in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus that all our sin is forgiven and we are made new, transformed, people. We are created new in Christ. We are created to follow Christ.

            And that means we do not have to something unusual to have God love us more. Nothing you can do will make God love your more. The cross is clear: God loves you unconditionally.

            So, as we respond to God’s unconditional love, we need not worry about doing jus the “right” thing so that God will love us more.

            Rather, we can respond to God’s unconditional love by serving others in Christ’s name. And perhaps one of the first things we can do to serve others is not judge them. Yes, once again this week we encounter in the gospel lesson our Lord Jesus telling a parable about judgment. It is the parable of the net with all kinds of fish, some of which will be looked at and set aside while others will be kept.

            Note that this is another of his words on how the final scene of all time will take place: God will be the judge and God decides who is worthy and who is not. God will decide who the sheep are and who the goats are.

            So, leave the judging to God. Jettison the judgmental attitudes and look to serve others in the name of Christ. God loves you unconditionally and through the cross has made all of you citizens of the kingdom. Rejoice, give thanks, and serve in Christ’s name.

            The irony of God’s unconditional love for you is that even in your serving God loves you again. I recently saw an ad on TV with the Williams sisters starring. They are the famous tennis-playing sisters. The ad begins with one sister hitting tennis balls, serving them over the net and the tennis balls collect on the court across from her.

            Next, both sisters are beside each other. They then point out that when you serve yourself the ball never comes back. Only when you serve others does something come back to you. Indeed, God’s unconditional love comes back to you each moment you serve another in Christ’s name. That is how completely God loves you.

            I have heard those who serve a meal at the Valley Mission talk about how the experience comes back to them; how they feel more blessed than the blessing they are as they serve the hungry of our community. It is that way with God’s love. As you share it once again it blesses you. Amen.

• Pastor Robert F. Holley