This is a really short sermon. So don’t get comfortable cos you’ll blink and then be saying What did he say.
You are your brothers keeper. You are your sisters keeper.
There you are that’s the sermon.
I’ll say it again: You are your brothers keeper. You are your sisters keeper.
In the world of Safeguarding – aren’t you glad now that we’re not having that reading from the other week that encouraged you to lop off offending arms, feet, eyes, it would be better for you says Jesus if a millstone were tied around your feet than if you were to cause one of my little ones to stumble. That’s a bit scary. Good.
We are responsible for each other. We look out for each other. You’ve been doing that over this year pastorally you’ve been phoning each other – how are you doing, is there anything I can get you – you’ve been fabulous in helping to deliver some of the messy packs to people so that they could connect to the Church.
We have been showing how we love each other, how we are responsible for each other.
So application part 1 is Do the Safeguarding Training, the C0, the C1. If you are on PCC, you’re a trustee of this Church, you really really need to do this – if you’re struggling with the tech call me and come round and do the course with me on my computer or something.
IF you’re not on PCC then seriously consider setting aside an afternoon and doing it. Its really interesting. Odds are on you wont learn anything new but it will give you a fresh reminder of things that perhaps you’d put to one side in your mind and it will help you as We care for each other.
The first lesson from Hebrews is full of We, we have a great high priest, let US hold firmly to our faith, let US then approach the throne with confidence, because WE have to give an account.
Its no good you saying “I’m not part of the Safeguarding Committee, that’s not my rota”, because it is. You are, we are, our brothers, our sisters keeper.
I got three emails all saying the same thing “I expect you’ve already heard that So n So has just gone into hospital” – Actually I hadn’t – and I really don’t mind getting 15 of those sort of emails.
You and I, we are our brothers, our sisters, keeper.
We do that through having a good understanding of Safeguarding. Do the C0, the C1 training, its online, there’s a quiz at the end, its fun, its informative.
The Rich Young Ruler comes running up to Jesus. Jesus presumably has been telling some parables and now he’s moving off to another Town to talk to them about the kingdom of God
and this Wealthy Person doesn’t want to miss a moment with Jesus, he runs, he falls on his knees, and his whole conversation is about himself.
What must I do to inherit eternal life? He’s not that fussed about others. He knows what he wants out of his religion.
And Jesus says ‘You lack one thing’. And the Loaded Lad thinks Excellent, there’s only one thing, and I lack it which means I can buy it and I’ve got tons of money so this is going to be so much easier than I thought.
But what Jesus says shows that Rich has two problems. There’s a solution, one solution, that will solve both of his issues.
The first is to do with himself and his own addiction. His sense of self-worth, identity, importance, his standing before society, before God, is all wrapped up in his vast amount of money.
Jesus supported the ancient practice of Tithing – of taking 10% of whatever God has given you this year – and giving that to God.
Some of us look at that and say Wow that’s tough.
You know about my pay, you know that I get £25k pa, and I give to the Church £160pm. That’s sort of my tithe.
I don’t give because the window badly needs doing, and we’re run out of time to do fund raising for it so we are just going to have to do it quickly –
I don’t do it because of any issue, I do it because I worship a generous God who has been generous to me.
For me, giving is about worship. I miss passing the bag because for me that moment to give to the Church is symbolic of the relevance of the rest of my week to my faith, to my God, and that God is relevant to how I see my wallet.
I’ve written to a whole bunch of you to thank you for your giving and asking you to have a think about your giving and about signing up to the Parish Giving Scheme, do have a chat with Paul Waller. IF you didn’t get a letter from me, come and complain to me later!
I was chatting with Bishop Ruth – I just thought I’d say that to impress you – and she was talking about sacrificial giving. If our gift to God is made up of the small change we find down the back of the sofa, then that’s not really worship is it? There’s no real gift, no real sacrifice there.
Our giving should be sacrificial. We should notice when it leaves our bank account, we should adjust how we shop accordingly.
And then she said something horrible.
Jesus was right. It is hard for Someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.
Its really hard for them to say – When have I given sacrificially? When have I given in a way that I notice its absence from my account?
when the lack of that money now makes me think twice before I …. Buy that thing that I would quite like.
You see, Rich has two problems and there’s one solution. Problem one is that his identity is all wrapped up in himself and in his money, without his money he’s nobody, no one. You and I know that that’s not true. But over the years we have all struggled with this – Am I loved for who I am, or for some other reason?
And I hope that you’ve found in this Church family, that you are loved because you are a child of God, because we are your keeper and you are part of that process of keeping each other.
We are our brothers our sisters keeper.
So the solution for Rich is to give up his money, live without it, you will find a wonderful liberating freedom. Church history is full of stories of people who have done this, they have given over their estates to the Church and taken themselves off into the desert to live the simple life and it has been wonderful, powerful, liberating.
I wonder if Jesus had just asked Rich to give up the money, leave it in a bank, come back to it in ten years time, just live without it. I wonder if Rich would have given this a go.
But Jesus says Give it to the poor. The problem with the poor is that they’re undeserving, they might thank you but probably not, they don’t give you back anything. What’s the point?
So we as a church we give to all sorts of different charities around the world, around Seaford. Some of them write nice letters back but that’s all. All that money and all we get for it is a letter.
And we invest in our children and youth work and holiday club and sandwiches – and you don’t even get a letter from them, though you do at least get a nice smiley face from them.
And we invest a shed load of money into this building when there’s a small part of me that says It would be so much more sensible if we just knocked it all down and built a modern sensible community worship space.
I’m really hoping that somewhere in that list of the Poor that we give to that we spend your money on, I’m really hoping that you started to think – oh no that’s not the right attitude! The vicar has gone off the script there. Good, well done you were listening.
We give because God is generous to us and we want to be like God, and the way to that is to practice the spiritual discipline of being sacrificially generous. It isn’t easy.
There really are times when it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.
But I am my brothers my sisters keeper.
Jesus offers us a reward – I wonder if you noticed it in the gospel reading, I wonder what you think the reward might be, I wonder how that wealthy person might have thought about this promised reward – the reward is a bigger family, more brothers and sisters, mothers and children – the reward is more relationships.
Not more money, but more people for us to care for.
We are our brother, our sisters keeper.
Living that out is hard work, its takes prayer, it takes care, it takes money,
and for it to really work, we need each other, to be our brother, our sisters keeper. Amen.