The Rev. Canon Carl Turner | Festal Eucharist

Sunday, August 10, 2025 @ 11:00 am

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The Ninth Sunday After Pentecost

The Ninth Sunday After Pentecost

Grant to us, Lord, we beseech thee, the spirit to think and do always such things as are right, that we, who cannot exist without thee, may by thee be enabled to live according to thy will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Proper 14)

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The Ninth Sunday After Pentecost

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Festal Eucharist
11:00 am

Listen to the sermon

Scripture citation(s): Genesis 15:1-6; Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16; Luke 12:32-40

✛
A Sermon by
The Rev. Canon Carl Turner
on
Genesis 15:1-6; Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16; Luke 12:32-40
✛

‘Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.’

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In our Epistle reading today we heard these words: “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

 In our Old Testament lesson today, we heard of Abraham’s faith and how it was tested.  Abraham was getting old, and he and Sarah were childless, even though God had appeared to him in a dream. Abraham’s response was one of melancholy; without a child by his wife, Sarah, how would he ever see the fulfilment of what God had promised him?  He questioned his faith and, in questioning his faith, he entered into a dark place. But it was only by entering into that dark place that he discovered a deeper understanding of God’s promise to him – and of God’s faithfulness to him, promising Abraham that his descendants would be as many as the stars in heaven.

The late Cardinal Suenens, addressing students in a mission to Oxford in the late 1970s, talked about the paradox of faith and belief, and the fact that to ‘have faith’ sometimes requires us to enter into darkness.  He put it this way:

Suppose there were no night.  Suppose that daylight were to go on and on, without our knowing night.  If we had not known night we would not have known the stars.  Only in the darkness of night are we able to see the stars. ^[1]

 It is significant that God comes to Abraham in visions in the darkness of night.  As we heard in our first scripture reading: “He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”  Because he entered into the darkness, Abraham was able to see the Milky Way in all its beauty and splendor.

Shortly after that passage, we read this: ‘As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him.” (Genesis 15:12)

A deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him. Only, it was in that deep and terrifying darkness that God made a covenant with him.

 Cardinal Suenens goes to say, “Likewise in the darkness of faith – for faith is a mystery; faith remains full of mysteries – we experience the transcendence of God: we see stars in the darkness.  With new eyes, we will see stars more and more.”

 Abraham’s faith, of course, would be tested; even to the point of God demanding that he sacrifice the very son he had always hoped for – to give up the very thing that he treasured the most.

In last week’s Gospel reading, Jesus said to his disciples, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” In her beautiful sermon on that Gospel passage, Mother Prisca said this: “Greed is idolatry not just because it misplaces our trust — but because it misplaces our identity. It confuses who we are and whose we are. We begin to think we are what we own.” 

She went on to say, “our lives are not hidden in bank accounts.

Our peace does not live in retirement plans.

Our worth does not rest on how well we’re respected, or how much we achieve.

Our lives are hidden — safe — with Christ in God.”

 In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus takes all this a step further, and suggests something radical to his disciples: “Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” 

It seems counter-intuitive to sell possessions and to give alms – how on earth can we have treasure if we have given it all away! I think the Lord is suggesting that we need to take stock of our lives and to work out what truly matters – the relationship that we have with God; the relationships that we have with one another; and the relationship that we have with our planet.  Oftentimes, it is not until something terrible happens to us, or to our family or friends or our country, or to our planet, that we think about such things. Jesus suggested to his disciples that too much attachment to worldly things, especially, wealth, power, and status, can be a distraction from the things that really matter.

Now, I don’t think that Jesus is saying that he wants his followers to be poor and destitute or homeless (though many Christians have followed the example of St. Francis and St. Clare and lived fulfilling and joyful lives) but I do think he is expecting his disciples to make choices and to know what is of real value – the things that we should truly treasure. And do you notice how Jesus introduces this theme to his disciples? “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom!”

 Do not be afraid.  Or, as Prisca said, “Our lives are hidden — safe — with Christ in God.”

 Learning to treasure the things that truly matter, rather than the things that the world or our society teaches us to value, may help us be more attuned to the life of Christ rather than, frankly, the very things that make us anxious, or afraid, or awake at night worrying in the darkness.

In his second letter to the Corinthian Church, St. Paul encouraged those early followers of Jesus not to lose heart, and not to follow the ways of the world: “The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:4) He contrasts the ways of the world with the Way of Christ – which he describes as a way of light that leads to God’s glory and not human aggrandizement.  He then went on to say, “But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7)

My dear friends, we are asked by Jesus to discover the things that really matter and to treasure them. Our faith may be tested in dark times; but God is there in the darkness, for he treasures us.

Let me end with a lovely story of an encounter between Rowan Williams and a little six-year-old Scottish girl named Lulu about faith. Lulu had written a letter to God:

“To God,

How did you get invented?”

Lulu’s father, who is not a believer, sent her letter to various church leaders: the Scottish Episcopal Church (no reply), the Presbyterians (no reply), and the Scottish Roman Catholics (who sent a theologically complex reply). He also sent it to Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, who sent the following letter in reply:

 Dear Lulu,

Your dad has sent on your letter and asked if I have any answers. It’s a difficult one! But I think God might reply a bit like this –

‘Dear Lulu – Nobody invented me – but lots of people discovered me and were quite surprised. They discovered me when they looked round at the world and thought it was really beautiful or really mysterious and wondered where it came from. They discovered me when they were very very quiet on their own and felt a sort of peace and love they hadn’t expected. Then they invented ideas about me – some of them sensible and some of them not very sensible. From time to time I sent them some hints – specially in the life of Jesus – to help them get closer to what I’m really like. But there was nothing and nobody around before me to invent me. Rather like somebody who writes a story in a book, I started making up the story of the world and eventually invented human beings like you who could ask me awkward questions!’

And then he’d send you lots of love and sign off. I know he doesn’t usually write letters, so I have to do the best I can on his behalf. Lots of love from me too.

+Archbishop Rowan

“Do not be afraid little flock. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Sermon Audio