We are in vacation season – yea!!!  And I will be heading out on mine tomorrow.  I will miss you, but these seasons of rest and renewal are important for all of us to take, and I hope each of you has been getting some time off to recharge.

The church also has seasons – and no, we do not close the church for vacation.  Really, our church has several seasons throughout the year.  However, our lectionary, the readings we do from week to week alongside most denominations, really has two “seasons” and both of them together tell a full story. 

From Advent through to the Ascension (A to A if you will) we answer the question: “Who is Jesus?” In the season of Pentecost, we answer a different question – “What does it mean to follow Jesus?”  Well today’s readings are most definitely a sign that we are indeed in the season of Pentecost.  Specifically, the text from Isaiah tells us what we are to do, and the gospel tells us how to do it.

The passage from Isaiah starts this way: “Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the teaching of our God,

Well, alrighty then.  God does NOT seem very happy at the moment, and definitely despises the religious practices of these folks.

Now, before we go any further, because those famous twin cities are named, and I mean Sodom & Gomorrah, not Minneapolis & St. Paul, I need to remind everyone that, despite what some fundamentalists will tell you, the sins of the peoples of those two cities had absolutely nothing to do with homosexuality.  In fact, I could give you my full explanation of what their real sin was, but I don’t have to this time, because the passage makes it very clear. 

After God angrily disses the religious piety of these people, the prophet continues to relate to us what God wants:

“…cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.”  And then adds: “Come now, let us argue it out, says the Lord.” 

I love that last bit…like – sure, you don’t agree with what I am asking you to do?  Well then…I’m listening…go on…. You can just see God standing there like Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry saying “Go ahead.  Make my day.” I mean, would you take up that challenge?  Yeah…not.

But setting that aside for a moment, let’s turn to the Gospel.  Jesus is telling his disciples to give of what we have to those in need, to “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.”  And he adds, “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet….”  Or, as I saw on a t-shirt “Jesus is coming – look busy!”

Both texts are answering the question: “What does it mean to follow Jesus?” God tells us by the prophet that we are to love and serve the vulnerable – seek justice for all children of God, and free all of creation from the shackles of oppression. 

Jesus tells us though, that the work we are called to do requires that we have a purse that is always full, and that we are prepared at all times for the ministry we are called to live out.  That whole always full purse bit naturally makes me think of Hermine Granger’s bag in Harry Potter’s The Deathly Hallows, or Mary Poppin’s bottomless bag.  Sounds fun, except that is not really what Jesus is talking about.

Consider what Jesus wanted for them – to be able to continue the work he started.  What kind of purse could he be talking about when he also adds the part about selling possessions and giving alms – there’d be nothing in it, so what would be the point?  I mean, I hope he doesn’t mean a real one anyway ‘cause you will rarely, if ever, find me with a purse. 

No, we are the purses – our bodies, our minds, our spirits.  He is telling us that we need to prepare ourselves to live the life we are meant to live. 

And one of the most important ways we do this is to come here – to worship.  For here we are nurtured in the Eucharist, and in one another.  We are renewed and strengthened, such that our treasure and our heart are one and the same.  Our purses are made strong, and from here we can live the life we were meant to live in the time we have. 

But, you might be thinking – didn’t God say through the prophet Isaiah that religious offerings like worship are bad?  Nope.  What God is saying is that worship, without living your faith in the world, is an empty and hypocritical act – and that really ticks off God a lot.  God wants us to live out the faith we profess in worship – to “…cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.”

You might wonder why there is always this focus in the bible on widows and orphans.  Well, it is because they were, in that time, vulnerable people.  Without the aid of others, they could die.

Today, the orphan we are to defend are the poor, whose healthcare and food are being literally stolen by our government.

Today, the widow we are to plead for are the immigrants, and even citizens, swept off our streets by masked government agents and thrown into prisons near and far.

Today, the oppressed we are to rescue are people of color, LGBTQ+ people, women, and children, who are abused, trafficked, or denied their humanity.

Today, we must reject the evil spewed from the mouths of our nations leaders and seek justice for all of God’s creation – for every human no matter where they live, every creature that dwells on land or sea or air, and even the earth itself – are God’s handiwork.  And God calls us to care for all of it.

This is what worship should strengthen us for – this is what it means to follow Jesus.  And folks, it will not be easy.  It will sometimes feel like we aren’t accomplishing anything.  That is when the epistle to the Hebrews that we heard this morning can be helpful to us. 

It is a very familiar passage, and speaks to the enduring work of the faithful from generation to generation.  The author writes “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” And after giving an example of the faith of Abraham and Sarah, the author says “All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country…”

The assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. The better country we walk toward…that is what following Jesus is all about, that is what worship should lead us to, that is what we must prepare ourselves to live out.

Listen to this from the late prophet, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who on the night before his assassination, said “We’ve got some difficult days ahead, but it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop … I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land.” 

King was seeking that homeland he could see in the distance that kingdom of God Jesus tells us in the gospel today that is ours – that promised land.  But King wasn’t talking about heaven.  He was speaking about his faith in something not yet seen – an end to racism. He saw a vision of things hoped for – a world where all people  – no matter the color of their skin – will live in freedom, with dignity and respect. 

His purse did not wear out because his life and his witness was strengthened in Christ Jesus.  His calling rooted in scripture such as all we heard this morning.  He did not see the promised land, but his ministry in the world made us all take giant leaps toward it.

We, like the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., have a calling – one that God gives to us in the passage from Isaiah, one Jesus tells us to prepare for in the gospel. 

So, let us come here to church, to keep our purses filled with unconditional grace. 

Let us leave here to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.

Let us always be dressed for action and have our lamps lit with the knowledge and love of Christ Jesus to do the work we are meant to do.

Then we too will be walking toward a vision of things hoped for – one God implores us to work toward – one Jesus calls us to bring about with every ounce of our being – one that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. worked for and saw from a distance – that beloved kingdom of God – where peace, hope, love, and wholeness are abundant, and where hate, fear, and oppression are no more.

We most certainly will have some difficult days ahead ourselves, yet we know we will, by God’s grace, by living as we are called to live in Jesus, bring us all closer to the promised land.

Amen.

For the audio, click below, or subscribe to our iTunes Sermon Podcast by clicking here (also available on Audible):

Sermon Podcast

The Rev. Diana L. Wilcox       

Christ Church in Bloomfield & Glen Ridge

August 10, 2025

Pentecost 9 – Year C – Track 1

1st Reading – Isaiah 1:1, 10-20

Psalm 50:1-8, 23-24

2nd Reading – Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

Gospel – Luke 12:32-40

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