Getting Arrested for Faith

I want to warn everyone that I plan to get arrested in 2018.

Not for doing anything bad like robbing a gas station, but for hopefully bringing attention to something in our country that needs to be talked about more.

It is the gap that continues to grow between the rich and the poor.

I have cared about this issue for a while now.

I have talked about it from this pulpit on several occasions.

It really came to my attention when I was asked to join with a group of leaders here in Concord to talk about this issue in the last presidential campaign.

As part of that group we read Robert Putnam’s book, “Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis.”

Putnam’s book gives data on how this problem continues to grow in America, how this gap is eroding the American dream.

It is making almost impossible for poor kids to raise out of poverty.

My sermon this morning is not really about this issue, but I bring it up because our texts for today is about using your gifts for God’s kingdom.

It is about taking what God has given and not burying it in the dirt, but using those gifts to advance God’s mission.

I want you to know that getting arrested is not a comfortable idea for me.

Speaking out on issues that are controversial is not my favorite thing to do.

I would much rather come here every week and tell you over and over how much God loves and cares for you.

I would like for you every week to think to yourselves, “Wow pastor Jon really helped me overcome this or that problem I am facing.”

I am like all of you, I want people to think well of me.

I want to get along with people.

But more and more I am searching my own actions.

And I can’t but help think that I am not doing all I can with the gifts God has given me.

What I want to ask you this morning is are you?

That is essentially what the our Gospel this morning asks of us.

What are we doing with God’s gifts?

Which person are you in this parable?

Are you one of the people that takes what God has given and multiplies it.

Uses what you have, your money, your time, your talent, your life, to benefit others?

Or are you like the person that buries their gifts in the dirt?

Are you afraid?

Afraid of what will happen to your money?

Are you afraid of what people will say about you?

Are you afraid to lose your prestige in the world?

What is interesting to me about our Gospel this morning is that the person that hid the money did so because they were afraid of the master.

“Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid.”

Fear holds us back from doing so many things.

Fear that we will not be loved.

Fear that we will not have enough.

Fear that we will fail.

Fear that we are not good enough.

Our faith in God’s love and grace is supposed to free us from this fear.

It is supposed to let us go so that we can act for the good of our neighbor.

What does it look like to not have fear about our money?

I suppose that most of you are like me.

In our household we generally live paycheck to paycheck.

Don’t get me wrong.

We have plenty of money to live a good life.

We have money to pay all our bills and left over to have fun.

But if either my wife or I didn’t get paid for a week we would be in trouble.

But what if that wasn’t our main concern.

What if we lived as if we were truly free from the worry of it all?

Perhaps we would be more generous.

We would give more away.

But I would suggest I am like many of you.

I do worry.

I worry about paying for college.

I worry about retirement.

I worry about paying of my student loans.

I worry about my kids having a good life.

I worry about our congregation doing well.

I worry that we have enough to have a ministry.

I worry that we will fight with each other and damage this great ministry.

This is why I am going to get arrested.

Because I trust that God is not harsh and angry.

I trust that God has given me all these gift so that I can do something with them.

So I can use them to make this world a little nicer for someone else.

It will be my faith in action.

I am a big believer in acts of rebellion against the world we live in.

I know families that don’t buy Christmas presents so they can give away money to others.

I know people that don’t shop at certain stores, because they don’t like the way employees are treated.

I know people that don’t watch movies about war, because they don’t want to glorify violence.

Those are just a couple of examples.

All of those things are ways that we take our faith and put it into action.

We take what God has given us and use it for the benefit of someone else.

Because the truth is that slowly this world eats away at us.

It slowly, most of the time without us noticing, takes away our spiritual selves.

It replaces it with fear.

We end up giving up the gifts of God for some material comfort.

Today is stewardship Sunday.

And I want you to notice that we are not talking about you giving more money to the Church.

I gave up a couple of years ago on that sermon.

What we are talking about is more important to me.

We are talking about you using what God has given to live out your faith.

To not see God as harsh and angry, but a God who is generous, gracious, and loving to you so that you can be that for others.

Don’t be afraid.

Don’t bury your talents in the dirt.

Live boldly, live generously.

Give of what God has given to you.

Resist the world’s message that what matters most is your happiness, safety, and comfort.

Find ways to trust in God’s message of grace to you, and live it out.

That is what being a steward is all about.

It is about taking what God gives you and increasing its value, by giving it away to others.

Isn’t that what we all try to do with our kids?

Don’t we want them to have a better life than we did?

I am getting arrested in 2018 because I don’t just want that for my kids, I want it for everyone’s kids.

I want my kids to have a better life not materially, but spiritually.

I want them to trust that they can take risks for others.

I am not going to end by asking you to get arrested.

My path is not your path.

But I am asking today for you to use the gifts that God has given to resist the world, to live for others, to live generously, to live out the faith that God has given you.

Amen