Sermon 8/1/04
Bigger and Better - Luke 12:13-21
(view lectionary notes for this text)
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll; whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well with my soul, it is well, it is well with my soul. Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, let this blest assurance control; that Christ has regarded my helpless estate, and hath shed his own blood for my soul. My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought! My sin, not in part but the whole, is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul! And, Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight, the clouds be rolled back as a scroll; the trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend, even so, it is well with my soul. It is well with my soul, it is well, it is well with my soul. Words by Horotio G. Spafford, 1873. Music by Philip P. Bliss, 1876. The hymn has more verses than the ones we find in our hymnal, but we'll keep our focus to what we're used to singing here in our worship.
Our hymn today has a rich and sad story behind it. Spafford, who wrote the lyrics, had suffered many loses in his life. Spafford was a lawyer, but enjoyed friendships with many Christian evangelists like Dwight L. Moody. He and his wife had already lost their only son, and in 1871 his troubles increase: His recent real estate investments were a financial wipeout in the great Chicago fire of 1871. Then, in 1873, his family was set to head to Europe by ship to help Moody with evangelism efforts there. His wife and four daughters left on a ship ahead of his - he was delayed and would come on a later ship. Writes Ervin B. Shaw, "Halfway across the Atlantic, the passenger ship was rammed by an English vessel. Their four daughters were swept overboard, and the ship sank in just 12 minutes (226 drowned). Spafford's wife cabled him just two words, "Saved alone." He immediately boarded the next ship to Wales, where she was waiting for him. As his ship passed the mid-Atlantic zone of disaster, Horatio gazed across the billowing waves that had taken his daughters. That night in his cabin, the words came to him for a poem that would later become this hymn, "It is Well with My Soul." Spafford, who wrote these words that inspire so many of us, had an unfortunate ending to his life, eventually succumbing to mental problems that led him to believe he was the second messiah. But today we are still left with his first response to the grief of so much loss: "When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll - it is well, it is well with my soul."
Spafford undoubtedly had many sources of inspiration for his hymn - verses of scripture, the situation at hand - but one of particular interest to we United Methodists is this hymn's connection to Wesleyan tradition. John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement, would often start his class meetings, which were like small covenant groups, with the question - "how is it with your soul?" Not, what's happened to you this week, not just a surface-level how are you, but how is it with your soul? How is your core, your center, your direct connection line to God? Can you, despite all odds, despite all circumstances, despite even situations like the one experienced by Horatio G. Spafford, answer that "It is Well with My Soul?"
The state of your soul - that's the question before you today - is it well with your soul? Our gospel lesson today asks us that question in an upfront and challenging way, as Jesus shares a parable in response to a question from the crowd. This passage of scripture is another of my favorites - it was the text for my very first sermon, so it is one that is close to my heart. More than that, though, it is a passage that continually challenges me, continually calls me to accountability.
Someone in the crowds listening to Jesus calls out, asking Jesus to tell his brother to divide the family inheritance with him. This, says Bishop William Willimon, would be a common practice, to ask Jesus, a "wise sage", to arbitrate in a dispute (2) - so his question would not have been considered odd by the crowds. In fact, what is odd to them is Jesus' response. He shrugs off the question, saying, "friend, who set me to be a judge over you?" He turns the man's question back on him, saying, "take care! One's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." He then tells them a parable: A rich man is successful with crops, so much so that he needs to build new barns to accommodate his crops. He tears down the old barns, puts up new ones and congratulates himself on his success, saying, "Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry." But God steps in to say, "you fool! This very night you life is required of you. And these things you have prepared, whose will they be?" So is it, Jesus concludes, with those who store up their own treasures, but are not rich toward God.
Unfortunately, our society is obsessed with building bigger barns. We're not just keeping up with the Joneses - we're trying to keep ahead. Bigger, better, more. How much is enough? I look around my own home, at my collection of CDs and must have DVDs, some of which I have not even watched since purchasing, at my trinkets and decorations, at my two televisions in a home occupied by one person, and I hear the words echoing in my head, "these things that you have, whose will they be?" I look in my closet and find about as many pairs of shoes as I have years to my life. I find myself throwing out food that goes to waste because there's simply too much of it, even as bare as my cupboards usually are. I have more clothes than easily fit in my dresser, even though I tend to wear my same favorites again and again. But that doesn't stop me from a bout of shopping every now and again. Even still, I suspect my home looks pretty sparse to a visitor's eye, my cat could still have his own bedroom or two, and I've acquired pieces of furniture just to fill in the spaces in my giant parsonage. These are my confessions - the barns I have built for myself. My possessions. What must you confess today?
"One's life does not consist in the abundance of one's possessions." I think about those "what if" questions that are fun to ask, and one often goes like this, "if you're home was on fire, and you only had time to save one thing besides your family and pets, what would it be?" For me, the answer would be something like my journals or my photo albums. I expect your answer would be something similar, something with value that isn't necessarily monetary in nature. The other stuff? Replaceable. Things. Possessions. Of course, we don't want to part with them, and I'm not sure the best use of our gifts and talents would always be to sell all of our possessions and take to the streets. But Jesus lets us know that there's a line that we can cross, and we seem to like to come as close to it as possible without going over. As a society we seek to build literally ever bigger buildings. We gamble away our money for shots at millions. We have reality shows that pit love against money and see which will come out on top. Millionaires are now billionaires. And there's even a push to build the biggest mall in America right here in Central New York The question Jesus asks us, though, is this: of what does your like consist? These things, or something more?
Last week in children's time, we talked about treasure, and searched for treasure. We treasure many things. But Jesus, we remembered, said that where our treasure is, there our hearts would be also. Where is your heart? Does your lifestyle match with your response? Do your activities each day, your priorities, the way you spend your time - do these things line up with what you say is most precious to you? Is the way you treat others a good indicator of who and what is at the center of your life? Is your current relationship with God an accurate reflection of the state of your soul?
In the parable Jesus tells, it is clear what God requires of us: nothing less, and nothing more, than our souls. Rev. Michael Battle suggests that what the rich fool lacks the most is imagination - real vision. He writes, "[For the rich man] all of meaning was limited; so, life meant that he had to hoard resources. But Jesus teaches us to look beyond what we see . . . to imagine better realities, and to implement them here to create better futures . . . For you see, any creature or thing set up as our final end, inevitably blocks our vision of the true God. And since an idol is not God, no matter how sincerely it is treated as God, it is bound to fail." (3)
How is it with your soul this morning? Does your life consist of the things you have stored up for yourselves here, or is there something more to what and who you are? What is stored in your life, in your heart, in your home? For Horatio Spafford, our hymn writer today, after he lost his son, his investments, his property, his four daughters, and eventually even the soundness of his mind, I bet he came to treasure things that were much more than possessions, much more valuable than things. In the midst of crisis, he found that it was indeed well with his soul, and his soul was well with God. Lord, haste the day, when our faith shall be sight. Even so, it is well, it is well with our souls. Amen.
(1) Shaw, Ervin B., http://poptop.hypermart.net/testhgs.html
(2) Willimon, William, in Pulpit Resource, "Majoring in the Minors", August 1, 2004, pg. 22
(3) Battle, Michael. "Possessed by a Thing." http://www.thewitness.org/agw/battle072704.html