Sermon by Herman Kauffman
LaPorte Church of the Brethren
August 8, 2004

Yours is the Kingdom
Genesis 15:1-6
Hebrews 11:8-16
Luke 12:32

"Do not be afraid, little flock;
for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."

How long has it been since you updated your will? Connie and I recently decided it was past time to update ours. Our current wills were written before our daughter, who just turned 19, was born. We hope we will live for a good many years yet; but if we don't we would like for our daughter, as well as our son, to share in our inheritance.

Abram had another concern. If something happened to him, he had no children to receive his inheritance. Hear his prayer: "O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" Abram continues, "You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir."

I know almost nothing about inheritance laws thousands of years ago, but apparently Abram was concerned that he had no children to receive his property and to continue the family line. It also gave him some anxiety for in ancient Near Eastern societies property was left to a son to ensure a restful afterlife for the father through proper interment and funeral rites.

It seems further, that Abram believed that God owed him ... for Abram had faithfully obeyed God's call to move to an unknown land where he would receive God's blessing to make of Abram a great nation. In Genesis, chapter 13, God tells Abram to "raise your eyes...and look from the place where you are ... for all the land you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever." But there are no offspring, Abram reminds God years later. All I have will go to a slave child.

God replies to Abram that this will not be your heir, but one of your own children. God calls Abram's attention to the stars in the heaven and asks him to count them (try counting the stars some night when you can't fall asleep, its better than counting sheep). "So shall your descendants be." And Abram believed the Lord. An early story about Abraham who became known as the Father of our Faith.

That story was told and retold through all the generations until the days of the early church. In chapter 11 of the New Testament book of Hebrews we find a recollection of people of faith - and sure enough there is Abraham's story. Listen to this summary verse: "Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, as many as the stars of heaven..."

But the New Testament writer confesses that these people of faith died without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. We plant an orchard on land we leave to our children ... knowing we will never eat the fruit of those trees, but our children and grand-children will enjoy that fruit. As the writer of Hebrews continues, "they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one." We move through this life as strangers and foreigners on the earth toward the promise of a kingdom that God will give to us.

"Do not be afraid, little flock;
for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."

One of my favorite stories speaks to me of this promise of Jesus recorded in Luke's Gospel.

REMEMBERING THE STORY [The Wizard of OZ by L. Frank Baum]

It is one of America's best-known and loved stories -- that of a Kansas girl named Dorothy who was caught up in a cyclone and whisked off to the Land of OZ. OZ, we are told, is a country of marvelous beauty with green fields and stately trees bearing rich and luscious fruit. There is a sparkling little brook and banks of gorgeous flowers. As Dorothy gazes upon this beautiful land, she becomes aware that she is being stared at by the strangest group of people whom we later learn to be Munchkins.

Dorothy feels a bit lonely among these kind strangers and is really a bit anxious to return home to her family, but no one seems to know the way. The Munchkins tell her all they can, suggesting that maybe the great Wizard who lives in the Emerald City can assist her. So Dorothy sets off down the Yellow Brick Road for the Emerald City to meet the wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Along the way, Dorothy meets three odd characters who also have a need to see the Wizard: a Cowardly Lion who wants courage, a Scarecrow who wants a brain, and a Tin Man who wants a heart. Though Dorothy knows neither the way nor the Wizard, she invites her new-found friends to make the journey with her. Perhaps together this little flock will find this wonderful Wizard of OZ on their way to the Emerald City and thereby inherit their Kingdom.

It turns our to be quite a journey. Whenever this band of travelers encounters danger, it is the Cowardly Lion who manages to help them find their way safely. Whenever they meet an obstacle that requires careful planning, it is the Scarecrow who comes up with the winning idea. And though he lends a helping hand, it is the Tin Man who slows their pace because he is so overcome by the plight of the others that his tears rust his working parts.

Finally, they arrive at the Emerald City and gain an audience with the Wizard -- but it turns out the Wizard is not a wizard at all, but a phony magician from Omaha. He is of no help -- none that is, until he discovers and reports to them that things like courage, the ability to think and to love are not things he can give them but rather are qualities that are developed in relationship to others. And through their experience together, the Cowardly Lion has developed courage, the Scarecrow has used his brain and developed the ability to think, and the Tin Man has shown that he already has a heart filled with love.

And with that discovery, the Wizard who was not really a wizard, becomes a Wizard. And as for Dorothy ... she discovers a deeper understanding and appreciation for the meaning of faith and family as she lives among those who share life and love on their way to the Kingdom.

Here in LaPorte, in this congregation, is gathered a little flock of God's people in search of God and God's Kingdom. Along the journey, there are those who join with us for a time as we make our way together through various obstacles and dangers, through individual joys and concerns. We use our individual gifts and prayers for building up this body of believers, this body of searchers, as we seek to find meaning for our individual and corporate life. We learn and we grow in our journey together ... always seeking a better life and that better place that God is preparing for us.

Hear again Jesus' promise to us:

"Do not be afraid, little flock;
for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."

God loves you, for you are created in God's own image and God wants each one of you to become all that God created you to be. Maybe you need a few more brains, or a new heart, or a bit more courage. Maybe you need to strengthen your faith or enlarge your understanding of family. Whatever you need to become all that God created you to be, remember that God loves you as you are and that God loves you too much to leave you as you are.

Secondly, remember that God does not want you to be afraid. The phrase, "Do not be afraid," echoes throughout the Bible. We recall the words of the angels to the shepherds in the Christmas story: "Do not be afraid; for I am bringing you good news of great joy ...." And to the disciples who were afraid of the future without Jesus, there is the reminder we all need to hear: "I am with you always, to the end of the age." Do not be afraid, little flock, (little church) for you are not alone and God is with you always.

Finally, it is God's pleasure to give you the kingdom. When Jesus was facing his own death, he called his disciples together in an upper room and there he gave them his all - represented by the bread (his body) and the cup (his blood). Whatever Jesus had to be inherited when he died, he left to his family - to the disciples and to the church.

He willed us love with a new commandment: "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

Jesus willed us the gift of servanthood as he stooped to wash the feet of the disciples and asked that we all follow his example by serving one another.

Jesus willed us the promise of the Holy Spirit to teach us all knowledge and to guide us forever in the way of Jesus.

Jesus willed us peace, saying, "Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. ... I go to prepare a place for you."

Brothers and sisters, hear the Good News:

God loves you.

You are part of the family.

God is giving you the kingdom. Amen.

"Do not be afraid, little flock;
for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."