“What’s in Your Purse?”
Time after Pentecost – Lectionary 19
8:30 and 10:45 a.m. Sunday, August, 11, 2013
The Reverend Nancy R. Easton
Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church
Camp Hill, Pennsylvania
Genesis 15:1-6; Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16; Luke 12:32-40
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
“What’s in your wallet?” That’s the catchy wording of commercials touting Capitol
One credit cards. I’ll re-phrase the wording to suit my own purposes today:
What’s in your purse? (Gentlemen, you may have to consider what’s in your
pocket, unless you happen to carry around what I’ve heard termed a “man-purse.”)
What’s in your purse? Jesus offers an interesting image to his disciples, as he
works to allay their fears about the future, and as he teaches them what it means
to be his disciples. He suggests they carry purses that don’t wear out, that can
carry the treasures of life that no one and nothing can take away from them,
treasures that have real value. This is actually metaphorical language—he’s not
suggesting that his followers have a purse slung on their arm as they go. Instead,
what Jesus is suggesting, using the metaphor of a purse and treasure, is that his
disciples hold onto the things that really matter in life, and that truly offer life to
themselves and others, and travel with those things in mind.
Let me explain, using my purse. I have the purse that I’ve been using all summer.
Let me describe its contents: Well, of course there’s the wallet with some money, a
driver’s license, a medical insurance card, a AAA card, an AARP card, and voter
registration card. A flashlight. Breath mints. Hand sanitizer. Hand lotion, because
hand sanitizer can be drying. A comb. A brush. (And a bowl full of mush? No,
that’s a children’s story.) Band-Aids. An emery board. A compact of powder. Lip
balm. A pen. Another pen. Another pen. (You never know when the ink will run
out.) Kleenex—a whole pack of Kleenex. Need I go on?
My little purse is stuffed full of stuff. The contents of my purse represents the
things I worry that I might need on my journey each day. The fact is, most days I
don’t need much of anything out of this purse. But I insist on carrying all of it…just
in case. This purse may get a little heavy; I might strain to close the zipper; yet I
persist in bringing it along. To allay all my fears? All my daily worries? Ha! To rephrase another catchy line (this time from the movie “Jaws”), you could say to me,
“You’re gonna need a bigger purse.”
These words from Jesus about having purses that don’t wear out follow on the heels
of his discussion with his disciples about worrying and the fleeting nature of
possessions. Earlier in this 12th chapter of Luke, Jesus told the disciples not to
worry about what they were going to eat or what they would wear. He reminded
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them of God’s loving care for all creation, even the birds of the air and the flowers
in the field. He called on the disciples to trust God, who knew exactly what they
needed for life. And before that discussion, he told a story about a rich fool who
builds bigger barns to hold all his wealth, only to have Jesus inform them the guy’s
going to die that night, and he can’t take the stuff he so treasures with him.
What’s in your purse? (Metaphorically-speaking.) Do you carry stuff through each
of your days that represents your fears, your worries? What do you desperately
hold onto, as if it were a life preserver, because life is scary sometimes? Your
money? A relationship? Your carefully-cultivated reputation? A position of power
in an organization? A prized possession? Do you guard your time, your energy,
your resources, doling out only the miserly amount that’s necessary, and keeping
the rest for yourself? We all put strange things in our purses so we feel better
about ourselves, or feel more secure, or feel less afraid.
But Jesus says none of that is the real treasure we’re to be carrying with us on our
journey. In fact, Jesus recommends selling our possessions, and giving what we
have to others in need. And that would mean actually letting go of some of those
things to which we cling.
Look at the opening words of our Gospel lesson. Jesus says to his disciples: “Do
not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the
kingdom.” (Luke 12:32) Three important things are packed tightly into that one
sentence. First, Jesus tells his followers not to be afraid. You know, this phrase
comes up in scripture all the time, and several times in Luke. For example, the
angel Gabriel says it to Mary, who becomes the mother of Jesus. Another angel
says it to the shepherds, who were afraid at the sight of that angel, and wondered
about the brilliant star in the sky over Bethlehem, where Jesus had been born.
Jesus says it to Peter when they first meet, when Jesus had miraculously provided
Peter with a net full of fish. In all those cases, the people are told not to be afraid.
And every time that happens, they discover afterwards why they are not to be
afraid: God is busy doing something new and great, with mighty deeds to save
them. “Do not be afraid,” Jesus says. Makes us wonder what good and saving
thing God is doing right then and there for the disciples? Well, let’s read on.
In the second part of that sentence, Jesus has a name for his group of followers.
He calls them “little flock.” Again, scripture often calls the people of God sheep or
lambs. That particular part of the sentence makes clear how vulnerable they are,
truly unable to provide for themselves in life, and utterly dependent on God.
Now, it’s hard to imagine not being afraid under those circumstances. If you’re
vulnerable, naturally you’ll feel afraid. So the first two parts of that sentence seem
to be at odds with one another. The second part doesn’t respond to the first, does
it? Do not be afraid. You’re just a little flock.
Only then Jesus offers the final portion of that sentence: “…for it is your Father’s
good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Jesus tells his disciples of this and every
age: Vulnerable little ones, you don’t have to be afraid, because God has your best
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interests at heart. God delights in pouring out goodness upon you: His love and
mercy and power. It gives God pleasure to see his kingdom come alive in you—in
fact, God’s making it all possible in you. And when God’s kingdom comes alive in
you and shines through you—oh, the things that can happen then. Why, we begin
to know ourselves as the beloved children of God, spirit-empowered in word and
deed. We start living in faith! We hold less tightly to what we possess, and give
more willingly and joyfully. We speak and act in the way of Jesus, without fear of
failure. We reach out to others, without taking rejection personally. We have this
inexhaustible supply of God’s treasure in our purses to spend on others: Love,
forgiveness, welcoming, compassion, consolation, encouragement. It’s a purse that
never wears out or becomes empty of its gifts.
I found the words of writer and theologian Fred Buechner most helpful here. He
says, “Faith is the word that describes the direction our feet start moving when we
find that we are loved. Faith is stepping out into the unknown with nothing to
guide us but a hand just beyond our grasp.” (Buechner, The Magnificent Defeat)
That’s what Jesus teaches his disciples in one simple sentence. It’s about a way of
life they can lead each day, walking into the future with faith in Jesus, who has
made visible the invisible reality of God’s kingdom in his very self.
This morning, three young boys (Quinn Samuel, Asher Nicholas, and Emmett
Christopher) become part of God’s family through Holy Baptism—an invisible reality
of belonging and new life made visible in water and oil and a candle’s flame. Jesus’
death and resurrection marks the beginning of their faith journey, and seals it with
God’s love and power. Now, none of us, not even their mom and dad, know
precisely what their journeys will entail. We could be afraid in that unknowing,
except that is it God’s pleasure to give these three little lambs the kingdom. In
fact, God’s begun doing just that today.
Our task, as family, friends and brothers and sisters in Christ, is to journey with
them. Together we will learn about the One who loves us endlessly. Together we
will grow in faith—each of us with a purse full of treasure.
AMEN.
Copyright © 2013, Nancy R. Easton. All rights reserved.
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