Indifference - a Sermon for Sunday July 31, 2022

GOSPEL: Luke 12:13-21

The holy gospel according to Luke.

Glory to you, O Lord.

13Someone in the crowd said to [Jesus,] “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” 14But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” 16Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ 18Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ 20But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”

The gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

I was walking with my son the other day,

he was asking me a variety of questions,

as ten year olds do.

One question stood out:

“Dad, if you could get rid of one thing in the world,

what would it be?”

I considered answering mosquitos,

but it didn’t take long for me to respond with “Greed.”

Maybe that was God’s Spirit

leading my son and I to today’s Gospel lesson.

The way I see it,

A world without greed

is a world without hunger,

a world without poverty.

In the words of Mohatma Ghandi,

There is enough on this planet for everyone’s need,

but not for everyone’s greed.

The pursuit of wealth is a pursuit of greed,

for, as Jesus says,

one’s life does not consist in

the abundance of possessions.

The person who is greedy

is indifferent towards those who might suffer,

or who might have less because of their greed.

For example,

the billionaire owners of certain department stores,

online and big-box,

continue to expand their wealth

at the expense of their employees

who earn little in wage,

let alone benefits and pension,

and at the expense of smaller businesses

that cannot compete,

or are intentionally run out of business.

You and I silently support this practice

when we shop at those big stores or websites.

There are plenty of options

for where you and I might spend our hard-earned money,

but some of us can only afford to shop

where it is cheapest,

and so the cycle of greed,

indifference

and poverty continues.

It is an impossible situation:

vexation and vanity,

as we heard in Ecclesiastes.

One toils hard,

and another enjoys the rewards.

Yet Jesus’ warning continues:

Take care,

be on guard against all kinds of greed.

Stay away from useless pursuits,

such as the pursuit of wealth.

We know what is worth pursuing in this life:

love and relationships.

When it comes time for us to die,

we wont be remembered for

how much money we had in our bank account,

it is the love we show,

the relationships we build

or the opposite,

for which we will be remembered.

Sometimes the greed we carry is found in our relationships.

When relationships are broken or fragile,

it is easier to forget the relationship,

or to hold onto the grudge

rather than to seek reconciliation.

It is a greed of self-righteousness,

a greed of self-preservation,

a greed of self-security that is false.

Indifference towards our neighbours,

or holding onto a grudge,

seems easier than forgiving them,

let alone seeking forgiveness,

even when we know we are called to forgive;

called to confess our sins

against God and neighbour.

I watched Pope Francis’ visit

to the Ermineskin Residential School site,

beginning with silent prayer at the cemetery.

The Indigenous commentators noted

the freshly paved roads suitable for the Pope’s visit.

That community has been living with

infrastructure issues, forever,

and all it took was a visit from the pontiff

to get roads paved.

The question was asked,

what will it take to bring clean water to the reserves?

This visit shows that we can make changes,

and make them quickly,

if we really want to.

What gets in the way?

I’d say greed and indifference.

As the Pope made his way

into the Pow Wow grounds at Maskwacis,

they played the victory song around the drum circle,

saying “It’s only going to get better”.

Then came the red banner

with the names or nick names of all the children

that are known who have died in Residential Schools.

Then came the healing dance

and a heartfelt welcome to the Pontiff

from honorary chief Wilton Littlechild,

residential school survivor.

He named the abuses suffered,

and welcomed the Pope into their land.

The Pope called this trip

the beginning of a Penitential pilgrimage,

coming to Turtle Island in sorrow,

asking for God’s forgiveness,

healing and reconciliation.

He reflected on the symbol of the moccasins

that were given to him

when Indigenous leaders visited him in Rome,

causing him to feel sorrow,

indignation and shame.

The moccasins represent a path to follow together,

walking,

praying

and working together

so that the sufferings of the past

can lead to a future of justice,

healing

and reconciliation.

The Pope acknowledged that even speaking on these issues,

taking the path of remembrance

can cause the traumas to resurface,

but it must be remembered,

for forgetfulness leads to indifference.

The opposite of love is not hatred,

but indifference.

The opposite of life is not death,

but indifference.

Hear these wise words from the Pope again:

forgetfulness leads to indifference.

The opposite of love is not hatred,

but indifference.

The opposite of life is not death,

but indifference.

He continued:

the policies of assimilation

were devastating for the people,

systematically marginalizing indigenous peoples.

The first step of this penitential pilgrimage

is asking forgiveness,

sharing that he is deeply sorry,

carrying sorrow for the ways that

many Christians supported the colonizing mentality

of the powers that oppressed indigenous peoples,

asking forgiveness for ways Christians

cooperated in cultural destruction

and forced assimilation.

You could see the many tears

amidst the applause for this apology.

He continued:

Our Christian faith tells us it was a disastrous error,

incompatible with the Gospel of Jesus Christ,

and indigenous people have continued

to pay the price.

No effort to repair will be sufficient,

yet no effort must be spared

to create a culture that

prevents such situations from happening.

Jesus Christ made the grave,

the place of death,

the sign of rebirth and resurrection,

of new life and universal reconciliation.

We need God’s grace and the wisdom of Spirit,

the tender love of the Comforter,

who will take us by the hand

and help us advance together.

It is the greed of wealth

and indifference towards Indigenous people

that helped fuel colonization

and forced assimilation

Greed and indifference

would have kept the pontiff in the Vatican;

striving for love and new life

caused him to visit the survivors in their land.

In response,

I hear the voices of Indigenous people

grateful for this long awaited apology,

and I hear the voices of Indigenous people

who point out what was missing in his apology:

namely apologizing for individual Christians

and not apologizing for the church,

and failing to repudiate the doctrine of discovery.

Perhaps some greed and indifference remain.

For those who point out what was lacking

and those who are grateful for the apology,

the common theme is that this apology is a start,

the first steps on a journey

away from indifference

and towards love,

life,

justice,

truth and reconciliation.

The Pope has apologized,

and called for reconciliation.

Similarly, in recent years,

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada

has taken its first steps:

offering its own apology,

and commitment to living into the calls

from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Even though Lutherans were not officially involved

in forced assimilation,

Lutherans were complicit with those in power.

What happens next is up to you and me.

How might we join in the healing dance?

What might it look like to refute greed and indifference

and take on love, and new life?

As a white man,

descended from settlers,

who benefits from the lasting effects of colonization,

who doesn’t always make the best decisions

for where to spend my hard-earned income,

who seeks treasures on earth,

who seeks to forgive

yet also holds a grudge,

I ask God for forgiveness

for my own greed and indifference,

for grace to see the depths of that sin,

and eyes of faith to see

that of which I might be indifferent to today.

My hope is that the Church universal,

who hates that which is evil,

will not allow the sin of indifference to take hold,

but to move forward in love,

in walking together,

and in seeking newness of life in Jesus Christ. 

The same greed and indifference

that gains wealth at the expense of others,

that causes poverty and hunger to continue,

that allows for forced assimilation

is the same greed and indifference

that fractures relationships

and stops us from seeking reconciliation.

As Jesus says,

“so it is with those who store up treasures for themselves

but are not rich toward God.”

So what is Jesus’ advice

amidst this impossible situation?

Don’t worry about what you will eat,

or what you will wear.

Life is more than food and clothing.

Just as God provides for the birds of the air

and clothes the lilies of the fields,

so God will provide for you.

Seek ye first the kingdom of God

and God’s righteousness,

and these things will be given to you as well.

Jesus says to the younger brother,

“Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?”

Well, it was God.

God made Jesus judge and arbitrator over us.

We confess it in the creed,

that Jesus shall come to judge

the living and the dead.

A judge cannot be indifferent,

and Jesus is anything but indifferent.

Jesus is love.

Jesus is new life.

Our God is not indifferent,

but shows preferential treatment for the poor,

the lonely,

the oppressed,

the orphan and the widow.

Thanks be to God that Jesus extends forgiveness recklessly,

with the remembrance of sins

like an eraser over a chalkboard.

For the times we have been greedy;

with our life,

with our possessions,

with our relationships,

Jesus, the Judge, rules with forgiveness.

For the times we have been indifferent;

to the needs of others,

indifferent to suffering,

indifferent to the effects of our own decisions,

Jesus, the Judge, rules with forgiveness.

We have been forgiven by our God,

loved by our God,

given new life by our God;

what happens next in our pilgrimage is up to you and me…