St. Paul’s United Church                                                                                               October 28, 2007

Anniversary Sunday

Treasures - Rev. Cathy Russell

 

Joel 2: 23-32                                                    Psalm 65                                              Matthew 13: 44-50

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A few years ago, I made the decision not to pay for television, which means I don’t have cable, which means that when I’m in my own home, I just don’t watch TV.  But I do enjoy a good drama, and whenever I stay somewhere where television is available, I’m always on the lookout for one of my very favorites.  This show has a seemingly endless supply of story lines filled with mystery, plot twists and turns, detective work, suspense, humor, moments of great joy and crushing disappointment, everything you could ask for in high quality entertainment.  No it’s not the Sopranos or CSI or Law and Order.  I’m going to show you a slide that will give you a pretty big hint, and you see if you can guess what the show is.  And just call it out when you know-ok?

 

Yes, that’s right it’s Antiques Roadshow, one of the most compelling, dramatic and frankly, odd shows on television.  In case any of you don’t know the premise, a cast of expert and often eccentric appraisers descend upon a community to evaluate hundreds of supposed antique items, everything from spoons to furniture to artwork brought in by local citizens who are often equally eccentric.

 

When these folks are invited to provide the history of their relationship to the object, we often hear over and over again how rather than finding their treasure it seemed to find them.   It appealed to them and captivated them with its beauty, it’s uniqueness, its character, with something that may be quite hard to put into words, but that was felt deeply in the heart.

 

The heart of the program, in every sense of the word comes at the moment of revelation.  The moment when the expert reveals to the owner, usually to their complete amazement and delight, that Great-great Grandma’s broach, the dusty little cabinet tucked away in the back of an attic, the small watercolor picked up cheaply at auction is in fact worth a small or large fortune.  “I had no idea!” You’re kidding”, “That much!” their honest to Pete jaw-dropping surprise makes for great drama for the viewers, as well as great happiness for the owners.  And we identify with the power of that experience-we fantasize, even if only for a moment that somewhere down in the darkest corner of the basement, on the top shelf of the closet behind the shoeboxes, in the bottom of the junk drawer a similar treasure awaits to fill us with equal parts amazement and delight.  It’s those feelings we want as much as the treasures themselves, that’s why people watch the program in the first place- we too want that experience of amazement and delight.

 

JESUS KNOWS THE KINGDOM IS A TREASURE THAT GIVES AMAZMENT AND DELIGHT

 

From our gospel reading this morning, it’s clear that Jesus knows all about our desire for amazement and delight.  Jesus knows all about our longing to find some treasure whose value will never change, which we can never lose, and which can never be taken away from us, no matter what.  And Jesus knows that in the life of the kingdom, God gives us all this and more.  He tells us that the kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field-   a treasure found by an ordinary person doing an ordinary job on an ordinary day.  A treasure that found him, rather than being found by him.  A treasure that when revealed, filled him with amazement and delight.

 

WE NEED TO REMEMBER THAT WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN THIS TREASURE

 

As we take time to mark the 173rd anniversary of St. Paul’s this morning, I think it’s important, or should I say especially important, to remind ourselves of the precious, priceless treasure of God’s kingdom, a kingdom revealed in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  

 

WE NEED YOUTH

 

This 173rd year marks a significant change in the history of St. Paul’s.  To my knowledge, throughout all this time, St. Paul’s has always had one full time paid and accountable ministry personnel.  After a recent period of discernment by the Joint Needs Assessment Committee, St. Paul’s made a decision to create a new position, one with a Christian development focus, and an emphasis on children and youth.  Ministry with youth is one of our growing edges in the United Church as it is with most main-line denominations.  We are finally awakening to the reality that we need young people not only to be the “future” of the church, but to be a vital part of our present as well.  In my own ministry with youth I have heard over and over again, the longing, the anxiety around the “loss” of teenagers from our midst.  We NEED the youth is the mantra of many congregations in recent times. 

 

And of course, I agree- wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.  We do need young people in our midst.  We need their energy and restlessness, their passion for creativity and justice, their technological competence, their courage to stretch and try new things, their sense of fun.  They have so many enlivening treasures to share with us, and we need them all.

 

WE HAVE A TREASURE TO SHARE

 

But sometimes in our anxiety to attract these folks, in our sense of abandonment and loss, in the face of their absence to have forgotten that we too have a treasure to share with them, a treasure that will both amaze and delight.  We seem to have forgotten that we have a gift that they need as much as we need the gifts they have to offer.   More than rock-climbing, more than a laser light shows and fog machines on Sunday morning, more than a skate park in the church parking lot, more than adults who are totally conversant in the very latest trends in youth culture, the real amazing, delightful, priceless treasure we have to share with young people is a place in God’s kingdom through Jesus Christ.  My friends, in case you had forgotten, or in case you hadn’t realized it yet, let me assure you, that we are sitting on a gold mine. 

 

AND IT’S OUR GOLDMINE

 

And the treasure Jesus has given to us, the treasure we have to share is one that unlike bowling and movies and pizza can’t be found ANYWHERE else.     There’s absolutely nothing wrong with making these things part of a youth ministry program, but they remain the things young folks can do anywhere at anytime.  But only in a community of faith can they be welcomed into the kingdom.  It’s spiritual teaching, worship opportunities, prophetic calls for justice, prayer in Christ’s name, in other words the marks of the church, these are the diamonds, the sapphires, the rubies to be found in God’s house, in our house, in this house.   It’s these gems that make up the treasure of God’s kingdom.   And it’s this treasure given through Christ that has the power to amaze and delight each of us and all of us, regardless of our age.

 

A PERSONAL ILLUSTRATION

 

Of course, the treasure may be cast in quite a different form from what we’re used to, - different music, different media, but the basic materials of faith formation- teaching, worship, witness and prayer remain the same as they have been long before 1834, the year we celebrate as our collective birthday. 

Allow me to tell a story to illustrate.    When I was in high school, one of the leaders of our church youth group, Borden Evans organized a photo shoot at a  local farm in which we all got dressed up and acted out scenes of the Christmas Story, the same story we’d heard a hundred times before.   I didn’t’ enjoy it much at the time, partly because it was a cold, windy day, partly because I was stuck with playing one of the Wisemen, and had to wear both a turban and a thick black beard, neither of which stayed in place without constant readjustments on my part.

 

  A number of us were relieved when the whole project finally wrapped and Mr. Evans said we could go home.  Well, when it came time for the slides to be projected during church on the third Sunday of Advent, the effect on the congregation was electric.  As our tableaux of Shepherds and sheep, Traveling Wisemen, Mother and Child, accompanied by the holy sounds of the Boney M Christmas album, appeared on the screen, many adults began to grow misty eyed.  The power of this reaction from the congregation, along with the many hugs, and choked up words of thanks for something we had done, filled us with amazement and delight.  It’s the most powerful memory I have of my own years in church youth group. 

 

In fact it was so powerful, that when I was on my internship in Alberta, another talented amateur photographer and I put together a similar project with our youth group. This time, however we used the story of Jesus’ road to the cross- the story of Good Friday.  The effect for the adults was very similar to that I had experienced some years earlier- tears, hugs, husky words of thanks   One deeply moved octogenarian came up to me and said “Cathy those young people will remember that for the rest of their lives”.  Exactly. 

 

When I had my last meeting with the youth group to hear some feedback about what they would like to affirm about our time together, each one of them named “Our Service” as the highlight of everything we had done that year.  Well what do you know-It was a faith experience- (how much more explicitly Christian can you get that the Passion story?), that they truly treasured most.  It was their new engagement with this ancient story, one of the foundations of our faith that amazed and delighted them, just as it had my youth group years earlier.

 

LET”S TREASURE AND SHARE OUR TREASURE

 

 God’s kingdom given to us in Jesus Christ is a treasure that can amaze and delight like nothing else.  That’s the treasure we have to offer children and youth, in fact it’s the treasure we have to offer anyone who walks in our doors now, or 173 years from now.    So let’s pull that treasure out of the back closet, dust it off and let it occupy pride of place.  Let’s value it beyond all else, let’s be willing to sacrifice for it- our time, our talent, our personal amusement, and let’s be eager to share it, and the amazement and delight it brings with the next generation of disciples.  Thanks be to God, AMEN.