Sunday Homily - September 1st, 2019 - Good Parking Spots

The Holy Eucharist Icon

I.

Have you ever wondered what preachers do when they have a Sunday off?

Now, I know what you are thinking:
 preachers have Sunday's off?!
  Well, for many pastors and preachers,
    they do, in fact, need some time to rest and reflect on their preaching ministry
     that involves being away from their congregations.

But, what I've found, is that committed preachers
 often still attend church,
  just somewhere else with another group of the Body of Christ.

There was a story I heard recently from a colleague
 about his Sunday off.

This man's name is the Tom,
  and Tom is a dynamic preacher, one of the best I personally have ever heard,
   and a highly sought after preacher for special occasions.

Tom was guest preaching at a church one day,
 a big downtown church in the center of a large U.S. city in the south.

As he drives up to the church,
 he notices that the parking lot is MASSIVE,
  cars are packed in like sardines and there are no open spots in sight.

He begins to think to himself,
 "Oh no...
  Am I going to have to park in the next county
   to find a good parking spot?"

He drives around the lot for much longer than he would have liked,
 searching for just one parking spot to park in,
  all the while worrying if he is going to be late to preach for the service.

By happenstance,
 he runs across one of the church staff who is in charge of buildings and grounds,
  and she says, "Pastor, you know that there are dedicated spaces up front for clergy, right?"

"Oh! Really?" says Tom.
 "You mean I get to take myself all the way upfront and grab a prime piece of real estate?"

"Yeah!" says the woman. "Get on up there!"

Tom smiles and drives to the very front of the lot.

He gets out of his car and witnesses the miracle:
 he is a short 20 steps from the entrance to the church building,
  and he can't fight the somewhat dark pleasure
   of looking at how stacked the parking lot is
    and how blessed he is have parked so close to the entrance!

He chuckles, "'Friend, move up higher'" he says
 remembering Jesus's parable about where to sit at dinner.
  I guess a humble man of God does sometimes get the parking place of honor sometimes.

Tom then preaches a dynamic sermon,
 greets the congregation,
  worships God with them,
   and then goes to Bible study with one of their small groups.

Tom doesn't talk about the parking spot,
 but he is burning to tell such a good story!
  After all, preachers are always looking for good stories to illustrate the Gospel.
   What better modern illustration than parking spaces for Jesus's parable about the seating at dinner!

Tom keeps listening to the group share about the Bible story.
 And then, a young man, heavily tattooed, missing a couple of teeth,
  begins to tell his story about what this local church means to him.

This young man shares his testimony about how the people of the church had reached out to him,
 had helped him pay his rent when he had no money,
  how they had helped him get into contact with someone who is paying him a steady job's salary,
   and how his life has been absolutely transformed when the church introduced him
    to Jesus.

Everyone's eyes begin to tear up when Tom hears this young man say these words:
 "You all taught me that God loves me.
  No one had ever told me that before.
   And doggone it, I want the world to know that God loves them."

Tom, that dynamic preacher,
 just heard a sermon that was way better than what he came up with that Sunday morning.

And Tom said this as he reflected on that moment after that Sunday morning:
 "That young man was genuinely excited about Jesus
  and about the salvation that he experienced.
   That guy came to church for the salvation!
   
And what did I do?
 I spent the whole morning thinking about how good my parking space was."
 
[story adapted from the Rev. Thomas Long's story about parking lots]

II.

Friends, I wonder how much time we spend thinking about how good our parking spaces are
 instead of telling people how much God loves them.

Where you all are sitting
 is a bunch of parking spaces right now.
  And they are called pews.

And some of y'all have your parking spot, right?
 That pew that you've always sat in?

I just want to pose an honest question:
 when you get to church, and someone new is in that pew of yours,
  do you think about your parking space
   or will you take that opportunity to show that God loves that person
    by sitting with them, introducing yourself, worshiping with them,
     and by offering connection and relationship?

What about the parking spaces at work?
 When someone, God forbid, parks in YOUR parking spot,
  does it ruin your day?
   Or would you instead at least stop to consider
    if that is God's small opportunity to meet someone you may not know yet.

What about the parking spaces in your heart?
 Do you have a VIP parking spot for your own self
  a place that you put ahead of everyone else,
   where you are number 1?
    Or is the front row of your heart reserved for God and your neighbor?

III.

Do you have places in your life
 where God is calling you to steward the stranger.

Because stewardship, as a word,
 means that we are taking care of something that IS NOT OURS to begin with!

We have been given a GIFT to steward,
 recognizing that it is God's gracious and loving gift to us.

And one of those gifts that we are called to steward is the stranger.

Do you steward, take care of the GIFT of,
 the people who are strangers to you?

Do you take care of them as neighbors and desire to tell them that God loves them?

Because where stewardship begins for us as Christians
 isn't in our checkbooks or our wallets.
  Stewardship begins in our hearts.

I challenge us, this week:
 do one thing, just one thing, that stewards your relationship with one of your neighbors.

["Who is my neighbor?"
 Well, read the Parable of the Good Samaritan to see what Jesus says.]

But do just one thing.
 Take someone out to coffee.
  Sit on the sidewalk and talk with someone new.
   Ask what someone's name is and REMEMBER their names in your prayers.

Save a couple of parking spots in your heart
 for God and your neighbor.
  That's where stewardship starts.

In the name of the +Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.