Sermon - Rev. Judith Perry 

One morning I was reading Basil in my quiet time. Oh, I know that here in Nove Scotia that name is pronounced “Basil”. “Basil” is how this old fellow is traditionally known.  

This is a mosaic of the “Saint Basil the Great” from the cathedral in Kyiv. 

He is one of the Fathers of the Church, those old Christian guys who wrote in the early centuries.  And was the bishop of Caesaria in Cappadocia. That now Türkiye. 

So how old? He was born in 330. 

Studying the Fathers of Church is called Patristics. So, this morning a bit of Patristics. 

Anyway, early that morning, I was reading to the effect that if you are wearing a coat and there is another coat hanging in your closet.  

Then, if there is a man outside in rags who is shivering in the cold, you have stolen that coat in your closet from that poor man. 

So, I guess that thought didn’t leave me because after lunch I cycled over to Quinpool Road to do some shopping.  

I was locking up my bike when I saw that across the parking lot there was a young man holding a sign on a ripped piece of cardboard stating: “Just arrived and hungry.” 

Then it occurred to me that if I didn’t buy him something, then I would have stolen food from him. I was really thinking about Basil’s old sermon. 

So I walked over to him and said, “Hey, can I but you a meal at Wendy’s?” “Yes!” 

So, we walked to Wendy’s, and he got a full meal combo. When we sat down, he asked: “Do you mind if I pray?” I had no objection.  

And so he prayed thanking God for bringing him safely to Halifax, for the food, and blessings for the dear woman who given him lunch. 

He had come from Alberta. 

Then we spent the time talking about where he could find help in the city, and where there might be job opportunities. He had worked in construction. 

 I never saw him again. 

This Basil, that old fellow labeled “a Church Father” was a preacher, and his sermons were recorded. This was what he really said:  

The bread which you hold back belongs to the hungry; the coat, which you guard in your locked storage-chests, belongs to the naked; the footwear mouldering in your closet belongs to those without shoes. The silver that you keep hidden in a safe place belongs to the one in need. Thus, however many are those whom you could have provided for, so many are those whom you wrong. 

It is not that it is wrong to have riches, the problem is what you do with it. It is a question of generosity. 

There were many well-to-do early Christians. The early house churches belonged to these Christians. They were the only ones who could provide the room.  

Like once Christianity became legal, then the wealthier Christians provided for the new buildings. 

The great works of art that adorn the churches were paid for by people of substance. 

 Even this church, if there hadn’t been some substantial donors you wouldn’t have that magnificent wooden pulpit. Your rose window is lovely. And there would only be a pump organ.   

Some people dug into their pockets to pay for that grand pipe organ. 

It is also likely that those folks, who are generous to church buildings, and give endowments to universities, libraires, and art galleries, are also generous to the needs of the less fortunate around them. 

Wealth is not the issue, stinginess is. 

So now we have this letter to a man named Timothy. 

And in it we can read: But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. 

 

It reads that the desire for riches, that means greed, is the root of the issue. It is the love of money that causes harm. 

 

The writer is saying that people who set their hearts on becoming very wealthy are their own worst enemies.  

 

He says to tell the wealthy not to go getting full of themselves, or to fall for the idea that their money guarantees their quality of life – it could all be worthless tomorrow.  

 

The call is to stake our future on God, for everything we need to enjoy a truly rich life is given to us by God.  

 

If you really want to set yourself up for the future, you should invest heavily in doing good for others and build up a portfolio based on blue-chip sharing and generosity.  

 

That’s what it says in Timothy but what about the gospel message? This parable not really about wealth, but this morning let us look at the setup in the first couple of verses. 

 

There was a rich man who was always dressed in the most expensive fashions and who enjoyed chef-prepared, gourmet delicacies for breakfast, lunch and supper.  

 

In the street outside his security gates, lived a desperately poor man named Lazarus. He was malnourished and sleeping rough, and his skin was scabby and infected.  

 

All he ever ate was the scraps thrown out in the rich man’s garbage. Often, he was too weak even to stop the dogs from licking his sores. 

 

So, it sets up the two extremes, and we are really glad that rich dude got what was coming to him, and we don’t want that coming to us, do we? 

 

The issue is not that the man is rich. Afterall, he gives a lot of business to the weavers, tailors, clothiers, food providers, the cooks and the servers, etc. 

 

The issue is that as he eats the gourmet fare there is man on the street who is sick and starving, and he does nothing for the poor man at his gate. 

Think back to Basil and how he might have preached on this passage. 

 

The thing is that our society is all about accumulating stuff. It is not enough to have a coat on your back and one in the closet. Perhaps, in this climate we need a spring coat, a winter coat, a raincoat. But it is not about coats. 

 

It is about open handed generosity. Our culture plays the same old music. Buy stuff. Buy lots of stuff. It could be that this cacophony is drowning out the melody God has placed in your heart.  

 

God’s melody is sung in this community of faith. You don’t need to desperately plan and scheme. 

 

Just accept that God has placed you all here for a reason, to live together in peace and joy and serve the community which walks past these doors and throughout this peninsula. 

But then Basil has already preached that sermon.