Abundance

 Acts 9:36-43; Psalm 23; Revelation 7:9-17; John 10:22-30

Most of us living in the US know abundance. We have a house large enough for all in the family. We have enough and more to eat. We have a variety of clothes to choose from. We have a car for each person who drives. We have a variety of stores to choose from, and options within each store. We can often choose the work we do, the books we read, the TV shows to watch, and how we watch them. This is abundance!

… In John Chapter 10:10, a few verses before our text for today Jesus says, “I came that you may have life, and have it abundantly.” This saying is very much a theme of John’s entire gospel. Abundant life. Life with Jesus the Good Shepherd who provides all we need and guides us through the trials and temptations and good times of our lives.

In our text, Jesus and the disciples are in the temple in Jerusalem. It’s during the festival of the dedication – more familiarly known to us as Hanukkah, or the festival of lights. During a war in about 164BCE, the temple was invaded and used badly. It was finally restored to Jewish hands, and a ceremony of rededication was held. However, there was only enough lamp oil for one day of the seven-day ritual, but it lasted for seven days. God leads God’s people with signs of abundance!

Jesus’ message about being the Good Shepherd, the one who guides us and whose voice calls to us, is a reminder of this time in their history. “Remember,” Jesus says, “God is a God of abundance!”

… We usually focus on certain verses in the psalm: We shall not want; we rest in pleasant places; God walks through dark times with us. Today, let’s focus on verse 5: God prepares a table for us, and our cup is so full it overflows.

When God feeds us, it’s not just a hot dog, chips, and a bottle of water. It’s bratwurst with sauerkraut, potato salad, coleslaw, baked beans, and corn on the cob, plus a cooler of beverages, and brownies for dessert. God gives us so much we can’t eat anything more. That’s abundance!

… In Joppa, Tabitha was well known for her charitable acts. Now, she has become ill and died. Her friends, a group of widows and other believers, sent for Peter to come to them. The text doesn’t say why the friends wanted Peter; most likely, it was to let him know in person that Tabitha had died. When Peter arrived, they showed him a portion of the abundance of clothing she had made for women and children in need.

Peter sent everyone away and entered Tabitha’s room alone. He prayed, then called to her and she opened her eyes. He then called to the widows and believers and presented her to them, alive and well again, ready to live once more with abundance.

… We might think that the abundance in this text from Revelation is the countless multitude gathered around the throne. It certainly is an abundance of people! A second look shows us the abundance comes in the promises: they will hunger and thirst no more; the weather will be pleasant, not extreme, causing drought and famine or destruction; there will be springs of water – not just water, but water of life; and God will wipe away all their tears.

The multitude of saints – and we – worship God because God cares about us enough to make sure we have more than enough. God wants for us an abundance of good things.

… But … there seems to be a disconnect. There is an abundance of people in the world who don’t have enough, much less an abundance of what they need. For too many, the cup isn’t even half-full, nowhere near overflowing. This imbalance isn’t new. It’s actually thousands of years old.

Calls for those-who-have to care for those-who-have-not begin in Exodus and Leviticus, and continue with Proverbs and the prophets. This imbalance of wealth and power is one of Jesus’ frequent challenges to the crowds and the leaders of Judea.

Imbalance is a hot-button issue today, too. Changes in the national budget have reduced our ability to feed hungry people. We never have had the ability to provide an abundance to hungry folks, but lately, we have a serious reduction to what we can provide.

… I’ve been reading the book, The Measure by Nikki Erlick. The book imagines that at a certain moment in time, like tomorrow morning, everyone in the world receives an indestructible wooden box. In the box is an indestructible string that gives “the measure of your life”. Quickly, data analysts determine the relationship between the length of the string and the longevity of life. That is, how long a person has to live, including the year and month.

Quickly, prejudice arises against those with shorter strings. No need to train them for highly skilled jobs, don’t trust them in higher levels of military service, don’t waste money on health care, and so forth. “Short strings” becomes the new sexism, racism, LGBT+ issue to rally fear about. Some people talk about compassion, but their voices are drowned out by the fearful voices.

Some try to put forth the notion that the measure of your life is not necessarily quantitative, but qualitative. I’m still reading the book, and I hope that voice becomes stronger soon. It’s what Jesus is saying in John 10:10. “I came so that you may have abundant life.”

… This week, I hope you spend some time pondering: Where in your life is there an abundance? Hopefully, we each have an abundance of friends, of interesting things to do, of the knowledge that God loves us and forgives us. I pray that whether our lives are shorter or longer, that they are filled with God’s abundance. Amen