From the Pulpit-July 28, 2013

"National Treasure"

Luke 11: 1-13

What is our National Treasure? Did you get a treasure as an American?  Did you get a treasure when you became a Christian?  Did you get a new car?  No?  Me, neither.  But I've heard that if you seek, you shall find!  I've also heard that you must visualize! Focus on it, want it, you can make it happen!  If I can see it, I can believe it; if I believe it, I can achieve it!  The sayings go on and on..... You can find it any place you go for motivation.  But is that really the treasure?
Is it really the prize that is important? or is the the quest itself? Maybe that's the real treasure in our country....the freedom to reach for your prize, to dream your dream, to strive for your goal.

Martin Luther King knew this.  He reached for a prize that included every citizen and encouraged a relationship with God that would guide us in our goals.  Abraham Lincoln spoke toward this same goal of a Godly nation that could overcome a war. And in this same light, you could look at our country as still being in a war over values, equality, and morals.

Throughout history it has been those who had strong will and strong morals that made a difference. Who hasn't heard the phrase, "Where there's a will, there's a way." Ella Wheeler Wilcox knew the importance of strong will and spoke of its power in her poem:

Will

From: Poetical Works of Ella Wheeler Wilcox, 1917

There is no chance, no destiny, no fate,
     Can circumvent or hinder or control
     The firm resolve of a determined soul.
Gifts count for nothing; will alone is great;
All things give way before it, soon or late.
     What obstacle can stay the mighty force
     Of the sea-seeking river in its course,
Or cause the ascending orb of day to wait?
Each well-born soul must win what it deserves.
Let the fool prate of luck. The fortunate
     Is he whose earnest purpose never swerves,
     Whose slightest action or inaction serves
The one great aim. Why, even Death stands still,
And waits an hour sometimes for such a will.

 But when we are faced with something do we use our will to look for solutions or opportunities?  Are we about the prize or the quest?  So often, we do not see the value in the quest because we are so focused on the prize, but one of the treasures of being a Christian is not just the prize of heaven.  No, the journey in building a relationship with God and God's children is the great opportunity in this life.

Our nation as a whole often misses this in its quest for material things.  But to truly achieve, you have to connect with others.  Every business knows this.  You may have the best idea ever, but you will not be a success until that idea reaches others and they want to take part in it.  

It's the same with faith.  To achieve in faith, you have to connect with other who believe.  To connect to God, you have to believe and commune with Him in prayer.  In our verses today, He clearly teaches us this as He teaches the disciples how to pray.  He is letting them in on the great treasure.
If you seek what God's will is, you will find what your part in His plan is.  If you focus on what God wants, if you can visualize it, you can be part of the acheivement of all that He has laid out for this world.  Can you imagine what treasures we could obtain if we all prayed for one week to be in God's will? 

But it doesn't come easily and without work.  Robert Service speaks of the way one must Carry On! when it's easy and when it's difficult in his poem:

Carry On!

It’s easy to fight when everything’s right,
And you’re mad with thrill and the glory;
It’s easy to cheer when victory’s near,
And wallow in fields that are gory.
It’s a different song when everything’s wrong,
When you’re feeling infernally mortal;
When it’s ten against one, and hope there is none,
Buck up, little soldier, and chortle:

      Carry on! Carry on!
   There isn’t much punch in your blow.
You are glaring and staring and hitting out blind;
You are muddy and bloody, but never you mind.
      Carry on! Carry on!
   You haven’t the ghost of a show.
It’s looking like death, but while you’ve a breath,
       Carry on, my son! Carry on! 

And so in the strife of the battle of life
It’s easy to fight when you’re winning;
It’s easy to slave, and starve and be brave,
When the dawn of success is beginning.
But the man who can meet despair and defeat
With a cheer, there’s the man of God’s choosing;
The man who can fight to Heaven’s own height
Is the man who can fight when he’s losing.
   
      Carry on! Carry on!
   Thing never were looming so black.
But show that you haven’t a cowardly streak,
And though you’re unlucky you never are weak.
      Carry on! Carry on!
   Brace up for another attack.
It’s looking like hell, but – you never tell.
      Carry on, old man! Carry on!

There are some who drift out in the desert of doubt
And some who in brutishness wallow;
There are others, I know, who in piety go
Because of a Heaven to follow.
But to labor with zest, and to give of your best,
For the sweetness and joy of the giving;
To help folks along with a hand and a song;
Why, there’s the real sunshine of living.

      Carry on! Carry on!
   Fight the good fight and true;
Believe in your mission, greet life with a cheer;
There’s big work to do, and that’s why you are here.
      Carry on! Carry on!
   Let the world be the better for you;
And at last when you die, let this be your cry!
      Carry on, my soul! Carry on!

So, seek....keep learning in faith
knock.....listen and look for opportunities to act in God's will
and find....the treasure of faith!