* Genesis 15:1-6 and Psalm 33:12-22 * Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16 * Luke 12:32-40

A few years ago now, during my student days, I was a worship leader at a church summer camp for children in the Lake District. One of the themes of the camp was ‘Talking to God’.  We set up a board with post it notes and challenged the children to make a response to this question ‘If you could ask God just one question – what would it be?’ These were a few of the responses we found on the board:

God – Can you read my mind? If you can then what am I thinking?

God – I know you made the world and everything on it, but who made you?

God – How can you listen to everyone at the same time?

God – Do you like me better than my brother?

God – Is there a shortcut to heaven?

God – Why did you make midges? All they do is bite me – why did you do that?

If we really had the opportunity to ask God just one question, I wonder what it might be?

There is a story of two Christians who were talking at the back of church. One said,

“I really want to ask God a question. I want to ask God, why He allows all this poverty and suffering in the world today.”

The other said, “Well, have you prayed, and asked Him why he allows it?”

“I’m too scared,” the first replied, “I worry that he’ll ask me the same question.”

Most of us want to live in a fair and just world for everyone: a world where there is peace and love. In short: We want the kingdom of God to come on earth, as it is in heaven. But I want to challenge us this morning by asking, “Do we want it enough?”

The words of Christ that we heard in our Gospel reading just now bring us some comfort.

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom”

I don’t know about you, but I need to hear those words because I am sometimes afraid! I am afraid that when I look honestly at my life, I treasure my comfort too much. If my heart is where my treasure is, I worry my heart is glued to my sofa at home escaping into films. I worry my heart is secure resting in the knowledge that I have money in the bank which would ensure I would stay comfortable even if the house was flooded (or at least, I’d be OK for a while).

I wonder if, like me, some of you worry that you are like the rich man we heard about last week, who builds himself a big barn and sits back and congratulates himself on being so secure –  caring only a distant second for the poor and their discomfort.

Our gospels readings, both this morning and last week tell us that our security must not rest solely in our money, or in our family to take care of us. And we must not prioritise our desire for comfort over our desire for the kingdom of God.

Money, possessions, family and comfort are all good gifts from God.

And we should all be hugely grateful to Him for all the things that he has provided us with. But be sure that faith requires something from us, because of who God is and what his character is like.

God in Christ asks us ‘’’to sell our possessions and give alms’’’. He teaches us that there is a better city, a heavenly one, which we have been promised. However tempted we might be to stay put, tempted to say,

“Well, the kingdom of God might be nice, but actually I’m rather comfortable here at home. As things are. Let’s put down anchor here.”

If we do that, we’ll miss out on the Kingdom of God. Because Jesus was a poor, homeless refugee and chose to spend most of his time with the poor, the outcast and those who were distinctly uncomfortable. If we want to follow this Jesus, to live with him in his kingdom, we need to be prepared to go where he went.

I don’t want my sermon today to make anyone feel guilty about their comfort or wealth. Rather, I want to inspire us to dream dreams, and imagine visions of the coming Kingdom of God that are so beautiful that we refuse to lay anchor here in our material comfort. Because where our treasure is, there our hearts will be also.

There is an inspiring account of St. Lawrence whom the church remembers today, a Deacon in Rome who was eventually martyred by the Emperor Valerian. Lawrence was commanded to gather up the church’s treasures and to hand them over to the Roman authorities. This he did, but rather than gather up the silver and gold, he gathered up the poor of the city whom St. Lawrence had come to love. He presented them to the Roman authorities with the words, “these are the treasures of the church”.

We here in Dornoch have been gifted by God with beautiful churches like this one. We have been given a beautiful town, beautiful houses and surrounding countryside. And let us thank God for these things. But let us remember that our real treasure is not in the bricks and mortar of these places, or even in the flowers of the field.

Rather, our real treasure – where our hearts are called to be – is with the poor. The lonely, the outcast, those struggling with addiction, those that others have already written off. We are called by Christ to love these, and by doing so, we are loving him. By serving them, we are serving him. By sharing what we have and not claiming it as our exclusive private property, we will begin to allow God’s Kingdom to come on earth as it is already in heaven.

My prayer is that God would save us from making our money, our family, or our need for comfort into an idol. That way, we can have two free hands to grasp the promise God offers us – the promise of a coming Kingdom, a kingdom where everyone has a seat at the banquet table, and no one is left out in the cold. Let us put our faith in that promise, and hold only very lightly to the material blessings we have.

So, this week, think about and prepare the one question that you would ask  God when you meet Him face to face, and maybe some day you will be given the chance to ask that question. But remember, you need to be prepared with your answer when He asks the same question of you.