The title of today's sermon, "Your Money or Your Life"…sounds like something that comes from the lips of a robber, especially one from the days of highwaymen in England, when bandits were roaming the road of England accost travelers with the words “Stand and Deliver – Your Money or Your Life.”
I on purpose use that title.
A lot of money in our society asks as to why there is there so much emphasis on money in many of our churches in the world. In a certain church in Hong Kong, there is even a sign that tells the people that it costs 40,000 Hong Kong Dollars every day to run it! There is even one rather large Filipino denomination who will publish your name on the notice board if you did not paid your tithes for the month!
There can only be two possible answers to that question.
The first answer is that there is so much emphasis on money in so many Christian churches because those churches has a need for money:
Bills must be paid
Projects needs funding.
Outreach Projects needing money
Salaries have to be paid
Building maintained
And so forth
So many of our Christian churches talk about money – so the churches can get more of it. And very often they talk about money in terms that would seem to be very similar to that of the British Highwaymen of the old days. All too many churches seem to indicate by their preaching, their Television appeals, and their literature, that if you give them more money, you will live a blessed and long life, that God will love you more; but if you do not well you will not be blessed - that God will not love you.
Quite frankly that kind of talk turns me off - perhaps even more quickly than it turns you off.
It turns me off because it equates entry into the kingdom of heaven with giving money to this or that ministry or to this or that church - it turns me off because it equates the amount of love that you receive from God with the amount of money you give to God's work - and that, quite frankly, is a perversion of the gospel - that gospel that says in no uncertain terms that God loves us unconditionally, that God's saving love towards us has nothing at all to do with how much we give or how much we do, that God's offer of a healing touch has nothing to do with our virtue or our sin.
But bills do have to be paid. The work of God does need the gifts that God has given us for that work. Quite frankly the work of God needs our wallets. And it always has. And that truth needs to be plainly spoken. The truth concerning tithing - the truth about giving God our first fruits - our best fruits.
Listen to these words from the third chapter of the Book of the prophet Malachi. Words written some three hundred years before Christ, time when the Land of Israel was suffering from drought and disaster, from poverty and parsimony: (3:7-12)
Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty.
"But you ask, 'How are we to return?'
"Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me."
But you ask, 'How do we rob you?'
"In your tithes and offerings. You are under a curse - the whole nation of you - because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty. "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,".
The problem with money in this church, or any church, could simply be solved if we all did what the bible says we should do which is to offer to God the full tithe, the first fruits, the unblemished portions, the cream of the crop - and did so routinely and without muttering or murmuring - about it. And that should be easy because the TV evangelists are right in one point as they plead and beg and make fancy offers of free gifts to get more of your dollars. God does bless those who give him his due.
That's the truth about money and the church, plainly spoken.
And once spoken I don't believe one should make a big fuss about it. It is enough surely to remind people of what it is God has done for them and will do for them - and to ask that they pray to God about what their commitment is for both their regular tithes - and should there be a need - their special offerings.
In the church we should practice what we preach - we should ask for "our daily bread" and then let go of the asking for the rest of the day, and trust that God will answer our prayer - that God will meet our needs..
Giving is, after all, between God and the giver. And so is receiving. Between God and the receiver.
It should be enough to tell the faithful what the need is and to let it go at that. It should be enough to occasionally remind people what the biblical teaching on giving is and then go on to examine the other teachings of the bible without begging and pleading.
Unfortunately some churches spend a lot of time berating those who are faithful givers to give more and turning off those who are new believers in the Lord by focussing their efforts on getting more out of them - rather than encouraging them to a closer walk with Christ a walk which, in the end produce the fruit of a life that is totally committed to God
So the first answer to the question - why is there so much emphasis on money is that in many churches and in many ministries - there is a real need for more money, or a real greed for more money.
In either case - need or greed - this kind of emphasis on money reflects a poverty of Spirit that is not of the kind indicated by the beatitudes. It is not the poverty of humility and obedience, but the poverty of indifference and rebellion towards the Will of God..
The second answer is that there is a lot of emphasis or talk about money in the church because there is a lot of talk about money in the bible, especially in the Gospels, where Jesus it seems is constantly speaking to people both plainly and in parables about the dangers of wealth, or about how wealth - whether it be little - or much - needs to be used: - The poor widow who gave her all to the temple treasury - the vineyard owner who paid all his workers, even those hired last, the same wage, - the rich young ruler who was told to sell all he had and follow Jesus, - the steward who was forgiven a great debt, but refused to forgive a fellow servant a small debt, - the sheep who share their food, clothing, homes, and time - versus the goats who do not, the list goes on and on - - and includes today's Gospel reading - where we heard the story which is normally titled "the parable of the rich fool", the story of one who saved and saved and saved for his future - only to die before that future could come.
You know how it goes it was just read a few minutes ago.
The beginning, or the set up, of the parable is however quite instructive to today's topic. A Man asks Jesus to tell his brother to divide the family inheritance with him.
Jesus responds to him with the words "who set me to be a judge or abritrator over you." And then he says to the crowd, to us, these words:
"Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life doesn't consist in the abundance of possessions."
Indeed this is the key to the talk about money in the bible....The role it plays in our lives...And the role that it cannot play in our lives, no matter how much we might want it to, or how much the world tells us it can.
"Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life doesn't consist in the abundance of possessions."
Indeed it doesn't. But there are all kinds of greed.
Some is simple avarice - the kind of wanting more that will people to drive hundreds of miles and stand in line for hours to buy a Mark Six Lottery ticket. Or to work 14 hours a day so that you can get ahead - where enough is never enough.
Some is fear - the fear that leads people to stow away their wealth "for a rainy day" and never use it even when it does rain.
And some is just plain old idolatry - as Paul calls greed in today's reading from the Letter to The Colossians. The idolatry that regards money and what it can do for oneself and ones family as more important than what it can do to help bring about Shalom - the time of peace.
You know what I am talking about don't you? - The idolatry that we see in those who will not hesitate to spend 600 or 800 or a thousand dollars for a dinner out with the family each week, but who chock on the idea of giving a tenth of that sum each week to the work of God. - The idolatry that sees people who will cheerfully buy their children designer clothing and running shoes at well over a $1000 a pop, but who refuse to share with the hungry and starving in the world because they think or know that the agency who conveys the gift, the government department who administers it, or the people who receive it in the end, will spend the money on everything but the essentials. - The idolatry that sees people who will keep the best portion for themselves and give the leftovers to those who beg at the door. Those whose idea of making a sacrifice for the sake of the Gospel is to attend church on Sunday morning rather than get up late. Those whose idea of making an important offering to the Lord is to buy five new shirts and give the old discarded one to the Salvation Army rather than putting them in the trash.
Why is there an emphasis on money in so many churches? Well there are at least two possible answers. One is not so good - and the other - well it is the Gospel truth.
There is, in all churches worthy of the name of Christ, the same emphasis on money as there is in his teachings.
Money and our attitude concerning who deserves it and who doesn't is a barometer of our spiritual health and insight. Money and how we use it and how we feel about it is symbolic of where we are at.
That is one of the purposes of the teaching concerning offering our first fruits to God and giving to God a tithe, be it 5% or 10% or even 20% of all that we earn. It reveals who we are and what we believe, though I must hasten to point out that there is many a good tither, many a good giver, who give out of a sense of duty - rather than out of a love and trust in God.
Still, all in all, whether or not we freely offer the cream of our crops, the best of what we have, to God is a test of our faith - of where we are at. It does not win us salvation. It does not bring to us the love of God. But it does show us where our hearts are... what we really believe or what we really desire.
Hear once again our Lord. Ponder the message that he is speaking to you this day when he says:
Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life doesn't consist in the abundance of possessions.
And consider where you would be in relationship to the Lord - and to all the world - should this very night your soul be required of you.
And do from that mediation - what it is God is calling you to do, and do it faith and trust and in joy, knowing that whatever it is it is of God - and God is good.
Blessed be the name of God, day by day. Amen
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment