Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Our Accounts in God

Readings for Sunday, 9/18/16


To listen to the sermon click the image





If you were here last week – that was quite a Sunday.  Not only because we came together as one family – for worship.  Not only because we shared in renewing our commitment to work together for the glory of God through this church.  And not only because we lived into Jesus’ call to evangelize – yes evangelize – right here in our neighborhood in the biggest way I’ve seen to date….but, what I found truly beautiful was that we literally enacted the gospel story we heard proclaimed.

In remembering the events of 9/11 – and joining that memorial with our own prayers – we acknowledged how God finds us when we are lost – we prayed for ourselves and others who need amazing grace right now – and then we had a big party – just like Jesus said to do – inviting all our neighbors and friends to celebrate.

That kind of scriptural alignment doesn’t happen all that often on Sunday mornings.  Imagine if we were trying to embody this gospel story with our neighbors today? This gospel is a difficult one to make sense of – let alone – find assurances of God’s love.  Because the subject is a hard one.  One we don’t like to talk about – especially in church – our relationship with money.

The thing of it is though, it does immediately follow on the heels of those amazing grace parables – Jesus telling stories about getting lost and being found – and for all we know he told them all at the same table – on the same day.  So I’d like spend a little time on that scripture to help us understand this dishonest manager – who Jesus commends him – and strangely, encourages us to imitate in how we make use of our dishonest wealth.

We’re a table with Pharisees, sinners, tax collectors and his disciples, i.e. we have a rep for all of us.  And he tells three parables before this one – a shepherd searches for one sheep, leaving the 99 behind.  A woman searches for 1 coin even though she has 9.  And a father runs to meet his youngest son, who squandered his inheritance and now wants to work, so he can eat, on his dad’s estate.  The father doesn’t see a debt to be paid – he is too overjoyed that his son has come home, so he throws a big party – which really ticks off his big brother.

While culminate in amazing grace – that only happens because of the way each character prioritizes their wealth.  For a shepherd to leave 99 sheep for 1 – is foolish.  That flock is his property – his livelihood.  One sheep has no value – let it go – and protect the treasure you have in the 99.

Same with the woman – she spends all that time for 1 coin.  Sure 10 is better than 9 – but that one really is not going to break the bank when it comes to her checking account.

And the prodigal son parable is the kicker.  The father doesn’t care about his property or the wealth that was squandered.  He cares about his relationship with his son.  He runs with joy to meet him – and he invites the eldest to let go of his resentment (material and otherwise) to celebrate with them.

So in the lead up to today’s gospel – we have three stories where Jesus is clearly saying – in God’s eyes - wealth is never as important as people.  Maybe that seems obvious – like, well of course God cares more about people than money or property – that’s God.  But isn’t Jesus telling us that – just like the people in those stories - our relationship to wealth is something we are to pay attention to?  Wouldn’t we all admit that there are many times we put wealth first in our lives?  I have – and I do.

Then Jesus turns to the disciples at the table – the ones who say they believe – and tells this story of a wealthy high level executive – who has squandered property.  Which puts him on par with the prodigal son who ate with the pigs.  Both have done the same wrong.  The prodigal son realizes his predicament when he has to resort to eating the food of the pigs. So he decides to go home to see if his dad will let him work.

Same here – the high level executive realizes the CFO is on to him.  Perhaps he’s been adding even more interest to the company’s loan – and skimming that off the top.  It’s unclear.  But something caught an accountant’s eye – because the CFO wants an audit.  The exec realizes he’s caught – he’s going to lose his job. He certainly can’t be a day laborer – and he knows he can’t beg.  He realizes he needs people – he needs relationships.  Friends who will welcome him into their homes because he’s about to lose his.

So – thinking of his own best interest – there’s no altruism here – he creates relationships that can save him. Cutting down everyone’s debts some by as much as half – which halves the money owed to his boss as well.  Which is when Jesus’ story gets most puzzling – The CFO commends the dishonest employee for acting shrewdly on his own behalf.  Even the wealth of the company takes a backseat to the relationships the employee was able to save.

Jesus goes on to say – and I tell you, make friends for yourself of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes…If you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust you to the true riches?  You cannot serve God and wealth.

So given all these parables (and the consistency with which Jesus talks about what we’re to do with our treasure) I have to believe Jesus is saying – if you want to love God with all your heart and soul – if you want to put God first – examine your relationship with wealth.  Not how much you have – but your relationship with it.  In your life – our common life – what comes first?

Isn’t this why talking about money and faith – is the hardest thing to do?  We want that part of our life – which is generally filled with anxiety and incredibly burdensome – we want to let go of that stuff when we come to church – when we think about God.  But that means the wealth has power over us, doesn’t it?  If we feel angered, or ashamed or conflicted when it comes to God and money – isn’t that something we’re supposed to bring to God in prayer?

(Martin Luther, 1529, aid clergymen in their teaching) He who has money and possessions feels secure, and is joyful and undismayed as though he were sitting in the midst of Paradise. On the other hand, he who has none doubts and is despondent, as though he knew of no God. For very few are to be found who are of good cheer, and who neither mourn nor complain if they have not Mammon. This [care and desire for money] sticks and clings to our nature, even to the grave….Therefore I repeat that the chief explanation of this point is that to have a god is to have something in which the heart entirely trusts.


In what does your heart entirely trust?  As a church – in what do we entirely trust?  Our endowments – our security?  Or our belief that there is an abundance here right now – and our relationships with one another will secure our present and our future?  In our own lives – are our relationships as reconciled as our checking accounts?  In our lives do we use our wealth to build up relationships with God with others?

Living a life following Christ is one of amazing grace and good news – and it is also living an examined life.  The teachings and parables are tools – not condemnations – because Jesus wants our joy to be complete.  God knows where our anxieties are – and God wants our burdens to be light.  For where our treasure is there our hearts will be also.

Grant us Lord not to be anxious about earthly things but to love things heavenly; and even now; while we are placed among things that are passing away, help us hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ – who put his relationship with us above everything else – your Son and our Savior.  Amen.

the Rev. Arianne R. Weeks


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