Money Talks

George Washington has a book out that is attributed to him, though it is not his actual writing. When he was 14, his teachers made him copy down lines from a French etiquette manual to help him practice his writing. The result, is a tiny book that stayed with Washington his entire life…so let that be a lesson to us all…be careful what you use as your examples, because they have a stronger impact than you think. The book is called, “Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation.”

The rules were things like number 31: If anyone far surpasses others, either in age, estate, or merit, yet would give place to a meaner than himself in his own lodging or elsewhere, the one ought not to except it. So he on the other part should not use much earnestness nor offer it above once or twice.

And there were 110 of these things. All the way from number 10: When you sit down, keep your feet firm and even, without putting one on the other or crossing them. To some that were less practical though very important like number 22: Show not yourself glad at the misfortune of another though he were your enemy.

The reason I am sharing this with you is that George Washington had many rules of civility and decent behavior in company and conversation, and among them are rules in talking about money. How it should never be discussed in polite company, and how you should not broach that subject among friends. You do not talk about Money, Religion, and Politics…but Jesus talks about all of them.

That book must have been compiled well after Jesus’ time because he talks about money a lot, like he does in our scripture reading this morning.

He is talking directly to the Pharisees that he describes just a few paragraphs earlier as lovers of money. And, this is two chapters before Jesus says the often quoted passage, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven. Clearly, Jesus has something to say about money.

And so I want to admit to you that when I read this passage, I didn’t want to preach a sermon to you about it…because one does not talk about money in polite conversation. I looked for some other passage, but I kept being brought back to this one. And it was a note from one of our third graders that gave me courage and conviction that this scripture was the one we needed to hear.

It is from a thank-you note from Anna Varner. Wesley and Jennifer, and I’ll bet Johnny and Helen have something to do with this too, you should be so proud of her. Her thank-you note was for her Bible, that she received as a gift from this church. In it she writes: Thank you so much for my Bible. I have 2 children’s Bibles, but this is my first REAL ACTUAL Bible. I am looking forward to continue to learn about Jesus.

Now it is our job that Anna, as well as the rest of us, learn about Jesus. And Jesus is pretty clear in this story, and he talks about something that we don’t like to talk about in polite company, money.

This is the kind of story that makes us fidget in our seats.

It makes us begin to question value systems and judgments.

It makes us begin to wonder about systems, and greed.

C.S. Lewis, the wonderful author of The Chronicles of Narnia as well as other Christian classics, once spoke on a radio program in London, where he argued that based upon everything that Jesus says and does, there are three options that one can take when making their opinion about him. He is either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord.

I believe we have three options that we can take when we read a passage such as this. We can ignore it, water it down, or change. My three options don’t have the cool alliteration that Lewis’s does, but I believe they run in the same vein.

We can ignore it. We can say to ourselves that this book we have here was written a long time ago in very different circumstances particularly very different economic circumstances. They didn’t have capitalism back then, and land was the main source of wealth whereas now it is in electronic code that a bank somewhere says you have. So, because the times are so different, we will just keep living our lives the way we want, and move on. We like Jesus, but we don’t like him talking about our money.

In looking at the parable we see two men. One rich, one poor, and there is a huge chasm between them. Both on earth, and in heaven. The rich man feasts sumptuously, while Lazarus, the poor man, begs that maybe some crumbs will fall from the rich man’s table. Then, when they die, the rich man goes to torment, while Lazarus goes to paradise. There is a gap between them.

And the rich man’s sin is not so much that he doesn’t help, Lazarus, though that is in there; his main sin is that he doesn’t even see him. He is ignorant. He has no idea that there are others outside of himself. Others who need food and shelter. He doesn’t even see the poor. He ignores Lazarus, much like many ignore this passage.

There is still a gap today. If you look at statistics, the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. Just this week a statistical study came out that pays poverty is on the rise in this country. We can blame, because that is easier, but at some point we need to look squarely at ourselves. That is what we have built upon. For every rich nation in the world, there is a poor nation that suffers by its exploitation.

When the movie Wall Street came out with Charlie Sheen and Michael Douglas, Michael Douglas helped create the iconic character of Gordon Gekko. He is wall street trader, who makes millions of dollars a day and the famous quote from that movie is; greed is good. There is a sequel to that movie that is in theatres right now called Wall Street: Money never sleeps. It picks up the story of Gordon Gekko after he has served time in prison for fraud. And I haven’t seen it, but in the previews Gordon Gekko is giving a speech where he says, “I once said, Greed is good, now, it seems, it is legal.” And that fiction, is based on truth.

So are we really that different? Can we continue to ignore scriptures such as these? I don’t think we can.

So we look at our second option. To water down the passage. This isn’t a new strategy. People have been watering down scripture for years to make it a little easier for people to digest without upsetting how they live their lives. People flock to a watered down Bible because it lets them stay in their security.

Scripture is used to keep people poor as scripture is quoted at them that they will receive their blessing after they die. Preachers and church-goers hear messages that the reason they have wealth is because God gave it to them as a blessing for them being such a wonderful person.

We water it down to a morality play, that if only the rich were a little bit more compassionate, then they would not suffer torment. We don’t notice where we are in this story.

But I do not believe we are called to water-down scripture. We are given scripture as a gift from God, so that we might know Him and know what his Kingdom looks like. When we water it down, we gain comfort, but I believe we lose our soul. And Anna said…I want to learn about Jesus. Not a watered down Jesus, but Jesus.

So our third option…is to change. To work for change in this world where people are not poor. That in all the abundance God has given to us, we give abundantly to others. That we see the world with compassion and grace because that is how God sees us. That we give and give and give, because that is what we constantly ask God to be, and who we know God is…one who gives, and gives, and gives.

We tithe. Every month, my family tithes. And yes, we come into situations where we can use that 10% in our house as we have the bills spread out on the table, some of which have the words FINAL NOTICE on them. But it is God’s money, not ours. And it is more important for us to give because God gives so much to us. We begin to save money for our faith community. We give it away, because we see and have compassion on the poor, and know the healing power of Jesus Christ, and we want them to be healed. We want ourselves to be healed of our attachments and insecurities, so we give as a spiritual discipline so that we might know God on a deeper level, and thus know ourselves on a deeper level.

We change, and we do not use scripture to justify hate, but instead embrace it as instruction on how we can fully live into our inheritance as children of God.

I didn’t want to preach on this text. If I am honest with myself and with you, I don’t really want to change when I approach scripture. But I do every time, because that is who God has called me to be. God has called me to open myself up to new scripture and insight every time I look. Because change is hard, and we should not talk about money in polite company, and some of you may not like me after I preach this sermon. But I believe, that change is what happens when we meet Christ. And while that change may not look “successful” in the eyes of the world…it is change towards truth.

George Washington wrote in number 110: The very last line in the book. Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.

Labor to keep alive that childlike wonder and openness to be affected by Jesus; even about money, religion, and politics. Because that is what is good. And who God calls us to be.