4th Sunday After Pentecost (Year A)
I remember one summer day as a young child when my sister and I decided we wanted to be rich, and our ticket to wealth was the small lemonade stand we set up outside. We would sell lemonade and make a fortune—the plan was fool proof! After all, other kids had raised money selling lemonade for charity, so why couldn’t we raise some money for our own pockets? As we got our stand ready we dreamed about what we would buy—toys and pet horses and a mansion—we were dreaming big, and I was so confident in the money we would get that I took the quarter from our first lemonade sale and buried it in the ground, so I could grow a money tree too.
Well, as you can see I’m still working, so I didn’t make a fortune that day and I’m still waiting on that money tree to sprout. In fact, I learned a couple of lessons that day about money. First, I learned the hard way not to leave my sitting outside unattended while searching inside for a bigger jar. But more importantly, I learned not to be overconfident or rely too much on the money I have because money can come and go in the blink of an eye.
All of our readings for today have something to say to us about wealth and money, and money can be a complicated subject. In our American culture money is often synonymous with status and success, so we may at times be tempted compare ourselves to others or measure our success as a person by our bank accounts. Politicians and government leaders rarely agree on how to spend money, and couples don’t always agree on finances either. In extreme cases, greed for money can be the source of injustice when some people have way too much and others far too little, and of course, in our current economy and high inflation money doesn’t go as far these days. Many people are struggling just to scrape by.
Day in and day out many of us work hard for our money—and we have to in order to survive in our world. We have bills to pay, groceries to buy, we need to buy gas to get us to work so we can make money to pay the bills and buy the groceries and get the gas we need to get to work and make to make the money to….and the cycle repeats. Some of us in society who are retired or unable to work must rely on social security payments, pensions or government assistance to get by and that can be complicated thing too—as a society are we spending too much money on social welfare or not enough? These are sensitive questions—and money is often at the root of the issue.
For such reasons money has been popularly deemed as the root of all evil. Now money in itself is not evil—it is necessary—but not evil. At its core, money is a tool that helps us obtain the things we need such as housing, clothing, food, health insurance and the like. And it is not a bad thing to use our money to treat ourselves to something nice or fun every now and then either. The problem arises, I think, when money stops being a tool and instead becomes the most important thing—an idol, something we hoard, or something we can never have enough of. It is then that we have lost sight of the purpose of money, and who entrusted it to us to use.
Our first reading from Deuteronomy speaks to this. The Israelites are preparing to enter into the Promise Land, a land flowing with milk and honey and a place full of blessings, but before they enter Moses reminds the people where their blessings truly come from. Moses says: “When you have eaten your fill and have fine houses and live in them and….when your silver and gold is multiplied and all you have is multiplied, then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God you brought you out of the land of Egypt…” In effect Moses is warning the Israelites—and us—just how easy it can be to forget about God when we are surrounded by blessings, and how easily it is for us as humans to take full credit for what we have achieved.
Often times we have worked hard for what we have achieved or earned, and we can be proud of that, but Moses reminds us who it is who first gave us what we need and continues to do so every day. God has given us our bodies, minds, our talents and abilities, even our very breath, and without God’s blessings none of what we have achieved would be possible. Just like my overconfidence in lemonade and money trees, one part of being human is the temptation for us to rely on ourselves, our wealth, and our possessions instead of the One who blessed us in the first place.
For the fun of it, though, I do wonder what I would have bought with my lemonade money. I imagine I would have bought plenty of toys and my family probably would have had to build a stable or move to a farm with all the ponies I would have gotten—but would I have helped anyone with the money I earned? Would I have had the wisdom and compassion to share my wealth with someone else?
Our second reading today from 1st Timothy speaks to the other challenge we often have with money, that is, how to use the money we have to meet both our own needs and to benefit others who have less. In our world today money often seems to be in short supply, so how do we wisely and fairly use the money we do have?
The author of 1st Timothy was writing to a church that had a wide range of people, and the congregation was figuring out how to be church together when some people had more than others, and that sounds pretty similar to our world today. We live in a world with people who are billionaires and people who live in extreme poverty, and most of us fall somewhere in between.
Now, I don’t think of myself as wealthy, money is often tight and I do need to budget my money wisely to cover my expenses but compared to the nearly 1 billion people the United Nations reports live on less than $1 a day, I am wealthy. Even without my money tree, I have been blessed with tremendous resources including the money I work hard for. Now recognizing I have been blessed, how do I use my money to help others?
1 Timothy 6 gives us this advice saying, “We are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share…so that we may take hold of the life that really is life.” I am particularly struck by the last part, “the life that really is life.”
Reflecting upon this I wonder, how often in life might our money keep us from really living and enjoying the life and people God has given us? I am reminded of a classmate of mine in high school. This girl came from a well to do family with two parents that worked long hours and often traveled for work. She lived in a large house in the best area of town with a backyard pool and even an indoor theater.
She had access to the best things that money could buy, but she didn’t have much of a relationship with her parents. There were no family dinners, backyard barbecues or days off with family around the holidays. I once overheard my classmate remark to her friends that her parents loved earning money more than they loved her. Now, there is nothing wrong with working hard, especially when supporting a family, but it is wise to remember that money doesn’t replace relationships and quality time spent with those we love.
Similarly, I’m sure many of us are familiar with the phrase “keeping with the Jones.” In a culture that equates money with status, we might be tempted to compare what we have to what others have. I remember what it was like growing up in a single parent household. My mom worked hard to provide me with everything I needed and I never went without, but we couldn’t afford some of the things my classmates could. I learned the hard way that comparison is the thief of joy and thankfulness, and I learned life was a lot more fun when I enjoyed what I did have. And besides, it was more fun to be friends with my neighbor than to compete with them.
Our readings from 1st Timothy and our Gospel in Matthew today gives us one more thing to consider regarding wealth, and that is, how do we live lives of meaningful discipleship with our money?
In our Gospel story we meet the rich man who came to Jesus seeking the key to eternal life. This man has kept the commandments and tried to live righteously, but Jesus gives him a challenge. Jesus tells the man to give his possessions to the poor and to join Jesus in ministry. Of course, the man who was quite wealthy and attached to his possessions went away dismayed. How could he possibly give up his possessions, his status, his comfort? He couldn’t see and imagine a worthwhile and meaningful life beyond his wealth.
Now, I don’t think Jesus is telling us we need to give up all we own in order to be disciples, but rather, Jesus is reminding us that there are things far more important than the wealth we have. The most important thing is our relationship with God, our ability to love God and to see and give thanks for the many blessings God gives us. We rely on God’s abundance rather than on ourselves.
Jesus is also telling us, I think, that as followers of Christ we are called to follow Christ in the path of service, to “store up treasure in heaven” as Jesus says—to live a life so much richer in meaning. Throughout the Gospels we hear story after story of Jesus using his resources in service to others. Jesus turned water into wine, fed five thousand with a few pieces of bread and fish, had compassion for the poor and lived a life that reflected God’s love and justice to others. While Jesus was not rich in money, he was rich in relationships, in faith, in love, and in a life full of meaning. Jesus knew that it was God and people that really mattered.
With the many gifts we have been given we are called to live lives of meaning by honoring God and serving people. I have seen this happen in so many ways. I have seen it in the couple from my home congregation who save their spare change all year and then gifts it to a family in need, like the year they gave the jar to my single mom raising two daughters. I have seen it in the generosity of people and congregations like Faith Lilac Way who donate toys at Christmas. I saw it just this last week as people from our Wildfire congregations came together for a fun evening of food, music and fellowship and raised money for Every Meal. When we live and use our money in ways to serve our neighbor, amazing things can happen. For example, the gifts we receive at church, both big and small, helps to support ministry, allows us to share the gospel with others, and allows us to share our building with GSJ, the Boy Scouts, the Hennepin County Horticultural Society, and the Red Cross, just to name a few. And beyond our doors we give to the NEAR Food Shelf, Every Meal, the ELCA Disaster Response and more.
Whether our gifts our big or small, and with God’s help, together we use our resources to work toward a world where all are fed, where people have a place to sleep at night—a world where everyone has enough and where all people are treated with dignity as fellow Children of God. Now, I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a pretty good deal to me. I would choose a life and a world like that over a money tree any day.
So today may God bless us in our lives of discipleship. May we remember what truly matters in life. May we trust in God’s abundance, and may we use our money and resources wisely as we live meaningful lives blessed to bless others. May God multiply our resources and our efforts in doing God’s work, and may we someday live in a world where all will have enough. Thanks be to God for the money and resources we receive, and for God’s mission for all. Amen.