Oak Chapel United Methodist Church

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I asked my youth Sunday School class to attend church today. Just to make them feel like they are still in class, I will ask a few questions, but anyone can answer.  What is this? [Hold up hammer] A hammer is a rather useful device if you are also using nails.  What is this? [Hold up screwdriver] Good. And it is useful for things that the hammer isn't, even though some men use it as a chisel or pry bar and occasionally a hammer. You are doing well so far. Ok, what is this? [Hold up $10 bill] I figured you would get this one right. Now this won't work well with nails or screws, but it could be used to buy nails and screws or a hammer or a screwdriver and a lot of other things.

Now we come to the hard question, but I am sure you can figure it out. What do these three things have in common? They are all tools. If you look in a dictionary, you will probably not find money listed as a tool. However, I would suggest that money by itself is not useful until you use it to accomplish something. The purpose of a tool is to accomplish a necessary task. Some people would say that when this screwdriver is used in a way other than how it was intended, it is being misused. In the same way we might consider that when we use money in certain ways, it might be considered misuse.

Stewardship of God's Resources

As Christians the use of whatever we have can be viewed as stewardship. The doxology we sang this morning reminds us that "All Things Come From Thee, O Lord." At the very basic level our skills, whatever they may be, are gifts from God and the money that we earn by using these gifts can be considered as coming from God to provide for our needs and for accomplishing God's purposes.

Great Gain in Godliness and Contentment

The concluding chapter of the first letter to Timothy was written at least in part to refute false teachers who were misleading the early church. The portion of the letter that immediately precedes what we read accuses the false teachers of conceit, contentiousness, and greed; and it specifically attacks the idea that godliness is a means of gain. The letter then continues to say that there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment. No, the author is not playing legal word games. Rather we are given the truth of a life of piety, a life of godliness.

False teaching would have us believe that we can gain contentment from self-sufficiency and that prosperity is a sign of godliness. I have seen signs of this prosperity theology in bumper stickers that declare, "The one who dies with the most toys wins." This is a theology of greed, and money is their god. This letter is very clear - we brought nothing into the world and we will take nothing out. Indeed, how many times have we seen or heard of people who have chased wealth and power only to fall into temptation and eventually into ruin and destruction?

The Choice Between God and Money

Although often misquoted, this epistle is quite clear on the role of money - "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains." We need to carefully consider whether money is just one of the tools we have or whether we have developed a love for money and a desire to accumulate wealth. In the American culture you do not need to read much or watch much television to hear the siren song of wealth. With the recent volatility of the stock market, we have also seen the fragility of money and wealth. I would hope that we have been reminded that seeking comfort and assurance in building wealth and indeed lead to turmoil and destruction. The writer was not necessarily concerned with warning us that if we try to accumulate wealth we might lose our money. Rather we are warned that we can lose something much more precious -- life with the riches of God. We are called to be rich in good works rather than rich in material goods.

I am reminded of the Jesus' story in Luke 12 of the rich fool who in his abundance wanted to tear down his barns and build bigger ones. God's response to him was, "'You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God."

Grace and God's Will for Us Before Selfishness

The father of Methodism, John Wesley, espoused a theology of God's grace where God's grace is available to us before we even realize our need for it. In realizing our need and turning to God, we begin a process of Christian perfection in response to God. This perfection is somewhat different from our concept of perfection. It is a response to God that puts God's will for us and the world before our self-centered will and desires. Capitalism was on the rise in England during the 18th Century. There was a growing disparity between the rich and the poor that was manifested in splendid lifestyles for the rich and grinding misery for the poor. Within this context, Wesley was committed to a work ethic and condemned sloth as a sin, but he also condemned self-indulgence as faithless stewardship. Like the message in 1 Timothy, Wesley did not find fault in money itself but in the use of it. In his sermon on "The Use of Money" Wesley stated an economic discipline of gain all you can and save all you can and then give all you can. He emphasized that we should not gain money at the expense of life or health, ours or anyone else's. In saving he emphasized not wasting what we have earned merely to gratify desires of the flesh or the pride of life. After providing for your needs and the needs of your household, the remainder provides an opportunity to do good for all mankind.

Before Wesley died, many Methodists had moved from poverty into the growing middle class. They had dutifully followed the first two steps of Wesley's instructions -- earn all you can and save all you can. Somehow their zeal flagged when it can to the third directive -- give all you can. To be sure Methodists and other followers of Wesley have been responsible for many admirable social programs. But it had become clear to Wesley after forty years of ministry during the great revival that many had come to live in a manner "which does not hurt the body, but only destroys the soul, keeping it at a distance from all true religion."

What Kinds of Stewards are We?

What are we doing with what God has provided? What kinds of stewards are we?  In preparing for this sermon, I came across a story that I would like to share with you. Arthur Gordon, in his successor book to the best-selling The Touch of Wonder, tells of a lesson that arose from the Lenten tradition in his family of "the mite box." In their journey toward Easter, the children would put money into little offering boxes, to be taken to church on Easter Sunday and given as their Easter offering.  Arthur Gordon followed this tradition but, he confides:

The trouble in my case is that sometimes in moments of acute financial need, I would pry some of the coins out of my box. My conscience gnawed me a bit, but not too severely, because I always intended to put the money back for God before Easter. But somehow or another I was chronically short and never did. The fatal morning would always come. With Easter morning's dawn, Aunt Daisy would come over and always go to church with us on Easter. After breakfast, we were to bring in our mite boxes for inspection by our parents. My sister, a saint at an early age, was clean as a whistle, and her box was always filled with nickels and dimes and clean. It had never been opened. Mine was dog-eared and dirty with smudges on it from illicit openings in the face of financial crisis. I would look inside at a few surviving pennies rattling about forlornly. My father knew how wicked I had been, and he gave me a lecture every Easter. Why was I so selfish? Why couldn't I think less about myself and more about others? He was intent on making me feel my guilt, and was successful.

Finally, Aunt Daisy tired of it, fished in her purse, and drew out a 50 cent piece and looked into my dazzled eyes. 'Here,' she said, 'Put this in your mite box.'

'Not fair!' howled my saintly sister.

'It's not right, Daisy,' said my angry father. 'The boy shouldn't be rewarded for poor performance.'

'Well,' Aunt Daisy smiled.

To my sister, she said, 'You're right, dear, it's not fair. But never you mind. God will remember how faithful you've been.'

To my father, she said, 'Haven't you ever had a gift that you did not deserve? I should think Easter might remind you of that.'

Then her warm brown eyes rested on me, the chief of sinners. She said this: 'Arthur, God loves all sinners, large ones and small ones, like you. But don't push him too far.'"

(Arthur Gordon, Return toWonder [Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1996], 135-136.
 
Wealth Amidst Poverty

And so we come to the lesson from the Gospel of Luke. Recently I read an article on the widening gap between the rich and the poor in this country. I have also read of the gap between the poor of this country and the abject poverty that can easily be found in the developing countries of the world. Last year, my eyes were opened to the reality of this situation when I visited Venezuela on a business trip. I suspect that with the current economic crisis, the situation is even worse than what I saw and I can assure you that I was not allowed to see the worst conditions in that country.

In the American quest for the good life, in becoming a world economic power, have we joined the rich man in this story? Have we seen or heard the plight of the needy and ignored them even when they were at our gate or on our doorstep? In our pursuit of "happiness" have we pushed God too far? Have we bought into the false teaching that wealth is a sign of divine favor or are we ready to respond to those in need with the love and mercy rather than greed and arrogance?

Isn't Jesus Enough to Alert Us?

If we were in the Christmas season, I would certainly remind you of the story of Scrooge. [pause] The rich man pleaded that his brothers would listen if someone returned to them from the dead with the message. We have Jesus. Have we listened, and will we respond?

If you are not sure how to respond, the answer lies in Scripture: "pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness." Do not set your hope on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Do good, be rich in good works, generous and ready to share, thus storing up a treasure of a good foundation for the future, so you may take hold of the life that really is life. I am convinced that when we give up our pursuit of worldly wealth, we will truly attain the bounty of God's abundance, and we will be able to proclaim with the psalmist, "My cup runneth over." God's grace cannot be earned or bought; it is freely available to us through the gift of Jesus Christ. But when we turn away from the ways of the world and respond to God, we receive the things that money cannot buy and a joy that cannot be contained.

Open Our Eyes and Encourage Our Discipleship

Lord, open our eyes and ears to see and hear. Do not let us ignore the cry of the needy or your call for justice. Grant us the vision and the strength to follow the way of Christian discipleship. You have given us the opportunity to live life to its fullest by giving of our abundance. Lead us to a rededication of our life for your purposes that we may truly say "Thy will be done." Free us from the things that hold us that we may experience the liberty and joy in righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Amen.