A man parked his brand-new Lexus in front of his
office, ready to show it off to his colleagues. As he got out, a truck passed
too close and completely tore off the door on the driver's side. The man
immediately grabbed his cell phone, dialed 911, and within minutes a policeman
pulled up.
Before the officer had a chance to ask any
questions, the man started screaming hysterically. His Lexus, which he had just
picked up the day before, was now completely ruined and would never be the
same, no matter what the body shop did to it.
The officer shook his head in disgust and disbelief.
"I can't believe how materialistic you are," he said. "Did you
notice anything else that happened?”
"What do you mean?" asked the man.
The cop replied, "Didn’t you notice that your
left arm is missing from the elbow down? It must have been torn off when the
truck hit you."
"Oh, no!" screamed the man. "Where's
my Rolex?"
Money is not a
spiritual issue. Our relationship with
money is.
We need more income at Emanuel to fund God’s
ministry. The kingdom of God, however,
will come whether you or I give or not.
God doesn’t need us to give. We
need to give.
Money is not a
spiritual issue. Our relationship with
money is.
We want our money to serve us. We want our money to make us secure, powerful
and comfortable.
Like us, the Jews of Jesus’ day were saddled with
many taxes. In the Gospel reading a controversy arose about the annual tribute
tax paid to Rome: "Is it right to
pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
Jesus’ attackers didn’t want a dialogue about
national policy. They wanted "to
trap Jesus in His words." They
wanted money to serve their needs.
Trapping Jesus seemed easy enough. But he surprised
his opponents.
He asked them for the coin that was used to pay the
state tax. Then he asked whose image it
bore. One side of the coin had a picture of Emperor Tiberius. On that coin Tiberius was named a son of god. The other side honored him as the
"Pontifex Maximus.” That means
Tiberius was the chief priest" of Roman religion.
To a faithful Jew, such a coin was religiously
offensive and politically humiliating. The fact that Jesus’ opponents had such
a coin revealed them as hypocrites only interested in power. They wanted their money to serve them.
Money is not a
spiritual issue. Our relationship with
money is.
Two men are in a bank, when, suddenly, armed robbers
burst in, waving guns and yelling for everyone to freeze. The robbers take the money from the tellers. They also line up the customers and take
their wallets, watches, and other valuables.
One of the men jams something into his companion’s hand. Without looking down,
the second man whispers, "What is this?"
The first man replies, "It’s the $100 I owe you."
That’s a handy way to get out of debt. But it’s a miserable way to be human.
Money is not a
spiritual issue. Our relationship with
money is.
“Give
therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the
things that are God’s.” The word "give" means
"give back."
So we have to ask ourselves, “What belongs to God?” For Christians, the answer is simple. It all belongs to God. And that’s the good news.
Everything belongs to God. But God has given us everything. Jesus died to do that for you. What will we give back?
Money is not a
spiritual issue. Our relationship with
money is.
The comedian, Jack Benny, was famous for being
cheap. One sketch stands out in
particular. A robber points a gun at
Benny. The robber says, "This is a
stick-up. Your money or your life."
Benny replies, "Mister, put down that
gun."
The robber persists.
"Shut up. I said this is a stick-up. Now, come on. Your money or
your life." Benny puts his hand to
his chin and frowns. The robber repeats
himself, "Look, bud. I said, your money or your life!"
Benny exclaims, "I'm thinking it over."
Everything belongs to God. But we act like it all belongs to us. Benny’s sketch illustrates our dysfunctional
relationship with money in this culture.
Some have called it the disease of “affluenza.”
Affluenza is a
dysfunctional relationship with money. It produces a concentration of wealth in
a few hands and a concentration of want in many homes. Affluenza means we serve our money.
What is the cure for this disease? We need a conversion in our relationship
with God and with money. We need to
use our money to serve God.
So I invite you to pray that our Lord will help you
in your relationship with money. I
invite you to spend less, save more and give away more. Watch less television. Read fewer advertisements. Play games with other people rather than with
machines. These are simple things. But it’s a start.
Money is not a
spiritual issue. Our relationship with
money is.
If we do nothing to change that relationship, people
suffer. When we serve our money, we
sacrifice other people for our own needs.
A millionaire throws a massive party for his
fiftieth birthday. During the party, he's a bit bored and decides to stir
things up a bit. He grabs the mike and announces to his guests that down in the
garden of his mansion he has a swimming pool with two great white sharks in it.
He offers anything he owns to anyone who will swim across that pool.
The party continues for some time with no one
accepting his offer, until suddenly there's a loud splash. All the party guests
run to the pool to see what has happened, and in the pool a man is frantically
swimming as hard as he can. Fins come out of the water and jaws are snapping
and the guy just keeps on going. The sharks are gaining, but the guy manages to
reach the end and he leaps out of the pool, soaked.
The millionaire grabs the mike and says, "I am
a man of his word, anything of mine I will give—-for you are the bravest man I
have ever seen. So, what will it be?" the millionaire asks.
The guy grabs the mike and says, "Why don't we
start with the name of the person that pushed me in!" I have to ask myself if my consumption is
tossing someone else into that swimming pool.
Money is not a
spiritual issue. Our relationship with
money is. Let us pray…