Show God the Money--October 19

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…