Pentecost XIX, Proper 23, Year B

Amos 5:6-7,10-15
Hebrews 3:1-6
Mark 10:17-31

+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

When I started here in 1993 as the assistant, my stipend was about $18,000 per year, and I thought that I was living large. I'd made significantly more money before I'd gone to seminary, but after three years of considerable seminary frugality, I almost felt as if I were rolling in it. But like most of us, my expectations and my needs, at least my perceived needs, very quickly caught up and then exceeded my income.

Most of us think that our lives would be better and happier if we had more wealth. Most of us are not even that demanding, just another ten, twenty, or thirty percent more — just if things weren't quite so tight. Then everything would be fine. Of course, even if we had that extra thirty percent, and sooner or later many get that extra thirty percent, soon we need another thirty percent or more. Our material wants spiral higher, and we sink further from the light of the gospel.

The horrible irony is that often as we accumulate more wealth, we feel like we have less wealth. Often as we accumulate more wealth, we feel we have less to share. Indeed, the poor are more generous, give away a higher percentage of their wealth, than the middle-class; and the middle-class are more generous than the upper-class. There are significant and abundant exceptions, but generally the greater our income, the smaller the proportion of it we give away.

Generally the more wealth we have the more control it exerts over us. It becomes our master. But we really think we need it, and our culture reinforces this belief. Our culture worships money because money is power, influence, control, security, happiness, sexual appeal. Nothing turns us on as much. Wealth, in our culture, is an idol. It makes us like God. It's the fruit of the forbidden tree.

Throughout history, human beings have seen wealth as a sign of God's blessing, of his favor. It's explicit in the Old Testament. Deuteronomy says that those who obey God will abound in prosperity. (Dt 28:11, all of 28:1-14) It's what the disciples thought. Jesus shocked his disciples when he said that It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

To some extent, we know in our gut that Jesus is right. Jimmy Beatrice has driven a cab in New York for nearly sixty years. He says, ";I go to work happy, and I come home happy."; He loves meeting people, serving them, being part of the energy and excitement of the city. He says, "I like it so much, I don't even want to charge the people. That's how much I like it."

Tell me you wouldn't love to give that guy a big tip. And for him It's not about the money! That's an enormously attractive attitude. It's what we all want from life, how we want to live life. That story is not mere sentiment. And all of us have at least a little bit of that sanity and health in us. We want that part of us to become bigger, fuller, because that's a key ingredient of a good life.

Our culture, the world, however, encourages us to have a sick relationship with money. It encourages us to accumulate money — one way or another, because it supposedly makes us happy and allows us to live fulfilled, exciting lives. We're supposed to enjoy it. We often find ourselves in debt, desperately chasing for the happiness that money's supposed to bring us. As we repay our debts, we may try to get around to saving. And if there's any left over, that we can give away. That's the way the world teaches us to treat money — spend, pay off debt, save, and then give.

If we are faithful in following Jesus, we can have a healthy relationship with money. It doesn't need to be our master. And it begins by seeing that our first — not our last — our first priority with money is giving it away. If we look seriously at what we do with money, it might shock us — that we spend more on clothing than we give away, that we spend more on entertaining and amusing ourselves than we give away, that we spend more on fancy cars or furnishings than we give away.

When I say "give away," of course I include giving to the church, but not the church alone. There are millions of worthy recipients, charitable organizations as well as individuals in need. What makes us feel good, what gives us real enjoyment and fulfilment, is giving. The good life really doesn't come from possessing and accumulating.

In today's gospel a rich man asks Jesus what he needs to do to have eternal life. In other words, he's asking, "How can I earn eternal life?" Jesus tells him to keep the commandments. The rich man says that he's done that. Jesus tells him to sell all his possessions and give the proceeds to the poor. The rich man decides that's too steep of a demand.

The central issue for the rich man is not eternal life; It's this life, how should he live now. Jesus tells him to live well now, and you don't have to worry about eternal life. The rich man wants certainty; he wants to secure, to possess, to own eternal life. But eternal life is a gift. We can't do anything to earn it.

In the scene immediately before today's exchange with the rich man, Jesus had said, “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” The rich man's attitude is exactly opposite of a child. Children are dependent; they receive everything as a gift. The rich man is used to control, to self-sufficiency, not to receiving.

Completely contrary to the values of his culture, and of our culture, Jesus says that the real spiritual blessing is not in being rich, but in the poor. Jesus says, "Blessed are you poor, ... but woe to you that are rich, for you have received your consolation." (Lk 6:20,24) Few of us live like that, holy as many of us are.

What Jesus has to say in today's gospel is shocking and annoying and offending and challenging. If it doesn't trouble us, then we're not listening. The message is: if we want the good life, we have to change our ways, our values, our goals. We have to change them fundamentally, radically — even completely reverse them. For most of us, this is the work of a lifetime — at least. Especially in our culture, we fool ourselves if we think that wealth is not an obstacle to being a disciple.

If we make giving our priority with money, it will change us and bless. Here are four ways. First, the world thinks that security comes from money, from our 401(k)s and pensions and brokerage accounts and homes, but such earthly treasures are subject to rust and moth; they're passing away. The things with true value, that give us real security, the real treasures of this life, are our character and other people — friendships, things money can't buy. Generosity builds character and strengthens relationships — It's putting others first.

Second, when giving is our priority, we grow in integrity. Money is sacramental. What we do with it shows us what's important to us. Jesus says, "Where your treasure is, there will be your heart also." (Lk 12:34) If we really want to follow Jesus, if we say that we do, we try to put our money where our mouth is. If we go to fancy restaurants and leave the waiters bigger tips than the amount we put in the Sunday plate, something's wrong.

Third, all that we have is not really ours, but God's. God is the creator and owner of all things. We are trustees, stewards, and we want to direct God's things towards God's purposes. When we see all things as God's, we are less likely to live for possessions, less likely to regard ourselves as the sum of our possessions. We have a bigger purpose in life. We are not the value of our possessions; each of us is of infinite value.

Fourth, Jesus promised a reward to all those who give and sacrifice, to all who leave their possessions and even their families for his sake. The reward we receive in giving and sacrificing is joy. In giving away possessions, in making sacrifices for the gospel, we should expect blessings. That's what we keep count of, our blessings – and far more assiduously than we watch our checkbooks and brokerage statements.

Giving generously changes lives. It directs our lives to what has real value, our character and friendships. It means we have more integrity as Christians. It shows that we live with real purpose. It helps us to enjoy life.

Please be prayerful and generous in giving to the parish and in giving to other organizations and people. The first step is to set a proportion of our income to give back. Very few people who tithe today, that is very few who give the Church a full ten percent or more, did so all at once. Most have grown into it. We start by becoming proportional givers and then working to increase the percentage. It takes time, but it transforms our lives.

Our parish family is headed in the right direction. We growing in joy, in friendships, in faith. Our corporate character is growing. We're increasingly looking beyond ourselves. We're a place where people find purpose in life and know God's love. Christ's mission and ministry is becoming stronger here.

I don't worry about giving in this parish. Half a dozen years ago, I did, but I've grown in faith. Every congregation always strives to become healthier, more faithful, and thank God that is happening here. As our spiritual lives have grown, people give more generously. That's happening here in a beautiful and inspiring way. There's enormous generosity and sacrifice here. I'm grateful to you for that. I'm grateful to be part of it.

+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

1. Jimmy Beatrice, http://www.storycorps.net .