“Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much;
and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much.”

Serving God with True Wealth
Luke 16:1-13
 

At Belmont University from which I graduated, there was a bronze sculpture – maybe ten feet tall and not to be missed - in the lobby of the Massey Building. I felt uneasy about the concept for this sculpture. It was a dollar sign with one person standing over it and another person kneeling down to it. The title of this piece is “Master or Servant?” indicating that we are either one or the other – no middle ground. We will either master our finances or we will be slaves to our finances. We will be either in control of our money or our money will control us. I say there is a balance somewhere and this sermon is about helping us to find it.

To help us consider this issue Jesus gives an apt parable in our Gospel reading for today. He presents to us a test case. Here are the facts:

• A rich man had a manager.

• The rich man had acted very trustingly toward this manager, and evidently had not demanded of him anything like a balance sheet or a profit and loss statement.

• The manager was squandering the boss’s property and people were beginning to notice.

• One day a friend told the rich man to open his eyes and see what was going on.

• The manager got wind of it and called in the debtors.

• The manager apparently did not have a chart of accounts with amounts owed, because he asked each debtor how much he owed.

• To gain favor with the debtors, the manager began to slash the amounts of each person’s debt.

• Jesus did not say that the debtors paid their debts – they just reduced their balances.

But as we look at the use of wealth or its use of us, there are deeper reasons why we behave the way we do. It has to do with our character. Proper use of resources reveals our integrity. Jesus waxes ironic about this. He says, “I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.” Could the dishonest manager really think that the people he had encouraged to cheat his boss would befriend him? Would they not suspect that if he cheated his own boss he would cheat them?

Both the dishonest manager and the rich man were guilty of mishandling funds. How could a manager not know the outstanding amounts owed? It is obvious that the manager was trying to curry the favor of the debtors. And notice - he had not kept himself in physical shape either, because he said he was not strong enough to do manual labor. He had not cultivated any other skills. He had let his job define him.

The rich man on the other hand should have been more responsible in knowing the extent and whereabouts of his wealth, because God had entrusted it to him, not to the manager. He should have been more responsible in hiring a manager. So really the buck stops with the rich man. But this principle of good management applies to more than material wealth. It applies to our use of the other resources – to conservation of the good earth, which includes recycling and saving water. We really need to take better care of this planet, because as far as I know it is our only source of chocolate.

Wealth properly used can be a mighty tool in the service of God to give the less fortunate a fair shake. It is clear from our Old Testament lesson that God is on the side of justice, especially for the poor and needy. Wealth can be used to help people in third world nations to have access to basic human rights, such as clean water, or vaccinations from diseases that we don’t even face in this country. If we have been entrusted with material wealth we can enjoy distributing it to others who have need, and in so doing we will be blessed. We will be more likely to find help in our own time of need. Jesus says we cannot serve God and wealth, but I believe we can serve God with our wealth. The secret is detachment.

It is here that I must take a detour and share a personal experience. I would call it “A funny thing happened on the way to this sermon” -- not funny ha-ha but funny in some poetic sense. Friday morning we had a major storm at Honey Creek. Lightning struck all around my residence and took bark off four pine trees within sixty to seventy-five feet of my front door. In addition the transformer that delivers electricity to my home was destroyed by lightning and had to be replaced.

As I was counting my blessings that my home was not flooded and that I got to keep my books, not to mention my life, I noticed that my car was still wet from the rain. I had recently washed the bugs off it, so this was a perfect time to just dry it down and make it shiny. As I wiped off the water, I admired the finish which, after a year of use had absolutely no pings or dints. I thought, “I like this car. Actually, I love this little car and I think I will keep it to at least two hundred thousand miles. This is one of the cutest cars I have ever owned – maybe even cuter than the 1964 Mustang convertible.”

Then I went back into the house and worked on this sermon and some other things. Time slipped away and at about 2:30 I realized I had not had lunch, so I got into my car – my shiny clean car with no pings or dints - and took myself out to a Barberito’s. As I sat in the restaurant munching my salad, a young man came in looking rather panic-stricken. He said, “Does anyone in here own a silver Honda – because I just backed into it.” Oh, how quickly we can lose our appetites. I said, “Yes, that’s me, and it’s nothing personal but I am calling the police so we can get an accident report. It is only just and right that your insurance company would pay for the damages.” Now that I need a new door and a new fender the car will never be the same. Elsewhere in this sermon I think I mentioned that detachment from material goods is a source of spiritual health.

Some people have been able to be so detached from material things that they take vows of poverty. Voluntary poverty does not necessarily mean we will have no material wealth at our disposal. It means that we will have a proper detachment from stuff that comes between us and God. Stuff can hold us back from mobility in the Kingdom of God.

What is it about material goods that turns us and makes us selfish? What is it that makes us into different people? How do we view money in our lives? The difference might turn on this principle: Do we see ourselves as the end recipient of God’s blessings of wealth, or do we see ourselves as conduit pipes through which God’s wealth can flow to others? If we are good managers of our material wealth, maybe God will even entrust to us more to share. If we have a detachment that knows everything belongs to God and we are only allowed to use some of it here on earth, then God will entrust to us the true riches of a deeper knowledge of God. The material goods are neutral in and of themselves. It is our attachment to them that changes our character and has within it the possibility to draw us from the love of God.

Today Victoria Logue will come before us to take her vows as a Third Order Franciscan. She will join in a long line of Franciscans who since the thirteenth century have led the way in showing us how to identify with the poverty and the suffering of Jesus Christ. The Franciscans make us aware of our own poverty before God, which causes us to identify with all those who have proper regard for God and for the true riches with which he has entrusted us. Victoria follows Blessed Francis of Assisi, who was probably the most literal follower of Jesus Christ who ever lived. As she follows in the steps of this man who was devoted to Lady Poverty, life will take some interesting twists and turns. She will discover the true wealth of God’s blessings, the richness of his grace. This in turn will enrich her family, King of Peace church, and the greater church as well. It is a right, good, and joyful thing that Victoria should takes these vows at this time.

Amen.