WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
September 23rd 2007
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“Holy Dishonesty?”
Luke 16:1-13
Struggles within Christian communities are nothing new. One only has to look at the book of Acts to learn this truth. As the saying goes: Where two are three are gathered in Jesus name, there is bound to be conflict. The specific struggles in communities really run the gamut. And while I am not sure if the story is true, I have heard it said that a new denomination sprung up over the choice of paint for a sanctuary. But the truth is, I believe, that the most important issues facing any community of faith have to do with sex and money. If a community does not have clear boundaries and understanding of both, a community can be ripped apart. Now, I was raised with the teaching that in polite society we are not to talk about those two topics. But, since Jesus talked more about money than any other topic, we are going to be a bit impolite this morning.
When I lived Atlanta, during seminary, I watched a lot of television preachers. I, like most people, do not often remember a sermon I heard from Sunday to Sunday. But there is one I will never forget. After claiming that faithful Christians never have money problems, my interest went from casual observer to hyper-focused critic. It turns out he was using the same passage we read this morning. The preacher told them that the point of the passage is that Jesus says it is the responsibility of his followers to get rich. The pastor then said, “And don’t let anyone tell you that Jesus was poor. Jesus was not poor. If Jesus was poor we would all be hypocrites.” At this, a chorus of “Amen’s” erupted. I must admit that my voice was part of the chorus but I doubt it was for the same reason as the twenty-thousand folks who had gathered that day. I tell this story not to chastise anyone but because I believe it will help look more critically at this passage as it relates to money and faith.
The parable begins and the manager is in trouble. Profits are down and the owner knows the manager is up to no good. When the owner demands an audit the manager goes into crisis mode: “What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg?” The manager, weighing his options, decides to go to all those who owe his boss money and refinance their debt at a lower rate and lessens the principle. Once he has saved his own skin, Jesus praises his faithfulness. Through the voice of the manager he says: “And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth…”
It is at this point in the passage where interpretations can go off track. Is Jesus commending the dishonesty of this manager? If so, does Jesus expect us to be dishonest? Does Jesus want us to gain wealth dishonestly? If the passage ended here we would be left with rather unsettling questions. However, the passage continues on for a few more verses. Jesus finally lays these questions to rest when he says: “You cannot serve God and wealth.” Those words keep any interpretation which seeks to see the Gospel as a blueprint to wealth. Despite the finality of this statement, we must go back into the passage and get some clarity on the difficult and unsettling parts of the parable.
Let us be clear, the dishonest manager is not a model for discipleship. Instead, this parable is intended for the religious leadership. In the verse immediately following this passage, we learn that the religious leaders, who are lovers of money, are angered by this assault on their character. Jesus is calling them to repent and make amends for their poor managerial skills of the community of faith.
When the manager sees the end of the gravy train, he makes sure to care for himself. When he goes to cancel people’s debt he is not righting a wrong or being altruistic. His actions are strictly practical in nature. Using the cultural value of reciprocity, the manager guarantees he will not go hungry. The manager, while dishonest, is smart enough to recognize that it will be relationships and not money and possessions that will save him. Jesus tells this story to the leaders of the faith community and its leadership who have yet to figure this out. They are so busy accumulating and protecting their wealth that they are unable to see how they have fallen into idolatry.
While calling what they are doing idolatry may seem like a stretch it is accurate. In the English translation we hear words about serving God and serving money. But in the Greek the word for money is Mammon, a name for a god. It is meant to emphasis that money has the power to take on the life of a god. So, Jesus warns the about the power and challenge of possessions and money. Simply put, Jesus says, how Christians use their money and possessions is not only an issue of economics but of faithful discipleship, service, and even worship.
This is the sort of passage which should hit us close to home. If we walk away and do not ask: What does this mean for us? We have ignored the one issue which Jesus deals with more than any other. Since we have talked recently about the role of possessions in our personal lives and the need to evaluate what may be standing in the way of our faithfulness, I will not do that again this morning. However, before we have a collective sigh of relief, I do plan on talking about the eight-hundred pound elephant in the room; the endowment. I do not plan to talk about it from the perspective of an economist, for I am not. Nor, do I believe I have the final or most authoritative statement, however I do believe I have something of value to offer.
Unless you are visiting with us for the very first time, you know that Westminster has an endowment which enables us to do ministry that a congregation of our size could not do. And, unless you are visiting with us for the first time, you may also know that we have struggled with how to use it in our corporate life together. The opinions range from those who believe we should not have an endowment and spend everything we have on the one hand and on the other hand to those who believe we should use little if any of the money at all. While this may be an over generalization it provides a good spectrum for our discussion. It is true, so that everyone is clear, we are spending the principle. This basically means that, if nothing changes, at some point in the future we will spend all the money. However, we should cease to allow it to act as a sword of Damocles. In other words spending down the endowment should not be the guiding principle in our life together.
Over the years, some members of Westminster have wrestled with what and how to use the endowment. But the truth is that as a community of faith, we will only be good stewards of this money if more people learn and ask questions regarding the endowment. We need to be asking the hard questions like: What does it mean for the followers of Jesus, who said you can’t serve money and God, to have an endowment? Do not hear me wrong, I believe we can be faithful and have an endowment. And, because we do have this money we must be good stewards. However, if the main goal of the endowment is our own personal survival, we are not being faithful. We must seek to use and to save this money so that we can do the ministry to which God is calling us.
I must make two confessions: The first is that I disagree with the belief that Westminster cannot survive without the endowment. This belief, whether intended or not, places money as the source of our community instead of God. Money is not what gives us life. In fact, if God wants us to die there is not enough money in the world to keep us open. However, I also disagree, just as strongly, with the belief that we should not have an endowment or that we should spend it down. While God can do amazing things, and make a way where there is no way, we have been given this gift to be good stewards. If we use it without considering the costs we are, intended or not, putting God to the test.
So what is the way forward? On this I do not have a hard and fast rule or even claim to have an answer. What we know is that over the years those who have gone before us gave this money because they had come to know the presence of God in their lives in this place and they wanted others to be able to do the same. If we keep this in mind our conversations and thoughts about money should take a different tone. As we are faced with questions and challenges regarding money let us seek to start by asking the question: How is God calling our community of faith to serve? Only then will we be able to faithfully ask: What resources do we have in order to accomplish God’s mission in this place. Because Jesus preached about the difficulty of money and faithfulness we cannot be careless nor can we hoard our possessions. So, the way forward may not be clear but, I pray that our decisions will be guided by a desire to be faithful to the ways of Jesus Christ and not survival. Amen? Amen.
September 23rd 2007
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“Holy Dishonesty?”
Luke 16:1-13
Struggles within Christian communities are nothing new. One only has to look at the book of Acts to learn this truth. As the saying goes: Where two are three are gathered in Jesus name, there is bound to be conflict. The specific struggles in communities really run the gamut. And while I am not sure if the story is true, I have heard it said that a new denomination sprung up over the choice of paint for a sanctuary. But the truth is, I believe, that the most important issues facing any community of faith have to do with sex and money. If a community does not have clear boundaries and understanding of both, a community can be ripped apart. Now, I was raised with the teaching that in polite society we are not to talk about those two topics. But, since Jesus talked more about money than any other topic, we are going to be a bit impolite this morning.
When I lived Atlanta, during seminary, I watched a lot of television preachers. I, like most people, do not often remember a sermon I heard from Sunday to Sunday. But there is one I will never forget. After claiming that faithful Christians never have money problems, my interest went from casual observer to hyper-focused critic. It turns out he was using the same passage we read this morning. The preacher told them that the point of the passage is that Jesus says it is the responsibility of his followers to get rich. The pastor then said, “And don’t let anyone tell you that Jesus was poor. Jesus was not poor. If Jesus was poor we would all be hypocrites.” At this, a chorus of “Amen’s” erupted. I must admit that my voice was part of the chorus but I doubt it was for the same reason as the twenty-thousand folks who had gathered that day. I tell this story not to chastise anyone but because I believe it will help look more critically at this passage as it relates to money and faith.
The parable begins and the manager is in trouble. Profits are down and the owner knows the manager is up to no good. When the owner demands an audit the manager goes into crisis mode: “What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg?” The manager, weighing his options, decides to go to all those who owe his boss money and refinance their debt at a lower rate and lessens the principle. Once he has saved his own skin, Jesus praises his faithfulness. Through the voice of the manager he says: “And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth…”
It is at this point in the passage where interpretations can go off track. Is Jesus commending the dishonesty of this manager? If so, does Jesus expect us to be dishonest? Does Jesus want us to gain wealth dishonestly? If the passage ended here we would be left with rather unsettling questions. However, the passage continues on for a few more verses. Jesus finally lays these questions to rest when he says: “You cannot serve God and wealth.” Those words keep any interpretation which seeks to see the Gospel as a blueprint to wealth. Despite the finality of this statement, we must go back into the passage and get some clarity on the difficult and unsettling parts of the parable.
Let us be clear, the dishonest manager is not a model for discipleship. Instead, this parable is intended for the religious leadership. In the verse immediately following this passage, we learn that the religious leaders, who are lovers of money, are angered by this assault on their character. Jesus is calling them to repent and make amends for their poor managerial skills of the community of faith.
When the manager sees the end of the gravy train, he makes sure to care for himself. When he goes to cancel people’s debt he is not righting a wrong or being altruistic. His actions are strictly practical in nature. Using the cultural value of reciprocity, the manager guarantees he will not go hungry. The manager, while dishonest, is smart enough to recognize that it will be relationships and not money and possessions that will save him. Jesus tells this story to the leaders of the faith community and its leadership who have yet to figure this out. They are so busy accumulating and protecting their wealth that they are unable to see how they have fallen into idolatry.
While calling what they are doing idolatry may seem like a stretch it is accurate. In the English translation we hear words about serving God and serving money. But in the Greek the word for money is Mammon, a name for a god. It is meant to emphasis that money has the power to take on the life of a god. So, Jesus warns the about the power and challenge of possessions and money. Simply put, Jesus says, how Christians use their money and possessions is not only an issue of economics but of faithful discipleship, service, and even worship.
This is the sort of passage which should hit us close to home. If we walk away and do not ask: What does this mean for us? We have ignored the one issue which Jesus deals with more than any other. Since we have talked recently about the role of possessions in our personal lives and the need to evaluate what may be standing in the way of our faithfulness, I will not do that again this morning. However, before we have a collective sigh of relief, I do plan on talking about the eight-hundred pound elephant in the room; the endowment. I do not plan to talk about it from the perspective of an economist, for I am not. Nor, do I believe I have the final or most authoritative statement, however I do believe I have something of value to offer.
Unless you are visiting with us for the very first time, you know that Westminster has an endowment which enables us to do ministry that a congregation of our size could not do. And, unless you are visiting with us for the first time, you may also know that we have struggled with how to use it in our corporate life together. The opinions range from those who believe we should not have an endowment and spend everything we have on the one hand and on the other hand to those who believe we should use little if any of the money at all. While this may be an over generalization it provides a good spectrum for our discussion. It is true, so that everyone is clear, we are spending the principle. This basically means that, if nothing changes, at some point in the future we will spend all the money. However, we should cease to allow it to act as a sword of Damocles. In other words spending down the endowment should not be the guiding principle in our life together.
Over the years, some members of Westminster have wrestled with what and how to use the endowment. But the truth is that as a community of faith, we will only be good stewards of this money if more people learn and ask questions regarding the endowment. We need to be asking the hard questions like: What does it mean for the followers of Jesus, who said you can’t serve money and God, to have an endowment? Do not hear me wrong, I believe we can be faithful and have an endowment. And, because we do have this money we must be good stewards. However, if the main goal of the endowment is our own personal survival, we are not being faithful. We must seek to use and to save this money so that we can do the ministry to which God is calling us.
I must make two confessions: The first is that I disagree with the belief that Westminster cannot survive without the endowment. This belief, whether intended or not, places money as the source of our community instead of God. Money is not what gives us life. In fact, if God wants us to die there is not enough money in the world to keep us open. However, I also disagree, just as strongly, with the belief that we should not have an endowment or that we should spend it down. While God can do amazing things, and make a way where there is no way, we have been given this gift to be good stewards. If we use it without considering the costs we are, intended or not, putting God to the test.
So what is the way forward? On this I do not have a hard and fast rule or even claim to have an answer. What we know is that over the years those who have gone before us gave this money because they had come to know the presence of God in their lives in this place and they wanted others to be able to do the same. If we keep this in mind our conversations and thoughts about money should take a different tone. As we are faced with questions and challenges regarding money let us seek to start by asking the question: How is God calling our community of faith to serve? Only then will we be able to faithfully ask: What resources do we have in order to accomplish God’s mission in this place. Because Jesus preached about the difficulty of money and faithfulness we cannot be careless nor can we hoard our possessions. So, the way forward may not be clear but, I pray that our decisions will be guided by a desire to be faithful to the ways of Jesus Christ and not survival. Amen? Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment