"Ready, Set."

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
November 28th 2010
First Sunday of Advent
Libby Feagans-King
Matthew 24:36-44
“Ready, Set.”

Everything that a runner trains for comes together when they step into the starting blocks, waiting for “ready, set” and the sound of the starter’s gun. John Bingham, a marathon runner, speaker and writer, said “The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.” It takes courage to begin a race because you do not know what life will throw at you during the race. For the runner, it could be a leg cramp, bad weather, faulty equipment or even a loss of focus that can impede or even stop their performance. All important is the strategy that a runner is going to use to get a good start. Sprinters often practice just coming out of the starting blocks. Marathon runners try to be at a certain place in the pack before the start – some like to start in front to set the pace and some prefer to be further back to save some energy and thread their way through as the pack thins out. The common denominator is all runners snap to focus when they hear the “ready, set” for they know the starting gun will sound seconds after these two commands.
But what if the starting gun didn’t sound? What if you were in a race, but you were not given a clue as to when the race would start? The rules would state that a runner must be at the starting line, ready to run, but there was no promise that the race would start that minute, that hour or even that day? How could you prepare for such a race? How would a coach’s strategy need to change in view of this type of race?
One strategy may be to hire people to watch the starter for signs of the start. Like, is he reaching for the starting gun, does the starter’s arm look tired or does the starter’s finger start to twitch? I know, it sounds funny, but this is what coaches from other sports do. They attempt to read or decipher each other signs. That’s why in football and basketball when the cameras pan to the coaches, they often have their scorecards up in front of their mouths – so their opponents cannot see what plays they are calling. Yes, there are lip readers out there, trying to gain an edge for their teams, trying to see each other’s signs. So perhaps our race starter is being watched to see if they will indicate when the race will start, maybe by whispering “let’s wait until the wind dies down a little” to the person next to them. Perhaps the watcher is looking for nods from the other race officials. Let’s not forget that the watcher then must have a sign to send to the runner if they see any clue that will give the runner an advantage.
If we can’t get any inside information on the start of the race, what is our next strategy? Let’s break it down in time increments. Minutes - For anyone who has ever been in starting blocks for a race, you know that maintaining that position for more than a couple minutes will actually hinder your performance. Your leg muscles will begin to cramp and your neck begins to get sore. The next strategy would be to find an appropriate position that the runner can maintain while remaining in a ready position. Hours – the coach must now make sure that the runner is hydrated and has a calorie intake that supports an energy level but does not hinder the runner’s performance. After a period of eight to ten hours the coach must consider how to rest their runner. This is when the coach could create a running team, so that there is always a well hydrated, energetic and well rested runner at the starting line. Days – As the days wear on, the needs of the running team expand. The coach will need to create a support team that can tend not only to the runners physical needs, but also to equipment and housing issues. One day sleeping on the ground and eating high energy foods may be plausible, but one cannot continue this way for days. The team will need a place to rest and actual meals prepared for them. Months – this is the hardest level yet. The coach needs to find a way to keep the runners mentally in the race. Although the runners are in limbo, waiting for the start of the race, life continues to go on. Other people are going to work, to school, out to eat and basically drifting away from the starting line that the runners stand at. Not only are the runners struggling with the decision of whether to continue to the race or to give up on it, their support team is battling with the same issues. Why am I here? This race will never start?
But this is absurd isn’t it? A race that waits months to start? Why am I even telling this story? My friends, this race is the Christian life. We are the runners waiting for the coming of Christ.
The starter in this race, the one without a start time, is God. The signs for the race are there – there is a starting line, there are runners and a path is marked. But God is not checking with anyone else regarding when the starting gun will sound. It would be more like a sonic boom. When I was growing up in Mattoon, we had jet planes that would break the sound barrier as they sped away creating a loud boom. You never knew when these would happen, because you couldn’t hear the jet, and it usually scared the wee jeebers out of me. Even if you did notice a jet overhead, that did not guarantee that a boom was going to happen. We have the signs that the race is going to happen, but these signs do not tell us when.
There have been many who have tried to nail down a date for the end of the world. The most recent is the Mayan date of 2012. But the signs are not given to us as a schedule. Jesus tells us that even he does not know the time. “But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, or the Son, but only God.” (Matt 24:36) The signs are given to us so that we know there is a race! It will happen. Jesus will come again.
We are not very good at identifying God’s signs. When God told Noah to build the ark – we mostly see the ark as salvation – the ark was the vehicle in which God was going to save life from the flood. Yet the ark was also a sign. As this huge ark was being built is was a sign that an end was coming to the world as the people knew it. During the first days of the building, perhaps there were people considering the purpose of this structure, perhaps they helped in the building or supplying the materials. In the coming months as the ark took shape, we know that Noah did not get much help. Noah is the runner. Noah’s family was his support team. God was Noah’s coach. When the floods came, Noah was ready and Noah finished the race. No one else did. They were so busy with life that they missed out on life. Quite a paradox isn’t it?
So let’s break down this Christian race. Minutes – God gives us signs every minute to let us know that God is in the world and salvation through Jesus Christ is ours. You become the racer when you accept Jesus Christ into your life and you ready yourself for fulfillment of God’s promise. There are no qualification trials for this race, we are all made worthy of God.
Hours – As new Christian runners, we are fed by God’s Word. Through baptism we wash away the attachments of our old life and enter a new life with God as our focus. We prepare to live in a readiness mode for the second coming.
Months/Years/Decades/Centuries – This is where the going gets difficult. But God doesn’t forsake us. God builds a support team for us. God calls us to be musicians, healers, cooks, builders, teachers and many other positions so that we may support one another. God makes for us a place where we can come to worship, to recharge. Our biggest challenge…. is life goes one. The Christian life is a constant struggle of whether we are going to be ready for Jesus, or are we going to be drawn away from the starting line by life on earth. Are we doing the things that keep ourselves and each other ready for Jesus, or do we do things to be successful in this world? Honestly, it is all very confusing. We often count our material gains as blessings from God. I’m not saying that God doesn’t want us to have houses and cars and money, but are these things blessings from God or blessings from the world we live in? The question you have to answer is this. When Jesus comes, are you ready to walk away from your house, cars and money? Are you ready to walk away from the blessing of this world? Are you ready to leave one life for a life eternal? Because it is the willing heart that is ready for the race.
Michael Johnson said “Life is often compared to a marathon, but I think it is more like being a sprinter; long stretches of hard work punctuated by brief moments in which we are given the opportunity to perform at our best." It takes hard work to be ready to perform your best. We need to be mindful of our training for the race. Mindful of which race we are training for. God’s race or the rat race of this world. When we choose God’s race over the rat race, these are the sprints that that make us strong for God. When we come together as a community for worship and service, these are the sprints that make us strong for God. When we share God’s word and welcome new runners to the race, these are the sprints that make us strong for God. My friends we are at the starting line. We need to work together to stay strong for the race.
Matthew tells us to be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour. What do you need to be ready? New shoes or the right path? Are your goals a bigger house, a better car or eternal life as a child of God’s promise? Are you a runner for the world or a runner for God? The struggle between this world and God is real. So many times we look around and realize that we have wander away from the starting line, that we are no longer ready for the race. The good news is God is gracious and invites us back into readiness.
God has fed you and clothed your for the race. May God be our coach as we prepare for this race, keeping us ready for life eternal. Get ready. Get set. Go in peace.

It Matters

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
November 14th 2010
Stewardship Dedication Sunday
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
Isaiah 12; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
“It Matters!”

“If you don’t work, you don’t eat!” That is the heart of the scripture reading. And yet it is a passage that should cause us to pause and ask what is really being said. Some who hear this passage will say: “Of course, that is what is wrong with (fill in the gap with your favorite group.)” Others will say: “Of course I would work if anyone would hire me.” And still others might say: “I cannot work anymore does that mean I will starve?” Add to this our current culture climate of personal responsibility, rugged individualism, and political polarization and this passage becomes a mine field. On top of this, I chose this passage for stewardship commitment Sunday. I have to say that choice seemed wiser months ago.
The community which heard these words was in turmoil. This turmoil was external and internal. From the outside came persecution. The outside world just could not understand these strange followers of the crucified Jesus who shared so much in their common life. And from the inside the turmoil focused around community life. Too many people misinterpreted the teaching about the coming of the kingdom of God. If Jesus was coming back soon there was little reason to get married, or to work. As a result many folks had ceased to work. The growing ranks of the idle was draining resources and straining nerves.
On top of this, those who were not working moved into the ranks of Paul calls: “Busybodies.” It appears that people in the community became busybodies or meddlers because they had little else to worry about. Instead of using their gifts to support the struggling community they found ways to focus on the minutia of other peoples’ lives. These folks were stirring up trouble while at the same time they were not contributing to the up building of the community. All of the gifts they had been given by God were focused not on edification but on sharing their “wisdom” of how everyone else should be doing their work and living their lives. I wish I was exaggerating on this point but the Greek word really means people who meddle in the affairs of others. This particularly means the meddling in others affairs of which they are not directly related.
This teaching of Paul is not simply about getting people to mind their own business or even to put everyone to work. Instead, the goal was the health of the community. The idleness which leads to meddling has a toxic effect in any community. The resentment which is bread and grows in that sort of environment is something we have all experienced at some point in our lives. And if you have not yet, you will. As a result of this understanding, Paul demands that the complainers be put to work. He does so not simply because it is good for the idlers, but because it will determine the health and even faithfulness of the community as a whole. After all, if only a few people do all they work it will not be long before people get resentful.
If we are honest with one another, this communitarian ethic is strange and can even seem dangerous in a society built on the myth of the individual. Shared responsibility as an extension of shared benefits can quickly get labeled as socialism or communism. But, if the sharing of resources, the extension of benefits based on need and not ability to produce is socialism then the early church was exactly that. But it was more than that. The scripture says, those who do not work do not eat. The scripture does not say, those who cannot work do not eat. This distinction is important. Paul expects those who are able to work and be productive and active members of the community to do so. To act in any other way, he says, is an act of selfishness and faithlessness. But, Paul also expects the community to support those who are not able to work or to fend for themselves. This vision for community is at the heart of any strong healthy community and community of faith.
While it might seem strange or even heavy handed to say things like “those who do not work do not eat,” on a stewardship commitment Sunday I think it is the perfect message. For our community to grow more deeply in faith each one of us has a hand in making it happen. Each one of us in this community has something, gift or resource, that will make a difference to the vitality of this community. I have seen amazing generosity of time and money in the most surprising ways. I know people who may not be able to get out for worship, or others who have very little financial resources beyond making sure food gets on the table, but they offer the generosity of their prayers and their service. But I have also seen resentment when others those who could give more of themselves and do not.
In our community and on this Sunday I do not stand here to twist arms or to levy guilt. Instead I want to remind each one of us that we matter. Each one of us makes this community a better place. We need your gifts not just to pay the light bill. We need the gift of your presence, your wisdom, your involvement, and your skills. Learning to live in a community with others is a hard thing. But the gifts of relationship, transformation, struggle, and growth are just as much a part of life in this community as anything else. So let us make this the year where we focus on what we do have and who we are and give from the places of our abundance. Each one of us has something we can share. It will take all of us giving of ourselves from the gifts we have been given by God to continue on our journey to live out God’s vision for this community of reconciliation. Will you join me this year? Amen! Amen.

Now is the Time

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
November 7th 2010
Communion Sunday/ All Saints Sunday
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
Luke 18:9-14
“Now is The Time”

This poor Pharisee gets a bad rap. After all, he is understands the rules of the faith community. He knows the rules and plays by them. And along comes Jesus and tells us that he had got it all wrong. I know, this particular Pharisee is not a real person. But because it is a parable of Jesus it is one of those stories which can allow us to remain at a safe distance. We see the story of contrasts and cannot image this story has anything to do with us. Or, if you do try to imagine this story actually has something for us, you might be like me where I imagine that I fall somewhere in between the two characters. Even in my personal prayers I cannot imagine thanking God that I am not as bad as some other group of people. But, I also like to think that I am not really as bad as the tax collectors and sinners. As good Presbyterians we are destined for the middle group. In other words, we are not self-righteous or sinners, at least not too much.
While none of us like to believe we have self-righteous tendencies, it is clear that Jesus believes it is a sin worth getting worked up about. And, it is something for which we are all at risk of falling prey. Yes, I really just said that we all have the tendency of getting self-righteous. It is not that we start out intending to act the part of the Pharisee. Instead, it begins in simple and small ways. It begins with our interpretations of others actions. When we see the actions, and hear the words of others we interpret them through our own limited life experiences. If you are not sure what I am talking about, let me ask: “Have you ever thought to yourself, “Why does that person treat me that way?!” Or, “Why do they act like that?!” Or, “How can she think that?!” If you recognize those questions or ever harbored those thoughts then welcome to the world of the Pharisee. And what Jesus is seeking to challenge is the distance we put between ourselves and others that leads to feelings of superiority, among other things.
What would have happened if instead of standing at a distance, the Pharisee took the time to get to know this “sinner?” What would have the Pharisee come to know about this person who understood clearly his own faults and limitations in the eyes of God? That kind of engagement is difficult. It requires we risk sharing ourselves and possibly giving up our well worn grudges and prejudices. Instead of trying to get know the person it is far easier to call into question their thoughts, actions and beliefs. And while these actions seem harmless enough to laugh about, I believe self-righteousness is an often silent sin which threatens the very unity of the body of Christ.
Acting in this way does provide some personal benefit however. It allows us to exempt ourselves from a far harder task of self examination. What seems easier, looking closely at the way we interpret the world and examining our shortcomings, or comparing ourselves to those we know do not measure up to our interpretive lens. In other words, self-righteousness is really a weapon that can disguise our own insecurities. If we can pick apart or criticize others we never have to open ourselves up. We never use those same skills of criticism upon ourselves. And, in the end, we never have to get honest with ourselves.
This way of being in the world, of self-righteous living, is not a sin unique to the church. This is no more evident than in the public arena. Gone are the days of thoughtful political discourse. Instead, we stand on our certain foundations and question the very integrity and even humanity of those who do not use the same talking points. So instead of trying to understand, really understand where others are coming from and how they came to understand the world the way they do, we simply decide they must be wrong. Or worse, we decide they cannot really be human. And while the followers of Jesus should know better, we are too often at the forefront of this behavior.
When Jesus tells this story, he may be using unreal characters, but he is showing a deeper truth. By pointing out the flaws and foolishness of others we can ignore our own foolishness. Whenever we use things like, our education, expertise, or insider knowledge to exclude or to make ourselves feel more important it is a sign that there is some deeper insecurity we wish to cover over. But when Jesus comes along and says you are welcome here, you the Pharisee, you the uneducated, you the arrogant, you the outcast, you the CEO, and you the person without a home, it is a clear indication he is not looking for uniformity. Jesus knows that self-righteousness will be what divides the body of Christ, and divided we have become. Jesus understand that in any faith community we are going to drive one another a bit crazy and step on toes and leave scratching our heads some days. But Jesus knows that grace will abound when we truly know the stories of others and open ourselves up to the simple idea that we do not really know everything. And this is hard for well educated folks.
When Jesus gathered his disciples around the table and institutes the Lord’s Supper, it was a pretty diverse group. There was a tax collector and some zealots who were sworn enemies. And yet, they were there eating together because Jesus has welcomed them. Jesus did not want to exclude the self-righteous Pharisee but to help him, and those like him, recognize their own sinfulness and the full humanity of those they considered sinful. This sort of transformation was going to take a new way of looking at the world and a new engagement with others.
So, what does this look like in more concrete ways? Well, practically it means that in our church we are going to have to seek out members that we do not know well. Or it may require that you track down the person with whom you are angry or feel they are wrong about something. And when speaking with one another let us not do so without any other agenda except to get to know each other better. Ask them about themselves, or let them teach you something you already know. In the process we will find out far more about the rich diversity in this community, and it will lead to a deeper understanding and appreciation for the many gifted people who are part of our community. And, in practical ways it will help blunt the secret self-righteous tendencies we all carry. So let it begin again at this table, on this day. May this bread and cup nourish us again to show the world it is possible for diverse folks to come together, not just for show, but because we are committed to the friends we have in this place. Amen? Amen!

Invitations are Peculiar Things

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
October 31st 2010
Libby Feagans-King
Luke 16:19-31
“Invitations are Peculiar Things”

Invitations are peculiar things. On one hand we feel slighted if we don't get an invitation; on the other hand we conveniently dispose of invitations to events that we don't want to attend. There is actually a broad spectrum of invitations, with the invitations that we deem as being meaningful and important on one and in the ones that seem to only want to solicit our money and time on the other. And in the midst of all this is a complex set of cultural rules that help us to tell the difference. I know this because I used to work in the development office of a major hospital. This is the office that plans and coordinates all the fund raising activities for the hospital. And of course one of our major activities was to invite people to help in our mission. Now there were several ways that we would do this. One way was to send a letter, an invitation of sorts, to anyone who had been associated with the hospital. These "invitations" were your basic business letter sent out explaining our mission and asking for their gift to help us continue to help others. It was enclosed in a regular business envelope, personalized by the latest mail merge program, and had the reproduced signature of the hospital CEO. And from this letter we could expect approximately a 4% return. The invitation had all of the basic elements, it had a mission, it offered a solution and it was personal. You see that's where our culture comes in because it didn't matter that this invitation had those elements, it was how the elements were presented that mattered.
Now we had another fundraiser that was the series of parties given by very influential people in the city. This invitation came professionally printed in a large gold envelope that was addressed in a very different manner. You see the people who had attended these parties in previous years, received an envelope that was hand addressed and in that envelope was a letter written to them from the co-chairs of the fundraiser, which of course were always their peers. These letters, instead of just using Mr. or Mrs., or using the first name oftentimes used a familiar name. For example, my legal name is Frances and when I receive letters that say dear Frances I know immediately that this person does not know me, for if they knew me the letter would say dear Libby. The other thing about these letters was that they were hand signed by their co-chairs. The third difference was that even though this invitation was asking the invitee to give money, in return the invitee was able to attend an elaborate party. The rate of return on these invitations was closer to 80%.
The difference between these two invitations is not in them being personal for they were both personalized, but it was the degree to which they were personalized. The first invitation had a name and address, but it had no real personal relationship to the person receiving it. The second invitation however was not only personalized in name, it was also personalized by offering the person who was receiving it something in return for participation.
By now you're probably wondering just what any of this has to do with Lazarus and the rich man in Jesus’ story. Well, this story is all about invitations and being personal. Jesus’ ministry was all about liberation of the oppressed. Jesus was eating with the sinners, healing the sick and caring for the poor. And the Pharisees just didn't understand this. If Jesus was such a great teacher, why wasn't he lecturing in the elaborate Temples and eating with the elite. For if you are righteous then God will give you great blessings. And that is how the Pharisees would judge the righteous, by how many blessings God had given them in their lives. What made Jesus even the more of a paradox to the Pharisees was that Jesus himself was denying his status in the Jewish community and was eating and ministering to those who were beneath his status. So they are yelling things at Jesus like, “look at the man who is talking about riches in heaven when he can’t even take care of his riches here” or “you better hope you will have riches in heaven because you are sure throwing them away here”. So Jesus tells a story of a rich man who was very much aware of his status in life. This rich man had many blessings. He had a big house and plenty to eat. He had beautiful clothing and many friends. This was the type of man who could stand out in town square and exclaim "look at the many blessings that the Lord has given me," and many would believe in this man’s righteousness. And down by the gate was a man named Lazarus. The contrast here is huge. The rich man had a home and food and health. Lazarus had no home. Lazarus had no food and in fact was envious of the leftovers that the dog of the rich man ate. And when people saw Lazarus they would shake their heads saying "what horrible thing must he have done to be so punished by God?"
Then comes the day when the rich man and Lazarus dies. And here is kind of interesting paradox, because now that both of these men have died, one can really tell who was righteous by what blessings they receive. It wasn't the rich man who was blessed. It was the rich man now who suffered. And when he looked up into heaven he saw Lazarus. And you know at this point the rich man still does not get it. He doesn't see Lazarus as receiving reward. He sees Lazarus as the Abraham’s servant and he asked that the Abraham send Lazarus down to him if only to give a drop of water from his finger. And Abraham corrects the rich man and says "Lazarus could not come help you even if he wanted to, for Lazarus is receiving his reward. He has suffered on earth and he will suffer no more."
This is when the rich men begins to get it. He knows that he has missed out. And he's worried about his family. You see at this moment the rich man realizes that Lazarus was his invitation. Lazarus was business envelope invitation for the rich man to participate in God’s mission. Lazarus was a personal invitation to this man because he was at this man’s front gate day in and day out. So the rich man wants to send Lazarus back to his family to warn them to change their ways. We're having kind of a Charles Dickens moment here with ghosts coming to tell people to change their ways or else. The rich man wanted Abraham to dress up the invitation and send it again. He didn't say he put Lazarus back at the front gate so that my brothers have another chance to pick up the invitation. No, the rich man wanted Abraham to send Lazarus as he was now, healed and clean and all dressed up. You see in this way his brothers would receive the personal invitation, because they knew Lazarus, plus they would also understand the benefit that this invitation was for them. The rich man knew that his brothers would accept this invitation because they will be able to see the benefits.
And Abraham said "No, they have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them." Lazarus was not the only invitation. Abraham is telling the rich man that many invitations have been sent and still there's been no response. But the rich man tells Abraham "it wasn't made it personal enough, but if you send Lazarus then they will know that this is an invitation not to be ignored." You see the rich man wanted Lazarus to be the pretty invitation. And Lazarus was to go directly to his brothers, which would make this invitation hand addressed. Let's not forget this invitation was to include a warning. "Tell my brothers that I am in a place of torment and they need to change so that they do not come here.” He knew that his brothers would listen if Lazarus, someone they knew, came back from the dead, healed and dressed up with a message from their dead brother. His brothers would see that the poor will become the rich – so there really is value in helping the poor!
But Abraham says no. Abraham tells the rich man that if his brothers won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t listen to Lazarus. Abraham will not send this invitation.
So why won’t Abraham send this invitation? Let me tell you a little more about what I learned when I worked with the fundraising department at the hospital. This fancy invitation made us a lot of money one time of the year. We could not be guaranteed that come next year the same people will once again even attend one of the parties. Because it all has to do with who was giving the party. The people who responded to this invitation weren't really giving, they were buying. They were making sure that they would get a place at a party where they could be seen and people would know how important they are. Never once did we receive a letter that said "I remember what a good time I had at that party and what a good cause the party was for so I'm sending more money.”
So what about the 4% that answered the business like invitation? These were the people who continue to send gifts to the hospital all year round. Sometimes they were small gifts, many times they were substantial gifts. During my time working in this department, there were two gifts where people left their estates to the hospital. And when we looked them up in the database to see what programs they had been involved with, it was the simple invitation that they first answered. Now you may think only 4% is not enough to be the foundation of our program, but remember this 4% grew with every new invitation that we sent out. The 4% that I'm talking about were from people who had never given before, but believed in our mission and once they started to give, they continued to give.
The rich man wanted Abraham to send Lazarus to his brothers to tell them that they are going to the wrong party. If they don’t change their ways, they are going to end up at the same party as the rich man is now at and the party that they want to be at is the one that Lazarus is at, the heavenly party. They will be good and caring if they know that it is to their advantage. But Abraham says “if they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”
This is how Jesus ends the story. Jesus actually did raise someone from the dead, in fact in Luke’s account, Jesus did it twice, once with the widow’s son and again with a young girl. The widow’s son was being carried to the burial grounds when Jesus had compassion on the widow and touched the son and the son sat up and began to speak. And remember when Jesus arrived at a young girl’s house and the parents told him, you are too late, she is dead. Jesus told them she is just sleeping and took her by the hand and her spirit returned. And yet the Pharisees ridiculed Jesus for his teachings. This brings me to the last difference between these two invitations. It is timing. The simple invitation has no time limit. You could respond to the invitation at any time. It was often the case that when a gift came in and we looked to see which letter the person had received, that letter could be over a year old. However, the fancy invitation had a definite time limit. No response ever came in late, because it would be too late to attend one of the parties. It was also very important not to send the invitations out too early – for if you did that, people would either forget or dismiss the invitation saying that’s just too far ahead to plan for.
God doesn’t send the fancy invitation because time will invariably run out. If, in the story, Lazarus had been sent to the brothers, they may have repented for awhile – but just like the Pharisees had forgotten the people that had been raised from the dead, so would the brothers have forgotten about Lazarus.
God doesn’t want us to think of heaven as the place to be or a party to be present at. God wants us to join in the mission. God wants us to live each day caring for one another. God doesn’t want us to present once a year, God was us to be in a continuing relationship. God’s invitation does not have a time limit. God’s invitation is open and waiting for us.

God Money

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
October 24th 2010
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
Luke 16:1-13
“God Money”

He probably did not begin with the intent of stealing. Being a thief was not the goal. In fact, it probably started out rather small. It might have even begun as a simple accounting mistake. But then he realized that no one was noticing. A few cents here and there led to larger and larger sums of money and the next thing you know he is committing fraud. It is not what he would have called it but that strange twinge when he looked at himself in the eye each morning was a good indication that something was wrong. In fact, his fraud was so great that word finally came back to the owner of what was happening. By that time it was too late and now he was going to lose his job and only source of income he had ever known. It is in this moment of crisis everything changed.
When Jesus says that no one can serve two masters, that no one can serve God and money, most of us do not imagine he is talking to, or about us. After all, none of us get up on a Sunday morning and think, ‘Wow, I cannot wait to get to church and bow down before money.’ We do not rise up each day thinking we belong to Mammon, or God Money. Instead, it all begins with the fact that we live in a society that is obsessed with consuming and obsessed with money. We struggle each day to survive, to make enough money to pay the bills or to save for retirement or for college or to pay the loans we have taken in our search for the “American dream” or simply to put food on the table. In the process of living in such a culture the byproduct is a way of looking at the world that begins and ends with questions about money. Then one day we wake up and realize that questions about God, theology, faith, religion have become luxuries we deal with when and if the bills get paid.
When the manager finally comes face to face with who he has become his life is a mess. It is then that he must strip off the layers of self deception and get honest about who he is and what he must do. The crisis is acknowledged when he says: ‘What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me?’ Once he faces the crisis he then does a very honest thing and names something about himself that I am sure before now he has been unwilling to acknowledge. ‘I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.’ Finally having admitted the problem and made and honest assessment of his situation the manager has a moment of clarity and realizes the only course of action. ‘I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.’ In this moment the manager comes to the realization that he cannot rely on money and will have to rely on the hospitality of others.
We live in a very different culture than the one inhabited by the manager. But we do live under some similar delusions. Until the moment when the money ran out, the manager believed that he did not need other people. We too live in a time when we believe that we do not need other people. The great myth today is that we do not need and should not care for others. If you are unable to stand on your own two feet then there is something wrong with you. It does not matter the circumstance, if you find yourself in need, our society believes you are flawed as a human being. That is why we struggle over tax policy and healthcare, social security, and other programs designed to share the burdens of everyday life. But, despite our best attempts at believing we can be totally self-sufficient, the truth is that we are designed, by God, to be in relationship with one another. We have been created to need and care for one another’s’ needs. We come into this world needing to be fed and clothed and if we live long enough the same will be true at the end of our lives. Unfortunately, until a crisis hits most of us live under the myth we can get by alone if we just try hard enough.
The manager orders that all the debtors come. It is not clear what goes through the minds of these debtors. Having heard that the manager is finally going to get what is coming to him they have no idea what they might face. Or worse, what if one of them was the one who told the owner what has been happening. So, when the debtors come to face the manager you can imagine they are dreading the encounter. Standing before the manager each is ordered to give an accounting for what they owe. It seems now the moment of truth is at hand. But, instead of dread these debtors are given release. Having their debt cancelled or cut in half is the greatest gift they could receive. And in that moment the debtor and the manager are tied together. The manager is no longer the man who takes from them but the one who helped to set them free. One at a time these people struggling under the burden of debt are set free. And, one at a time the manager moves from outsider to insider in the community.
At the end of the parable, we do not actually find out what happens. Does the owner actually fire the manager? Or did the owner cause the crisis to bring about his desired result. Did the owner, so impressed with the shrewdness of the manager decide to keep him around? The answers do not really matter. Whether the manager lost his job or kept his job he has been transformed, and so has the community. The manager is no longer seen as an agent for the absentee landlord. The manager is now part of the community. The manager has recognized his need for other people and the reality of their interconnectedness. The generosity, though birthed in selfishness, exhibited by the manager saved his life. The fabric of the community is restored and life will never be the same.
With a story that really defies most of our sense of what a religious story should convey, the praising of an unjust manager, Jesus shows that generosity is at the heart of our faith. Each year around this time, we start talking about money. We call it stewardship, but what we mean is that we have to raise money for our budget for the coming year. Sometimes we do it with great fanfare and other times we do it with a whimper. This year we are going to talk about it and indeed we need folks to be givers. But the reverse is also true. Each one of us needs to give in order to develop our generosity. When you give to the church you are not ‘helping out’ and being ‘benevolent.’ When you give and develop a spirit of generosity you are helping out yourself. You are standing up to the notion that we can stand on our own or that we do not need other people.
Let me ask a very honest question, ‘Where would you be if you did not have Westminster as part of your life?’ Think for a moment about the relationships, the friendships, yes the struggles and the joys as well. Remember the moments where you have had enlightenment and the moments where you have left scratching your head. Remember the funerals in this place, the baptisms at this font, the sharing of bread around this table, and the people you know here that you would have never have encountered outside of this place. Being generous with our resources enable this community to continue the ministry that has been meaningful to each one of us so that that others, who have not yet been here get to experience the same thing. And who knows, developing a spirit of generosity might just be the thing that gives us new life and helps us to recognize when we are bowing before money instead of God. So please begin praying now as to how you will develop that spirit of generosity for 2011. Amen? Amen!