There is an ancient Viking
legend about a great warrior-king. When
the king came to power, he demanded that his soldiers immerse themselves in a
river to show their allegiance. Every part of you that the water touches
belongs to me, he said. The Viking
soldiers were strong, vigorous men, used to defending their families. They
dutifully submerged their bodies in the cold water of the river but they held
out their sword arms. Those alone remained dry, as they wanted to keep the
right to defend themselves and their families should the need arise.
That is what Americans do with
our wallets. We submerge ourselves in
the waters of baptism and give our lives to God, but we hold out our wallets.
You can have all of me, God, but just not my money, we say. I will pay my dues. But my money does not belong to you,
God. In fact, I just don’t want to talk
about it. I want to live my life with
prayer, service and maybe paying my dues to the church or charity and that’s
it. I don’t want to actually reflect on
what money means to me or what I am doing with it in the rest of my life. That part must remain separate. My financial life has nothing to do with God.
But really, the opposite is
true. Your relationship with money, no
matter how much you have or don’t have, is important. You cannot separate your financial life from
your prayer life. They are interrelated.
Your relationship with money effects not only yourself but the people around
you. Money is a tool for the building of the kingdom of God. It is not to be worshipped, or adored. It is a moving thing. Money is incredibly
important in the spiritual life.
When John the Baptist was asked
how people should get ready for the Messiah, he told them to give away their
stuff. There is no denying the
importance of money and belongings in Scripture. Jesus talks about money more than he talks
about prayer. But when it comes to our
faith, we don’t want to think of money as a part of it. We just want to pay our pledge and move on to
prayer.
When I preach about money, I can
see people react. It is like nothing else.
People assume what this is really about is that I want you all to give
so that the church can pay its bills but I have to talk about money because
Jesus did. I have to talk about it
because it is such an important part of your life as a Christian. And I don’t
even think many of us know what money really is.
Deep in the Amazon rain forest,
there is an indigenous tribe called the Achuar.
For thousands of years, they have lived without money. Generations grew up, worked, built homes,
raised families and maintained communities, all without any concept of
money. They lived off the land. When a couple got married, the village built
them a hut. When a hunter killed a wild boar, the whole village ate. Life was mostly focused on events of
nature. There was no concept of currency
at all.
Chumpi was 26 when missionaries
came to his village and changed everything.
Having seen other tribes devastated, they instructed the Achuar to send
one of their smartest young adults to America to learn. Chumpi was selected and he moved from the
Amazon rain forest to the United States of America where he lived with a
missionary family and went to school.
Chumpi learned that the land on
which his village sat was worth a lot of money. He learned that there were many different plants
on the land in the rain forest that had yet to be discovered. Many of them could have medicinal qualities.
His tribe was offered a large sum of money for the land. But he also learned that if his village sold
that land, the money would run through their fingers like water and it would
soon be gone. Then they would be lost.
This had already happened to other tribes. Chumpi learned that he must value money but
also say no to it and learn that there were things that were more valuable than
money. He learned that his village was
rich in relationships, rich in history, rich in land. If they were to hold onto
their riches, they must not succumb to the temptation to sell. Ironically, he had to advise his tribe to say
no to money in order to become rich.
Picture a river. The water moves at different paces depending
on the day, on how much water is in the river.
You can ride it. You can take
people places on it. It can create
energy. It is beautiful. But if you lose control of it, you can drown in it.
Jesus tells us a parable about a
manager. He is in charge of a man’s
wealth but he uses it unwisely for his own enjoyment. He “squanders it.” This is the same word used
by the prodigal son, so it probably means that he partied and ate and drank a
lot. So the master finds out and prepares to fire him. Suddenly, the manager wakes up. He realizes that he only has a few days left
as manager of the master’s wealth. So he
begins to use the money to build relationships.
He forgives debts one by one. He
is kind. He is generous. He serves and loves people he hardly knows so
that they in turn will care for him. It is selfishly motivated but it is good. He uses his treasure to build up
relationships.
All that we have is God’s. All
of it. I know it seems like we have
stuff, but we don’t. It is like trying
to cup water in your hands. Your hand
may be full of water one moment but believe me, it will slip away. You cannot hold onto any of this. The only thing that lasts is love. So take
your money and use it to love. Love your
family, provide for them. Celebrate
life. Give generously. Don’t be afraid
of not having enough or of having too much. It doesn’t matter how much you have
as much as it matters what you do with it.
Build up the kingdom of God. Harnass
the power of money to build the kingdom of God.
Love at the core of your hearts and your wallets.
Reed Dearing passed away and we
buried his ashes yesterday out here in the Bishop’s Garden. He gave his
grandchildren some money when he died.
He told them that he would. And
this is what he said to them when he told them that he would be giving it to
them.
“I want you to use this money to
celebrate. Celebrate that I am going to
the King!”
Money is a tool of love, of
celebration, of providing for the ones that you love and for the whole of
humanity. It is a moving river that can
be harnessed for great good. But the
first step is just to wake up and become aware of it. You are the steward of whatever God has given
you. What will you do with it?
