Good Morning Friends,
Usually, this time of year Lent has already started, but because Ash Wednesday and Easter are so later this year my Catholic friends on this day can celebrate the life of Pope Hilarius with a little more jocularity. In Immokalee I have worked with a preacher named Hilario and as the derivation of the name implies he too could be funny at times. Sometimes we can be too somber for our own good and too coveting of acquiring sanctity that we fail to smile on our human condition. In avoiding sin, we need to embrace the solution Jesus offers in a process of replacing vices with virtues but sometimes we need to laugh for that helps the process. You see, we all must fight for what is good because we are connected and sometimes we just need to smile at our collective human condition. That is why we must look at the person in the mirror and in some way relate to the plight of the oppressed and even face the challenge with some degree of humor. Friends, we are called to a social and relational Gospel that many would like to deny. So today we face the issue of wealth and sharing and humor. We dive into scripture to discover some golden nuggets of wisdom. And it is here in the deep waters we face the challenge of being in just relationships with everyone…even our enemies. Friends, we must become enlightened with an answer to today’s question about social justice that helps us to overcome sin in our lives and avoid regret in a polarized world. The question is this: Who Pays For People’s Greed And Lack Of Humor?
Scripture: Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days. Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you.
James 5:1-6 (NRSV)
I made great works; I built houses and planted vineyards for myself; I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house; I also had great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and of the provinces; I got singers, both men and women, and delights of the flesh, and many concubines. So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem; also my wisdom remained with me. Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them; I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and again, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 2:4-11 (NRSV)
For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward. “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched. “For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
Mark 9:41-50 (NRSV)
The greedy person stirs up strife, but whoever trusts in the Lord will be enriched.
Proverbs 28:25 (NRSV)
A cheerful heart is a good medicine, but a downcast spirit dries up the bones.
Proverbs 17:22 (NRSV)
As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.'” He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”
Mark 10:17-27 (NRSV)
Message: Three contractors were touring the White House on the same day. One was from New York, another from Missouri, and the third from Florida. At the end of the tour, the guard asked them what they did for a living. when they each replied that they were contractors, the guard said, “Hey we need one of the rear fences redone. Why don’t you guys look at it and give me your bids.” First, the Florida contractor took out his tape measure and pencil, did some measuring and said, “I figure the job will run about $900 — $400 for materials, $400 for my crew, and $100 profit for me.” Next was the Missouri contractor. He also took out his tape measure and pencil, did some quick calculations and said, “Looks like I can do this job for $700 — $300 for materials, $300 for my crew, and $100 profit for me.” Finally, the guard asks the New York contractor for his bid. Without batting an eye, the contractor says, “$2,700.” The guard, incredulous, looks at him and says, “You didn’t even measure like the other guys! How did you come up with such a high figure?” “Easy,” says the contractor from New York, “$1,000 for me, $1,000 for you, and we hire the guy from Missouri.”
Well maybe this isn’t even funny, but the laugher button and the crying button can be very close to each other. The short answer, in our polarized world, is that everyone pays the price of greed, even the greedy for they of all people fail to experience the joy of generosity. So, we need to find something that makes us all laugh so that we can find some common ground for our existence. Yesterday my friend Sister Maureen Kelleher who is an attorney for the disadvantaged told the story of going to the Vatican and at the time she was in a wheelchair and that placed her at the forefront of the action. The Pope was going up in an elevator and beckoned her to join him. For a moment she thought she might have a private moment with the Pope but then a flock of Cardinals came into the elevator and pressed he into a corner. All she could do was to laugh. Friends, greed has a way of taking the very beautiful and reducing it to a price tag and transaction. But here is the thing, greed is about our relationships too beyond money and stuff, no matter how much or little we have. It is not about quantity. It is about relationship. And it is a lonely, miserable life when one’s worth depends upon what I can do for me. Greed tends to be solitary, miserly, because there is something about greed that puts us in competition with our neighbors and ultimately in alienation from them. Greed needs a partner, but laugher can be shared. Jesus teaches a different economy where self-worth is tied not to what we earn or accumulate but what we distribute. Jesus was trying to teach that rich young ruler a new desire for generosity so that he might overcome his greed. You see, the power of a new love is the strength needed to overcome a sinful behavior. We are not simply to turn away from sin we are to laugh in its face. We need to replace the sin with a virtue. Friends, 100% of our money is a gift from God to be used to the glory of God. We are to build up the Kingdom of God by serving our neighbors in all that we do and laughing with them is a good place to begin and often that means humbling ourselves.
And So, the thing is that when we put our accumulation of stuff in the light of eternity, it does not hold up. Being the richest person in the cemetery wins no prize especially if we failed to enjoy life. Enough is enough. Having more is pointless unless we find joy. The one who dies with the most toys does not really win. The problem here is greed. Greed turns love into lust, leisure into apathy, hunger into gorging, honor into arrogance, righteous indignation into rage, and admiration into envy. If it were not for greed, we would suffer fewer of the other evils of the world and maybe laugh a bit more at ourselves.
Pray we overcome greed with generosity. Pray we do not define ourselves by what we have or can provide but in relationship with God. Pray we gain all we can, save all we can and give all we can. Pray we realize that God is enough. Pray we embrace an economy of kind abundance. Pray we understand the power of replacing vices with virtues as a way of not sinning. Pray we grasp our connectedness and the importance of healthy relationships that honor God by loving the oppressed and discovering the joy of serving. Pray we realize that gold is turned into garbage if we are not generous. Pray we realize that the Lord loves a hilarious giver.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 