FEBRUARY 27, 2011

Sermon by Pastor MaAn

Attachment to Our Possessions

_______________________________

This morning, I will begin our reflection by asking you to go home ... in your mind’s eye only, of course. Imagine you are there now, standing on the sidewalk in front of the place where you live. Face the main entrance to your house. Slowly look around, taking mental note of the things you own that are already visible to you from where you stand.

Now, move toward your house, again making mental notes of all that you possess along the way. Go through each room ... up to the attic or down to the basement ... all the while making an accounting of all the possessions/treasures you have in the house ... the ones you see in the open and those you know are in closets, safes, and other secret hiding places.

Then let your mind go behind the house ... what other possessions do you have there? How about a mental visit to the bank ... or to your financial adviser ... or to your 2^nd, 3^rd, or 4^th property in another state or at the beach or in another country ... or anywhere else where you own something of significant monetary value ...

Now, let’s bring ourselves back to church... After that mental survey, what conclusions can you make about the amount of stuff you own?

Now, listen again to what Jesus said:

Jesus said: ¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6,TNIV)

What do you make of that statement? Was Jesus against wealth and the possessions that wealth can buy?

Vern pointed out in past reflections as Lay Speaker and Chair of the Finance Team that Jesus was not against money and possessions per se. He did not ask all his supporters to abandon their possessions and follow him. In fact, the witness of the different versions of the one Gospel shows that he enjoyed the company of people with possessions. Some of his followers had homes big enough for him and the twelve disciples to meet, lodge and eat.

So, what was Jesus’ statement about? It was, and still is, a warning not to let wealth and concerns for possessions shift our focus away from God. It was, and still is, a warning against putting our trust and our security in material possessions.

I do not know about you, but I must confess that I do get attached to my possessions. And that is where the danger lie for most of us. As a people, our attachment to stuff is landing many of us in deep trouble. Consider these statistics:

The average American household with at least one credit card has nearly $10,700 in credit-card debt, according to CardWeb.com. (http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/money101/lesson9)

Personal bankruptcy filings in 2010 reached their highest levels in five years and will continue to rise in the new year, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute. Consumer bankruptcies reached roughly 1.53 million for the 2010 calendar year ended Dec. 31, numbers compiled by National Bankruptcy Research Center for ABI concluded. The figure represents a 9% increase from 2009, when approximately 1.41 million consumer filings were recorded. (www.mybanktracker.com)

And that is what Jesus is warning us about: Inordinate attachment to possessions or treasures can lead to idolatry and to enslavement.

Jesus said, ²⁴ “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matthew 6, TNIV).

British man of letters Gilbert Keith (G. K.) Chesterton (1874- 1938) is believed to have said: "Show me a person’s checkbook and I will show you what he really believes." A contemporary version of this saying comes from a psychologist who was being interviewed on one of the news shows a few years back. He is reported to have said: "Show me a person's checkbook and credit card statement and I will tell you all about them without ever meeting them."

In other words, one can tell what people really care about by how and where they spend their money. What we do with money reflects who we are and whose we are.As Jesus said:

“²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6, TNIV)

One commentator called my attention to the fact that there is a difference between “for where your heart is, there will your treasure be also” and “for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Jesus said the second not the first. We can get possessed by the things we possess. Instead of being at our service, we serve them.

Money and the possessions it buys have a stranglehold on many of us. Again, it is not because they are bad in and of themselves, but because we allow their power to seduce us. Saint Paul said to Timothy and he still says to us now:

“¹⁰ ... the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. (1 Tim 6, TNIV)

As Christians we profess to believe that all that we own ultimately belongs to God. We are caretakers and stewards of our possessions for a time. When we die, we will not take any of our possessions with us. We will leave all of it behind.

So in the meantime, let us be faithful and responsible stewards of the material possessions God has entrusted to our care. Jesus did not say that we cannot use wealth for good purposes. Wealth can help us achieve many worthwhile goals. Used wisely, wealth and possessions can support and promote life. But Jesus tells us we can’t buy our way into the kingdom of God with wealth. He condemned uses of wealth that divide society between rich and poor, or otherwise exclude or oppress some of God’s children.

As a congregation, we also have stewardship responsibilities like we do as individuals. With the resources God has entrusted to our care as a community of faith, we are to reach out in love to neighbors, especially those who are presently having difficulty making ends meet through no fault of their own. We are to be generous with our resources as God has been generous with us. For it is in the generous sharing of what we have that we will store up treasures for eternity. Clinging to our possessions will do us more harm than good.

In her book 9 Steps to Financial Freedom, self-styled financial guru Suze Orman writes of a visit to Mexico. A merchant was selling parrots; they weren't in cages and didn't fly away. Orman was fascinated, "Do these birds just love you so much they have no desire to fly away?"

"No," he said, "I train them to think their perches mean safety and security. When they come to think this, they naturally wrap their claws tightly around the perch and don't want to release it. They keep themselves confined, as if they've forgotten how to fly."

“Was this hard to do? she asked. "With little birds it's very hard, sometimes impossible; it's easy with the large birds."

In her book, Orman writes, “Suddenly a light bulb went off in my head. We are just like those poor parrots. We have been taught to clutch our money (and if I may add our possessions) as tightly as we can, as if our money is the perch of our safety and security. Like the parrots, we have all forgotten how free we really are—with or without the perch. The more afraid we are, the tighter we hold on, and the more we have trapped ourselves.” When she realized this, she asked the parrot man how he would go about un-teaching this behavior.

"Easy," he said, "You show them how to release their grip; then they can fly as free as they want."

Long before Orman’s enlightenment, John Wesley taught his followers to “earn all you can; save all you can; and give all you can.” He also practiced this dictum himself.

Wesley knew what being dirt poor was like as a child. Later as a young theologian he became known throughout Britain as a preacher and prolific writer. His income increased considerably to about 1,400 pounds per year, equivalent to more than $160,000 today. Still, he chose to live simply but comfortably on just 30 pounds while giving the rest away. In fact, he donated nearly all of the 30,000 pounds he earned in his lifetime.

Wesley used his possessions to serve his purposes. Not the other way around. He once wrote, "If I leave behind me ten pounds, you and all mankind [can] bear witness against me, that I have lived and died a thief and a robber." When he died in 1791, the only money mentioned in his will was the miscellaneous coins to be found in his pockets and dresser drawers. He did not amass possessions on earth but we can be certain that when he finally met his Creator, he was greeted with the words: “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’”

Jesus said, “¹⁹ Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also... ²⁴ “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matthew 6, TNIV)

Questions for reflection:

What kind of welcome do you hope to receive when your time to meet your Maker comes? How do your possessions help or hinder you from making your hope a reality?