What money can buy you
Luke 19: 46-48
There are several men in the locker room of a private club after
exercising. Suddenly a cell phone on one of the benches rings. A man picks it
up and the following conversation ensues:
"Hello?"
"Honey, It's me."
"Sugar!"
"Are you at the club?"
"Yes."
"Great! I'm at the mall 2 blocks from where you are. I saw a beautiful
mink
coat. It is absolutely gorgeous!! Can I buy it?"
"What's the price?"
"Only $1,500."
"Well, okay, go ahead and get it, if you like it that much."
"Ahhh, and I also stopped by the Mercedes dealership and saw the 2001
models. I saw one I really liked. I spoke with the salesman and he gave me
a really good price ... and since we need to exchange the BMW that we
bought last year..."
"What price did he quote you?"
"Only $60,000!"
"Okay, but for that price I want it with all the options."
"Great! Before we hang up, something else..."
"What?"
"It might seem like a lot, but I was reconciling your bank account
and...well, I stopped by to see the real estate agent this morning and I
saw the house we had looked at last year. It's on sale!! Remember? The one
with a pool, English garden, acre of park area, beach front property..."
"How much are they asking?"
"Only $450,000... a magnificent price, and I see that we have that much in
the bank to cover..."
"Well, then go ahead and buy it, but just bid $420,000. okay?"
"Okay, sweetie. Thanks! I'll see you later!! I love you!!!"
"Bye. I do too."
The man hangs up, closes the phone's flap and raises his hand while holding
the phone and asks to all those present, "Does anyone know whose phone
this
is?
There
are few things that get us more interested, or worked up than money. In a way, the way we use our money can be
the measure of us as we are as people and as Christians. Bad use of money made Jesus turn over the
tables in the temple. Here was someone,
who was the very incarnation of love, acting with violence towards real people
in his father's house. Why did he do
it? Jesus was furious because the money
changers in the temple were ripping people off in order to make profits of
between £8000 and £9000 a year. Again,
the people who sold animals for sacrifice were hiking up the prices inside the
temple almost 15 times what they were outside-but the animals inside had the
approval of the priests. It was a
deliberate victimisation of the poor in the name of religious purity. What we do with our money can mean so much.
Over
the years, a lot of Christians have invested in John Wesley's maxim, "Earn
all you can, save all you can, in order to give all you can!" Money has just been about charity,
full-stop. But I think this simplifies
the issue. God doesn't just call us to
be frugal-we can enjoy the fruits of our labour, and when appropriate, all the
riches that life has to offer. In fact
one of the reasons we face declining church attendance is perhaps because
Christians have not known how to enjoy themselves. If we are strangers to pleasure, then it's no wonder that people
opt for more exciting alternatives. We
should be known as people of generosity and grace-not cutting corners, being
extravagant in hospitality, paying those on committees their fair expenses etc.
Neither
is there any mandate to in the Bible for people torturing themselves over the
size of their income or savings. There
will always be disparities of wealth; it is how that wealth is used that
demands explanation. Because more than
anything else it is how our wealth is used that reveals where our hearts
lie. That is why one of the primary
marks of discipleship in the Iona Community, for example, is economic
accountability to one another. It’s
along the principle of, “Show me your bank statement and I’ll show you what you
really believe!”
We
live in a society which values people in economic terms, and there are huge
differences in people's wealth and income.
In the UK, 83 % of the nation's wealth is owned by 25% of the
population, and well over a half is controlled by just 5 %. 28 % is in the hands of just 1 % of the
people-the beautiful, the famous and the successful. Most of us don't fall into this bracket, but we are bombarded by
advertising which feeds on our desire to be there -possessions and money, we
are promised, will give us meaning and relevance. It is succumbing to this false dream which leads us away from
God, which feeds us the lie that money, for all its opportunities, leads to
life. But as the poem puts it, the
Money
can buy medicine but it cannot buy health,
It
can buy a house but not at home,
It
can buy companionship but not friendship,
It
can buy entertainment but not happiness,
It
can buy food but not an appetite,
It
can buy a bed but it cannot buy sleep,
It
can buy a crucifix but not a saviour,
it
can buy a good life but not eternal life.
Consumerism
dominates our lives-the marriage guidance agency Relate reports that couples
argue most about money. It is a
fundamental issue which as a church we're not good at talking about. Perhaps, because we don’t have much time
today to talk about it, we can bring the issues down to two questions:
Are
we servants to our money, or is our money as servant for us?
Who
is in control? Do we control our
budget, do we spend less than we earn?
Does our lifestyle dictate our income or our income dictate our
lifestyle? An extreme example of this
is whether it is responsible for us to take out mortgages up to the hilt, so
that we have to join in the culture of work, work, work just in order to
maintain our homes. And we are also
encouraged to live in debt in other ways.
There are over 80 million credit, Debit and switch cards in the UK. By the end of 1998 in the UK £14 billion of
personal debt was owed to credit companies.
Are we servants to our money, or is money a servant for us?
And
the second question for us as Christians might be:
Do
we use our money to be part of the solution, or part of the problem?
The
world is full of inequality and poverty, and yet the combined consumer power of
Christians in this country could be something which creates real change. We can deliberately pay more for some things
in order to improve the lives of others- buying fair trade coffee and other
goods is not the case of us being charitable, it's just making sure that people
get the fair price for what they produce.
But it is one way in which we can be part of the solution, in the way we
invest our money. How many of us lend
money to institutions which then use our cash for all kinds of purposes which
if we knew about would make our hair stand on end? There is an alternative.
There are all kinds of funds available based on ethical standards. And I have to say, most of these perform very
well. There are opportunities to invest
our money in ways that will ensure the world has a future, and we're not just
about using its resources until they run out.
We all live in a system which is dominated by money, and we have to live with the reality of some of the things that means. But how in our own budgets and in our own choices about what lies in our wallets can we be those who promote Justice, who reject the religion of consumerism, and who invest for the future of the whole world-rich and poor? These are the questions which drove Jesus to turn the tables on the Temple tax collectors. If we can have the courage to have a good look at our money, then perhaps we can let him turn the tables on us as well.