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As we continue to make our way through the Gospel of Luke, we've come to a parable - a story -- that Jesus supposedly told about a guy who's about to lose his job for mishandling the boss' money, so he comes up with a way to make friends with the boss' customers and to impress the boss with how clever he is.
This story has been called "The Parable of the Shrewd Manager" or "The Crooked Steward." I think it should be called "The Guy Who Covered His Assets."
The manager - the steward - in the story reduces the debts people owed to his boss so that all those people will think well of him and may help him out once he's unemployed. They will also think well of his boss which will make it hard for him to go back and demand their full payment lest he anger all his customers. The manager was said to be shrewd or clever in how he handled his dilemma.
Now even biblical scholars have been unable to agree about the exact meaning and context of Jesus' use of this particular story and the verses that follow. But the bottom-line seems to be this: if people whose hands and hearts are all invested in worldly concerns know how to be clever in handling themselves, shouldn't those who follow Jesus - who have their hearts set on something far beyond the temporary concerns of this world - shouldn't they be all the more wise in how they handle themselves and invest their resources? Followers of Jesus are to be wise investors of themselves and their resources...not just for what will benefit them today but keeping in mind the big picture and the long view. Our hands may be in this world for now...but our hearts should be in heaven.
In the verses that follow that odd little story, there are, we might say, some "investment tips" from Jesus. As we all keep a close eye on the troubled stock market today, we have to be mindful that, as our Board always reminds me, investments are for the long haul...the big picture. That's what Jesus says also. Only he's not talking about investing in stocks and bonds in order to make more money. He's talking about investing in faithfulness in order to help create God's dominion for eternity.
Jesus says that, first and foremost, we must invest ourselves and our resources, faithfully, in people. "So I tell you," He says, "make friends for yourselves through your use of this world's goods, so that when they fail you, you'll be welcomed into an eternal home." It's not about "earning" our way into heaven. Jesus already secured that ticket for us. But it is about recognizing that the only thing in this world of lasting value is people; everything else will eventually fail and end and disappear. But investments in people bring eternal returns.
Thursday morning on the Today show, there was an interesting story about a couple who own a restaurant in Florida. For many years at this restaurant there has been a tradition...now no one can even remember how it got started. But somewhere along the way when fishermen had made a good catch that day, they would write their name and the date on a dollar bill and tack it to the wall. As more and more people did this...as tourists started to do it, too...eventually all the walls and the ceiling were covered, two and three deep in places, with signed and dated dollar bills.
Now, in light of the disastrous attacks on New York and Washington D.C., the owners are going to take down all those defaced dollars, turn them in to the Federal Reserve for replacement, and donate the money to relief efforts. They estimate they will have around $10,000 to give.
Katie Couric asked the couple why they had decided to do this now. They said they had realized that all those dollars weren't serving any good purpose. It was a fun tradition but wouldn't it be better to use them to help people?
What things do we have...what resources do we carry within us...what "wealth" have we accumulated in our lives that is not serving any good purpose? Wouldn't it be better to invest what we have...whatever we may have in the bank or in our hearts...to help people?
Investing in people is what this church exists for...to reawaken people's awareness of God and to change their lives in positive ways. You may not realize how many ways we do that, but every week I discover that it's happening.
Among the many e-mails that come into the office every week, this week two in particular caught my eye. One was from a woman who said, in part, "After a few visits to M.C.C., my defense and skepticism is falling, and just this Sunday I realized that God is not treating me as a scorned lover.... There is a two-way relationship between me and the spirit that resides within me. Tears are the only words for this realization. Thank you for opening the doors and your hearts. It appears that no matter who or how I love, God is still God, and I am still God's child."
The other, from a man who worshiped with us last week for the first time, concluded, "I just want to thank you for reintroducing me to God. I have felt like a different person [since]...a more complete person. I will definitely return and worship again. Thank you for being there to guide [me] to God."
I was so proud of this church last Sunday when you all stood and applauded our decision to give away our offering for the week to help Reene Barrett, the woman from M.C.C. New York who was severely burned in the World Trade Center attack. With apparently little difficulty, this church came forward with $11,500.00 to give away. What a fabulous...and wise...investment!
But you know, the truth is that every week, when we give our tithes and offerings, we're investing in people. Yes, some of the money pays for facilities and office supplies and staff salaries, but even those things are an investment in people. Consider for example, the return on the investment of paying for just one staff member. Rev. Sue, our Director of Congregational Life, has had, in just over one year, approximately 2000 pastoral contacts with people: calls, meetings, visits, correspondence. Not to mention the people who have found healing and hope in the small groups she's responsible for organizing: 38 people through the Recovering from Homophobic Religion groups, 16 people through Bereavement groups, 20 people through Coming Out groups. Not to mention, all the members of the Prayer and Care Team and the hundreds of prayer requests they have already responded to. Like a good performing stock, an investment in one person spreads to investments in hundreds of others. Lives are changed and, in some cases, literally saved, because we choose to generously invest ourselves in people.
And I'm not only talking about generously investing our money. Jesus taught us that, in essence, every "penny" matters. Faithfulness in "the little things" is crucial. He said that if we can't be faithful in small things, how can we ever be faithful with greater things?
It's been so interesting to see, on the news, all the wonderful things that people are doing for each other now that we feel threatened. School children are writing letters to children of differing faiths to offer support and encouragement. People are working together in communities around the nation for a common goal. Members of Congress are talking and working and singing together. (Singing poorly, but nevertheless singing!) New Yorkers are being polite to each other! It's like we've entered The Twilight Zone!
But the question still looms: why does it have to take an attack...a threat...a war to motivate us to behave the way God wants us to behave toward one another ALL THE TIME??? Can we only be "good" if someone else is being "bad"?
Of course, people did good things for others before Sept. 11th. But now we have the opportunity to learn the importance of being faithful in the small things...because the small things really do matter. Under "normal" circumstances, they may not matter to the world, but they always matter to God. And it is to God that our first and foremost allegiance must be. Jesus said that we "cannot serve two masters." In other words, only one thing can be #1. The #1 thing in our lives...our focus, our motivation, our passion...should be God and God's will for the world and for our lives.
One news reporter said the other day that this whole situation we're in as a nation has produced a lot of soul searching for people. She said, "It seems to have brought on a collective 'midlife crisis' - stirring dissatisfactions and awakening dormant dreams." This morning, I want each of us to consider: what dissatisfactions have been stirred in our lives? Have we put some delicious possibilities on the back burner in order to keep stirring a pot of unappetizing mush over low heat? What can we change in our lives that will bring the right things to the front burner? How can we turn up the heat in our lives so that we'll be more motivated to respond to God?
And the other question is: what dormant dreams have been awakened in you in the last 12 days? Is there a dream of God within you that has been pushed aside or left idle for too long? In her testimony this morning, Susie reminded us that there are many ways we can give of ourselves to the world: spiritually, emotionally, physically, financially. What dream...what ability...what interest...what possibility has God put inside your heart and soul that you have not pursued or used? Perhaps now is the time.
As we face what our President has made clear is going to be a difficult and long-fought war, many, many questions and doubts loom in all of our minds. But I also believe that Jesus makes it clear: now, more than ever, we must make the most of all that we have to invest in God's purposes - to invest in people, in large and small ways, faithfully and fully. Time is short and precious.
Instead of passively waiting for occasional opportunities to do good and to make good use of our lives, we should be proactively seeking ways to use all of our resources for the good of God's dominion. As followers of Jesus Christ, we should be knocking on opportunity's door...every chance we get. Amen.
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