Conversation Point

Enough is Enough

After picking up some essentials at my local grocery store, I remembered hearing a radio ad saying that Power Ball was up to $109 million. For fun I stopped at the courtesy counter on my way out to pick up a lottery ticket. While the clerk finished helping another customer, I mentioned the jackpot total to the woman standing next to me in line. Pleasantly surprised, she added a ticket to her own purchase. We laughed about splitting the total between us. By then the clerk had returned, mentioning that earlier this month a woman had won $10,000 with a ticket purchased at this store. I thought that was pretty great, even after taxes! The clerk shook her head, saying nothing less than $50,000 would be enough to make her happy. That amount would allow her to pay off everything except her house and also allow her a little money to play with.

Both interesting and surprising, isn't it, to be confronted with someone else's bottom line for happiness.

There is a certain level of anxiety underlying these moments, as if a giant tally sheet exists somewhere, listing for all time what we hope to walk away with at the end of this game called life. If we settle for too little too quickly, everybody else will out pace us and leave us trailing in the dust of their luck and good fortune. That happiness can be placed on a monetary scale of one to who knows how many thousands or millions of dollars is another bit of proof that we believe more in the power of financial influence than the God we seemingly credit as the Source of all being. Perhaps there is a reason money doesn't grow on trees after all.

The sixth chapter of Matthew's gospel places the balance of money and faith in human lives among the important issues of piety, prayer, forgiveness and fasting. Jesus addresses each subject directly, telling his listeners that piety, prayer and fasting are to be conducted privately, between themselves and God, not displayed for show to impress others. Forgiveness, exemplified with what we now call The Lord's Prayer, when extended to others is a representation of how God also forgives us. If we choose to withhold forgiveness, we are only hurting ourselves. By not forgiving others the slights and hurts perpetrated against us we seal off God's avenue of forgiveness to us.

It is at this point that Jesus draws the crowd to consider earthly possessions. "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is not sound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness. No one can serve two masters; for either they will hate the one and love the other, or they will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (Matthew 6: 19-24)." Jesus follows up with assurances on how God's divine order works, how God cares for all of creation in concrete, consistent ways: the birds are fed, the lilies are dressed, and rather well, more beautifully than
Solomon, who was rumored to be wealthy enough to have the best of everything. If God looks after the smallest of creatures and the plants growing in the fields, why wouldn't God also attend to our needs?

Jesus nails the problem. We are anxious because we believe money will solve our problems. Money is the world's loudest language: money talks. Money cushions us against impending disaster. Money protects us from the pain of loss. Money soothes what ails us. Money gives us control and power in a world that makes us feel out of control and powerless. Because money is tangible we trust it to be for us whatever we need or want it to be. But if we attempt to deceive ourselves into believing that we can love money and serve God, we are wrong. Eventually, the two paths will diverge and we will be forced to make a choice. Loving money has a way of distracting us from our true purpose in service to God like nothing else. Just like piety, prayer and fasting, faith in God isn't meant to be displayed in public ways to show off for other people. If our faith is in money, instead of God, it will show up very clearly, very quickly, in ways we cannot hide, especially if we think someone has outstripped us in accumulating what we love most.

Jesus understood uncertainty and anxiety as part of the human condition. What he does with these words is convey the full measure of what God's presence among us means. "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day (Matthew 6:33-34)." When we put serving God first our needs are attended to and we can put our priorities in order. We don't focus our attention on worry or an elusive happiness based on material wealth that can slip away as easily as a thief in the night. We look to God who shows care for all of creation in loving detail. God makes sure we have enough.

posted by Cory L. Kemp @ 6:13 PM