Two Masters?

A Sermon delivered to All Saints Anglican Church on September 23, 2007 and based on Luke 16:1-13

It seems that last week, God received a batch of mail from a group of school kids. One writes:

Dear God,

If you give me a Genie Lamp like Aladdin, I will give you anything you want except my money or my chess set.
Raphael

Well, it seems that our young Raphael might have mentored under the Unrighteous Steward in today’s reading! He seems a bit confused about who is serving whom. He seems to think that God is similar to a Genie that one calls up out of a magic lamp; one that grants you three wishes. And, of course, the owner of the lamp retains control over the nature of the wishes or grants. It’s a bargain with certain understood rules governing the bargain.

Sounds pretty much like the way that many people approach God today doesn’t it?

Here’s another example from the American Anglican Council weekly update:
“Congregants at Pro-Cathedral of St. Clement's Episcopal Church, one of the city's oldest places of worship with hundreds of members and more than a dozen ministries, is leaving the Episcopal Church to carry on with doctrines members said no longer fit those of its former denomination.
The church recorded a 460-41 vote from its congregation on Sunday to dissolve its relationship with Episcopal Church USA and remain part of the Anglican Communion Network.
Late Friday, St. Clement's reached an agreement with Bishop Jeffrey Steenson of the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande that will allow the local church to hang on to its property for $2 million.
Who would you say is serving Whom? …
In other news, this past week, I attended a conference in Charleston, with Dr. John Perkins, author of the seminal book “Let Justice Roll Down”. It was sponsored by the City Impact Roundtable, a group of ministers that meets regularly to prayer for the Transformation of the Charleston Area and to support one another in the ministry.

In one of the first sessions, Dr. Perkins was commenting about the various problems in the inner city: drugs, violence, teen pregnancy, etc. He made the striking statement that “Our biggest problem is Materialism”, going on to clarify that this is actually a species of Me-ism or Narcissism. “Ours,” he said, “Is the first generation that has put material things if front of life itself”.

When we see young men decked out with gangsta rap clothes – hats turned sideways, sunglasses big shirts, bling-bling, pants down to the ankle over shoes that cost $200, we’re seeing the signs of a generation that has nothing else besides material things in which to find meaning. And as Jesus says in Luke 16:13, “You cannot serve God and Mammon”.

This sentiment is echoed in numerous other Biblical passages:



Philippians 3:18,19:
18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.
Romans 8:5:
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
Romans 16:18:
18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
Colossians 3:2
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
As Christians, we are to be people who have our sights set higher than the stuff of the world. When somebody asks us “Who’s your Daddy?!” we ought not to answer Snoop Dog, Michael Jordan, or Ralph Lauren. It ought to be clear to us that God is our maker and not we ourselves (Ps. 100.) We are those who have named Jesus Christ as Lord (Kurios) of our lives and therefore we have a different sense of accountability than the worldlings around us.
Our accountability is based on an expectation of a Heavenly reward or consequence for everything we do here on earth. We understand that we are a Pilgrim people whose citizenship is not here, but in Heaven (Heb. 11:16) and that our highest priority is to worship God and seek to become like Christ Jesus. Because of this we are to walk by faith and not by sight – we trust in God as our Provider, not in money or Mammon. So here are some guidelines to determine which we in fact follow:

Faith
Faithful usage of money
Little is the same as much
Able to ‘detach’ from things
Ability to empty oneself for others
Kingdom guides spending priorities
Giving is sign of God’s LordshipDiscernment in giving

Sight
Seeking unjust gain
More is better
Money and things make us feel secure
Using others to get more
Status guides our consuming
Giving as “marketing” our goodness
Attempts at leveling to stop injustice

This last area gets us into heavy going, because it is possible to attempt to fulfill Kingdom priorities in the flesh. We can sincerely try to serve God by alleviating human suffering, but end up in the clutches of the slippery god Mammon nonetheless. This is all too apparent in looking at charitable giving and in the government’s attempts to create a Great Society.
Our basic problem is that we are a fallen race. We have a sin nature and we have an inborn propensity to turn away from the True Master of the Universe and to put our Selves on the throne of our lives. We are inherently prone to doing the wrong things for the wrong reasons – and even in doing the right things with the wrong motive. This is part of the human condition. It cannot be improved or eradicated. Any program of human improvement must take into account this sin nature and the sometimes paradoxical effects that result from attempting to “Do Good”.
In his book, Compassion, Justice and the Christian Life, Robert, Lupton, PH.D., rethinks 35 years of ministry to the poor and concludes that much if not most Christian attempts to minister to the poor actually fail because they inadvertently put the donor or giver of resources in Control over the receiver, demeaning the recipient and condemning them to the permanent, prideless role of receipient. (pg. 22).
In the process, says Lupton, the sin nature rears its ugly head and Mammon receives his due. You may have seen in the news that the Cridlin Food pantry ran low on funds and that a young man had the idea to have a pancake breakfast at First Presbyterian to raise money. Cindy and I went and were talking with a woman at the table about how the service works through the Information and Referral service located at the Cabell County Library. Like virtually all other free clothing and food pantries, Cridlin must impose rules to prevent their clients from greedily grabbing up every loose item, leaving nothing for others in need. There is a limit to how much you may receive and how often.
It’s great to offer relief to people who are in desperate throes, but there is a paradoxical effect at work here. Programs that seek to lift people from poverty unwittingly create dependency and destroy family structures, resulting in a permanent, bitter underclass. Noble attempts to alleviate suffering end up leaving both the giver and the receiver with a sour feeling in the gut. “A subtle, unintentional message slips through: “You have nothing of worth that I desire in return.” Lupton painfully observes, ”Perhaps the deepest poverty of all is to have nothing of value to offer in exchange.”

We’ve all the heard the aphorism, “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish, and he will sit in the boat and drink beer all day.”—OldFox
But seriously… “Ancient Hebrew wisdom”, reports Lupton, “describes four levels of charity. The highest is to provide a job for one in need without his knowledge that you provided it. The next, lower level is to provide work that the needy one knows you provided. The third level is to give an anonymous gift to meet an immediate need. The lowest level of charity, to be avoided if at all possible, is to give a poor person a gift with his full knowledge that you are the donor.” (pg. 26 in CJCL).
Do not most of our attempts at Christian Charity fall into the latter category?
Yesterday, around noon, Cindy excitedly informed me that there was a yard sale/ hotdog sale being held at the projects near my home. The residents had banded together to raise money for some upcoming activities they wanted to do for their children. In good resourceful fashion, they had taken it upon themselves to work and make some money the old fashioned way. In sixteen years of living in my neighborhood, I had never seen anything like this. So I went with my young friend Eric to the sale, and we happily snarfed some hotdogs and bought some miscellaneous items.
I was happy to participate in the sale, because the exchange of fair value, freely agreed upon by the traders is inherently ennobling and empowering to both parties. It recognizes reciprocity between the parties and can even create friendship amongst equals. Unrighteous Mammon, honestly pursued can be a means of gain in human relationships.
Illustrating this, we got acquainted with the ladies who organized the sale, learning at the same time that they participated in a Resident’s Council, the Fairfield West Improvement Council, and the local Crime and Safety Committee. We also learned that there is a long-term plan to raze the current crop of old housing units and replace them with new single family dwellings that can be purchased for a discount, thus creating real ownership and a basis for self-help, self-respect and self-governance.
These are examples of people banding together to help themselves –even though they are also receiving assistance with their housing. It appears that in the City of Huntington, there is the beginning of awareness that people must be involved in their own improvement. There must be reciprocity in helping, not just one-way giving. We must not only teach people to fish, we must help them to take ownership of the pond and learn to restock the pond in the process. We can combat Mammon by taking into account the very sin nature whose effects we try to eradicate and use worldly resources to help people help themselves, also coming to the saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, without whom, all the stuff in the world is mere trifle.
I believe that buying Hope House has put us in a unique position to participate in the restoration and preservation of a neighborhood. Though it has “not yet appeared what we shall be”, I think God has given us an opportunity to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ into a needy neighborhood by becoming good neighbors who act in community friendly ways and who participate in developing the spiritual and financial resources of the community we seek to impact. As we get to know the people of our area better, we can help them come to know the Master of the Universe. We can also assist them to put things in their right place – not as Mammon to be worshipped, but as useful tools that assist people to live better lives.
May God help us to be faithful to the call to make friends for ourselves by the use of Mammon – for the sake of the Gospel. AMEN.