Not A Chance
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
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Dear Fellow Preacher,
Do recent disclosures concerning former Education Secretary William Bennett's status as a high stakes gambler in both Las Vegas and New Jersey casinos cast doubts on his role as a teacher of virtue? How are we to think about gambling in a Christian context? Is this purely a personal decision or does gambling have implications that affect the wider community?
This week's installment of The Immediate Word provides material that seeks to understand this complex situation. Team member Carlos Wilton offers important insights from the lectionary gospel text found in John 15:1-8. In addition there are timely comments from other team members, an alternative approach to the text, relevant illustrations, creative worship resources, and a meaningful children's sermon.
Not a Chance
Carlos Wilton
John 15:1-8
The Message On a Postcard
Former Education Secretary William Bennett is in the headlines, as revelations have been made about large amounts of money he's dropped at casinos in the last decade: over $8 million according to some estimates.1 Most of this has been playing slot machines: a purely random form of gambling, with no skill involved.
"A casino source," reports Newsweek, "hearing of Bennett's claim to breaking even on slots over ten years, just laughed."
Mr. Bennett's particular problems with gambling aside, his experience highlights a growing problem today: addiction to these increasingly more-available games of chance.
Some question why there's such a focus on William Bennett: surely he's not the first high-roller whom the casinos have "comped" with free limousine rides and luxury hotel rooms. It's his money, the argument goes, and he's not breaking any laws, so why complain? Well, besides being former Secretary of Education (a position he used as a high-profile "bully pulpit" for promoting moral values), Bennett is also author of The Book of Virtues (Simon & Schuster, 1993) and The Moral Compass (Simon & Schuster, 1995), two fat anthologies of literary material extolling the virtuous life. His love of high-stakes gambling brings to the fore questions of financial stewardship as a moral value.
In this week's gospel lesson, Jesus says, "Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me" (John 15:4). Our Lord is portraying the basic connectedness of one Christian to another, and to him. The epistle selection for this week likewise makes it clear that "those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also" (1 John 4:21). Faith entails not only the vertical relationship between the believer and God, but a horizontal relationship as well: between the believer and the rest of humanity. Part of that connectedness, surely, is a lesson most kindergarteners learn -- and which Mr. Bennett surely applauded during his years as Education Secretary -- that it's important to share.
Eight million dollars is a lot of money. How many "needy but worthy" inner-city children could have been given a college education with those funds?
There's an old stewardship story about a legendary king of the Franks, who was evangelized by early Christian missionaries. When the old warlord finally agreed to be baptized, he insisted on stepping into the river with his sword held high over his head. If his sword-arm wasn't touched by the baptismal waters, he reasoned, then his life as a military leader would not be accountable to Christ. How many of us allow ourselves to be baptized, as it were, holding our checkbooks, credit cards, and wallets high over our heads -- and maybe a handful of casino chips and lottery tickets besides?
If we abide in Christ, the true vine, then are we not accountable -- financially, as in every other respect -- to those whom the scriptures call our "brothers and sisters"?
Some Words On the Word
John 15:1-8
This is a passage about abundance. The abundant produce of the grapevine's branches (they potentially "bear much fruit," v. 5) is wholly related to the fact that the various branches are joined to the vine itself, Jesus Christ.
Some commentators have pointed out that there may be Eucharistic symbolism here. The image of the vine calls to mind Jesus' Eucharistic saying about "the fruit of the vine" (see Mark 14:25 and parallels). While this possible connection is intriguing, it's probably not the principal meaning of the text. Jesus' grapevine analogy stands on its own, quite apart from any Eucharistic connection.
It's a homey, agricultural metaphor: probably familiar to most of his listeners. In these days leading up to his passion, Jesus takes pains to emphasize to his followers that, once he is no longer with them in an earthly sense, they can continue to "abide" with him -- and, through him, with God, who is the gardener or vinedresser.
Jesus is the "true" or "real" vine. According to Raymond K. Brown, this is an example of "the Johannine dualism distinguishing what is below from what is above."2 Although we may imagine ourselves standing alone, unconnected to anyone else, this is a fiction. "You've gotta serve somebody," as the folksinger Bob Dylan sang, during his overtly Christian phase. Either the vine to which we're connected is a true vine, or it is not.
Brown points out how the actions of the vinedresser Jesus describes are consistent with ancient Near Eastern agriculture. In February or March, the vinedresser cuts off any branches that are unable to bear fruit (in order to strengthen those that can). Later, in August, the vinedresser comes by again and pinches off the tiny new shoots, in order that the established branches may continue to be nourished and grow strong. Jesus recognizes, here, (1) that there are some branches that will never bear fruit, and (2) that even those that do bear fruit still need pruning.
"For John," continues Brown, "love and keeping the commandments are so much a part of the life coming from faith that one who does not behave in a virtuous manner does not have life at all. Life is committed life. Therefore, a branch that does not bear fruit is not simply a living, unproductive branch, but a dead branch. Some may find this interpretation harsh since it holds out no hope for the unproductive branches; yet in Johannine dualism there is not much room for an intermediate stage: there are only living and dead branches."3
Earl Palmer, in The Intimate Gospel: Studies In John, advises that we not focus on the element of judgment inherent in the pruning of the branches. Jesus' intention, here, is not to condemn, but rather to provide practical advice his disciples will need if they are to survive in a hostile world:
"Jesus is not saying to his disciples that they, in fact, will become fruitless or that they will cease to abide. He is, instead, giving the kind of instruction that a rock-climbing instructor on a perilous mountaineering expedition might give to his student climbers. He will point up the safety procedures that will be used. He will describe the rope, carabiners, and pitons that will secure the climbers during each separate negotiation in the climb. He may say something like this: 'We have a two-thousand-pound test rope, and it will hold any of you in a fall as we belay you in a safe stop, but you should all realize that there is no other back-up system. If this rope fails you in such a crisis, you will have made a much more speedy descent than we anticipated.' This instructor is not expecting his climbers to break the nylon rope, but he must impress upon them its importance to them and the plain fact that if it should fail in a fall, though it won't, there is no other hope for the climber.
Jesus invites his disciples to decide how they stand with the vine. If the branches were to break away from the vine, then there is no other vine that will give them life, just as there is no other back-up secret rope or stairway for the mountaineer. Jesus does not imply or say that these disciples will break away, but it would not fit in with the realism and honesty of Jesus as a teacher were he not to make it clear to his disciples that the purpose of this vine is fruit. And that is not bad news but good news. He tells them plainly that the branch must be related, must abide, in the true source -- there is no other source able to sustain the vine."4
The word for "prune," katharizo, is related to the English word, "catharsis." It has a secondary meaning of "to cleanse": hence, Jesus' use of the word "cleanse" in verse 3, "You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you." He could just as well have said, "You have already been pruned ..."
Another rich word in this passage is the word "abide" (meaning to live, to dwell, to remain in community). "Bide a wee," said the old Scots, entreating a visitor to take a seat by the hearth. Those who faithfully follow Christ do more than simply carry out his instructions; they dwell with him in close community. The branches are organically joined to the rest of the vine.
How do we discern who's connected to the true vine? By their fruits. As Jesus says in Matthew 7:16-18, "You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit."
A Map of the Message
There is always difficulty in using examples from the news of celebrities who have fallen from grace. Media coverage renders its subjects in two dimensions: as in the old westerns, the characters are wearing either white hats or black hats.
In recent weeks, William Bennett has been given a black hat to wear. Very likely, there's nothing simple about his personal situation with respect to gambling. If, indeed, the psychological label of "addiction" can rightly be applied in his case, its causes are likely complex. It would not be wise, or even charitable, to dwell on his story any more than necessary.
Furthermore, there's a danger that a sermon that lingers too long on the Bennett story may backfire. A recent political cartoon has two panels: the left one, portraying a jet landing on an aircraft carrier, is labeled, "Republican photo opportunity" (recalling President Bush's well-publicized carrier landing in a fighter plane). The next panel, "Democratic photo opportunity," portrays several Democratic donkeys, dressed in business suits, brutally kicking William Bennett, who's lying on the ground. Quite apart from any partisan political overtones (real or imagined), it's not a good idea for any preacher to be seen as "kicking a man while he's down."
Yet even so, the Bennett story has given new prominence to the subject of gambling, which seems in these days to be rivaling baseball for the moniker, "America's pastime." A generation ago, the only legal venue for high-stakes gambling was Las Vegas. Now, not only has Atlantic City followed suit (no pun intended), but virtually every state has expanded horse racing, dog racing, and in some cases even riverboat gambling. Indian reservations, once peacefully off the beaten track, now welcome busloads of demanding, cash-rich tourists. States depend on lotteries for significant portions of their budget revenues.
The church has something to say about gambling, and it comes from our theology of Christian stewardship. Gambling is highly questionable from an ethical standpoint, for these and other reasons:
1) For those who have much, it prevents them from sharing with the needy.
2) For those who have little, it siphons money away from basic necessities.
3) Gambling transforms money from a useful tool into a toy: a source of entertainment. Rather than being an instrument for accomplishing some higher purpose, cash dropped onto the green felt of the casino table or into the ubiquitous slot machines becomes an end in itself.
4) Gambling produces nothing. It siphons wealth out of communities across the nation, and concentrates it in the hands of a small number of shareholders in what's euphemistically called "the gaming industry" (to escape the derogatory connotations of the word "gambling"). As one anonymous wit quipped, "Gambling is a sure way of getting nothing for something."
5) For many (if not all) people, gambling is psychologically addictive. For more on this aspect of gambling, visit: http://www.gamblersanonymous.org/
Perhaps the most telling criticism of gambling, however, is that it is ultimately idolatrous. This is clearly seen in the gamblers' slang phrase, "staying alive." Gamblers declare they're "still alive" if they still have money with which to play. When the money runs out -- as the law of probability predicts it inevitably will -- they're "dead." In a delusional way, they confuse real life with the carefully-engineered virtual life inside the windowless expanse of the casino.
Christ came that we might have life, and have it abundantly. That life is based neither on wealth nor poverty, but rather on abiding with the one who is himself life's source. No one has to win that life, or even earn it; Christ bestows it on all earnest, faithful seekers as a free gift.
He is none other than the true vine. We are connected to him, and to each other. There are certain responsibilities that come with that interrelationship: our lives are not our own, nor is our property our own. All the wealth we have has been given us so we might exercise good stewardship of it. It's hard to make a case that placing a portion of God's legacy to us at risk for the sake of entertainment is an example of good stewardship.
Gambling casinos are among the loneliest, most unhappy places on this earth. Far from the joyful, convivial places the casinos' advertising claims they are, they are places of extreme individualism and grim determination. The faces of most slot-machine gamblers do not look from to side to side, interacting with their neighbors; quite the contrary, they are set like flint, obsessively focusing on the outcome of each pull, as recorded in the spinning dials.
Do such faces belong to branches of the true vine? Or do they belong to those branches that will one day be pruned, because the spark of life that was within them is flickering out?
In The Book of Virtues, William Bennett includes this poem by Edgar Guest:
Results and Roses
The man who wants a garden fair,
Or small or very big,
With flowers growing here and there,
Must bend his back and dig.
The things are mighty few on earth
That wishes can attain.
Whate'er we want of any worth
We've got to work to gain.
It matters not what goal you seek
Its secret here reposes:
You've got to dig from week to week
To get Results or Roses.5
"The things are mighty few on earth that wishes can attain...." Gambling is all about chasing after wishes. Like the proverbial leprechaun's pot of gold, such wishes are unattainable. To claim otherwise is to delude ourselves and to cheat our neighbors who are in need.
Notes
1 Newsweek, May 12, 2003, p. 6
2 The Gospel According to John XIII-XXI, in The Anchor Bible (Doubleday, 1966), p. 674.
3 Brown, p. 675.
4 Earl Palmer, The Intimate Gospel: Studies In John (Word, 1978), pp. 130-131.
5 The Book of Virtues (Simon & Schuster, 1993), p. 389.
Team Comments
George Murphy responds: In the gospel it is Christ who is the vine and those who are "in Christ" the branches. There is some similarity here with a biological image in the Pauline literature, that of the church as the Body of Christ, of which Christians are members. The latter image has generally received a lot more attention, some of which is relevant to the passage in John. But the image of the vine does not involve the idea of different branches having different functions, as we have in I Corinthians 12, e.g.
The image of Israel as God's vine in Psalm 80:8-18, as part of the background of
the John text, is worth noting.
Especially if the Bennett illustration is to be used and/or issues of public welfare are to be dealt with, the preacher needs to bear in mind that the image of the vine in John 15 -- like the image of the Body of Christ -- is used of the Christian community, and not of the body politic or humanity in general. This is not at all to deny that there are important bonds between all human beings, that all of humanity is connected with Christ through the Incarnation, or that Christians are called to be concerned with the welfare of all people whether they're Christians or not. But the relationships are different and, in particular, adult Christians have (or are supposed to have) explicit commitments to be concerned for the well-being of others while non-Christians may recognize no such commitment. Thus one needs to be careful about transferring the imagery of John 15 to society as a whole.
"So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith" (Galatians 6:10). Of course the "all" needs to be emphasized, but there is a distinction made here and part of a response to any attempt to foster Christian exclusiveness should be to emphasize that the church (the vine, the Body of Christ, the family of faith) is an open community which wants others to become members.
Having said this, the following from Karl Barth (Dogmatics in Outline, p.138) is worth noting:
"There is a general connection of all men with Christ, and every man is His brother. He died for all men and rose for all men, so every man is the addressee of the work of Jesus Christ. That this is the case, is a promise for the whole of humanity. And it is the most important basis, and the only one which touches everything. He who has once realized that God was made man cannot speak and act inhumanly."
Additionally, commentators and editorial cartoonists have had a field day with the Bennett story. Certainly there are hypocritical and self-deluding aspects of his behavior which can be criticized. But I'm afraid that some critics have taken this simply as an opportunity to ridicule the whole concept of "virtue," and the individual virtues, for which Bennett has argued. In particular, virtues like hard work and concern for others end up getting a bad press. And while we can condemn the self-serving agenda of some critics, we also ought to remember that Bennett, as a public person, should have realized that he was putting his message at risk by the kind of behavior he indulged in.
To the list of problems connected with gambling, we might add the encouragement of criminal elements usually connected with organized gambling and, in particular, the dangers of corruption of both "amateur" and professional sports which gambling on sports -- a gigantic business -- create. And when I see ads for a state lottery (Ohio -- but probably others) which seem to convey the message that winning the lottery sure beats working, I really wonder what kind of public officials we've got.
However, I think a lot of the traditional criticisms of gambling, which portray it as simply wrong no matter how much is bet or what the context is, are overdone. The ethical distinctions between spending a modest amount of money on (a) going to a football game, (b) purchasing some "collectible," and (c) a poker evening with a few friends, seem to me pretty hard to make. (It should be noted that traditional poker, and some other forms of gambling, involve a pretty large component of skill as well as pure chance.) Of course a good deal depends on what is considered "modest." I think if gambling is to be criticized, the focus should be on gambling as a business -- whether run by the state or private companies -- and the deleterious effect which large-scale betting can have on individuals and society.
James L. Evans responds: While I agree with Carlos that making too much of the Bennett story could be a mistake, it seems to me that a gospel principle is at work here that cuts two ways in regard to Mr. Bennett. Jesus said, "To whom much is given, much is required." The wealth that has found its way into Mr. Bennett's hands is not his to do with as he wants. "The earth is the Lord's and fullness thereof." And while I agree with George Murphy that we cannot expect the community at large to embrace the particulars of Christian community, there is nothing wrong with making the case that those particulars are nevertheless true. Besides, I think we are safe in addressing Mr. Bennett as a member of that community and therefore subject to those particularities. I do not think his status as a public figure excuses him from participating in the Christian view of fellowship and justice.
In addition to all this, Mr. Bennett has been given a national forum for talking about virtue. His access to the media far exceeds that of even the most popular television evangelist. And since "virtue" is his chosen topic, his tremendous visibility requires that he practice a "more virtuous-than-thou" style of life. The role he has sought and/or has been given him demands such excellence. If he wishes to enjoy the privacy of an individualistic ethic, the content of which is derived from his own wants and wishes, then he must give up his forum as a teacher of virtue to others. You can't have it both ways. To whom much is given, much is required.
Carter Shelley responds: Carlos, you've done a superb job identifying significant aspects of John 15:1-8 as well as examining the problematic nature of gambling.
While the irony of an individual known for his moral high ground being exposed for his hypocrisy is not lost on most of us, some ministers may feel that a direct assault on William Bennett won't preach to their particular congregation. In such instances, the same points that Carlos so aptly makes in his message may come through better in a narrative style. For that reason, I am providing a story as another way to preach John 15:1-8. What I offer lacks the theological depth and biblical insight Carlos has provided; therefore, I would begin with the Henry Branch story and then develop the text's insights.
An Alternate Approach
Vines and Branches: Making the Right Connections
By Carter Shelley
At age 16 Henry Branch wanted a car more than anything else in the world. A car would give him freedom to go anywhere, do anything. A car would give him status, prestige. A car would help him get girlfriends. Who could resist a sexy guy seated behind the wheel of snazzy sports car? Henry worked 40 hours a week during the school year and in the summer he worked two shifts at a local factory to earn enough money to buy the car of his dreams. It was red, sharp, fast and glorious. And, for a while, it made Henry feel like a real man.
But wine, women, and song weren't as automatic as Henry had expected. He still felt tongue-tied and stupid on dates. The car didn't make him a brilliant conversationalist or a charming companion. Henry Branch was still just Henry Branch, a shy young man with pimples who was unsure of himself socially and inexperienced sexually. The car was an inadequate vine on which to latch Henry's life. The car could not stoke Henry's ego or fulfill his social and emotional needs. It was, in the end, just a car.
Within five years Henry had found a new focus for his life: Sheila Oppenheimer. They had met at college orientation. Sheila had light brown hair, was kind of skinny, and giggled too much when she was embarrassed, but she was Henry's love, his girl. They studied together, ate all their meals together, exercised and played together, planned their future together. Sheila made Henry feel wanted. She loved him, him, Henry Branch. She encouraged him, believed in him. In return Henry made her the focus of his entire life. He wouldn't make a decision without consulting Sheila. He wouldn't go anywhere or do anything without her. During Christmas break, junior year, Henry was miserable. He hated being separated from Sheila. She was his life, his confidant, his love. "Love is a many-splendored thing," Henry thought ... until the telegram arrived:
"Dearest Henry,
You are so sweet. I know you will understand. I have married the boy next door who has turned into quite a man."
Signed: "No longer yours, Sheila."
Poor Henry. He had built his whole life around the woman he loved and she had betrayed him. A year later, Henry still felt empty, abandoned, and crushed. His goals, his dreams and plans had all been destroyed by a faithless woman. "Love is hogwash." He decided. "Love is a lousy vine. It nourishes a person only to destroy him. Women! Who needs them?"
By the time he was twenty-four Henry knew he had found his purpose in life. Teaching kids was the most rewarding experience in the world. What a challenge to take unformed, innocent minds and expose them to all the mysteries of the world. A zealous and enthusiastic middle school science teacher, Henry was very popular with both the kids and the other teachers. He had found his niche.
Six years later Henry was still teaching, but his enthusiasm had lagged and his cynicism had grown. The kids didn't care. Heck, their parents didn't care. Henry was tired of being pestered to change this grade, believe that outlandish excuse, listen to yet another hysterical parent berate and blame him for their child's failures. Even worse than the human hassles was the paperwork and the endless meetings. So much of it was meaningless and demoralizing. Stacks and stacks of forms had to be filled out, duplicated, and sent to the superintendent's office and then on to the state headquarters.
Henry was emotionally burnt out. He suffered from headaches, got sarcastic with the students, and was getting lazy in his work. He just didn't care. Teaching had become a rootless vine which sapped all of his energy without feeding any of his needs.
So Henry quit his job. Maybe travel would offer him something his job had not. For six months Henry traveled throughout the United States. He saw a great deal, but he got little pleasure from it. Henry was really depressed. He hated himself. He hated the world. His life was one giant zero. Cars, women, career, all had failed to offer his life the meaning and purpose he needed. Having reached the beautiful and powerful coast of California, Henry decided to end it all by walking out into the ocean and letting its waves wash his life away.
Unfortunately for Henry, the California beaches are a crowded place in July. There was nowhere he could attempt to commit suicide without being rescued! He got in his car and started driving. With the help of a map and another tank of gas, Henry made his way to a lake. It had seemed deserted when he parked the car, but upon walking to its edge he realized he had stumbled on some sort of religious group's worship service where people were being baptized in the lake.
"Oh, well," Henry thought, "I'll wait until they leave. Then I can drown in peace." As he waited, Henry listened with growing interest to the testimony being given by one of them. The speaker was an excitable young woman with a shrill but audible voice. She talked about how wretched and meaningless her life had been. How she had tried drugs, tried sex, tried college, tried a career in rock music, but had found none of these options satisfying. Then, she had discovered Christ. At the end of her rope, she'd discovered Christ. Discovered that Jesus had died for her, discovered Jesus had forgiven her, that Jesus had saved her! Now, all was glorious in her life. As the young woman spoke of her conversion, she wept with joy at the goodness of her God.
Henry was struck by her words. He knew what this woman was talking about! He also had been there and seen how meaningless and empty the world could be. Jesus? Yes, Henry remembered Jesus. From his childhood days as a churchgoing school boy, Henry remembered Jesus Christ. Forgiveness ... grace ... acceptance? That was it! How could Henry have been so stupid and blind all of these years.
The woman was quoting scripture now. The passage she quoted made a lot of sense to Henry. "I am the true vine and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit." Henry was like the branch who bore no fruit. His life had withered into nothing. "Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me." Of course! All of his life Henry had been attaching himself to the wrong vines: a car, a woman, a career. All of these attachments were meaningless, because they were substitutes for Christ, the true vine. "Thank you, Lord," Henry prayed. "Thank you for this second chance." Henry rose from where he was sitting and walked towards the water to be baptized with the others.
All of us are branches of some vine or other. Which vine we attach ourselves to depends upon who or what we consider most important in our lives. For a beautiful woman it may be her looks. For a wealthy person it may be his or her money. For William Bennett it appears to be gambling. For those of us who live on a humbler scale, it may be our family, our job, our possessions, a hobby or even our church. Each of us has a vine -- something that colors our view of life, something that influences our values, something that ultimately determines who we are.
The vine is the source of food and nourishment for the branches. Henry Branch hooked up to a great many different vines that did not fulfill his needs nor help him develop into a complete human being. Henry discovered that material things, such as cars, all encompassing things, such as a love relationship or a teaching career, by themselves were insufficient. Total dependence on such vines left Henry withered and in despair about himself and about life.
In John 15:1-8 Jesus identifies himself as the true vine. Why is that so? Because God is the vinedresser. God, the One who created us, is the ultimate source of our meaning and our development. Dependence upon the vine of Jesus Christ satisfies the deepest of human needs: to be forgiven, accepted, and loved as we are and for who we are. God created us to be in relationship with God. Jesus is the means by which God establishes that relationship with us. Cars, lovers, careers, all can disappoint us and lose their meaning. God cannot.
Related Illustrations
Some Americans spend nearly as much on gambling as they do on groceries. And not only at gaming tables and racetracks, but on state sanctioned lotteries as well. After four years, Joyce B., a 45-year-old housewife, had won $30 and owed about $50,000. "The ads said all you need is a dollar and a dream. It was more like a dollar and a nightmare."
Gambling is the fastest growing major addiction, especially among teens. Debt is the hallmark of the compulsive gambler. A study of 400 Gamblers Anonymous members showed that they owed an average of $100,000 each. More than half admitted to stealing to finance their gambling. Two-thirds had considered suicide.
-- Christopher News Note #412: Money: For All It's Worth http://www.christophers.org/nn412.html
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The greatest crimes are caused by surfeit, not by want. Men do not try to become tyrants in order that they may not suffer cold.
-- Aristotle, Politics
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No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
-- John Donne
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One of the thoughts supposedly faced by those who have suffered total financial ruin is whether to go on living, especially if there is life insurance on them that would benefit their families. An incisive answer to this question can be found in a story involving the noted American rabbi Stephen Wise and a distraught congregant who came to him following the stock market crash of 1929.
The man, who had lost everything in the crash, said that he was thinking of committing suicide so his family could at least have the insurance money. What did the rabbi suggest he do?
His response offers one way to deal with the greedy. The rabbi replied that the man should call his wife and children together and pose the question to them. Their response would give him the obvious answer.
"If they dissuade you from taking this step, there is no reason why you should destroy yourself, seeing that they would rather have you than your insurance," said the rabbi. "if on the other hand, they approve your design, I would go on living just to spite them. Surely you wouldn't want to sacrifice your life for such a family."
-- M. Hirsh Goldberg, The Complete Book of Greed (New York: William Morrow and Company, 1994), p. 66.
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A fable of Aesop:
Once upon a time there was a miser who used to hide his gold at the foot of a tree in his garden, but every week he used to go and dig it up and gloat over his gains. A robber, who had noticed this, went and dug up the gold and took it. When the miser next came to gloat over his treasures, he found nothing but the empty hole. He tore his hair and raised such an outcry that all the neighbors came around him, and he told them how he used to come and visit his gold.
"Did you ever take any of it out?" asked one of them.
"No, said he, "I only came to took at it."
"Then come again and look at the hole," said a neighbor. "It will do you just as much good."
The moral: Wealth unused might as well not exist.
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Prosperity knits a man to the World. He feels that he is "finding his place in it," while really it is finding its place in him. His increasing reputation, his widening circle of acquaintances, his sense of importance, the growing pressure of absorbing and agreeable work, build up in him a sense of being really at home in earth ...
-- C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
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Wealth is meant to go out from you like a light that dispels darkness.
-- St. John Chrysostom
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There's a line from F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby, in which Gatsby's friend turns to him and says, "I hear you lost everything in the crash."
"Yes," he replies. "I lost everything. But I lost what was truly important to me in the boom."
Worship Resources
Chuck Cammarata
CALL TO WORSHIP
In praising God for the abundance we have received -- we might do well to turn to the Psalms. Any of the Psalms from 145 to 150 would serve well as a call to worship this week. I'll use Psalm 146 as the basis for my Call to Worship.
LEADER: Praise the Lord! O my soul, praise Yahweh!
PEOPLE: I WILL PRAISE THE LORD ALL MY LIFE.
LEADER: Do not put your trust in the powers of this world,
PEOPLE: THEY CANNOT SAVE. THEY COME TO NOTHING.
LEADER: True blessing is found in the Lord God,
PEOPLE: MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH,
LEADER: The sea, and everything in it.
PEOPLE: THIS LORD IS ALWAYS FAITHFUL.
LEADER: This Lord watches over the oppressed.
PEOPLE: THIS LORD FEEDS THE HUNGRY.
LEADER: This Lord sets the prisoners free,
PEOPLE: GIVES SIGHT TO THE BLIND,
LEADER: Watches over the traveler,
PEOPLE: SUSTAINS THE ORPHAN AND THE WIDOW,
LEADER: And frustrates the ways of the wicked.
PEOPLE: THIS LORD IS OUR LORD.
LEADER: Who reigns forever.
PEOPLE: PRAISE THE LORD!
LEADER: Praise the Lord!
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Sticking with the Psalms for the Prayer of Confession -- let's turn to Psalm 73
LEADER: Surely God is good to those who are pure in heart.
PEOPLE: BUT AS FOR ME, MY FEET ALMOST SLIPPED.
LEADER: I nearly lost my balance,
PEOPLE: FOR I ENVIED THE PROSPERITY OF THE WICKED.
LEADER: They have it made.
PEOPLE: THEIR BODIES ARE STRONG AND HEALTHY.
LEADER: They are free from the burdens of life.
PEOPLE: THEIR ARROGANCE IS ON THEIR LIPS.
LEADER: The people admire them,
PEOPLE: AND TURN TO THEM FOR GUIDANCE.
LEADER: My heart cries, "What a fool I have been,
PEOPLE: TO PLAY BY THE RULES."
LEADER: I felt oppressed,
PEOPLE: UNTIL I ENTERED THE PRESENCE OF GOD.
LEADER: Then I understood
PEOPLE: THAT I HAVE YOU, LORD.
LEADER: And there is nothing on earth that compares to You.
PEOPLE: WEALTH AND POWER PASS AWAY,
LEADER: But the house of the Lord
PEOPLE: ENDURES FOREVER.
LEADER: Father, forgive our focus on the fleeting,
PEOPLE: AND TURN OUR HEARTS TO THE ETERNAL,
LEADER: For there is nothing better,
PEOPLE: IN THIS LIFE OR THE NEXT,
LEADER: Than to be near You.
PEOPLE: AMEN.
INVITATION TO THE OFFERING
Let's stick with our emphasis on scriptural prayers today and use Malachi 3:6-12 as a basis for the call to the offering.
"Return to me," said the Lord to Israel, "and I will return to you."
But the people said, "How are we to return?"
The Lord replied, "In tithes and offerings. Bring to me the whole tithe. Put me to the test in this. Test me and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have enough room for it all. Then all the people will call you blessed for yours will be a delightful land."
The Lord deeply desires to bless us. But we must first put our whole trust in God.
We must trust God with all our time, with all our treasure, with all our talent. Then we will know the blessings of the deepest peace, and the most soaring joy.
Come, O people of God, let us put our entire trust in Yahweh.
DEDICATION PRAYER
O God who has given us all we have, may we be more like the widow who gave all she had than the Pharisees who put in a small portion of their abundance. In this we shall be witnesses to Your faithfulness. And through this may others know that you can be trusted in all things. We ask it in the name of the one who gave his all for us, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
PASTORAL PRAYER
Declaration Before The Prayer
The word came to Abraham, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, take him to the mountain and sacrifice him there." It was a time of testing for Abraham. Would he trust God with that which was most precious to him? Would he trust God even when it came to his son, and the future of his people? So Abraham set out and traveled to the mountain and prepared to sacrifice his boy. But when God saw his faith, he stopped him. Abraham found that God could be trusted even with that which is most dear, and he named the place, "Jehovah Jireh," which means "God provides."
Let us pray: Jehovah, as the Israelites learned through the provision of manna and quail in the wilderness, as Daniel learned in the lion's den, as Abraham learned on the mountain, teach us that you are always faithful. Teach us this morning -- in this place -- to entrust all we have and are to You that we might be free of the envy, anxiety, and stinginess that pervade our culture.
This morning, Lord, we entrust to you all the burdens of our hearts -- burdens of fear over the future, over finances, over recent failure, over family and friends in need -- hear now our burdens and relieve us of their heaviness ... (pray here for the concerns of the parish).
SKIT--(This skit can be used as a sermon illustration, a children's sermon, or an invitation to the offering.)
A clown or a mime enters and comes down the center aisle pushing a wheelbarrow full of money. (You can buy wads of play money at a party store or just cut up green construction paper.)
As the clown comes, have him or her stop a time or two and fondle the money. Have him offer it to someone in the pews only to pull it back and slap their hand as they reach for it. The clown continues to the front of the sanctuary where there is a large basket with a large sign labeled "Offering". The clown then makes a big show of pulling out a very large bill on which is written the number $1,000. The bill is held up for all to see, and then dramatically dropped in the offering basket. After this the clown leaves with a still full wheelbarrow.
After the clown is gone, an old woman, shabbily dressed, enters quietly from the side. She approaches the offering basket, rummages through her pockets, finds a dime, and places it in the basket. She exits.
A pastor or narrator now speaks saying: "And Jesus asked his disciples, 'Who do you think gave more? This woman who gave one thin dime, or the clown who gave a huge bill?"
In the eyes of the world, was it not the clown who gave a large bill but a small portion of his abundance? But in the eyes of God it was the woman who gave a small amount, but it was all she had. In giving her all she showed that she truly trusted God.
HYMNS AND SONGS
A Mighty Fortress
Great Is the Lord
The God of Abraham Praise
Great Is Thy Faithfulness
Freely, Freely
O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee
God Will Take Care of You
Seek Ye First
Children's Sermon
By Wesley Runk
John 15:1-8
Text: "Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me" (v. 4).
Object: Glass of orange juice, a carton of orange juice, an orange, a branch of a tree (orange tree or something that represents an orange tree).
Good morning, boys and girls. Today we are going to learn something about ourselves. But before we learn about our self, we must first learn about a glass of orange juice. How many of you drink orange juice? (let them answer) Almost everyone drinks orange juice. Did anyone have some orange juice this morning? (let them answer) Good, a lot of us drank some orange juice this morning. Where did you get the orange juice to fill your glass? (let them answer) Good, you got it from the carton or bottle of orange juice. And where do you think they got the orange juice to fill the carton or bottle? (let them answer) That's right, from an orange. And where was the orange before it was squeezed and put into the bottle that was then poured into the glass? (let them answer) That's right, it was hanging on a tree. And did you know before it was an orange, it was an orange blossom, and before it was a blossom, it was a bud on the tree. Before that it was an idea that came from God. So the orange juice you drank this morning started with God's idea. Isn't that wonderful? It is all connected.
Jesus was telling his disciples the same thing one day, only he was telling them that they could also be connected to God just like the fruit juice is connected to him. You can also be connected to God like the disciples. It goes something like this. God started everything with one of his ideas. Instead of sending a tree, God sent Jesus into the world with all of his love and truth. We learn about Jesus through the Bible. The Bible teaches us how to live in this world and how to live with others like our friends and family. Every day we learn something new about God's world. When we practice the things that Jesus teaches us, like sharing with others, forgiving each other, obeying the 10 commandments, caring for the hungry and thirsty, visiting the lonely and other ideas, we become connected to Jesus. We are attached to him just like the glass of juice goes back to the orange tree branch and the orange tree branch goes back to God.
The words of Jesus were, "Abide in me as I abide in you." That means that when we take the words of Jesus into our hearts and act on them, then we become connected to Jesus. You would not think that the orange juice you drank this morning came from Jesus. You think it came from a store. But the store got it from the place that pours it into the cartons and it got it from the orange and the orange came from a tree and the tree was made by God. It is all connected.
So are you. Every day you read your Bible, pray, and learn about the teachings of Jesus you become connected to Jesus and Jesus connects us to God. It is a wonderful way to live and makes people like you and me very happy.
So the next time you drink some orange juice I want you to think about how God blessed the tree that made the orange that was made into orange juice for you to drink. Then I want you to think about how God connects you to Jesus through his many ways. You may not be an orange but you are very closely connected to God. Amen.
The Immediate Word, May 18, 2003, issue.
Copyright 2003 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., P.O. Box 4503, Lima, Ohio 45802-4503.
Do recent disclosures concerning former Education Secretary William Bennett's status as a high stakes gambler in both Las Vegas and New Jersey casinos cast doubts on his role as a teacher of virtue? How are we to think about gambling in a Christian context? Is this purely a personal decision or does gambling have implications that affect the wider community?
This week's installment of The Immediate Word provides material that seeks to understand this complex situation. Team member Carlos Wilton offers important insights from the lectionary gospel text found in John 15:1-8. In addition there are timely comments from other team members, an alternative approach to the text, relevant illustrations, creative worship resources, and a meaningful children's sermon.
Not a Chance
Carlos Wilton
John 15:1-8
The Message On a Postcard
Former Education Secretary William Bennett is in the headlines, as revelations have been made about large amounts of money he's dropped at casinos in the last decade: over $8 million according to some estimates.1 Most of this has been playing slot machines: a purely random form of gambling, with no skill involved.
"A casino source," reports Newsweek, "hearing of Bennett's claim to breaking even on slots over ten years, just laughed."
Mr. Bennett's particular problems with gambling aside, his experience highlights a growing problem today: addiction to these increasingly more-available games of chance.
Some question why there's such a focus on William Bennett: surely he's not the first high-roller whom the casinos have "comped" with free limousine rides and luxury hotel rooms. It's his money, the argument goes, and he's not breaking any laws, so why complain? Well, besides being former Secretary of Education (a position he used as a high-profile "bully pulpit" for promoting moral values), Bennett is also author of The Book of Virtues (Simon & Schuster, 1993) and The Moral Compass (Simon & Schuster, 1995), two fat anthologies of literary material extolling the virtuous life. His love of high-stakes gambling brings to the fore questions of financial stewardship as a moral value.
In this week's gospel lesson, Jesus says, "Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me" (John 15:4). Our Lord is portraying the basic connectedness of one Christian to another, and to him. The epistle selection for this week likewise makes it clear that "those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also" (1 John 4:21). Faith entails not only the vertical relationship between the believer and God, but a horizontal relationship as well: between the believer and the rest of humanity. Part of that connectedness, surely, is a lesson most kindergarteners learn -- and which Mr. Bennett surely applauded during his years as Education Secretary -- that it's important to share.
Eight million dollars is a lot of money. How many "needy but worthy" inner-city children could have been given a college education with those funds?
There's an old stewardship story about a legendary king of the Franks, who was evangelized by early Christian missionaries. When the old warlord finally agreed to be baptized, he insisted on stepping into the river with his sword held high over his head. If his sword-arm wasn't touched by the baptismal waters, he reasoned, then his life as a military leader would not be accountable to Christ. How many of us allow ourselves to be baptized, as it were, holding our checkbooks, credit cards, and wallets high over our heads -- and maybe a handful of casino chips and lottery tickets besides?
If we abide in Christ, the true vine, then are we not accountable -- financially, as in every other respect -- to those whom the scriptures call our "brothers and sisters"?
Some Words On the Word
John 15:1-8
This is a passage about abundance. The abundant produce of the grapevine's branches (they potentially "bear much fruit," v. 5) is wholly related to the fact that the various branches are joined to the vine itself, Jesus Christ.
Some commentators have pointed out that there may be Eucharistic symbolism here. The image of the vine calls to mind Jesus' Eucharistic saying about "the fruit of the vine" (see Mark 14:25 and parallels). While this possible connection is intriguing, it's probably not the principal meaning of the text. Jesus' grapevine analogy stands on its own, quite apart from any Eucharistic connection.
It's a homey, agricultural metaphor: probably familiar to most of his listeners. In these days leading up to his passion, Jesus takes pains to emphasize to his followers that, once he is no longer with them in an earthly sense, they can continue to "abide" with him -- and, through him, with God, who is the gardener or vinedresser.
Jesus is the "true" or "real" vine. According to Raymond K. Brown, this is an example of "the Johannine dualism distinguishing what is below from what is above."2 Although we may imagine ourselves standing alone, unconnected to anyone else, this is a fiction. "You've gotta serve somebody," as the folksinger Bob Dylan sang, during his overtly Christian phase. Either the vine to which we're connected is a true vine, or it is not.
Brown points out how the actions of the vinedresser Jesus describes are consistent with ancient Near Eastern agriculture. In February or March, the vinedresser cuts off any branches that are unable to bear fruit (in order to strengthen those that can). Later, in August, the vinedresser comes by again and pinches off the tiny new shoots, in order that the established branches may continue to be nourished and grow strong. Jesus recognizes, here, (1) that there are some branches that will never bear fruit, and (2) that even those that do bear fruit still need pruning.
"For John," continues Brown, "love and keeping the commandments are so much a part of the life coming from faith that one who does not behave in a virtuous manner does not have life at all. Life is committed life. Therefore, a branch that does not bear fruit is not simply a living, unproductive branch, but a dead branch. Some may find this interpretation harsh since it holds out no hope for the unproductive branches; yet in Johannine dualism there is not much room for an intermediate stage: there are only living and dead branches."3
Earl Palmer, in The Intimate Gospel: Studies In John, advises that we not focus on the element of judgment inherent in the pruning of the branches. Jesus' intention, here, is not to condemn, but rather to provide practical advice his disciples will need if they are to survive in a hostile world:
"Jesus is not saying to his disciples that they, in fact, will become fruitless or that they will cease to abide. He is, instead, giving the kind of instruction that a rock-climbing instructor on a perilous mountaineering expedition might give to his student climbers. He will point up the safety procedures that will be used. He will describe the rope, carabiners, and pitons that will secure the climbers during each separate negotiation in the climb. He may say something like this: 'We have a two-thousand-pound test rope, and it will hold any of you in a fall as we belay you in a safe stop, but you should all realize that there is no other back-up system. If this rope fails you in such a crisis, you will have made a much more speedy descent than we anticipated.' This instructor is not expecting his climbers to break the nylon rope, but he must impress upon them its importance to them and the plain fact that if it should fail in a fall, though it won't, there is no other hope for the climber.
Jesus invites his disciples to decide how they stand with the vine. If the branches were to break away from the vine, then there is no other vine that will give them life, just as there is no other back-up secret rope or stairway for the mountaineer. Jesus does not imply or say that these disciples will break away, but it would not fit in with the realism and honesty of Jesus as a teacher were he not to make it clear to his disciples that the purpose of this vine is fruit. And that is not bad news but good news. He tells them plainly that the branch must be related, must abide, in the true source -- there is no other source able to sustain the vine."4
The word for "prune," katharizo, is related to the English word, "catharsis." It has a secondary meaning of "to cleanse": hence, Jesus' use of the word "cleanse" in verse 3, "You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you." He could just as well have said, "You have already been pruned ..."
Another rich word in this passage is the word "abide" (meaning to live, to dwell, to remain in community). "Bide a wee," said the old Scots, entreating a visitor to take a seat by the hearth. Those who faithfully follow Christ do more than simply carry out his instructions; they dwell with him in close community. The branches are organically joined to the rest of the vine.
How do we discern who's connected to the true vine? By their fruits. As Jesus says in Matthew 7:16-18, "You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit."
A Map of the Message
There is always difficulty in using examples from the news of celebrities who have fallen from grace. Media coverage renders its subjects in two dimensions: as in the old westerns, the characters are wearing either white hats or black hats.
In recent weeks, William Bennett has been given a black hat to wear. Very likely, there's nothing simple about his personal situation with respect to gambling. If, indeed, the psychological label of "addiction" can rightly be applied in his case, its causes are likely complex. It would not be wise, or even charitable, to dwell on his story any more than necessary.
Furthermore, there's a danger that a sermon that lingers too long on the Bennett story may backfire. A recent political cartoon has two panels: the left one, portraying a jet landing on an aircraft carrier, is labeled, "Republican photo opportunity" (recalling President Bush's well-publicized carrier landing in a fighter plane). The next panel, "Democratic photo opportunity," portrays several Democratic donkeys, dressed in business suits, brutally kicking William Bennett, who's lying on the ground. Quite apart from any partisan political overtones (real or imagined), it's not a good idea for any preacher to be seen as "kicking a man while he's down."
Yet even so, the Bennett story has given new prominence to the subject of gambling, which seems in these days to be rivaling baseball for the moniker, "America's pastime." A generation ago, the only legal venue for high-stakes gambling was Las Vegas. Now, not only has Atlantic City followed suit (no pun intended), but virtually every state has expanded horse racing, dog racing, and in some cases even riverboat gambling. Indian reservations, once peacefully off the beaten track, now welcome busloads of demanding, cash-rich tourists. States depend on lotteries for significant portions of their budget revenues.
The church has something to say about gambling, and it comes from our theology of Christian stewardship. Gambling is highly questionable from an ethical standpoint, for these and other reasons:
1) For those who have much, it prevents them from sharing with the needy.
2) For those who have little, it siphons money away from basic necessities.
3) Gambling transforms money from a useful tool into a toy: a source of entertainment. Rather than being an instrument for accomplishing some higher purpose, cash dropped onto the green felt of the casino table or into the ubiquitous slot machines becomes an end in itself.
4) Gambling produces nothing. It siphons wealth out of communities across the nation, and concentrates it in the hands of a small number of shareholders in what's euphemistically called "the gaming industry" (to escape the derogatory connotations of the word "gambling"). As one anonymous wit quipped, "Gambling is a sure way of getting nothing for something."
5) For many (if not all) people, gambling is psychologically addictive. For more on this aspect of gambling, visit: http://www.gamblersanonymous.org/
Perhaps the most telling criticism of gambling, however, is that it is ultimately idolatrous. This is clearly seen in the gamblers' slang phrase, "staying alive." Gamblers declare they're "still alive" if they still have money with which to play. When the money runs out -- as the law of probability predicts it inevitably will -- they're "dead." In a delusional way, they confuse real life with the carefully-engineered virtual life inside the windowless expanse of the casino.
Christ came that we might have life, and have it abundantly. That life is based neither on wealth nor poverty, but rather on abiding with the one who is himself life's source. No one has to win that life, or even earn it; Christ bestows it on all earnest, faithful seekers as a free gift.
He is none other than the true vine. We are connected to him, and to each other. There are certain responsibilities that come with that interrelationship: our lives are not our own, nor is our property our own. All the wealth we have has been given us so we might exercise good stewardship of it. It's hard to make a case that placing a portion of God's legacy to us at risk for the sake of entertainment is an example of good stewardship.
Gambling casinos are among the loneliest, most unhappy places on this earth. Far from the joyful, convivial places the casinos' advertising claims they are, they are places of extreme individualism and grim determination. The faces of most slot-machine gamblers do not look from to side to side, interacting with their neighbors; quite the contrary, they are set like flint, obsessively focusing on the outcome of each pull, as recorded in the spinning dials.
Do such faces belong to branches of the true vine? Or do they belong to those branches that will one day be pruned, because the spark of life that was within them is flickering out?
In The Book of Virtues, William Bennett includes this poem by Edgar Guest:
Results and Roses
The man who wants a garden fair,
Or small or very big,
With flowers growing here and there,
Must bend his back and dig.
The things are mighty few on earth
That wishes can attain.
Whate'er we want of any worth
We've got to work to gain.
It matters not what goal you seek
Its secret here reposes:
You've got to dig from week to week
To get Results or Roses.5
"The things are mighty few on earth that wishes can attain...." Gambling is all about chasing after wishes. Like the proverbial leprechaun's pot of gold, such wishes are unattainable. To claim otherwise is to delude ourselves and to cheat our neighbors who are in need.
Notes
1 Newsweek, May 12, 2003, p. 6
2 The Gospel According to John XIII-XXI, in The Anchor Bible (Doubleday, 1966), p. 674.
3 Brown, p. 675.
4 Earl Palmer, The Intimate Gospel: Studies In John (Word, 1978), pp. 130-131.
5 The Book of Virtues (Simon & Schuster, 1993), p. 389.
Team Comments
George Murphy responds: In the gospel it is Christ who is the vine and those who are "in Christ" the branches. There is some similarity here with a biological image in the Pauline literature, that of the church as the Body of Christ, of which Christians are members. The latter image has generally received a lot more attention, some of which is relevant to the passage in John. But the image of the vine does not involve the idea of different branches having different functions, as we have in I Corinthians 12, e.g.
The image of Israel as God's vine in Psalm 80:8-18, as part of the background of
the John text, is worth noting.
Especially if the Bennett illustration is to be used and/or issues of public welfare are to be dealt with, the preacher needs to bear in mind that the image of the vine in John 15 -- like the image of the Body of Christ -- is used of the Christian community, and not of the body politic or humanity in general. This is not at all to deny that there are important bonds between all human beings, that all of humanity is connected with Christ through the Incarnation, or that Christians are called to be concerned with the welfare of all people whether they're Christians or not. But the relationships are different and, in particular, adult Christians have (or are supposed to have) explicit commitments to be concerned for the well-being of others while non-Christians may recognize no such commitment. Thus one needs to be careful about transferring the imagery of John 15 to society as a whole.
"So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith" (Galatians 6:10). Of course the "all" needs to be emphasized, but there is a distinction made here and part of a response to any attempt to foster Christian exclusiveness should be to emphasize that the church (the vine, the Body of Christ, the family of faith) is an open community which wants others to become members.
Having said this, the following from Karl Barth (Dogmatics in Outline, p.138) is worth noting:
"There is a general connection of all men with Christ, and every man is His brother. He died for all men and rose for all men, so every man is the addressee of the work of Jesus Christ. That this is the case, is a promise for the whole of humanity. And it is the most important basis, and the only one which touches everything. He who has once realized that God was made man cannot speak and act inhumanly."
Additionally, commentators and editorial cartoonists have had a field day with the Bennett story. Certainly there are hypocritical and self-deluding aspects of his behavior which can be criticized. But I'm afraid that some critics have taken this simply as an opportunity to ridicule the whole concept of "virtue," and the individual virtues, for which Bennett has argued. In particular, virtues like hard work and concern for others end up getting a bad press. And while we can condemn the self-serving agenda of some critics, we also ought to remember that Bennett, as a public person, should have realized that he was putting his message at risk by the kind of behavior he indulged in.
To the list of problems connected with gambling, we might add the encouragement of criminal elements usually connected with organized gambling and, in particular, the dangers of corruption of both "amateur" and professional sports which gambling on sports -- a gigantic business -- create. And when I see ads for a state lottery (Ohio -- but probably others) which seem to convey the message that winning the lottery sure beats working, I really wonder what kind of public officials we've got.
However, I think a lot of the traditional criticisms of gambling, which portray it as simply wrong no matter how much is bet or what the context is, are overdone. The ethical distinctions between spending a modest amount of money on (a) going to a football game, (b) purchasing some "collectible," and (c) a poker evening with a few friends, seem to me pretty hard to make. (It should be noted that traditional poker, and some other forms of gambling, involve a pretty large component of skill as well as pure chance.) Of course a good deal depends on what is considered "modest." I think if gambling is to be criticized, the focus should be on gambling as a business -- whether run by the state or private companies -- and the deleterious effect which large-scale betting can have on individuals and society.
James L. Evans responds: While I agree with Carlos that making too much of the Bennett story could be a mistake, it seems to me that a gospel principle is at work here that cuts two ways in regard to Mr. Bennett. Jesus said, "To whom much is given, much is required." The wealth that has found its way into Mr. Bennett's hands is not his to do with as he wants. "The earth is the Lord's and fullness thereof." And while I agree with George Murphy that we cannot expect the community at large to embrace the particulars of Christian community, there is nothing wrong with making the case that those particulars are nevertheless true. Besides, I think we are safe in addressing Mr. Bennett as a member of that community and therefore subject to those particularities. I do not think his status as a public figure excuses him from participating in the Christian view of fellowship and justice.
In addition to all this, Mr. Bennett has been given a national forum for talking about virtue. His access to the media far exceeds that of even the most popular television evangelist. And since "virtue" is his chosen topic, his tremendous visibility requires that he practice a "more virtuous-than-thou" style of life. The role he has sought and/or has been given him demands such excellence. If he wishes to enjoy the privacy of an individualistic ethic, the content of which is derived from his own wants and wishes, then he must give up his forum as a teacher of virtue to others. You can't have it both ways. To whom much is given, much is required.
Carter Shelley responds: Carlos, you've done a superb job identifying significant aspects of John 15:1-8 as well as examining the problematic nature of gambling.
While the irony of an individual known for his moral high ground being exposed for his hypocrisy is not lost on most of us, some ministers may feel that a direct assault on William Bennett won't preach to their particular congregation. In such instances, the same points that Carlos so aptly makes in his message may come through better in a narrative style. For that reason, I am providing a story as another way to preach John 15:1-8. What I offer lacks the theological depth and biblical insight Carlos has provided; therefore, I would begin with the Henry Branch story and then develop the text's insights.
An Alternate Approach
Vines and Branches: Making the Right Connections
By Carter Shelley
At age 16 Henry Branch wanted a car more than anything else in the world. A car would give him freedom to go anywhere, do anything. A car would give him status, prestige. A car would help him get girlfriends. Who could resist a sexy guy seated behind the wheel of snazzy sports car? Henry worked 40 hours a week during the school year and in the summer he worked two shifts at a local factory to earn enough money to buy the car of his dreams. It was red, sharp, fast and glorious. And, for a while, it made Henry feel like a real man.
But wine, women, and song weren't as automatic as Henry had expected. He still felt tongue-tied and stupid on dates. The car didn't make him a brilliant conversationalist or a charming companion. Henry Branch was still just Henry Branch, a shy young man with pimples who was unsure of himself socially and inexperienced sexually. The car was an inadequate vine on which to latch Henry's life. The car could not stoke Henry's ego or fulfill his social and emotional needs. It was, in the end, just a car.
Within five years Henry had found a new focus for his life: Sheila Oppenheimer. They had met at college orientation. Sheila had light brown hair, was kind of skinny, and giggled too much when she was embarrassed, but she was Henry's love, his girl. They studied together, ate all their meals together, exercised and played together, planned their future together. Sheila made Henry feel wanted. She loved him, him, Henry Branch. She encouraged him, believed in him. In return Henry made her the focus of his entire life. He wouldn't make a decision without consulting Sheila. He wouldn't go anywhere or do anything without her. During Christmas break, junior year, Henry was miserable. He hated being separated from Sheila. She was his life, his confidant, his love. "Love is a many-splendored thing," Henry thought ... until the telegram arrived:
"Dearest Henry,
You are so sweet. I know you will understand. I have married the boy next door who has turned into quite a man."
Signed: "No longer yours, Sheila."
Poor Henry. He had built his whole life around the woman he loved and she had betrayed him. A year later, Henry still felt empty, abandoned, and crushed. His goals, his dreams and plans had all been destroyed by a faithless woman. "Love is hogwash." He decided. "Love is a lousy vine. It nourishes a person only to destroy him. Women! Who needs them?"
By the time he was twenty-four Henry knew he had found his purpose in life. Teaching kids was the most rewarding experience in the world. What a challenge to take unformed, innocent minds and expose them to all the mysteries of the world. A zealous and enthusiastic middle school science teacher, Henry was very popular with both the kids and the other teachers. He had found his niche.
Six years later Henry was still teaching, but his enthusiasm had lagged and his cynicism had grown. The kids didn't care. Heck, their parents didn't care. Henry was tired of being pestered to change this grade, believe that outlandish excuse, listen to yet another hysterical parent berate and blame him for their child's failures. Even worse than the human hassles was the paperwork and the endless meetings. So much of it was meaningless and demoralizing. Stacks and stacks of forms had to be filled out, duplicated, and sent to the superintendent's office and then on to the state headquarters.
Henry was emotionally burnt out. He suffered from headaches, got sarcastic with the students, and was getting lazy in his work. He just didn't care. Teaching had become a rootless vine which sapped all of his energy without feeding any of his needs.
So Henry quit his job. Maybe travel would offer him something his job had not. For six months Henry traveled throughout the United States. He saw a great deal, but he got little pleasure from it. Henry was really depressed. He hated himself. He hated the world. His life was one giant zero. Cars, women, career, all had failed to offer his life the meaning and purpose he needed. Having reached the beautiful and powerful coast of California, Henry decided to end it all by walking out into the ocean and letting its waves wash his life away.
Unfortunately for Henry, the California beaches are a crowded place in July. There was nowhere he could attempt to commit suicide without being rescued! He got in his car and started driving. With the help of a map and another tank of gas, Henry made his way to a lake. It had seemed deserted when he parked the car, but upon walking to its edge he realized he had stumbled on some sort of religious group's worship service where people were being baptized in the lake.
"Oh, well," Henry thought, "I'll wait until they leave. Then I can drown in peace." As he waited, Henry listened with growing interest to the testimony being given by one of them. The speaker was an excitable young woman with a shrill but audible voice. She talked about how wretched and meaningless her life had been. How she had tried drugs, tried sex, tried college, tried a career in rock music, but had found none of these options satisfying. Then, she had discovered Christ. At the end of her rope, she'd discovered Christ. Discovered that Jesus had died for her, discovered Jesus had forgiven her, that Jesus had saved her! Now, all was glorious in her life. As the young woman spoke of her conversion, she wept with joy at the goodness of her God.
Henry was struck by her words. He knew what this woman was talking about! He also had been there and seen how meaningless and empty the world could be. Jesus? Yes, Henry remembered Jesus. From his childhood days as a churchgoing school boy, Henry remembered Jesus Christ. Forgiveness ... grace ... acceptance? That was it! How could Henry have been so stupid and blind all of these years.
The woman was quoting scripture now. The passage she quoted made a lot of sense to Henry. "I am the true vine and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit." Henry was like the branch who bore no fruit. His life had withered into nothing. "Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me." Of course! All of his life Henry had been attaching himself to the wrong vines: a car, a woman, a career. All of these attachments were meaningless, because they were substitutes for Christ, the true vine. "Thank you, Lord," Henry prayed. "Thank you for this second chance." Henry rose from where he was sitting and walked towards the water to be baptized with the others.
All of us are branches of some vine or other. Which vine we attach ourselves to depends upon who or what we consider most important in our lives. For a beautiful woman it may be her looks. For a wealthy person it may be his or her money. For William Bennett it appears to be gambling. For those of us who live on a humbler scale, it may be our family, our job, our possessions, a hobby or even our church. Each of us has a vine -- something that colors our view of life, something that influences our values, something that ultimately determines who we are.
The vine is the source of food and nourishment for the branches. Henry Branch hooked up to a great many different vines that did not fulfill his needs nor help him develop into a complete human being. Henry discovered that material things, such as cars, all encompassing things, such as a love relationship or a teaching career, by themselves were insufficient. Total dependence on such vines left Henry withered and in despair about himself and about life.
In John 15:1-8 Jesus identifies himself as the true vine. Why is that so? Because God is the vinedresser. God, the One who created us, is the ultimate source of our meaning and our development. Dependence upon the vine of Jesus Christ satisfies the deepest of human needs: to be forgiven, accepted, and loved as we are and for who we are. God created us to be in relationship with God. Jesus is the means by which God establishes that relationship with us. Cars, lovers, careers, all can disappoint us and lose their meaning. God cannot.
Related Illustrations
Some Americans spend nearly as much on gambling as they do on groceries. And not only at gaming tables and racetracks, but on state sanctioned lotteries as well. After four years, Joyce B., a 45-year-old housewife, had won $30 and owed about $50,000. "The ads said all you need is a dollar and a dream. It was more like a dollar and a nightmare."
Gambling is the fastest growing major addiction, especially among teens. Debt is the hallmark of the compulsive gambler. A study of 400 Gamblers Anonymous members showed that they owed an average of $100,000 each. More than half admitted to stealing to finance their gambling. Two-thirds had considered suicide.
-- Christopher News Note #412: Money: For All It's Worth http://www.christophers.org/nn412.html
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The greatest crimes are caused by surfeit, not by want. Men do not try to become tyrants in order that they may not suffer cold.
-- Aristotle, Politics
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No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
-- John Donne
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One of the thoughts supposedly faced by those who have suffered total financial ruin is whether to go on living, especially if there is life insurance on them that would benefit their families. An incisive answer to this question can be found in a story involving the noted American rabbi Stephen Wise and a distraught congregant who came to him following the stock market crash of 1929.
The man, who had lost everything in the crash, said that he was thinking of committing suicide so his family could at least have the insurance money. What did the rabbi suggest he do?
His response offers one way to deal with the greedy. The rabbi replied that the man should call his wife and children together and pose the question to them. Their response would give him the obvious answer.
"If they dissuade you from taking this step, there is no reason why you should destroy yourself, seeing that they would rather have you than your insurance," said the rabbi. "if on the other hand, they approve your design, I would go on living just to spite them. Surely you wouldn't want to sacrifice your life for such a family."
-- M. Hirsh Goldberg, The Complete Book of Greed (New York: William Morrow and Company, 1994), p. 66.
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A fable of Aesop:
Once upon a time there was a miser who used to hide his gold at the foot of a tree in his garden, but every week he used to go and dig it up and gloat over his gains. A robber, who had noticed this, went and dug up the gold and took it. When the miser next came to gloat over his treasures, he found nothing but the empty hole. He tore his hair and raised such an outcry that all the neighbors came around him, and he told them how he used to come and visit his gold.
"Did you ever take any of it out?" asked one of them.
"No, said he, "I only came to took at it."
"Then come again and look at the hole," said a neighbor. "It will do you just as much good."
The moral: Wealth unused might as well not exist.
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Prosperity knits a man to the World. He feels that he is "finding his place in it," while really it is finding its place in him. His increasing reputation, his widening circle of acquaintances, his sense of importance, the growing pressure of absorbing and agreeable work, build up in him a sense of being really at home in earth ...
-- C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
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Wealth is meant to go out from you like a light that dispels darkness.
-- St. John Chrysostom
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There's a line from F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby, in which Gatsby's friend turns to him and says, "I hear you lost everything in the crash."
"Yes," he replies. "I lost everything. But I lost what was truly important to me in the boom."
Worship Resources
Chuck Cammarata
CALL TO WORSHIP
In praising God for the abundance we have received -- we might do well to turn to the Psalms. Any of the Psalms from 145 to 150 would serve well as a call to worship this week. I'll use Psalm 146 as the basis for my Call to Worship.
LEADER: Praise the Lord! O my soul, praise Yahweh!
PEOPLE: I WILL PRAISE THE LORD ALL MY LIFE.
LEADER: Do not put your trust in the powers of this world,
PEOPLE: THEY CANNOT SAVE. THEY COME TO NOTHING.
LEADER: True blessing is found in the Lord God,
PEOPLE: MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH,
LEADER: The sea, and everything in it.
PEOPLE: THIS LORD IS ALWAYS FAITHFUL.
LEADER: This Lord watches over the oppressed.
PEOPLE: THIS LORD FEEDS THE HUNGRY.
LEADER: This Lord sets the prisoners free,
PEOPLE: GIVES SIGHT TO THE BLIND,
LEADER: Watches over the traveler,
PEOPLE: SUSTAINS THE ORPHAN AND THE WIDOW,
LEADER: And frustrates the ways of the wicked.
PEOPLE: THIS LORD IS OUR LORD.
LEADER: Who reigns forever.
PEOPLE: PRAISE THE LORD!
LEADER: Praise the Lord!
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Sticking with the Psalms for the Prayer of Confession -- let's turn to Psalm 73
LEADER: Surely God is good to those who are pure in heart.
PEOPLE: BUT AS FOR ME, MY FEET ALMOST SLIPPED.
LEADER: I nearly lost my balance,
PEOPLE: FOR I ENVIED THE PROSPERITY OF THE WICKED.
LEADER: They have it made.
PEOPLE: THEIR BODIES ARE STRONG AND HEALTHY.
LEADER: They are free from the burdens of life.
PEOPLE: THEIR ARROGANCE IS ON THEIR LIPS.
LEADER: The people admire them,
PEOPLE: AND TURN TO THEM FOR GUIDANCE.
LEADER: My heart cries, "What a fool I have been,
PEOPLE: TO PLAY BY THE RULES."
LEADER: I felt oppressed,
PEOPLE: UNTIL I ENTERED THE PRESENCE OF GOD.
LEADER: Then I understood
PEOPLE: THAT I HAVE YOU, LORD.
LEADER: And there is nothing on earth that compares to You.
PEOPLE: WEALTH AND POWER PASS AWAY,
LEADER: But the house of the Lord
PEOPLE: ENDURES FOREVER.
LEADER: Father, forgive our focus on the fleeting,
PEOPLE: AND TURN OUR HEARTS TO THE ETERNAL,
LEADER: For there is nothing better,
PEOPLE: IN THIS LIFE OR THE NEXT,
LEADER: Than to be near You.
PEOPLE: AMEN.
INVITATION TO THE OFFERING
Let's stick with our emphasis on scriptural prayers today and use Malachi 3:6-12 as a basis for the call to the offering.
"Return to me," said the Lord to Israel, "and I will return to you."
But the people said, "How are we to return?"
The Lord replied, "In tithes and offerings. Bring to me the whole tithe. Put me to the test in this. Test me and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have enough room for it all. Then all the people will call you blessed for yours will be a delightful land."
The Lord deeply desires to bless us. But we must first put our whole trust in God.
We must trust God with all our time, with all our treasure, with all our talent. Then we will know the blessings of the deepest peace, and the most soaring joy.
Come, O people of God, let us put our entire trust in Yahweh.
DEDICATION PRAYER
O God who has given us all we have, may we be more like the widow who gave all she had than the Pharisees who put in a small portion of their abundance. In this we shall be witnesses to Your faithfulness. And through this may others know that you can be trusted in all things. We ask it in the name of the one who gave his all for us, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
PASTORAL PRAYER
Declaration Before The Prayer
The word came to Abraham, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, take him to the mountain and sacrifice him there." It was a time of testing for Abraham. Would he trust God with that which was most precious to him? Would he trust God even when it came to his son, and the future of his people? So Abraham set out and traveled to the mountain and prepared to sacrifice his boy. But when God saw his faith, he stopped him. Abraham found that God could be trusted even with that which is most dear, and he named the place, "Jehovah Jireh," which means "God provides."
Let us pray: Jehovah, as the Israelites learned through the provision of manna and quail in the wilderness, as Daniel learned in the lion's den, as Abraham learned on the mountain, teach us that you are always faithful. Teach us this morning -- in this place -- to entrust all we have and are to You that we might be free of the envy, anxiety, and stinginess that pervade our culture.
This morning, Lord, we entrust to you all the burdens of our hearts -- burdens of fear over the future, over finances, over recent failure, over family and friends in need -- hear now our burdens and relieve us of their heaviness ... (pray here for the concerns of the parish).
SKIT--(This skit can be used as a sermon illustration, a children's sermon, or an invitation to the offering.)
A clown or a mime enters and comes down the center aisle pushing a wheelbarrow full of money. (You can buy wads of play money at a party store or just cut up green construction paper.)
As the clown comes, have him or her stop a time or two and fondle the money. Have him offer it to someone in the pews only to pull it back and slap their hand as they reach for it. The clown continues to the front of the sanctuary where there is a large basket with a large sign labeled "Offering". The clown then makes a big show of pulling out a very large bill on which is written the number $1,000. The bill is held up for all to see, and then dramatically dropped in the offering basket. After this the clown leaves with a still full wheelbarrow.
After the clown is gone, an old woman, shabbily dressed, enters quietly from the side. She approaches the offering basket, rummages through her pockets, finds a dime, and places it in the basket. She exits.
A pastor or narrator now speaks saying: "And Jesus asked his disciples, 'Who do you think gave more? This woman who gave one thin dime, or the clown who gave a huge bill?"
In the eyes of the world, was it not the clown who gave a large bill but a small portion of his abundance? But in the eyes of God it was the woman who gave a small amount, but it was all she had. In giving her all she showed that she truly trusted God.
HYMNS AND SONGS
A Mighty Fortress
Great Is the Lord
The God of Abraham Praise
Great Is Thy Faithfulness
Freely, Freely
O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee
God Will Take Care of You
Seek Ye First
Children's Sermon
By Wesley Runk
John 15:1-8
Text: "Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me" (v. 4).
Object: Glass of orange juice, a carton of orange juice, an orange, a branch of a tree (orange tree or something that represents an orange tree).
Good morning, boys and girls. Today we are going to learn something about ourselves. But before we learn about our self, we must first learn about a glass of orange juice. How many of you drink orange juice? (let them answer) Almost everyone drinks orange juice. Did anyone have some orange juice this morning? (let them answer) Good, a lot of us drank some orange juice this morning. Where did you get the orange juice to fill your glass? (let them answer) Good, you got it from the carton or bottle of orange juice. And where do you think they got the orange juice to fill the carton or bottle? (let them answer) That's right, from an orange. And where was the orange before it was squeezed and put into the bottle that was then poured into the glass? (let them answer) That's right, it was hanging on a tree. And did you know before it was an orange, it was an orange blossom, and before it was a blossom, it was a bud on the tree. Before that it was an idea that came from God. So the orange juice you drank this morning started with God's idea. Isn't that wonderful? It is all connected.
Jesus was telling his disciples the same thing one day, only he was telling them that they could also be connected to God just like the fruit juice is connected to him. You can also be connected to God like the disciples. It goes something like this. God started everything with one of his ideas. Instead of sending a tree, God sent Jesus into the world with all of his love and truth. We learn about Jesus through the Bible. The Bible teaches us how to live in this world and how to live with others like our friends and family. Every day we learn something new about God's world. When we practice the things that Jesus teaches us, like sharing with others, forgiving each other, obeying the 10 commandments, caring for the hungry and thirsty, visiting the lonely and other ideas, we become connected to Jesus. We are attached to him just like the glass of juice goes back to the orange tree branch and the orange tree branch goes back to God.
The words of Jesus were, "Abide in me as I abide in you." That means that when we take the words of Jesus into our hearts and act on them, then we become connected to Jesus. You would not think that the orange juice you drank this morning came from Jesus. You think it came from a store. But the store got it from the place that pours it into the cartons and it got it from the orange and the orange came from a tree and the tree was made by God. It is all connected.
So are you. Every day you read your Bible, pray, and learn about the teachings of Jesus you become connected to Jesus and Jesus connects us to God. It is a wonderful way to live and makes people like you and me very happy.
So the next time you drink some orange juice I want you to think about how God blessed the tree that made the orange that was made into orange juice for you to drink. Then I want you to think about how God connects you to Jesus through his many ways. You may not be an orange but you are very closely connected to God. Amen.
The Immediate Word, May 18, 2003, issue.
Copyright 2003 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., P.O. Box 4503, Lima, Ohio 45802-4503.
