Christianity As A Materialistic Religion
Sermon
MONEY AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD
Can The Rich Be Righteous; Can The Righteous Be Rich?
Archbishop William Temple of the Church of England has become famous for his oft--quoted statement that Christianity is one of the most materialistic religions of the world. He startled many Christians when he first said it and he startles many of us yet. "Christianity, one of the most materialistic religions?" we ask with a puzzled expression. "Yes, you heard me right," says the Archbishop. Christianity is one of the world's most materialistic religions.
Ironically, some of the cynics and skeptics will be lining up with the Archbishop and agreeing with him in ways he never intended. They will point out how, in many countries, the church has built magnificent cathedrals in the midst of abject poverty. In some third world countries, liberation priests join with Marxists in criticizing the Roman Church and its materialistic alliance with the aristocracy at the expense of the poor.
The materialistic corruptions of the church, especially in the later Middle Ages, are well known to historians. Offices in the church often were sold to the highest bidder. Prior to the Reformation, indulgences were sold, promising forgiveness not only of the sins one had committed, but of the sins one intended to commit. Materialistic greed often has found its way into all Christian churches, Roman Catholic and Protestant alike. Consider many Protestant television programs of the electronic church.
So the critics can make a case against the church, of course. Even down to the ever popular Protestant chant that the church is always asking for money. It is implied that the church as a spiritual institution is somehow to be above materialistic and monetary concerns. Since God is our chief focus, it is thought we are not to be much concerned with the things of this world.
While I understand the legitimacy of much of the criticism, I also find a great deal of hypocrisy in the critics themselves. For example, during summer weddings when the temperature is 90 degrees and the humidity is 95 percent, I sometimes get rather troubled inquiries as to why the church is not air conditioned. Lately, I have been replying that we would be most happy to receive their generous contribution to make it happen.
One mother of the bride, not a member of the church, was rather huffy about the fact that there was some loose plaster in the dining room. In my imagination I can see her as among the first to complain that the church is always asking for money to make repairs. Some of our members take great pride in pointing out our beautiful facility to friends and neighbors. But you might forgive me if I become a bit cynical when those same members contribute little or nothing to keep the facility beautiful. Yet when it is time for the non--pledger's daughter to be married, or his mother to be buried, he will take great comfort in the fact that this is a beautiful edifice well--maintained.
And we still have a bit of a hangover of the 1960s anti--institution attitude among some. That churches, as well as other institutions, deserved much of the criticism is well known. Yet these same critics, when in need, often have turned to the church and other institutions for help - institutions to which they have contributed little or nothing. Thanks to the generosity of others, we were here to help when they needed it.
Is Christianity a materialistic religion? It surely is, and here are some reasons why.
I.
For one thing, the doctrine of creation teaches it.
Read the Genesis stories again. They say God created the universe and the world and saw that they were good. God created humankind in his image, male and female, and it was good. Read on in the Old Testament in the Psalms and you will find the firm belief that God is responsible for the material world. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. The heavens declare his handiwork; night unto night declares his glory. Read the Bible through and you will never find a denial that the material world belongs to God.
But not so with some religions such as Manichaeism and Gnosticism. Read them and you will find a negative approach to a material world which they regard as evil and decaying. Concentrating on pure mind and pure spirit, they want to remain undefiled by anything so lowly and distasteful as earth and water, flesh and blood. They are convinced the high God of pure spirit would have nothing to do with such disgusting lowliness. Consequently, they attribute the creation of the world and the body to an underworld deity, a Demiurge, which struggles to keep us imprisoned within matter.
Read the Bible again, and you will find no such negative attitudes toward this emerald--green island of life--miracles suspended in space. God did not step down to create the world, he stepped up. He did not condescend to create matter and to fashion man out of the dust of the earth. Instead he manifested his very image within the world of time and sense. The Bible everywhere affirms the doctrine of creation. Says the writer of Hebrews, "By faith we understand that the world was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made out of things which do not appear" (11:2).
Therefore, it is for us to be good managers of the material world given to us by God. A man told me of some brothers who bought a healthy, prosperous company that had been carefully managed for years. But soon it was bankrupt because they drew off big salaries, neglected customers, and seemed more concerned with being big--time executives than with being good and responsible businessmen. As the saying goes, they "milked" the company and left it dry and ruined.
So it has been with many of us in our management of the natural world, its resources, and environment. Irresponsible in our stewardship and unthoughtful of future generations, we have polluted lakes and rivers, groundwater, and air. It is the business of the church to be concerned about the material world because it is God's gift to us to manage and to aid in its fruitfulness and productivity. We rightly speak out against greedy and irresponsible businesses which "milk" the world only to let it die. We correctly speak out against the tragedy and waste of war, against a futile arms race and the threat of mutual nuclear destruction. This is God's world and he has left it to our care.
II.
Further, Christianity is a materialistic religion because of the doctrine of incarnation.
The word "incarnation" literally means the "enfleshment." In traditional Christian language, it means the Son of God has taken on human flesh and dwelled among us to manifest the grace and truth and glory of God. God didn't manifest himself by way of an electronic robot or by way of abstract philosophy or pure spirit. Rather, says John's Gospel, he came to us by way of his son, Jesus Christ, who was a real flesh and blood Jew from Nazareth in first century Palestine.
Once again, contrast this with Gnosticism or Manichaeism or some other dualistic religion. It was inconceivable to them that the high God would have anything to do with so lowly and corrupt and contemptible a thing as a human body. It was too much for the Docetists of the first century to bear, so they claimed, as their name implies, that it only "seemed" as if Christ was in the human body. The body was only an appearance, a kind of costume, which he shed before the crucifixion so that it could never be said the Son of God suffered, let alone died.
Read the New Testament again, and you will find the first century disciples were convinced of his bodily presence among them. John's first letter says boldly, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the world of life - the life was made manifest, and we saw it, and testify to it, and proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was made manifest to us ..." (1 John 1:1--2). They were not dealing with an apparition or phantom, but with a real flesh and blood person.
Note how the doctrine of the incarnation manifested itself in Jesus's ministry of healing. From the beginning, he went about preaching, teaching, and healing, says Mark's Gospel. Jesus was concerned to make people whole and well, so that by his touch the blind saw, the deaf heard, and the lame walked. Even those deranged in mind and soul like the Gadarene demoniac were brought to serenity and peace of mind for this life, in the here and now.
It is only natural, therefore, that the church should be materialistic in its concern for health here and now. It should be no surprise that many hospitals were started and sustained by churches or groups from churches. Long ago, the church took seriously the practical advice of the Epistle of James that it does little good to say to the hungry brother, go in peace and be filled, without giving him the food he needs (2:14--17). Faith without action in the real world is barren. Faith is designed to bring about healing and wholeness here and now, not just for a future heavenly life.
Note also that Christianity is materialistic in its concern that all be properly housed and clothed and fed. Even though Jesus did say that we do not live by bread alone, he affirmed, nevertheless, that we do live by bread. He had compassion on the multitudes and fed the 5,000 from the loaves and fish at his disposal.
Therefore, let no Christian be surprised when the church advocates economic opportunity for all and compassion and justice for the poor and needy. While we debate over the best economic system and the proper means of distribution, we nevertheless agree that we are entitled to a part of this world, here and now. Even third world liberation theologians, in all their criticism of the wealthy, are not saying they want to abolish wealth, but rather that they want their share of it.
Our American founding fathers were in favor of people having property because they saw it as a basis of freedom. With the oppression and deprivation of a feudalistic Europe in their memories, they knew the importance of having a place to stand that could be called their own. Thomas Jefferson first wrote we had the right of "life, liberty, and property" and only later changed "property" to "the pursuit of happiness." Nevertheless, he knew the importance of having a part in this world so as to be free men and women, beholden to no lord of the manor or to no encroaching government.
At the heart of the Christian faith is the incarnation. And the incarnation is an affirmation of this harsh, real, flesh and blood, bread and wine, material world, a world created and loved by God. If it is that important to God, it is that important to us.
III.
Lastly, Christianity is materialistic because Christ has founded the church as an agent for the work of salvation in this world, not just for rescue out of it.
The central theme of our faith, which many of us memorized in childhood, is the famous John 3:16: "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." But then in the next verse which is often overlooked, John goes on to say, "For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him." Thus, as representatives of the Son, the church has the work of salvation in this world in the here and now.
And this responsibility is borne out by Jesus' famous parable of the talents where money was given for investment. In Luke's version of the parable, Jesus' disciples thought the fullness of the Kingdom of God was coming immediately. So it is suggested Jesus told this parable to teach the church's responsibility of stewardship in this world until the end of time.
Like the characters in the story, the church has been entrusted with treasure to invest. Some churches and Christians have five talents, some two, and some one. But whatever our gifts, we are called to risk and faith and adventure to invest for the future to make the gospel productive. If the Jewish scribes and Pharisees had been the treasurers of the Word and were keeping it to themselves, Christians were not to do so. They were to take the risk of faith, invest the gospel, and double their money, so to speak.
In many places, the Bible tells us that we reap what we sow. Malachi advises us to take a chance on God by tithing and then seeing if God does not open up the storehouses of heaven to give us an overflowing blessing. In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul reminded them that if they sow bountifully, they will reap bountifully. And then he tied it directly to their church contributions when he said that "God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that you may always have enough of everything and may provide in abundance for every good work" (2 Corinthians 9:8).
In other places Paul points out the responsibility of Christians to support financially the work of the church so that the gospel might be preached and taught by qualified people so that the work of salvation can go forward. And the truth is, many of us have been given enormous resources of treasure and talent and ability, which we are hoarding for ourselves. We have not taken a chance on God. We have not believed his promises. Few of us tithe. Few of us even give five percent of income or even two percent of income to the church.
Recently when talking about our stewardship campaign for the ongoing mission and ministry of the church, one of our men said, "Just how much does our church need? Perhaps we have enough to supply our need already." I replied, "It depends on our definition of need." But if need is defined in terms of the challenge given us by our Lord, it is unlimited. The basic need the Lord has is for Christians to stop burying their treasure and to start investing it in his work as he suggested, and then seeing if it does not bear fruit.
What are our churches' needs? They need to expand their youth work to touch significantly the hearts and lives of their young people to build a better future. They need to expand their Christian education to influence our children and adults more for Christ. Go to a school playground and listen to the violent, vulgar language, and note the loneliness and even the hint of drugs and alcohol at the elementary level, and you will say, if only the church could influence them for the better life.
Go to high schools and note among some the despair and loneliness, the almost compulsive determination to get stoned on drugs and alcohol and indulge in indiscriminate sex. They need a strong faith to give them a foundation for life in place of the many cults.
At the other end, see the aged, lonely, and often neglected. Could churches start a senior day care center for a population where soon one in six will be over 65? Should they be considering a retirement home and nursing center? Many churches have built them successfully.
A young couple about to be married asked the minister about the costs of living they could expect. He smiled and advised them to add together their joint incomes and then add another ten or fifteen percent!
So it is with the church. Our costs go up as they do with everyone else. From paper to gas to electricity to postage to lawn care and snow removal to machine repair to maintenance to books and curriculum materials, our cost of living seems nearly to outstrip our income. Add to that the importance of paying good, competitive salaries to attract and to keep good staff, and the increased costs of the church's work of salvation are easy to see.
Yet, it does seem as though our costs nearly outstrip our income. However, our costs come nowhere near outstripping our resources.
The truth is we do have the need, the urgent need, to continue and to expand our work. The truth is, we have been entrusted with the resources to do the work. The truth is, the Lord does bless those who trust in him and give generously to his work.
But the further truth is that it is up to us to make the commitment, to adventure in faith, to risk the investment, trusting in God to make it bear fruit. Are you willing to take the risk? And if we do, we may well expect to hear the Master's words, "Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your Master."
Prayer
Eternal God, whose pleasure it has been to create us flesh and blood from the dust of the earth and to blend body and soul together from the earth and your breath of life, we assemble to acknowledge you as our Creator and to praise you as the Source and Sustainer of all the universe. While on the one hand we approach you in wonder and awe and terror, on the other we are drawn by your tender compassion and everlasting love. Thanks be to you for calling us into being, blessing us with participation in the grand pilgrimage.
We confess before you our struggle with the spiritual and the material. On the one hand we find them repugnant; on the other we are obsessed by them. One day we are ready to cling to things as if they were the substance of life itself; another day we are ready to discard them as clothes out of fashion. For a while we spend all our energies in gaining and getting, and then in reflection we muse upon the barrenness and emptiness of all we possess.
So when at the pinnacle of success we ask if that's all there is, we are inclined to search for deeper realities. O Lord, you know our minds and hearts, how we have looked to this philosophy and that, this authority and that; how we have followed after fashionable panaceas and satisfied our souls for the moment with quick fixes and quack remedies. But now with the bitter aftertaste we turn again to you, our true bread and wine, our fountain of the water of life, from which drinking we shall never thirst again. Satisfy us anew with your loving kindness, O God.
As managers of your treasures both material and spiritual, we pray for your wisdom and inspiration. Grant that when riches increase we shall not make the age--old mistake of fastening our heart upon them and trusting in their uncertainty rather than in you. If in our moments of spiritual insight and gratitude we resolved to bless as we had been blessed, help us now to overcome the greed which struggles for control, hardening our hearts toward your church and your cause in the world. Help us be bold stewards, ready to invest our five talents that we might double our money for your sake.
We pray also for help in our stewardship of spiritual treasures. Save us from the temptation toward moral abstraction and ethical aloofness. Release us from the insidious notion that your spiritual realities have nothing to do with the material world. Grant that we might be the ones in whom the revolving tire of spiritual energy meets the pavement of a needy world. Open us up that we might have courage and energy to share our spiritual insights and experiences and thus encourage one another for the living of these days. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Ironically, some of the cynics and skeptics will be lining up with the Archbishop and agreeing with him in ways he never intended. They will point out how, in many countries, the church has built magnificent cathedrals in the midst of abject poverty. In some third world countries, liberation priests join with Marxists in criticizing the Roman Church and its materialistic alliance with the aristocracy at the expense of the poor.
The materialistic corruptions of the church, especially in the later Middle Ages, are well known to historians. Offices in the church often were sold to the highest bidder. Prior to the Reformation, indulgences were sold, promising forgiveness not only of the sins one had committed, but of the sins one intended to commit. Materialistic greed often has found its way into all Christian churches, Roman Catholic and Protestant alike. Consider many Protestant television programs of the electronic church.
So the critics can make a case against the church, of course. Even down to the ever popular Protestant chant that the church is always asking for money. It is implied that the church as a spiritual institution is somehow to be above materialistic and monetary concerns. Since God is our chief focus, it is thought we are not to be much concerned with the things of this world.
While I understand the legitimacy of much of the criticism, I also find a great deal of hypocrisy in the critics themselves. For example, during summer weddings when the temperature is 90 degrees and the humidity is 95 percent, I sometimes get rather troubled inquiries as to why the church is not air conditioned. Lately, I have been replying that we would be most happy to receive their generous contribution to make it happen.
One mother of the bride, not a member of the church, was rather huffy about the fact that there was some loose plaster in the dining room. In my imagination I can see her as among the first to complain that the church is always asking for money to make repairs. Some of our members take great pride in pointing out our beautiful facility to friends and neighbors. But you might forgive me if I become a bit cynical when those same members contribute little or nothing to keep the facility beautiful. Yet when it is time for the non--pledger's daughter to be married, or his mother to be buried, he will take great comfort in the fact that this is a beautiful edifice well--maintained.
And we still have a bit of a hangover of the 1960s anti--institution attitude among some. That churches, as well as other institutions, deserved much of the criticism is well known. Yet these same critics, when in need, often have turned to the church and other institutions for help - institutions to which they have contributed little or nothing. Thanks to the generosity of others, we were here to help when they needed it.
Is Christianity a materialistic religion? It surely is, and here are some reasons why.
I.
For one thing, the doctrine of creation teaches it.
Read the Genesis stories again. They say God created the universe and the world and saw that they were good. God created humankind in his image, male and female, and it was good. Read on in the Old Testament in the Psalms and you will find the firm belief that God is responsible for the material world. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. The heavens declare his handiwork; night unto night declares his glory. Read the Bible through and you will never find a denial that the material world belongs to God.
But not so with some religions such as Manichaeism and Gnosticism. Read them and you will find a negative approach to a material world which they regard as evil and decaying. Concentrating on pure mind and pure spirit, they want to remain undefiled by anything so lowly and distasteful as earth and water, flesh and blood. They are convinced the high God of pure spirit would have nothing to do with such disgusting lowliness. Consequently, they attribute the creation of the world and the body to an underworld deity, a Demiurge, which struggles to keep us imprisoned within matter.
Read the Bible again, and you will find no such negative attitudes toward this emerald--green island of life--miracles suspended in space. God did not step down to create the world, he stepped up. He did not condescend to create matter and to fashion man out of the dust of the earth. Instead he manifested his very image within the world of time and sense. The Bible everywhere affirms the doctrine of creation. Says the writer of Hebrews, "By faith we understand that the world was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made out of things which do not appear" (11:2).
Therefore, it is for us to be good managers of the material world given to us by God. A man told me of some brothers who bought a healthy, prosperous company that had been carefully managed for years. But soon it was bankrupt because they drew off big salaries, neglected customers, and seemed more concerned with being big--time executives than with being good and responsible businessmen. As the saying goes, they "milked" the company and left it dry and ruined.
So it has been with many of us in our management of the natural world, its resources, and environment. Irresponsible in our stewardship and unthoughtful of future generations, we have polluted lakes and rivers, groundwater, and air. It is the business of the church to be concerned about the material world because it is God's gift to us to manage and to aid in its fruitfulness and productivity. We rightly speak out against greedy and irresponsible businesses which "milk" the world only to let it die. We correctly speak out against the tragedy and waste of war, against a futile arms race and the threat of mutual nuclear destruction. This is God's world and he has left it to our care.
II.
Further, Christianity is a materialistic religion because of the doctrine of incarnation.
The word "incarnation" literally means the "enfleshment." In traditional Christian language, it means the Son of God has taken on human flesh and dwelled among us to manifest the grace and truth and glory of God. God didn't manifest himself by way of an electronic robot or by way of abstract philosophy or pure spirit. Rather, says John's Gospel, he came to us by way of his son, Jesus Christ, who was a real flesh and blood Jew from Nazareth in first century Palestine.
Once again, contrast this with Gnosticism or Manichaeism or some other dualistic religion. It was inconceivable to them that the high God would have anything to do with so lowly and corrupt and contemptible a thing as a human body. It was too much for the Docetists of the first century to bear, so they claimed, as their name implies, that it only "seemed" as if Christ was in the human body. The body was only an appearance, a kind of costume, which he shed before the crucifixion so that it could never be said the Son of God suffered, let alone died.
Read the New Testament again, and you will find the first century disciples were convinced of his bodily presence among them. John's first letter says boldly, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the world of life - the life was made manifest, and we saw it, and testify to it, and proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was made manifest to us ..." (1 John 1:1--2). They were not dealing with an apparition or phantom, but with a real flesh and blood person.
Note how the doctrine of the incarnation manifested itself in Jesus's ministry of healing. From the beginning, he went about preaching, teaching, and healing, says Mark's Gospel. Jesus was concerned to make people whole and well, so that by his touch the blind saw, the deaf heard, and the lame walked. Even those deranged in mind and soul like the Gadarene demoniac were brought to serenity and peace of mind for this life, in the here and now.
It is only natural, therefore, that the church should be materialistic in its concern for health here and now. It should be no surprise that many hospitals were started and sustained by churches or groups from churches. Long ago, the church took seriously the practical advice of the Epistle of James that it does little good to say to the hungry brother, go in peace and be filled, without giving him the food he needs (2:14--17). Faith without action in the real world is barren. Faith is designed to bring about healing and wholeness here and now, not just for a future heavenly life.
Note also that Christianity is materialistic in its concern that all be properly housed and clothed and fed. Even though Jesus did say that we do not live by bread alone, he affirmed, nevertheless, that we do live by bread. He had compassion on the multitudes and fed the 5,000 from the loaves and fish at his disposal.
Therefore, let no Christian be surprised when the church advocates economic opportunity for all and compassion and justice for the poor and needy. While we debate over the best economic system and the proper means of distribution, we nevertheless agree that we are entitled to a part of this world, here and now. Even third world liberation theologians, in all their criticism of the wealthy, are not saying they want to abolish wealth, but rather that they want their share of it.
Our American founding fathers were in favor of people having property because they saw it as a basis of freedom. With the oppression and deprivation of a feudalistic Europe in their memories, they knew the importance of having a place to stand that could be called their own. Thomas Jefferson first wrote we had the right of "life, liberty, and property" and only later changed "property" to "the pursuit of happiness." Nevertheless, he knew the importance of having a part in this world so as to be free men and women, beholden to no lord of the manor or to no encroaching government.
At the heart of the Christian faith is the incarnation. And the incarnation is an affirmation of this harsh, real, flesh and blood, bread and wine, material world, a world created and loved by God. If it is that important to God, it is that important to us.
III.
Lastly, Christianity is materialistic because Christ has founded the church as an agent for the work of salvation in this world, not just for rescue out of it.
The central theme of our faith, which many of us memorized in childhood, is the famous John 3:16: "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." But then in the next verse which is often overlooked, John goes on to say, "For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him." Thus, as representatives of the Son, the church has the work of salvation in this world in the here and now.
And this responsibility is borne out by Jesus' famous parable of the talents where money was given for investment. In Luke's version of the parable, Jesus' disciples thought the fullness of the Kingdom of God was coming immediately. So it is suggested Jesus told this parable to teach the church's responsibility of stewardship in this world until the end of time.
Like the characters in the story, the church has been entrusted with treasure to invest. Some churches and Christians have five talents, some two, and some one. But whatever our gifts, we are called to risk and faith and adventure to invest for the future to make the gospel productive. If the Jewish scribes and Pharisees had been the treasurers of the Word and were keeping it to themselves, Christians were not to do so. They were to take the risk of faith, invest the gospel, and double their money, so to speak.
In many places, the Bible tells us that we reap what we sow. Malachi advises us to take a chance on God by tithing and then seeing if God does not open up the storehouses of heaven to give us an overflowing blessing. In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul reminded them that if they sow bountifully, they will reap bountifully. And then he tied it directly to their church contributions when he said that "God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that you may always have enough of everything and may provide in abundance for every good work" (2 Corinthians 9:8).
In other places Paul points out the responsibility of Christians to support financially the work of the church so that the gospel might be preached and taught by qualified people so that the work of salvation can go forward. And the truth is, many of us have been given enormous resources of treasure and talent and ability, which we are hoarding for ourselves. We have not taken a chance on God. We have not believed his promises. Few of us tithe. Few of us even give five percent of income or even two percent of income to the church.
Recently when talking about our stewardship campaign for the ongoing mission and ministry of the church, one of our men said, "Just how much does our church need? Perhaps we have enough to supply our need already." I replied, "It depends on our definition of need." But if need is defined in terms of the challenge given us by our Lord, it is unlimited. The basic need the Lord has is for Christians to stop burying their treasure and to start investing it in his work as he suggested, and then seeing if it does not bear fruit.
What are our churches' needs? They need to expand their youth work to touch significantly the hearts and lives of their young people to build a better future. They need to expand their Christian education to influence our children and adults more for Christ. Go to a school playground and listen to the violent, vulgar language, and note the loneliness and even the hint of drugs and alcohol at the elementary level, and you will say, if only the church could influence them for the better life.
Go to high schools and note among some the despair and loneliness, the almost compulsive determination to get stoned on drugs and alcohol and indulge in indiscriminate sex. They need a strong faith to give them a foundation for life in place of the many cults.
At the other end, see the aged, lonely, and often neglected. Could churches start a senior day care center for a population where soon one in six will be over 65? Should they be considering a retirement home and nursing center? Many churches have built them successfully.
A young couple about to be married asked the minister about the costs of living they could expect. He smiled and advised them to add together their joint incomes and then add another ten or fifteen percent!
So it is with the church. Our costs go up as they do with everyone else. From paper to gas to electricity to postage to lawn care and snow removal to machine repair to maintenance to books and curriculum materials, our cost of living seems nearly to outstrip our income. Add to that the importance of paying good, competitive salaries to attract and to keep good staff, and the increased costs of the church's work of salvation are easy to see.
Yet, it does seem as though our costs nearly outstrip our income. However, our costs come nowhere near outstripping our resources.
The truth is we do have the need, the urgent need, to continue and to expand our work. The truth is, we have been entrusted with the resources to do the work. The truth is, the Lord does bless those who trust in him and give generously to his work.
But the further truth is that it is up to us to make the commitment, to adventure in faith, to risk the investment, trusting in God to make it bear fruit. Are you willing to take the risk? And if we do, we may well expect to hear the Master's words, "Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your Master."
Prayer
Eternal God, whose pleasure it has been to create us flesh and blood from the dust of the earth and to blend body and soul together from the earth and your breath of life, we assemble to acknowledge you as our Creator and to praise you as the Source and Sustainer of all the universe. While on the one hand we approach you in wonder and awe and terror, on the other we are drawn by your tender compassion and everlasting love. Thanks be to you for calling us into being, blessing us with participation in the grand pilgrimage.
We confess before you our struggle with the spiritual and the material. On the one hand we find them repugnant; on the other we are obsessed by them. One day we are ready to cling to things as if they were the substance of life itself; another day we are ready to discard them as clothes out of fashion. For a while we spend all our energies in gaining and getting, and then in reflection we muse upon the barrenness and emptiness of all we possess.
So when at the pinnacle of success we ask if that's all there is, we are inclined to search for deeper realities. O Lord, you know our minds and hearts, how we have looked to this philosophy and that, this authority and that; how we have followed after fashionable panaceas and satisfied our souls for the moment with quick fixes and quack remedies. But now with the bitter aftertaste we turn again to you, our true bread and wine, our fountain of the water of life, from which drinking we shall never thirst again. Satisfy us anew with your loving kindness, O God.
As managers of your treasures both material and spiritual, we pray for your wisdom and inspiration. Grant that when riches increase we shall not make the age--old mistake of fastening our heart upon them and trusting in their uncertainty rather than in you. If in our moments of spiritual insight and gratitude we resolved to bless as we had been blessed, help us now to overcome the greed which struggles for control, hardening our hearts toward your church and your cause in the world. Help us be bold stewards, ready to invest our five talents that we might double our money for your sake.
We pray also for help in our stewardship of spiritual treasures. Save us from the temptation toward moral abstraction and ethical aloofness. Release us from the insidious notion that your spiritual realities have nothing to do with the material world. Grant that we might be the ones in whom the revolving tire of spiritual energy meets the pavement of a needy world. Open us up that we might have courage and energy to share our spiritual insights and experiences and thus encourage one another for the living of these days. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
