Lifestyles Of The Rich, The Powerful, And The Poor
Sermon
MONEY AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD
Can The Rich Be Righteous; Can The Righteous Be Rich?
I rarely watched Robin Leach's popular television program The Lifestyles of The Rich and Famous. But once in a while, I tuned it in to catch glimpses of lifestyles considerably more opulent than my own.
Such was the case one night when, switching channels, I landed in the middle of Robin Leach's telling voice and his program which takes us into the lap of luxury around the world. Part of the program had to do with the ultimate luxury hotels of the world. In some, the room tab could be two, or three, or four thousand dollars per night. I don't know about you, but if I had such a room, I surely wouldn't be able to sleep in it. Since it was costing me, say, five dollars a minute, I would want to be conscious every minute to know how much I was enjoying my luxurious lifestyle!
Another part of Robin Leach's program had to do with a Los Angeles celebrity, or husband of a celebrity, who had the hobby of collecting cars. The cameras went by several cars to rest upon a cheap, Eastern European model, that he had completely redone to the tune of a quarter million dollars or so. He even had certain parts of the "el cheapo" car gilded with real gold. He allowed as to how no one else really had a car like this. And I am sure he is right.
So on a weekly basis, Robin Leach took us on tours to the lap of luxury, giving us insights into opulence and conspicuous consumption otherwise unavailable to most of us. We saw collections of art, jewelry, yachts, cars, clothes, houses, horses, villas, resorts, and lands that are almost beyond our imaginations, and surely beyond the reach of most of us.
If Robin Leach gave us a close--up of real wealth and power, so do the magazines. The best clothes, the best homes, the best restaurants, the best foods and wines, the best horses and cars, the best resorts and vacations are paraded before us in photographic splendor and opulent prose to make us wish we were as fortunate, and to motivate us to work a little harder and to invest a little more wisely. Perhaps the ultimate in opulence was the description of one lady's exquisite bathroom with the refrigerator for chilling her perfume so that immediately after her bath, she would not have to suffer the inconvenience of warm perfume!
But if that lady seemed wealthy and extravagant, sports and entertainment celebrities also do okay. One year Michael Jackson made only a paltry $60 million. Bill Cosby earned a mere $113 million. Oprah Winfrey earned over $80 million and the singing group "New Kids On The Block" earned well over $115 million.
But even that is small potatoes compared to Mr. Bill Gates of Microsoft Computer. Gates, in his late thirties, is the richest man in America worth $38 billion (at this writing!). And that's all new money. The nouveau riche Mr. Gates shrugs it off, saying it's mostly paper money in Microsoft stock. And the heads of Wal--Mart stores are now worth several billion, presiding over their Wal--Mart discount chain. Once again, it's mostly new money.
On and on the story goes. There are more millionaires in America than ever before. Huge fortunes have been made in sometimes unexpected places. More and more people have entered into the holy realm of the rich and famous and powerful. And if you and I win the lottery, we could be there, too.
However - and this is the huge however - there are more poor and homeless in our country. The middle--class is declining. And on the world scene, millions upon millions, including refugees, barely exist in conditions of grinding and relentless poverty.
What then are Christians to do in such a time in such a world? How shall they see themselves with respect to the lifestyles of the rich and powerful and poor?
I.
For one thing, many Christians may have the responsibility to be rich and powerful.
This may come as a surprise to many who think that Christianity is somehow naturally opposed to wealth and power. Vividly aware of Jesus' concern for the poor and disadvantaged, many have forgotten his advice to the rich and powerful. Conscious that Jesus often associated with the outcasts and downtrodden, we have overlooked his frequent attendance at dinner parties of the rich and famous and powerful. He even was supported financially in his work by wealthy women, including the wife of Chuza, who was King Herod's steward.
Many people have come to think that Christianity has mainly to do with women and children and families, but not with board rooms, balance sheets, and stock markets. We have popularly conceived of religion as concerned with soup kitchens, thrift stores, and emergency shelters, but not with production quotas, profit sharing, and benefits packages. We might associate the Faith with compassion, but not competition; with pity but not performance; with benevolence, but not with bonuses and bounty.
But let me remind you of some of Jesus' famous stories. Recall the one of the talents. One servant is given five talents, another two, and another one. The one servant invested his five and made five more. The servant with two invested his two and made two more. Both servants are praised for doubling their money, but the fearful servant who hid his money in the ground, not even putting it in passbook savings, has his one talent taken from him and given to the man with five talents.
In another similar story, Jesus told of a rich man who gave three servants twenty dollars each to invest until he returned. One man increased his investment 1,000 percent; and the other 500 percent, but the third hid it in a napkin "under the mattress" as we would say. So, the ultraconservative, fearful servant had his twenty dollars taken from him to be given to the man who increased his investment ten times. This man was given money and power, namely ten cities to rule over and from which he would receive revenues.
Jesus then added the startling words: "I tell you, that to everyone who has will more be given; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away" (Luke 19:26). These words are startling because for some reason we have assumed Jesus rewards poverty for its own sake, and that he encourages fearful, conservative weakness for its own sake. It is quite the contrary. He rewards responsible risk takers who imitate the Creator, God himself, in sowing seed to bring forth a bountiful harvest.
People who know how to invest, who know how to develop businesses, who know how to multiply wealth, are praised, not condemned, by Jesus. People like that often have learned how to cooperate with the growth principles implicit in the universe. They have been able to see the vision of Russell Conwell's famous "acres of diamonds" just waiting to be harvested. These are they who envision a new product or service; they invest in ideas and hard work, seek out venture capital and launch out to make it happen. Large businesses of today like McDonald's, or J. C. Penney or Amway, started in a garage or basement or single store to grow to mammoth proportions.
Do Christians have a responsibility to be rich and powerful? You bet they do. We are called upon by God to invest our abilities, our talents, our opportunities, our energies, and our money to bring forth a harvest of wealth. God is in favor of the people of faith and adventure over people who are fearful, over the comfortably cowardly, the hesitant, backward--looking Christians always putting their hand to the plow and looking back, or wanting to return home to bury the dead, or always seeking the safe haven over against the high seas of adventure and profit. Yes, some Christians have a responsibility to be rich and powerful.
II.
If Christians are called upon to be rich and powerful, they also are enjoined to be generous and compassionate.
Some years ago, I worked with Puerto Ricans in East Harlem. I was called by the denomination to start an educational institute for Puerto Ricans in East Harlem, later expanding to Bedford--Stuyvesant in Brooklyn and to the South Bronx. I also served as Associate Minister at LaHermosa Christian Church where we had services and classes in Spanish and English. I grew to love the Puerto Rican people, their sincere faith, lively spirit, and generous giving. They were and are beautiful people.
After serving in East Harlem, I was called to the Colonial Church in Edina to be Teaching Minister. Edina was a well--to--do suburb of southwest Minneapolis of about 50,000 people. Not only was there a chicken in every pot, there were Cadillacs and Mercedes Benzes in many garages and golf courses on every few corners. Edina means "Eden," and it was a paradise of sorts. The sun shone every day! It rained only between 2 and 4 a.m. The high school athletic teams and musical groups always won, particularly because their school mascot was a mink! Even the children's sandboxes had reclining seats!
So it was a considerable contrast for me - going from the poverty of East Harlem to the relative opulence and luxury of Edina. But I adjusted! And the people of Edina were wonderful. It came to be one of the happiest ministries of my life as they helped me cope with the grief over the death of my first wife and then celebrated with me when Sara and I married, combining our three children each to become the Congregational "Brady Bunch."
So the Colonial Church (Community Congregational as it was originally called) was and is a wonderful church. But imagine my surprise when upon going there I discovered the average pledge to the church of those fur--coated, Cadillacs ensconced, country--clubbed, stock--portfolioed members wasn't proportionately much higher than the average pledge of the relatively poor Puerto Rican Christians of East Harlem. I was astounded.
But then I started doing some rough calculating, and I discovered that after adjusting for inflation and the passage of 25 years, the average pledge in my recent church was not much higher than that of the so--called ghetto Puerto Ricans. Think of the headlines - North Shore, Gold Coast Church's average pledge only slightly higher than East Harlem Church. Many Christians have gladly accepted the privilege of being rich and powerful without equally accepting the responsibility for being generous and compassionate.
It is well known that in America the so--called denominations composed of poorer people give much more per capita than denominations composed of the more well--to--do. Some people in the wealthier churches excuse that by saying wealthier people leave more of their estates to their churches. I wish that were true.
In the Middle Ages, a great deal of wealth had accrued to the church and clergy. The higher clergy often were very rich and powerful and sometimes were corrupt. Among other things, the Protestant Reformation wrestled power and wealth from the church and clergy and gave it to the laity. Growing up in a time of political and economic ferment, the Protestant Reformation empowered the laity, especially the middle classes, with the ideologies of freedom and opportunity. Soon, in the course of history, power and fortune were in the hands of the Protestant laity, rather than in the hands of the Protestant churches and clergy.
Protestant lay people have lately been very poor stewards when it comes to being generous and compassionate with their churches. Like ungrateful children to kindly parents, many Protestants have taken the benefits of their heritage without giving anything of substance back. One of the largest areas of neglect is in estates and wills.
In one of my former churches, a woman whose family had benefitted greatly from the church, left the bulk of her estate to the local zoo and only a token gift to the church. (Perhaps she thought the church was more of a zoo than the zoo!) Other Christians have left houses, lands, boats, art collections, antiques, and fortunes to their colleges or hospitals or symphony orchestras or art museums, but only pocket change to their church.
The great Protestant fortunes of today have gone to support education, art, culture, sports, museums, and zoos, but little has gone to support churches, seminaries, and church missions. What will the Lord of all power and wealth say about such ungrateful stewardship?
Or consider today many of the sports heroes and celebrities. Many singers got their start in churches, in church choirs and church services. Some actors and performers got their start in church drama and theater. But does the church receive anything from the fortunes they made? Rarely.
Do some Christians have a responsibility to be rich and powerful? You bet they do. But they also have a responsibility to be generous and compassionate, for as Jesus said, "Unto whom much is given, much is required."
III.
By now I can hear some people saying to themselves, this sermon surely isn't for me, for I am neither rich nor powerful. I am poor and weak. But I remind you, that Jesus has advice for the lifestyles of the rich, the powerful, and the poor. Even the poor and weak have responsibilities in the Kingdom of God.
Over the years we have heard a great deal about the greed of the rich, but not about the greed of the poor. When we hear the famous scripture, "The love of money is the root of all evil," most of us immediately think of the rich and famous, but not about ourselves.
But the truth is, the poor and weak can love money and power even more than the rich and powerful. The truth is, the "down--and--outers" can believe in money more than the "up--and--outers." If the rich and powerful have sometimes discovered the emptiness of success to sing like Peggy Lee "Is That All There Is?" the poor and weak sometimes still have vain imaginations as to what money and power can do for them. There is no doubt most all of us would agree with Sophie Tucker, who said, "I've been rich and I've been poor, and believe me, rich is best."
Nevertheless, notice that Jesus expected responsible use and investment from those given little as well as those given much. If it is true to say, "Unto whom much is given, much is required," it is also true to say, "Unto whom little is given, at least a little is required," namely responsibility and generosity proportionate to your gift. The one talent person was fearful and miserly and didn't even save with the bankers to earn minimum interest. So the little he had was given to the one who had the most, who had used it responsibly and generously.
Lifestyles of the rich and powerful? Do we envy them and want to emulate them? I suppose many of us do. But as Christians, rich or poor, powerful or weak, we are called upon to emulate not the conspicuous consumption featured in Robin Leach's programs, but the conspicuous discipleship featured in our sacred teachings.
When the Lord of all the universe returns and asks for an accounting of how well we have done with what was entrusted to us, he will ask if we have been responsible, profitable, generous, and compassionate with what he gave us. May he say of us at that time, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over much. I will give you even more. Enter into the joy of your reward."
Prayer
Almighty God, from whom all blessings flow, and by whose hand we all are fed, you have made the world as an expression of yourself, and you have focused your own being in us, bringing it into view, not in the first Adam, but in the second Adam, even Jesus Christ. Placing us, as you have, in a world of complex forces and powers, you have enabled us to see the personal nature of your power and love in the face of Jesus Christ. We praise you and give you thanks.
It is for us to confess in your presence how we struggle with our faith in you and in Jesus Christ. The world, with its forces and powers, is so much with us. In our anxieties of making a living, paying bills, and attempting to get ahead, we focus on today and tomorrow more than on some distant eternity. Sometimes overwrought with problems which will not go away, and sometimes burdened with pain and grief which will not release their grip, you seem to us an absentee deity rather than a very present help in time of trouble. You have asked us to cast our cares upon you as we would upon a caring father. So in mercy, be pleased to hear our confession and forgive us and come to us in our time of need.
O God, who has lured us out of our comfortable past into the challenging future, and who has promised both a final accounting and reward, deliver us from any nostalgia or sentimental fixations on the past which would prevent us from seeing your present realities and future glories. If we have been content to ensconce ourselves in the way things are, help us to awaken to the way you want things to be.
O Lord our God, as Jesus Christ opened himself to you so that your will might become focused and expressed, so might we open ourselves to you so that your kingdom might become more focused and expressed through us. If we have been petulant, give us patience. If we have been self--righteous, grant us humility. If we have been thoughtless and selfish, open our hearts for kindness and generosity. If we have fixed our minds on our own truths, help us to see the truths of others, and above all, your truth which makes us free. Grant that as Jesus became your true Son, we might become more truly your sons and daughters in whom your divine fatherhood is focused.
We pray for our world - your world. Let nations come to greater freedom and equity for all. And help your church throughout all the world to be a community where your light and truth and love are focused for all to see. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Such was the case one night when, switching channels, I landed in the middle of Robin Leach's telling voice and his program which takes us into the lap of luxury around the world. Part of the program had to do with the ultimate luxury hotels of the world. In some, the room tab could be two, or three, or four thousand dollars per night. I don't know about you, but if I had such a room, I surely wouldn't be able to sleep in it. Since it was costing me, say, five dollars a minute, I would want to be conscious every minute to know how much I was enjoying my luxurious lifestyle!
Another part of Robin Leach's program had to do with a Los Angeles celebrity, or husband of a celebrity, who had the hobby of collecting cars. The cameras went by several cars to rest upon a cheap, Eastern European model, that he had completely redone to the tune of a quarter million dollars or so. He even had certain parts of the "el cheapo" car gilded with real gold. He allowed as to how no one else really had a car like this. And I am sure he is right.
So on a weekly basis, Robin Leach took us on tours to the lap of luxury, giving us insights into opulence and conspicuous consumption otherwise unavailable to most of us. We saw collections of art, jewelry, yachts, cars, clothes, houses, horses, villas, resorts, and lands that are almost beyond our imaginations, and surely beyond the reach of most of us.
If Robin Leach gave us a close--up of real wealth and power, so do the magazines. The best clothes, the best homes, the best restaurants, the best foods and wines, the best horses and cars, the best resorts and vacations are paraded before us in photographic splendor and opulent prose to make us wish we were as fortunate, and to motivate us to work a little harder and to invest a little more wisely. Perhaps the ultimate in opulence was the description of one lady's exquisite bathroom with the refrigerator for chilling her perfume so that immediately after her bath, she would not have to suffer the inconvenience of warm perfume!
But if that lady seemed wealthy and extravagant, sports and entertainment celebrities also do okay. One year Michael Jackson made only a paltry $60 million. Bill Cosby earned a mere $113 million. Oprah Winfrey earned over $80 million and the singing group "New Kids On The Block" earned well over $115 million.
But even that is small potatoes compared to Mr. Bill Gates of Microsoft Computer. Gates, in his late thirties, is the richest man in America worth $38 billion (at this writing!). And that's all new money. The nouveau riche Mr. Gates shrugs it off, saying it's mostly paper money in Microsoft stock. And the heads of Wal--Mart stores are now worth several billion, presiding over their Wal--Mart discount chain. Once again, it's mostly new money.
On and on the story goes. There are more millionaires in America than ever before. Huge fortunes have been made in sometimes unexpected places. More and more people have entered into the holy realm of the rich and famous and powerful. And if you and I win the lottery, we could be there, too.
However - and this is the huge however - there are more poor and homeless in our country. The middle--class is declining. And on the world scene, millions upon millions, including refugees, barely exist in conditions of grinding and relentless poverty.
What then are Christians to do in such a time in such a world? How shall they see themselves with respect to the lifestyles of the rich and powerful and poor?
I.
For one thing, many Christians may have the responsibility to be rich and powerful.
This may come as a surprise to many who think that Christianity is somehow naturally opposed to wealth and power. Vividly aware of Jesus' concern for the poor and disadvantaged, many have forgotten his advice to the rich and powerful. Conscious that Jesus often associated with the outcasts and downtrodden, we have overlooked his frequent attendance at dinner parties of the rich and famous and powerful. He even was supported financially in his work by wealthy women, including the wife of Chuza, who was King Herod's steward.
Many people have come to think that Christianity has mainly to do with women and children and families, but not with board rooms, balance sheets, and stock markets. We have popularly conceived of religion as concerned with soup kitchens, thrift stores, and emergency shelters, but not with production quotas, profit sharing, and benefits packages. We might associate the Faith with compassion, but not competition; with pity but not performance; with benevolence, but not with bonuses and bounty.
But let me remind you of some of Jesus' famous stories. Recall the one of the talents. One servant is given five talents, another two, and another one. The one servant invested his five and made five more. The servant with two invested his two and made two more. Both servants are praised for doubling their money, but the fearful servant who hid his money in the ground, not even putting it in passbook savings, has his one talent taken from him and given to the man with five talents.
In another similar story, Jesus told of a rich man who gave three servants twenty dollars each to invest until he returned. One man increased his investment 1,000 percent; and the other 500 percent, but the third hid it in a napkin "under the mattress" as we would say. So, the ultraconservative, fearful servant had his twenty dollars taken from him to be given to the man who increased his investment ten times. This man was given money and power, namely ten cities to rule over and from which he would receive revenues.
Jesus then added the startling words: "I tell you, that to everyone who has will more be given; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away" (Luke 19:26). These words are startling because for some reason we have assumed Jesus rewards poverty for its own sake, and that he encourages fearful, conservative weakness for its own sake. It is quite the contrary. He rewards responsible risk takers who imitate the Creator, God himself, in sowing seed to bring forth a bountiful harvest.
People who know how to invest, who know how to develop businesses, who know how to multiply wealth, are praised, not condemned, by Jesus. People like that often have learned how to cooperate with the growth principles implicit in the universe. They have been able to see the vision of Russell Conwell's famous "acres of diamonds" just waiting to be harvested. These are they who envision a new product or service; they invest in ideas and hard work, seek out venture capital and launch out to make it happen. Large businesses of today like McDonald's, or J. C. Penney or Amway, started in a garage or basement or single store to grow to mammoth proportions.
Do Christians have a responsibility to be rich and powerful? You bet they do. We are called upon by God to invest our abilities, our talents, our opportunities, our energies, and our money to bring forth a harvest of wealth. God is in favor of the people of faith and adventure over people who are fearful, over the comfortably cowardly, the hesitant, backward--looking Christians always putting their hand to the plow and looking back, or wanting to return home to bury the dead, or always seeking the safe haven over against the high seas of adventure and profit. Yes, some Christians have a responsibility to be rich and powerful.
II.
If Christians are called upon to be rich and powerful, they also are enjoined to be generous and compassionate.
Some years ago, I worked with Puerto Ricans in East Harlem. I was called by the denomination to start an educational institute for Puerto Ricans in East Harlem, later expanding to Bedford--Stuyvesant in Brooklyn and to the South Bronx. I also served as Associate Minister at LaHermosa Christian Church where we had services and classes in Spanish and English. I grew to love the Puerto Rican people, their sincere faith, lively spirit, and generous giving. They were and are beautiful people.
After serving in East Harlem, I was called to the Colonial Church in Edina to be Teaching Minister. Edina was a well--to--do suburb of southwest Minneapolis of about 50,000 people. Not only was there a chicken in every pot, there were Cadillacs and Mercedes Benzes in many garages and golf courses on every few corners. Edina means "Eden," and it was a paradise of sorts. The sun shone every day! It rained only between 2 and 4 a.m. The high school athletic teams and musical groups always won, particularly because their school mascot was a mink! Even the children's sandboxes had reclining seats!
So it was a considerable contrast for me - going from the poverty of East Harlem to the relative opulence and luxury of Edina. But I adjusted! And the people of Edina were wonderful. It came to be one of the happiest ministries of my life as they helped me cope with the grief over the death of my first wife and then celebrated with me when Sara and I married, combining our three children each to become the Congregational "Brady Bunch."
So the Colonial Church (Community Congregational as it was originally called) was and is a wonderful church. But imagine my surprise when upon going there I discovered the average pledge to the church of those fur--coated, Cadillacs ensconced, country--clubbed, stock--portfolioed members wasn't proportionately much higher than the average pledge of the relatively poor Puerto Rican Christians of East Harlem. I was astounded.
But then I started doing some rough calculating, and I discovered that after adjusting for inflation and the passage of 25 years, the average pledge in my recent church was not much higher than that of the so--called ghetto Puerto Ricans. Think of the headlines - North Shore, Gold Coast Church's average pledge only slightly higher than East Harlem Church. Many Christians have gladly accepted the privilege of being rich and powerful without equally accepting the responsibility for being generous and compassionate.
It is well known that in America the so--called denominations composed of poorer people give much more per capita than denominations composed of the more well--to--do. Some people in the wealthier churches excuse that by saying wealthier people leave more of their estates to their churches. I wish that were true.
In the Middle Ages, a great deal of wealth had accrued to the church and clergy. The higher clergy often were very rich and powerful and sometimes were corrupt. Among other things, the Protestant Reformation wrestled power and wealth from the church and clergy and gave it to the laity. Growing up in a time of political and economic ferment, the Protestant Reformation empowered the laity, especially the middle classes, with the ideologies of freedom and opportunity. Soon, in the course of history, power and fortune were in the hands of the Protestant laity, rather than in the hands of the Protestant churches and clergy.
Protestant lay people have lately been very poor stewards when it comes to being generous and compassionate with their churches. Like ungrateful children to kindly parents, many Protestants have taken the benefits of their heritage without giving anything of substance back. One of the largest areas of neglect is in estates and wills.
In one of my former churches, a woman whose family had benefitted greatly from the church, left the bulk of her estate to the local zoo and only a token gift to the church. (Perhaps she thought the church was more of a zoo than the zoo!) Other Christians have left houses, lands, boats, art collections, antiques, and fortunes to their colleges or hospitals or symphony orchestras or art museums, but only pocket change to their church.
The great Protestant fortunes of today have gone to support education, art, culture, sports, museums, and zoos, but little has gone to support churches, seminaries, and church missions. What will the Lord of all power and wealth say about such ungrateful stewardship?
Or consider today many of the sports heroes and celebrities. Many singers got their start in churches, in church choirs and church services. Some actors and performers got their start in church drama and theater. But does the church receive anything from the fortunes they made? Rarely.
Do some Christians have a responsibility to be rich and powerful? You bet they do. But they also have a responsibility to be generous and compassionate, for as Jesus said, "Unto whom much is given, much is required."
III.
By now I can hear some people saying to themselves, this sermon surely isn't for me, for I am neither rich nor powerful. I am poor and weak. But I remind you, that Jesus has advice for the lifestyles of the rich, the powerful, and the poor. Even the poor and weak have responsibilities in the Kingdom of God.
Over the years we have heard a great deal about the greed of the rich, but not about the greed of the poor. When we hear the famous scripture, "The love of money is the root of all evil," most of us immediately think of the rich and famous, but not about ourselves.
But the truth is, the poor and weak can love money and power even more than the rich and powerful. The truth is, the "down--and--outers" can believe in money more than the "up--and--outers." If the rich and powerful have sometimes discovered the emptiness of success to sing like Peggy Lee "Is That All There Is?" the poor and weak sometimes still have vain imaginations as to what money and power can do for them. There is no doubt most all of us would agree with Sophie Tucker, who said, "I've been rich and I've been poor, and believe me, rich is best."
Nevertheless, notice that Jesus expected responsible use and investment from those given little as well as those given much. If it is true to say, "Unto whom much is given, much is required," it is also true to say, "Unto whom little is given, at least a little is required," namely responsibility and generosity proportionate to your gift. The one talent person was fearful and miserly and didn't even save with the bankers to earn minimum interest. So the little he had was given to the one who had the most, who had used it responsibly and generously.
Lifestyles of the rich and powerful? Do we envy them and want to emulate them? I suppose many of us do. But as Christians, rich or poor, powerful or weak, we are called upon to emulate not the conspicuous consumption featured in Robin Leach's programs, but the conspicuous discipleship featured in our sacred teachings.
When the Lord of all the universe returns and asks for an accounting of how well we have done with what was entrusted to us, he will ask if we have been responsible, profitable, generous, and compassionate with what he gave us. May he say of us at that time, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over much. I will give you even more. Enter into the joy of your reward."
Prayer
Almighty God, from whom all blessings flow, and by whose hand we all are fed, you have made the world as an expression of yourself, and you have focused your own being in us, bringing it into view, not in the first Adam, but in the second Adam, even Jesus Christ. Placing us, as you have, in a world of complex forces and powers, you have enabled us to see the personal nature of your power and love in the face of Jesus Christ. We praise you and give you thanks.
It is for us to confess in your presence how we struggle with our faith in you and in Jesus Christ. The world, with its forces and powers, is so much with us. In our anxieties of making a living, paying bills, and attempting to get ahead, we focus on today and tomorrow more than on some distant eternity. Sometimes overwrought with problems which will not go away, and sometimes burdened with pain and grief which will not release their grip, you seem to us an absentee deity rather than a very present help in time of trouble. You have asked us to cast our cares upon you as we would upon a caring father. So in mercy, be pleased to hear our confession and forgive us and come to us in our time of need.
O God, who has lured us out of our comfortable past into the challenging future, and who has promised both a final accounting and reward, deliver us from any nostalgia or sentimental fixations on the past which would prevent us from seeing your present realities and future glories. If we have been content to ensconce ourselves in the way things are, help us to awaken to the way you want things to be.
O Lord our God, as Jesus Christ opened himself to you so that your will might become focused and expressed, so might we open ourselves to you so that your kingdom might become more focused and expressed through us. If we have been petulant, give us patience. If we have been self--righteous, grant us humility. If we have been thoughtless and selfish, open our hearts for kindness and generosity. If we have fixed our minds on our own truths, help us to see the truths of others, and above all, your truth which makes us free. Grant that as Jesus became your true Son, we might become more truly your sons and daughters in whom your divine fatherhood is focused.
We pray for our world - your world. Let nations come to greater freedom and equity for all. And help your church throughout all the world to be a community where your light and truth and love are focused for all to see. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
