Proper 19 – B

 

Far away in the distant land of Puget Sound from whence our family comes, there are many, many large non-denominational churches. As I was preparing to leave Federal Way, the local newspaper was frequently exposing the tension between a pastor and one of these churches and their plans to move into my former city of Federal Way with a huge facility similar to the one located in our neighborhood on Ridge Rd. The community of Federal Way had some issues with what was bound to be increased traffic in an already congested area, not to mention a few other concerns. This pastor in Puget Sound had two churches located in opposite ends of the Sound – one about a half hour south of Seattle and the other located about a half hour north of Seattle. Each Sunday he would do his service in the south sound and then get on his helicopter to head to the north sound for his second service at an equally large church. He is a sort of modern day circuit rider preacher only he has a helicopter instead of a horse. So what made this preacher so popular – nothing short of the gospel of prosperity.

 

This week Time Magazine’s front cover has a picture of a Rolls Royce overlaid with the words “Does God want you to be Rich?” In this week’s gospel reading Jesus says the following to his disciples:  “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” The article in Time Magazine exposes the growing tension between preachers of the gospel of prosperity and the gospels actually found in the Bible. The lines dividing prosperity preachers and Biblical preachers are not necessarily the same lines drawn on other hot topics of the day. Prosperity preachers are a segment of the evangelical movement that is even creating a good bit of embarrassment for more traditional evangelical preachers. 

 

Now you have to understand that when I went to seminary, the gospel of prosperity was unknown. In fact the opposite kind of competitiveness – what might be called simple living competition was the way of the land. If you had a car that had less than 100,000 miles on it, you weren’t really living the gospel. In my seminary days, one’s authenticity of faith was based on how many trips to third world countries you had made or even how many civil disobedience actions in which you had participated. In my conversations with Deacon Peter, I am happy to know that things have not changed all that much, at least at Episcopal seminaries. “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

 

So what does the Bible have to say about wealth? As is true of most topics, the message is mixed. What is not debatable is the number of times money is talked about in scripture. References to money or wealth number in the thousands. And the truth be told, this may be one of those places where we need to look at Old Testament passages about money in light of the New Testament and not try to put the texts on an equal playing field. I think we have to give greater weight to Jesus’ message about not laying up treasures on earth than to the psalmist’s words: “Do not be afraid when one becomes rich, when the glory of his house is increased.” (Psalm 49:16).  

 

Jesus’ words about denying ourselves and taking up our crosses which we heard this morning is a deeply spiritual question that has to do with attachment to the material world. I don’t believe Jesus is saying we need to live in utter simplicity although that is a lifestyle to which many Christians feel called. I do believe the gospel is informing us that we need to have had enough practice and experience with simple living that adapting to that lifestyle will not be a spiritual hardship for us. 

 

The spiritual practice of self-denial seems to be fairly obscure these days but it is a discipline that emerges directly from the gospels. If we have never examined our relationship with money in light of the gospels, we have missed a significant part of the overall Biblical message. If we have no experience in the spiritual examination of need versus want when it comes to dealing with money, we could find ourselves in deep trouble not only financially but more importantly spiritually. Jesus wants us to have practice in theses areas – that’s why he calls us to deny ourselves. “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

 

This is all quite the going concern in this part of the world at this particular time because of the massive layoffs at Ford. I know that for people in the Metro Detroit area these are challenging days. For some in this congregation, the impact is direct. But everyone who lives in this area will be affected in some way. I must say, however, that from a spiritual point of view, this whole economic situation presents some significant opportunities. People have the opportunity to be imaginative about their future, to consider other possibilities. Most of you know that the Pacific Northwest is a very popular place to live these days. This was, however, not always the case. In the 1970’s when Boeing did massive layoffs, there was a billboard on the way to the Seattle airport that read, “Will the last person to leave Seattle, turn off the lights.” Some of my former parishioners at my first church in Seattle told me stories of buying lakefront property in the `1970’s, now worth a million dollars or more, for $10,000. The important thing to realize is that it was in the shadow of Boeing’s collapse, that companies such as Costco, Starbucks, Microsoft, Amazon and dozens of others were born. 

 

Now this field of opportunity has come upon Metro-Detroit. We have the opportunity to learn how to live with less, to do a bit more in the area of denying ourselves and taking up our crosses than perhaps we have in the past. The push against the financial wall will force people to either give up and leave the area or be incredibly imaginative about other possibilities. 

 

In my congregation in Federal Way, we had a parishioner who was very gifted in the area of woodworking. He did outstanding work and was also very imaginative in creating all kinds of interesting items. His inventiveness in this are was terrific. Despite the fact that he was a very hard worker, during my eight years at this church, he got laid off or fired from about five jobs, none of which were a good fit for him. I tried to work with this couple around the idea of his doing something with his woodworking because that clearly was his passion but his wife was too afraid of the risks. 

 

I realize that my credibility in this are might be a bit weak given that we live in a very nice house in a nice neighborhood in Northville. But life did not start out this way for me. When I was 25 and many people my age were either getting married or living in comfortable apartments in Baltimore, I bought a row house in a poor neighborhood in the city. In 1975, I paid $3,000 for this stark but livable residence. It had two tiny bedrooms about the size of the closets in some houses in this area but it was mine. In 1989 when I moved to Seattle, I sold it for $30,000. In Seattle, I bought a house that bordered on the Central District, one of the poorer/affordable communities in Seattle. After my husband and I got married and we gave birth to our son Justin, we continued to live there. Even when our young Vietnamese newspaper delivery boy was fatally shot in front of our house, we stayed in that house for another four years until it was clear that God was calling me to a different ministry. I suppose that all I am trying to say is that the lifestyle we now have is relatively new to us. We have had plenty of practice in living on the edge. “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

 

The days ahead may call forth from all of us some serious reconsidering in our personal lives. The gospel of prosperity is not all bad. I do believe God wants us to be successful, God wants us to use our talents, God wants us to be happy, God wants us to be comfortable and have enough… However, I don’t believe that any of these things necessitate a highly materialistic and affluent lifestyle. In terms of the gospel, less is more. As we continue to move into these days of economic challenge, let us learn how to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Jesus.