More on Excesses

"Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and peridition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." 1 Timothy 6-10 NKJV

I have often said, half jokingly, that I have nothing against rich people; in fact, I hope to be one someday! I suppose I've always had this semi-fantasy floating in the back of my mind of a day when I did not have to balance the check book and wonder whether there was enough money to make the house payment. O, the day when I could write a $1000 check to a worthy charity and be glad to have had it to share! Yes Lord, I would do great things if You would only trust me as much as (I say) I trust You!

We know that it doesn't work this way. We should also know that there is a very good reason why it does not and should not work this way. Some, such as I, could not be trusted with large chunks of money. I am absolutely certain of what drives my desire for money. Money = power. That's it. There really is not much more to it.

And the writer of Timothy hits on a key word as well: "contentment". I suppose it never really struck me until last night as I was reading through this passage in preparation for a Sunday sermon (YES!! I get to fill in for someone!). What does it take to be content, truly content? Does contentment feed fulfillment, or is it the other way around? There is enough contained in this passage to force any reasonable disciple to guess that there much more to life than the pursuit of worldly riches, those things "that rust".

It is easy for me to point a finger at the Vatican and high-dollar pastors and demand that they live like the rest of us, but the reality is that any among us is just as subject to these temptations. I for one don't seem too willing to sell everything I own and take up a cross. It would seem I am more willing to tote the extra burden (the cross) along with all my "stuff". This is not a pretty picture of someone who has virtually demanded that the Vatican be sold and the space be given up for homeless folks.

The very same can be said for saving money and fretting about Social Security. Whom do we truly trust if we actually spend time worrying about what will happen to us tomorrow, surely knowing that tomorrow may well never come for us?

That's it, isn't it? It's not that we fear tomorrow necessarily; it is that we are afraid there will be too many "tomorrows" and not enough cash to go around. Either way, we condemn ourselves by demanding that others live up (or down) to a standard we are not willing to abide by.

This is not to say that there are not excesses within the Church. It must be remembered, however, that until we are willing to lead BY EXAMPLE, the message is just a lot of meaningless noise.