{"id":8001,"date":"2019-08-04T00:00:17","date_gmt":"2019-08-03T23:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/turski.blog\/?p=8001"},"modified":"2019-08-04T00:00:17","modified_gmt":"2019-08-03T23:00:17","slug":"18th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/?p=8001","title":{"rendered":"18th Sunday in Ordinary time"},"content":{"rendered":"

The quickest way to lose friends is by lending them money. The quickest way to lose more friends is by attempting to mediate between the lenders and the borrowers. People fall out over many things, but money or wealth are among the most common and long-lasting. That\u2019s why Jesus – asked in today\u2019s gospel to resolve an inheritance dispute, dismisses the man\u2019s request straight away: \u2018who appointed me your judge or the arbitrator of your claim?\u2019<\/em> That dismissal is followed by Jesus\u2019 stern warning against greed and a parable seemingly condemning the savviness of a fortunate man who wanted to make the best of his good harvest. All that leads us to a tricky question on how to practically reconcile our Christian faith with seeking financial or material prosperity. I won\u2019t tackle such a question in this sermon – it\u2019s well over my paygrade (excuse the pun). Instead I\u2019d like to offer you a bit closer look at today\u2019s gospel, so you can make up your own mind.<\/p>\n

\u2018A man\u2019s life is not made secure by what he owns, even when he has more than he needs.\u2019<\/em> This is Jesus\u2019 reasoning when he warns against \u2018avarice of any kind.\u2019<\/em> He refers to the sense of security that wealth can apparently provide. Surely, financial constraints can enormously limit or even diminish one\u2019s chances of success in life. I don\u2019t need to present any examples of that – there\u2019s plenty in the media. Undoubtedly, some spare cash can make life easier up to a certain point. Beyond that point wealth starts breeding arrogance, vanity, smugness, boastful pride or many other unpleasant traits. There\u2019s no shortage of stories to confirm that. Another aspect of wealth \u2018beyond the point\u2019 is a sense of insecurity. Rich financiers and footballers have recently been targeted by moped gangs in London and robbed at knifepoint. Robbers target wealthy people\u2019s properties. Finally, when you\u2019re rich you never know if your friends are friends of yours or of your money\u2026 So, where is that point, beyond which wealth becomes a threat to its owner\u2019s life and wellbeing?<\/p>\n

The clue is in the same sentence: \u2018A man\u2019s life is not made secure by what he owns, even when he has more than he needs<\/strong>.\u2019<\/em> Jesus recognises that everyone has legitimate needs, and that financial or material means are the way to fulfil those needs in a legitimate way. Jesus never promotes some kind of idealistic but unrealistic model of life where money or whatever it can buy is redundant or morally tainted. What Jesus calls to in regard to money is freedom at using it. In today\u2019s second reading St Paul warns against \u2018greed, which is the same thing as worshipping a false god.\u2019<\/em> It\u2019s a clear reference to Jesus\u2019 own caution: \u2018You cannot serve two masters at the same time. You will hate one and love the other, or you will be loyal to one and not care about the other. You cannot serve God and Money at the same time.\u2019 <\/em>(Matthew 6:24)<\/p>\n

The parable in today\u2019s gospel tells us a story of a man who\u2019s had a good harvest and decided to increase his storage to store his abundant stock. He seems to be admonished by Jesus: \u2018Fool! This very night the demand will be made for your soul; and this hoard of yours, whose will it be then?\u2019<\/em> Is Jesus really criticising the man\u2019s prudence and shrewdness? The clue is in the man\u2019s these words: \u2018My soul, you have plenty of good things laid by for many years to come; take things easy, eat, drink, have a good time<\/strong>.\u2019<\/em> Jesus is critical of his attitude, of his false sense of security provided by the windfall. Many sad stories of people whose lives were ruined by winning the lottery illustrate that Jesus\u2019 warning isn\u2019t theoretical or locked in the past; it\u2019s as credible and relevant as it has always been.<\/p>\n

So, as I promised at the beginning of my sermon, I don\u2019t offer any ready-made answer to that tricky question of faith and financial prosperity. In fact, everyone must find their own answer, taking into consideration all aspects of their lives. Well, I\u2019ve made up my mind and I promise, that If I ever win the lottery, all of my neighbours are going to be so rich! I\u2019m going to move to a rich neighbourhood.<\/p>\n

\n

Image by PublicDomainPictures<\/a> from Pixabay<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The quickest way to lose friends is by lending them money. The quickest way to lose more friends is by attempting to mediate between the lenders and the borrowers. People fall out over many things, but money or wealth are among the most common and long-lasting. That\u2019s why Jesus – asked in today\u2019s gospel to resolve an inheritance dispute, dismisses the man\u2019s request straight away: \u2018who appointed me your judge or the arbitrator of your claim?\u2019 That dismissal is followed by Jesus\u2019 stern warning against greed and a parable seemingly condemning the savviness of a fortunate man who wanted to make the best of his good harvest. All that leads us to a tricky question on how to practically reconcile our Christian faith with seeking financial or material prosperity. I won\u2019t tackle such a question in this sermon – it\u2019s well over my paygrade (excuse the pun). Instead I\u2019d like to offer you a bit closer look at today\u2019s gospel, so you can make up your own mind. \u2018A man\u2019s life is not made secure by what he owns, even when he has more than he needs.\u2019 This is Jesus\u2019 reasoning when he warns against \u2018avarice of any kind.\u2019 He refers to the sense of security that wealth can apparently provide. Surely, financial constraints can enormously limit or even diminish one\u2019s chances of success in life. I don\u2019t need to present any examples of that – there\u2019s plenty in the media. Undoubtedly, some spare cash can make life easier up to a certain point. Beyond that point wealth starts breeding arrogance, vanity, smugness, boastful pride or many other unpleasant traits. There\u2019s no shortage of stories to confirm that. Another aspect of wealth \u2018beyond the point\u2019 is a sense of insecurity. Rich financiers and footballers have recently been targeted by moped gangs in London and robbed at knifepoint. Robbers target wealthy people\u2019s properties. Finally, when you\u2019re rich you never know if your friends are friends of yours or of your money\u2026 So, where is that point, beyond which wealth becomes a threat to its owner\u2019s life and wellbeing? The clue is in the same sentence: \u2018A man\u2019s life is not made secure by what he owns, even when he has more than he needs.\u2019 Jesus recognises that everyone has legitimate needs, and that financial or material means are the way to fulfil those needs in a legitimate way. Jesus never promotes some kind of idealistic but unrealistic model of life where money or whatever it can buy is redundant or morally tainted. What Jesus calls to in regard to money is freedom at using it. In today\u2019s second reading St Paul warns against \u2018greed, which is the same thing as worshipping a false god.\u2019 It\u2019s a clear reference to Jesus\u2019 own caution: \u2018You cannot serve two masters at the same time. You will hate one and love the other, or you will be loyal to one and not care about the other. You cannot serve God and Money at the same time.\u2019 (Matthew 6:24) The parable in today\u2019s gospel tells us a story of a man who\u2019s had a good harvest and decided to increase his storage to store his abundant stock. He seems to be admonished by Jesus: \u2018Fool! This very night the demand will be made for your soul; and this hoard of yours, whose will it be then?\u2019 Is Jesus really criticising the man\u2019s prudence and shrewdness? The clue is in the man\u2019s these words: \u2018My soul, you have plenty of good things laid by for many years to come; take things easy, eat, drink, have a good time.\u2019 Jesus is critical of his attitude, of his false sense of security provided by the windfall. Many sad stories of people whose lives were ruined by winning the lottery illustrate that Jesus\u2019 warning isn\u2019t theoretical or locked in the past; it\u2019s as credible and relevant as it has always been. So, as I promised at the beginning of my sermon, I don\u2019t offer any ready-made answer to that tricky question of faith and financial prosperity. In fact, everyone must find their own answer, taking into consideration all aspects of their lives. Well, I\u2019ve made up my mind and I promise, that If I ever win the lottery, all of my neighbours are going to be so rich! I\u2019m going to move to a rich neighbourhood. Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8004,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sermon","category-year-c"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8001\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}