Theological Truth: Money is powerful; handle with care.
If you’ve ever been to Sun Spots Studios, you may be familiar with how careful glassblowers have to be. I remember watching a demonstration with some friends who came to town. We were far enough away from the heat source to see the wondrously molten glass. It was so remarkably pliable that it almost invited reaching out to touch and shape it. Perhaps that’s why we were kept behind the counter! The glassblower knew not to let his guard down. He wore thick leather gloves and held a long iron rod to keep his distance. The molten glass looked beautiful; it could be transformed into valuable and useful things, but it was also dangerous and had to be handled with care.
Do you know what else seems so attractive, so desirable, so tempting, and yet is incredibly dangerous? Money. Wealth. Mammon. We all want it, we all need it. Yet we also know the stories of how it has divided families, ruined children, inspired dehumanizing social institutions, and bankrupted countless souls. Wealth must be handled with care. Episcopal priest and author Barbara Brown Taylor reminds us that “As far as Jesus is concerned, money is like nuclear power. It may be able to do a lot of good in the world, but only within strongly built and carefully regulated corridors. Most of us do not know how to handle it. We get contaminated by its power, and we contaminate others by wielding it carelessly ourselves.” (Barbara Brown Taylor, The Preaching Life, Cowley Publications, Cambridge, Massachusetts, pp.121-126)
Jesus’ parable in today’s Gospel warns us of the dangers of wealth and why we need to handle it with care. The manager had not been handling what had been entrusted to him carefully. His job was to manage the land and resources of the owner and collect a fair return from the tenants. Done carefully and equitably, he could live harmoniously with his owner and his neighbors. Collect a fair amount, retain a reasonable portion for himself, and remit the rest to the owner. But apparently that’s not what he was doing. He was living lavishly and selfishly, charging the tenants large amounts while simultaneously not remitting what was due to the landowner. He was keeping it all for himself.
Inevitably, the manager’s selfish lifestyle comes crashing down. The landowner discovers that the manager has been squandering that which had been entrusted to him. The manager realizes that he has been contaminated by the power of money and it has polluted his relationships with his owner and his neighbors. He comes to his senses and remembers that while wealth misused contaminates and corrupts relationships, wealth shared generously builds relationships and creates community. By cancelling those debts, he re-enters the community. He has less, but he also has so much more. He gives up his position but restores relationship with the owner and his neighbors.
“Money is like nuclear power. It may be able to do a lot of good in the world, but only within strongly built and carefully regulated corridors.” Jesus makes it very clear how dangerous wealth is. We cannot serve God and wealth. That’s not the same thing as saying that wealth is evil. You’ve probably heard the Bible quote “Money is the root of all evil.” But the actual quote is this, “the love of money is the root of all evil,” (1 Timothy 6:10) We have to be very careful or else we too will fall in love with the gift, rather than the Giver. The dishonest manager acted shrewdly because he realized that the way to handle money with care—to minimize the chance of it contaminating his relationships—was to give it away.
So, what are the strongly built and carefully regulated corridors that help us maintain a healthy relationship with the wealth entrusted to us? For me (and I realize this is very un-Episcopalian to talk about this publicly) it is to tithe my income. That’s awkward to say out loud, but it’s the truth. You know me well enough by now to know this: I like shiny things, bigger televisions, and nice hotels. I’m an advertiser’s dream, quickly hypnotized, and easily manipulated by a love of material possessions. So, in order for me to avoid the trap of trying to serve both God and wealth, I pledge the first 10 percent of my income to Trinity. Seriously. Before we moved here, I asked for a pledge card, added my salary plus the value of the housing, and moved the decimal point over one spot. Done.
Proportionate, first-fruit giving provides the strong and well-regulated corridor I need to handle wealth carefully. Tithing helps me remember that God provides everything, and I get to keep 90 percent! By automatically giving back, it’s easier to remain grateful for how much I have received. When I hold on loosely rather than possessively, I remain focused on the fact that I am merely a steward of the gifts I have been given by the Source of all good things.
The word “steward” comes from the phrase “sty ward”—the ward of the pigsty. This person had the important and critical job of taking care of a farm’s swine. When the pigs were well cared for, the people could count on an ongoing, steady supply of essential nutrition. But if they were squandered frivolously, hoarded selfishly, or mismanaged carelessly, the overall well-being of the community suffered—people went hungry. Stewardship means appropriate, faithful, generous, and careful use of the treasures entrusted to us. Not only for our good, but for the greater good. That’s the purpose for which God—the provider of all good gifts—has given them.
Money is like nuclear power—able to do great good, but we must handle it with care and to remember that we are stewards, not owners. And I get it. There are bills to pay, children to feed, grandchildren to spoil. To wake up tomorrow and live on 90 percent of your income probably seems impossible. So, what will you do? What are the strongly built and carefully regulated corridors that will help you maintain a healthy relationship with money? How are you acting as a shrewd steward, enjoying your possessions, but not being possessed by them? Sharing generously because you have received abundantly? Discovering again and again the miracle that when we share what we have, our cups and our cupboards don’t run out; they runneth over.
We can’t serve God and wealth, and even better—we don’t have to! Our job is merely to be shrewd managers—joyful, faithful stewards of God’s bounty.
Let us pray:
“Grant us Lord to love things heavenly, and while we are placed among things that are passing away, help us to hold fast to those that shall endure forever.” (paraphrase of Collect for Proper 20)
— Fr. AJ Heine, Rector, Trinity Episcopal Church of Staunton
Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost, Year C, September 18, 2022
Readings: Amos 8:4-7, 1 Timothy 2:1-8, Psalm 138, Luke 16:1-13
