| Sermons |
Beyond Prosperity
by Jamie Parsley
Song reference: "If God Will Send His Angels"
Biblical reference: Luke 12:32-40
The other night I was talking to an old buddy from high school, Dave, who was
telling me about a guy he knows, Nick, who is a very successful businessman. Nick
is a member of one of those nondenominational mega churches that are so popular
now, and he often goes around preaching and expounding on the Bible. One of the
messages that he's fond of preaching about is the belief that God wants us all to be
materially wealthy. "God wants us to have nice cars," this guy told my friend. "God
wants us to have nice houses, nice clothes, trips to exotic places." But Dave isn't so
sure. And so he turned to me and asked, "Is this really what God wants?
Does God want us to be wealthy?" There's a part of me that wanted to respond to
Dave by saying, "Fine. If people want to look at the things in their lives as blessings
from God, who am I to say anything different?" After all, I myself like nice
things-whether it is food or music or fine architecture or what have you. I've
fantasized about living in one of those huge houses south of town or on Eighth
Street. I imagine what it would be like to have a really fast, expensive, foreign car or
to fly off to Cap d'Antibes.
But the problem with this "Gospel of Prosperity," as it is called, is that it defines our
faith in God by the possessions we have. That really bothers me. As pleasant as it
sounds, as wonderful as it might be to believe that God is some Santa Claus in
heaven whose only wish is to rain riches down upon us, the reality is this: "One's
life does not consist in the abundance of possessions" (Lk. 12:15).
This is a message that seems to get lost in the version of the Gospel preached by
people like Nick. His Gospel is preached by a Jesus I have a hard time recognizing.
Nick's Jesus comes across as promising the goods, but not the substance. Nick's
Jesus seems to believe that a well-balanced spirituality is somehow dependent
upon having material goods; Nick's Jesus is some strange glitzy version of the one I
have met.
There was a song by U2 a few years back that keeps going through my head as I
think about this type of Jesus:
Jesus never let me down
You know Jesus used to show me the score
Then they put Jesus in show business
Now it's hard to get in the door
In the video, Bono sings this lament about the absence of God sitting in a booth in a
cafe. And as he sits, all around him life is going on at high speed. People of all races
and ages slide into the booth and carryon animated conversations. There's a fire in
the dark street outside, fire trucks come, waitresses pass. And the lament for God
goes on, and no one sees or notices it, even when they're sitting right next to it. They
just miss the point.
In the Gospels we often find stories of Jesus meeting people who simply miss the
point. The story of the rich man who meets Jesus is no exception. It portrays one
person in the crowd so distracted by possessions that he's simply not seeing or
hearing Jesus. He comes to Jesus because one of his brothers is not sharing an
inheritance and he knows that some portion is rightfully his.
Although Jesus-Savior of the world, Christ himself-is standing right there next to
him, this person misses the whole point because he is too busy measuring his life in
possessions. And Jesus, knowing this, says to him, "Take care, be on your guard
against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of
possessions." Exclamation point. Of course, Jesus doesn't let it end there. He has to
deliver the punch in that way only he can. He goes on to tell a story, a story about a
rich fool who measured the value of his life only by what he had.
The point of the story is to emphasize, first and foremost, that life-our lives-and all
the things we have in this life, whatever they may be, are gifts from God. These are
our blessings. Yes, my dirty Pontiac Sunbird out there in the parking lot is a gift
from God. It gets me where I want to go.
It hasn't broken down too many times. That's a blessing in my life. So are my friends
and family. None of them are perfect. None of them are millionaires or as brilliant
as Einstein. But I consider them gifts from God.
Jesus is not saying that we should get rid of all our possessions. It's fine to have nice
things. I like my DVD player and my computer. However, we must not define
ourselves by them, nor should we obsess over them. We must not reduce life to
what can be bought and sold. The young person who confronted Jesus about the
inheritance could have lost the opportunity to receive the love of God that Jesus
was offering in what he was saying. We too might miss out on the love God offers
us in our lives when we are distracted by our possessions.
What concerns me about the "Gospel of Prosperity" that Nick preaches is that, ironic
as it is, it cheapens Christianity. It makes the Church into some gaudy casino. And it
complicates our faith more than it needs to. It says to us that the more we have, the
more blessed we are. I'm sorry. That's simply not true.
What Nick-like that young man in the gospel-has failed to do is to look. He doesn't
see where he is and who is present with him. Rather than expounding on the glories
of materialism, he should, as a Christian, be looking at the loving and real presence
of God in Christ in his life-a presence that comes to us no matter what possessions
we have.
God loves us when we're poor, too. God loves us when we have to struggle to pay
the next credit card bill or the student loan or the car payment. We, too, must be
careful when we define ourselves by our jobs, our possessions, or our things. We
are not what we have or what we can do; we are who we are in the God who comes
to us as Christ. And it is that same God who comes to us as Christ, who forgives us
of everything we have done wrong, loves as we've never been loved, and redeems
us from the monotony of existence.
We are made whole, forgiven, and set free. We are the children of God, the
daughters and sons of God. We-all of us in this place and in the world are God's
family and we are an integral part of God's story. So today, listen. Hear this Gospel
story and respond to it. Jesus helped the young man to refocus his attention and see.
The young man who was grieving over his inheritance became a vital part of God's
story. I think Nick will also probably be a vital part of God's story. God loves us for
who we are and not for the things we have. That's what we should be proclaiming.
That's what we should be celebrating.
by Jamie Parsley
Song reference: "If God Will Send His Angels"
Biblical reference: Luke 12:32-40
The other night I was talking to an old buddy from high school, Dave, who was
telling me about a guy he knows, Nick, who is a very successful businessman. Nick
is a member of one of those nondenominational mega churches that are so popular
now, and he often goes around preaching and expounding on the Bible. One of the
messages that he's fond of preaching about is the belief that God wants us all to be
materially wealthy. "God wants us to have nice cars," this guy told my friend. "God
wants us to have nice houses, nice clothes, trips to exotic places." But Dave isn't so
sure. And so he turned to me and asked, "Is this really what God wants?
Does God want us to be wealthy?" There's a part of me that wanted to respond to
Dave by saying, "Fine. If people want to look at the things in their lives as blessings
from God, who am I to say anything different?" After all, I myself like nice
things-whether it is food or music or fine architecture or what have you. I've
fantasized about living in one of those huge houses south of town or on Eighth
Street. I imagine what it would be like to have a really fast, expensive, foreign car or
to fly off to Cap d'Antibes.
But the problem with this "Gospel of Prosperity," as it is called, is that it defines our
faith in God by the possessions we have. That really bothers me. As pleasant as it
sounds, as wonderful as it might be to believe that God is some Santa Claus in
heaven whose only wish is to rain riches down upon us, the reality is this: "One's
life does not consist in the abundance of possessions" (Lk. 12:15).
This is a message that seems to get lost in the version of the Gospel preached by
people like Nick. His Gospel is preached by a Jesus I have a hard time recognizing.
Nick's Jesus comes across as promising the goods, but not the substance. Nick's
Jesus seems to believe that a well-balanced spirituality is somehow dependent
upon having material goods; Nick's Jesus is some strange glitzy version of the one I
have met.
There was a song by U2 a few years back that keeps going through my head as I
think about this type of Jesus:
Jesus never let me down
You know Jesus used to show me the score
Then they put Jesus in show business
Now it's hard to get in the door
In the video, Bono sings this lament about the absence of God sitting in a booth in a
cafe. And as he sits, all around him life is going on at high speed. People of all races
and ages slide into the booth and carryon animated conversations. There's a fire in
the dark street outside, fire trucks come, waitresses pass. And the lament for God
goes on, and no one sees or notices it, even when they're sitting right next to it. They
just miss the point.
In the Gospels we often find stories of Jesus meeting people who simply miss the
point. The story of the rich man who meets Jesus is no exception. It portrays one
person in the crowd so distracted by possessions that he's simply not seeing or
hearing Jesus. He comes to Jesus because one of his brothers is not sharing an
inheritance and he knows that some portion is rightfully his.
Although Jesus-Savior of the world, Christ himself-is standing right there next to
him, this person misses the whole point because he is too busy measuring his life in
possessions. And Jesus, knowing this, says to him, "Take care, be on your guard
against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of
possessions." Exclamation point. Of course, Jesus doesn't let it end there. He has to
deliver the punch in that way only he can. He goes on to tell a story, a story about a
rich fool who measured the value of his life only by what he had.
The point of the story is to emphasize, first and foremost, that life-our lives-and all
the things we have in this life, whatever they may be, are gifts from God. These are
our blessings. Yes, my dirty Pontiac Sunbird out there in the parking lot is a gift
from God. It gets me where I want to go.
It hasn't broken down too many times. That's a blessing in my life. So are my friends
and family. None of them are perfect. None of them are millionaires or as brilliant
as Einstein. But I consider them gifts from God.
Jesus is not saying that we should get rid of all our possessions. It's fine to have nice
things. I like my DVD player and my computer. However, we must not define
ourselves by them, nor should we obsess over them. We must not reduce life to
what can be bought and sold. The young person who confronted Jesus about the
inheritance could have lost the opportunity to receive the love of God that Jesus
was offering in what he was saying. We too might miss out on the love God offers
us in our lives when we are distracted by our possessions.
What concerns me about the "Gospel of Prosperity" that Nick preaches is that, ironic
as it is, it cheapens Christianity. It makes the Church into some gaudy casino. And it
complicates our faith more than it needs to. It says to us that the more we have, the
more blessed we are. I'm sorry. That's simply not true.
What Nick-like that young man in the gospel-has failed to do is to look. He doesn't
see where he is and who is present with him. Rather than expounding on the glories
of materialism, he should, as a Christian, be looking at the loving and real presence
of God in Christ in his life-a presence that comes to us no matter what possessions
we have.
God loves us when we're poor, too. God loves us when we have to struggle to pay
the next credit card bill or the student loan or the car payment. We, too, must be
careful when we define ourselves by our jobs, our possessions, or our things. We
are not what we have or what we can do; we are who we are in the God who comes
to us as Christ. And it is that same God who comes to us as Christ, who forgives us
of everything we have done wrong, loves as we've never been loved, and redeems
us from the monotony of existence.
We are made whole, forgiven, and set free. We are the children of God, the
daughters and sons of God. We-all of us in this place and in the world are God's
family and we are an integral part of God's story. So today, listen. Hear this Gospel
story and respond to it. Jesus helped the young man to refocus his attention and see.
The young man who was grieving over his inheritance became a vital part of God's
story. I think Nick will also probably be a vital part of God's story. God loves us for
who we are and not for the things we have. That's what we should be proclaiming.
That's what we should be celebrating.
Excerpted from:
Get Up Off Your Knees: Preaching the U2 Catalog
Edited by Raewynne J. Whiteley, Beth Maynard
Published by Cowley Publications
2003.
Get Up Off Your Knees: Preaching the U2 Catalog
Edited by Raewynne J. Whiteley, Beth Maynard
Published by Cowley Publications
2003.