Saint Matthew 25:14-30

During the great Depression in the United States following the devastating 1929 Stock Market Crash, many persons gave personal testimony which said that they had not begun to discover what life was all about until they had lost their fortunes.

There was a University Economics Professor who began each new course with the sentence …

"The unique thing about money is its absolute worthlessness."

Henry Thoreau once said, "Money is not required to buy one necessity of the soul."

The Lord Jesus said, "It is easier for a Camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God."

Why is it then that our present age is so deeply immersed in materialism?

Why is our Society seemingly more interested in the things money can buy than in the values money cannot buy?

Why is our Christian Religion being so thoroughly debased by persons who proudly proclaim how much money that have been making since they too Jesus in as a business partner? "Look at me," they say, "I once was a poor and sinful person. Then I let Jesus come into my life and He showed me how to make tons of money."

In today's Society it would appear that most people spend much energy scrambling to get what they want and little prior effort to discover why they want it. They never seem to raise the question of whether or not they are consciously pursuing their true needs. (If I get that high paying job, then what? If I get that expensive luxury car, then what? If I get that bigger and better house, then what?) Will these things, in themselves lead anyone to the discovery of the real meaning of his or her life?

It was said in a Novel many years ago that God is the first and the last thing, and that until a person finds God, he or she "Begins at no beginning and works to no end."

This is a word we need to hear! This is a word we need to heed! But the word most people seem to be hearing and heeding these days carries a very different meaning. It says that money is the first and the last thing, and that until a person finds money, he or she "Begins at no beginning and works to no end."

In the "Book of Lists" there is a collection of "Memorable Bloopers" which includes the following …

"In 1961, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City displayed a painting by the great French Artist Henri Matisee entitled "Le Bateau." And it took forty-seven days before someone discovered it was hung upside down.

The United States printed on a batch of gold coins the words "In Gold We Trust" (of course, instead of, "In God We Trust.")

In Luke's Gospel Jesus tells us that "Anyone who wants to save their live will lose it; nut anyone who loses their life for My sake will save it" (Luke 9:24). More and more these days, people seem to think that Jesus has things upside-down. And this is evident for the most part in an attitude and approach to life which is based on the principle, "In Gold We Trust" (Instead of, "In God We Trust.")

In the Book of Acts the Apostle Paul recalls this saying of Jesus: "There is more happiness in giving than in receiving" (Acts 20:35).

Paul was describing one of the most effective ways for us to experience the "Grace of God." And let's be clear about this: Paul was talking about giving money.

"There is more happiness in giving than in receiving." When you hear these words, perhaps your mind automatically becomes disengaged, because you've heard them so often. And you give these words of Jesus the "ho hum" treatment, and we seem to go along with the motto, "In Gold We Trust."

It might well be the case that, regardless of our financial status, most of us do not measure up to the requirements of Christian Generosity. Yet, giving money is more blessed, brings more joy, brings more of the Grace of God than receiving money. That, literally, is what Jesus is teaching. Consequently, if we want to experience God's Grace most fully, we will be free, spontaneous givers of money, Moreover, if these words seem significant to you, it will be reflected almost immediately in your free, spontaneous giving in today's offering.

The Parable in today's Gospel Reading ends with the condemnation of a man who was so fearful of losing money that he buried it in the ground. In the Parable, the man is described as a "Worthless Slave."

One's inordinate attachment to money and the fear of parting with any of it can become an obsession, so great that it precludes the possibility of living in the spirit of Christian generosity.

A prominent Psychiatrist has described "money sickness" as one of the most crippling diseases of our time. The love of money and possessions can destroy us as effectively as any other form of illness. It can cause physical illness, nervous anxiety, depression. It can demolish marriages, break up families, drive persons to engage in violence - even murder.

This is a difficult subject to preach on, but preach on it we must. One cannot ignore Jesus' teaching on this problem and remain faithful to God's way of thinking.

A young woman, a College Student, wrote a letter to her mother in which she expressed great admiration for one of the College Chaplains …

"Mother," she wrote, "I never get tired of hearing one of his Sermons. The man is such a wonderful Preacher that you would think every word he said was true."

I wonder how many of us really believe even a single word I've said!

The money-culture presses in on us, afflicting us with money sickness. And often we don't recognize the symptoms until we are a terminal case.

Not money itself, but the love of money is the root of all evil, the Bible tells us. That's God's way of thinking. What do you think?

Thanks be to God!!!!!

Amen!!!