This was a question posed on the front cover of the September 18 issue of Time magazine. The text was imposed over the grill of a Rolls Royce with a cross as the hood ornament – pretty cheesy I say. Interestingly enough though, there are two easily documented subtexts in American religious life that seem juxtaposed around this particular question. The first might say that religion and money have nothing to do with one another. The proponents of this idea would say that money is secular and does not belong in sacred conversations about one’s faith. In one national survey looking at this issue, more than two thirds of the respondents agreed with the statement that “money is one thing: morals and values are completely separate.” (Hotchkiss, p.49)

The article in Time was exploring the other side of the coin being dubbed the “prosperity gospel” which promotes the belief that wealth follows God’s favor. This got its roots from the popular pastor-writer Norman Vincent Peale who taught that positive thinking produces positive results – his “power of positive thinking philosophy.” (Hotchkiss, p. 51) This side of the argument says that those who please God will have much, while those who have little just need to work a little harder and do good things to succeed.

Dan Hotchkiss criticizes both of these trends in his book, Ministry and Money: A Guide for Clergy and Their Friends. He claims that neither of these currently popular ideas holds much ground in scripture. Jesus spoke more about the ethics surrounding money than any other particular issue, so if we want to be faithful to scripture, we can’t dodge those particular texts. And though it is tempting to say that all good gifts come from God, we can’t read into such texts that personal wealth always represents God’s blessing and favor. So what can we do – as Hotchkiss asks - if we want to have a spiritually mature relationship with money?

One of the things we can learn from scripture is that different situations may call for different approaches to the use of money. To the rich man Jesus says, sell all that you have and give the money to the poor, and to Zaccheus he offers praise for giving half of his possessions as reparations for the tax money he’s taken for himself, but as the woman anoints him with expensive perfume, he criticizes the disciples for wanting to sell the jar to give the money to the poor. To this Hotchkiss says, “Jesus seems…to be challenging his listeners one by one to consider expressing a new quality of commitment to God and to other people through their use of money. In this respect, he stands in the broad biblical tradition described above, which varies in particulars but consistently sees choices about wealth and money as deeply reflective of our ultimate commitments.” (Hotchkiss, p. 50)

This story in Mark’s gospel, told in similar ways in Matthew and Luke has in it what I think is a strange mismatch of stories about money. We are very familiar with the first part of the story in which Jesus is questioned by a rich man wanting to know what he must do to fulfill the law and inherit eternal life. Jesus’ response reflects knowledge of the Hebrew commandments and the general application in some versions that you love your neighbor as yourself. But we are haunted by the next line in which Jesus tells the man that he is lacking one thing – that if he sells what he owns and gives it to the poor and comes to be a follower – that will earn him an even greater treasure in heaven. None of us wants to hear those words. Sell your house, give away your car, hold no trust fund or retirement savings account and follow Jesus. We are sympathetic as this man chooses not to part with what he knows for something totally unfamiliar.

It would be enough to stop there, but this is where we also get the strange saying of Jesus about camels and eyes of needles that we have yet to understand because we are not familiar with the punch line. Is it about unburdening your camel, loosening your possessions, to be able to go through the narrow gate into Jerusalem known as the “eye of the needle” or are we talking impossibilities here? I’m not sure we can understand this ancient metaphor in what was intended – and I say that because of what comes next in the story.

This is the part that eludes us. We’re walking away with the rich man while Jesus is continuing the conversation with his disciples that seems to have a nugget of this “prosperity theology” in it. The rich man blew it, and the disciples were rightly beginning to wonder if they had done enough for Jesus. One of them asks, “Then who can be saved?” It’s a reasonable enough question for me. Are only the richest of the rich people out? How about two car families? Just how far down the line does it go? Jesus says that, yes, he meant what he said. For people salvation is impossible, we don’t get it. But for God, the possibilities are endless.

At that he reassures the disciples that their sacrifices will be rewarded. And here’s the interesting part. He tells them about treasures in heaven, yes, but he also tells them that for what they’ve given up for Jesus in this life, it will be paid back a hundredfold, and just so they get it, he says that hundredfold will include houses, family, and property. Those who sacrifice and are last will one day find themselves first.

Is that a scary double message or what? To the person who seems to legitimately want Jesus’ help, he says, “Sell it all.” But to his intimate friends he promises great rewards – financial rewards, or at the very least rewards with some intrinsic value in this life. Talk about your grey areas!

We aren’t going to get the portfolio for an ethical financial lifestyle directly from Jesus, but what we do hear, loud and clear, is that the ways we use our things and our attitudes about our possessions somehow impact our lives. For those who can and do make sacrifices, there is promise of a reward, be it earthly or heavenly.

Now, I’m no Jesus. I can’t see into the hearts, or checkbooks either, of individuals in such a way as to say to one person you need to give it all, or for you half is good, or for you, your sacrifice is worthy and justifies a return. Though it’s important for me to ask you to give generously to the church budget so we can do the kinds of things I think God is calling us to do in 2007, I can’t determine for you the parameters of “generously.” The amount that constitutes “generously” for one person might be downright miserly for another. I’m also not in the business of making cosmic promises that I can’t keep. Though I believe that God is benevolent and merciful, I also know that we can’t make assumptions about God’s favor based upon how well off we are. As it ends up, poor and rich both may be in the eyes of the beholder.

What’s hardest about all this money talk in scripture is that it forces each one of us who want a spiritually mature ethic about money to take a long hard look at what we have and make some conscientious choices about how we distribute it. Giving it all may or may not be what we’re being asked to do. Some of us have commitments in addition to church that are considered primary commitments even by scriptural standards – things like caring for children or aging parents. We all get mailboxes stuffed with ways to donate to particularly good causes. We want reliable forms of transportation, and sometimes spend more in the long run to buy a less polluting, more energy efficient vehicle as a statement of our values. There may not be a consistent ethic out there, but don’t be fooled into thinking that our money choices are ethically neutral. Jesus’ straight talk about financial choices reminds us that they’re not.

Does God want you to be rich? Well, it’s an interesting question isn’t it? Jesus promises an abundant life, and yet every time blessings and goods are promised in scripture, the promise is given not just to one individual but to communities of people. The blessing is always in the plural and reminds us that our well being is interconnected with the well being of others. Material wealth is not only a gift but a responsibility. In our world that values equality, it’s hard to hear that more may be required of one than another. Rather than go back to the days of percentage tithing, we are responsible for hearing Jesus challenges and contemplating where it hits us. This is a much harder spiritual thing to do. Listen well and perhaps your sacrifices will ultimately become your reward.

Amen.