The Love of Money

The Prophet Amos calls to those who love money over God: God sees the way you harm the least of God’s children… Amos 8:4-7 Luke, too, remembers Jesus speaking about money. He recalls today Jesus telling a parable… Luke 16:1-13

There is a band called 21 Pilots from Columbus. One of their songs sings about the crush of debt, feeling insecure and vulnerable, and being stressed. They sing…

Used to dream of outer space but now they’re laughing at our face
Saying, “Wake up, you need to make money”
Wish we could turn back time, to the good old days
When our momma sang us to sleep but now we’re stressed out
Wake up you need the money!

Scripture says “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” 1 Timothy 6:10a.

Money itself isn’t evil – but loving money causes much evil.

Causes much stress.

Causes people to truly suffer, and die.

Amos and Jesus both speak about money today.

Amos is a farmer. Specifically, he has fig orchards. He’s not an educated priest or affluent man. But God comes to him and gives him prophecies, and sends him North from Judah to prophesize in Israel.

The two kingdoms are doing great. Expanding, even. Money and wealth, new building projects, new armies to conquer new land, money is everywhere.

… but it doesn’t belong to everyone.

All of the wealth is being gained from forgetting God’s laws. The love of God is replaced with the love of Money. The people – the most vulnerable whom God has commanded generation to generation we’re to protect – are on whose backs all this new wealth is being made.

They’re stressed. They’re lost in debt. They’re suffering and dying.

God sends Amos to go warn these newly rich merchants that God is the God of justice and mercy… not dollars and coins.

Wake up! Life is about more than money! Turn back to God and the good old ways!

Amos calls out the people who complain about stores closed for holidays; and who wish the markets never closed. He calls out those who over price their goods; who cheat in their businesses; who charge giant interest rates; and who value a person for less than the cost of a pair of cheap shoes.

Amos calls out those who take the sweepings of wheat – the chaff and little grains – that are ordered by God to be given to the poor – and sell them.

Amos warns: God is watching. God has sworn: I’ll remember this is how you’ve treated the least among you as long as this prideful country remains.

Love of money is the root of much evil.

The next reading is a complicated one. Jesus tells a story of a corrupt manager who gets further corrupt to make himself friends so that when he’s fired, he won’t have to beg for food or do manual labor. His friends will take him in. This seems pretty immoral. Luke doesn’t even quite seem how to interpret Jesus’ parable of and gives three different explanations.

Luke’s first interpretation is: use your earthly power and wealth to invest in heavenly relationships. Earthly power and wealth goes away. Good deeds and Heaven’s rewards do not fade.

His second interpretation is: Whatever you’ve been given – a little or a lot – be trustworthy with it. If you’re trustworthy with someone else’s goods, you can be trusted with your own goods.

His third interpretation is: no one can serve two masters. One or the other will always take higher priority. Either we love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength… or we forget this commandment and we love something else. Money, Mammon, wealth is usually the something else.

Don’t replace love of God with love of money.

What does that mean for us? The same thing Amos says. The same thing Timothy says. Money itself is not evil.

The love of money causes much evil.

Our communities – locally, nationally, globally – are healthiest and happiest, resilient and thriving when the most vulnerable and the least are cared for. The less the difference between the haves and the haves-not, the greater the whole community thrives.

The love of money causes us to isolate, to hoard, and not invest in the community and in each other.

The love of God causes us to reach out, to share, and to invest in the thriving of one another.

Go for the investment with the best returns: invest in the 3 Great Loves: God, each other, and yourself.

Amen.

• Sermon