St. Paul Lutheran Church, Minden, Nebraska
Sunday sermon – Fifth Sunday after Pentecost - July 5, ’09
“Take Heart! Money Isn’t Everything!”
Text: Mark 6:77-12
Take Nothing! Money Isn’t Everything! Mark 6:7-12 5thS.A.P. 7/5/09
“Money isn’t everything!” Where have you heard that before?
This past Tuesday morning I went for a cup of coffee just around the corner at the Coffee House where some friends were having their usual 9:00 morning coffee. When I walked in they were chatting with an attorney who had stopped for a minute.
So I decided to ask them for their input. “You all know,” I said.
”You’ve heard it before, probably you’ve said it yourself, ‘Money isn’t everything.’” And they all agreed!
But then I asked them where, where might they least expect to hear “Money isn’t everything!” And the attorney was quick to say: “Well, in a lawyer’s office because our first concern is justice!”
I thought that was a good, quick reply, but kind of surprising, given what attorneys’ fees can be in some places.
But then even more surprising is an item I saw quoted from the June 1 edition of the New Yorker Magazine that said in effect when it comes to quality health care, money isn’t everything.
A number of Dartmouth studies were cited to show that spending more money on health care does not necessarily yield better results.
States that spend the most ranked near the bottom nationally in the quality of patient care. And the note went on to say:
“Conversely, quality care does not necessarily have to be the most expensive. The Mayo Clinic, arguably one of the best health-care systems in the country is also one of the least expensive. That’s because Mayo recruits doctors who are committed to putting patients rather than profit first and who are willing to work as part of a team.” It was also noted, “The doctors work on a salary basis – pay was unrelated to how many tests or procedures they requested or conducted.”
What we hear in the Gospel reading from Mark for this Sunday, what Jesus gives us to take to heart, take home, is the surprising state-ment that following Him, faithfully serving Him is learning to do without money -- when doing without money is good for keeping first things first in Christ’s church, keeping the focus on proclaiming and advancing the Kingdom of God.
Now some theologians call this learning to do without, “a theology of relinquishing or letting go of.
Others note that what Jesus says to his disciples here in Mark on the verge of their first assignment to go out two by two and minister to people as Jesus ministers sounds a lot like what Jesus says in Mt. 6, in his great Sermon on the Mount: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.”
One could call that “a theology of not worrying, a theology of not losing sleep over things you can’t change.”
What I’m going to call it is “a theology of first things first,” – that is, among all the things that compete for being first in our lives, money ought not to be one of them.
In other words to be clear on what Jesus says here in this text, let me say: the issue is not money is money and how can you get along without it? We all know money IS important. Money pays the bills. Money is what’s needed to pay doctors & hospitals what insurances won’t pay. Money buys farmers seed and fertilizer and pays the fuel bills. Money puts food on the table and a roof over our heads. But is money everything; or the only thing that matters? What can we learn from doing without it or making do with less of it?
Listen again to what Jesus tells His disciples. As he “called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, He gave them authority over the unclean spirits.” Jesus tells them, admonished them, “to take nothing for their journey except a staff – no bread, no bag, no money in their belts – but to wear sandals & NOT put on two tunics.”
Eugene Peterson, in his modern language paraphrase, THE MESSAGE, puts Jesus instructions to His disciples this way. “Don’t think you need a lot of extra equipment for this. YOU are the equipment. No special appeals for funds. Keep it simple, and no luxury inns. Get a modest place and be content there until you leave.”
That says to me, just like doctors who are content to be paid on a salary basis at the Mayo Clinic, just like attorneys who go into devastated neighborhoods to provide legal services without charging any fees, just like Christian teachers who volunteer to go into mission fields without huge financial resources, so also, when it comes to the mission of Christ’s church all around us, when it comes to proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of God, money isn’t every-thing. Money isn’t the first thing or the only thing ministers & congregations should be concerned about.
The mission of a congregation if it is truly Christ’s congregation in mission is not to concentrate on surviving but to concentrate on, focus on sharing the Good News of the Kingdom of God which comes and is graciously & powerfully fulfilled in the life & ministry of Jesus.
When the Lord Jesus Christ called His first disciples He did not say to them, “Do whatever works! or “Do whatever you feel like doing or what you can afford!” He said, “Follow me! Follow my example.”
On the night when Jesus was betrayed, before He and His disciples sat down to eat their last Passover Meal together, Jesus took a towel and washed their feet, and said to them, “I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say o you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” (John 13:15-17)
You’ve probably never thought of it this way, but it’s what’s called continuity. And I’m here to tell you this 4th of July weekend that as our country continues to keep alive, to remember, to give thanks & join together in celebrating all the benefits of freedom and not forgetting the cost paid, the sacrifices made to achieve freedom & independence. So also this Sunday, in light of the words from the Gospel of Mark, this is a Sunday not to forget the cost paid, not to forget sacrifices made, focus needed, priorities set straight to continue & carry on the mission & ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I received & read & re-read a lot of nice cards of thanks and appreciation for my many years of serving the Lord as pastor of this congregation. But one of the nicest, most thoughtful, most life-centering, most ministry-focusing cards I received said “For God’s purpose you are leading us . . For God’s glory your are establishing us . . . For God’s kingdom you are preparing us . .” - In other words, bottom line, continuing in the ministry, serving God, working for the Lord and His people is not about who’s the minister, not about bigger & bigger budgets, not even about success. It’s all about what God does in us and through us pastors & parishioners together for His glory & His purposes working in us that which is pleasing in His sight by means of His grace when we are willing to follow His instructions, His example.
Last Sunday, in the 5th chapter of the Gospel of Mark, Jesus was in the middle of sickness & deadness & death, healing & raising the dead, reassuring & admonishing us to put our trust in Him more & more, not less and less. “Do not fear, only believe.”
This Sunday, Jesus is on the move proclaiming, teaching, calling, sending, giving His disciples a true taste of ministry, authorizing, empowering, enabling them to preach, to teach, to heal, to move with him & for him, especially when money isn’t everything.
I know there are a lot of excuses, a lot of reasons why people aren’t in church every Sunday, but if ever there was one very good reason why people ought strive to worship & be in church every Sun-day, it would be continuity; continuity with Christ, connecting with Christ and His cross, counting the cost of commitment, keeping the focus on Christ’s mission & ministry, proclaiming the Kingdom of God, and realizing, recognizing “money is money”, money pays the bills, but when the Kingdom of God’s grace & mercy is coming among us and through us, “money isn’t everything.”
