Mixed emotions

Luke 16:9-15

          Mixed emotions

         

          And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.

‘Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.’

The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they ridiculed him. So he said to them, ‘You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of others; but God knows your hearts; for what is prized by human beings is an abomination in the sight of God.

          There once was a colorful relative of mine, divorced,  who loved to give the definition of words in folksy terms. I loved some of them, one that comes to mind here is the definition of mixed emotions. He'd say 'that's when my ex drives off a cliff in my new Cadillac'.  I am amused at the world around me as I watch and listen during the day at conflicts like this. Our lives seem full of such internal conflicts. It's a cause of anxiety, discomfort and confusion in our lives. As the scripture says you can't serve two masters. Further, what is prized by human beings is an abomination in the sight of God.

          So, rather than tell you how you should act which would be incredibly wrong of me to do in the first place, I think some examples might be more telling of what this passage calls us to do.  Starting locally and working outwards, globally, I'll try to give some examples. 

         Penny Wise and Pound foolish, you've heard the term? As my husband and I start our lives and try to get our financial house in order so that we can actually retire some day, we watch all our money and look at examples both good and bad. One of our favorites are people that give the following example - they are out of work and/or behind in mortgage payments but they are spending a week in Disney, just bought a large screen TV or just purchased an Escalade. What's wrong with this picture?

         Poverty of soul. The newly installed Bishop of a large metropolitan church throws out a group of nuns from their housing because He wants the space for himself. As if that wasn't enough, the records show incredible amounts of money being spent on renovations to the 'new' space and on items like a special dual-zone refrigerator just for wines  (to keep each wine at it's optimum temperature).  Is there an abomination in God's sight here? Can you see it?

        Church.  A show mentions the effort the gay community is putting into marriage equality. There is  a great deal of time and money put into this worthy cause. These efforts have a direct correlation to the  Gospel message about respect for life, respect for the beauty of the individual and how God created them in their diversity. I do not see an equal (or even similar) effort given to fighting for our rights within our Churches and Synagogues. We as a community settle for a sort of second best. Rather than bloom where we were planted, we search for communities that will accept us elsewhere and abandon the faith of our fathers and mothers. Are we willing to fight for that? Are we willing to fight for the revelation and change in religions in which we were raised?  

        Hypocrisy. A Church that began when it's leader, a prophet, the Son of God, rattled cages about the Pharisees adherence to law over love; who spoke to women at length, had women disciples all of which was incredibly radical for his day; now this church denies a woman's true options to serve God, denigrates gays, denigrates their desire and options to live committed loving lives while covering up child sex abuse making the institution itself more important than the message of the Gospel - love.

       Hypocrisy part deux. An organization that promotes character in young men, whose law is to be Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean and Reverent - denies admittance to gay young men to help mold their young hearts and minds to that same law but covers up for pedophiles within their ranks, does not dismiss the pedophiles but keeps secret files on them for decades thus avoiding justice and help for the abused. What 'scout law' is this?

        Gas. One of the side effects of hurricane Sandy striking the New York metropolitan area have been gas shortages. This is an mild inconvenience (really) when there are still people without electricity, heat or even a home. Much was lost. So in a world where we, as a Nation, consume in inordinate amount of resources to maintain our lifestyle, you might think that people would evaluate how they live and their use of a precious commodity - gasoline. Yet there are people racing down the road in huge SUV's like there is no connection between size, acceleration, speed and gas consumption.

          This all may seem like another rant but what ties it together is a tendency (an ability) we all have to bifurcate our beliefs, our lives and not take a step back and look at the bigger picture. We can live day to day in our closed off worlds. We need to take the time, not to judge, but to see what is really going on. We need to realize the masters we are truly serving. If it is not God, we have trouble in River City!