Sermonette: January 25, 2021

Quite a few years ago, about 20-25 years ago when living in Colorado, the lottery jackpot there reached an unheard of level. I don't recall the exact amount but I think it was getting close to $10 million dollars. A huge amount for a lottery back in those days. One day a colleague and I made a pact. We would each buy a lottery ticket and if either of us won, we would have to buy the other lunch at the McDonalds about two blocks from the office building where we worked. Part of the irony was that neither of us ate at McDonalds. There was a cafeteria in our building and since we worked in downtown Denver, we had a ton of great restaurants to choose from and McDonalds wasn't on our list.

Fast forward to today. My friend and I still have that pact. The winner still has to buy the other lunch at McDonalds. Both of us have been buying a lottery ticket every week for over 20 years, probably closer to 25. It has become more of a tradition than a hope of actually winning anything. It has mainly just been an excuse to keep in touch over the years. The largest amount either of us has won was about six or seven years ago, one hundred dollars. Not a very good return on our investment. There is a big difference in the jackpot today compared to when we started. I checked this morning and of the two major national lotteries, both jackpots are closing in on $1 Billion dollars. One is over $800 million, the other over $700 million.

The big question is what to do if I win. Naturally, I will keep my promise and buy my friend that lunch. But for the rest of it I hope I will have given nearly all of it away before Satan even knows I have it. It would go to institutions that exist for the sole purpose of helping people with various needs. In Mark, there is the story of the rich man who asks Jesus about eternal life. Jesus tells him he needs to follow the Ten Commandments. The man said he had done that since his youth. Jesus then said to sell all he had and give the money to the poor. The man then went away sad because he was very rich. In Luke, Jesus tells the parable about a greedy manager. The crux of the parable was we cannot serve two masters. We would end up hating one and despising the other. We are to serve God, not money. In Matthew Jesus admonishes us to not store up our treasures here on earth, but in heaven, for where our treasures are, our hearts will be there also. We get good advice elsewhere, just not in the Gospels. In Psalm 62, we are told that while some people are successful and others may not be, all are to put their trust in God. The Psalm goes on to says that if riches do increase, we are not to set our heart on them.

Finally, we look to Paul's first letter to Timothy. In it we find one of the most misquoted verses in all the bible. What I'm talking about is when people, who think they are quoting scripture, say “money is the root of all evil”. That is not what Paul wrote. Paul writes in I Timothy that those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped my many senseless and harmful desires that can lead to ruin and destruction because “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil”. It's not the money that is evil, it is the love of it that does us harm. Some people have a knack for making money. Some don't. Neither situation is a sinful one. I really can't imagine that God cares how much money we make. What he does care about is how we get it and what we do with it. The big issue is if we have more than we need, do we share or are we keeping it to ourselves, letting our bank balances just sit there and grow not doing any good for any body. If our cupboards are full, do we sit by and watch others starve while we feast? Our local community does a wonderful job in helping others. It seems like in almost every issue of the Transcript, there is a notice of a free will offering meal to help a neighbor. In closing, it is good to heed Paul's advice. It isn't the money that's evil, it is the love of it. If you should happen to come into a lot of money, remember, to those who receive much, much is expected.

May all your days be filled with the gift of love God has given to you. Blessings to you all.