September 19, 2004; The 16th Sunday after Pentecost Readings: Amos 8:4-7; 1 Timothy 2:1-8; Luke 16:1-13; Psalm 138.   The Rev. Dr. Hilary B. Smith Who Do You Serve? We live in two worlds. As Christians, we live in God’s kingdom. As members of the human race in this time and place, we live in the material world. The kingdom of God is already here. Jesus came into the world; through him, the kingdom is known and experienced now. When we seek to follow Jesus and act as he would have act, we are active participants in God’s kingdom, now We have no choice but to also be part of our culture. Sure, we have some choices. We can vote or not in the coming election. But come next April 15th, everyone has to pay taxes. It costs a certain amount of money to live—to buy food and medicine, pay the rent or mortgage, send the kids to college or in my case, pay the vet bill, which can be pretty high! All that is important, and we do not have much of a choice about it. Our gospel reading today makes the point that there are two worlds. There are "children of this age" who know how to act shrewdly. They are contrasted with the "children of light" who are not as good at dealing with this generation. There are those who serve wealth and there are those who serve God. To serve wealth is to make an idol of the material world. Now one can have a lot of money and serve God. One can have little money and serve wealth. It all comes down to one’s focus. Is it money or is it God? Do we use our money to the glory of God and to help God’s people? We are called to be as shrewd as the dishonest steward in our plans for the future. Shrewdness as a Christian requires honestly in even a little. The little that we have used for good and to God’s glory shows that we are planning for our future—our future with God for eternity. We, like the steward, are faced with the facts of our future. These facts require us to act. We are to serve God and not wealth. Our stewardship is important. It is not easy to think of God when we are constantly exposed to commercial messages about what we "need" and the way we can get it. Most of us who grew up in the US, need to be converted from worshiping wealth to worshiping God. We worship that which speaks to our hearts. To whom are we listening? Those who try to sell us things—everything from a cup of coffee to a house—try to speak to our hearts. That’s how business works. Nothing wrong with that but it does present a challenge for us and for our children. We need to be shrewd and realize that the things we really want: freedom, love, acceptance, respect, purpose, security...come from God alone. During our vacation bible school in June, we had some labyrinths set up. A labyrinth, unlike a maze, has one path that leads to the center. It might look like a maze at first because the path winds around and back on itself before you get to the center—but if you stay on the path you will get there. It is a great metaphor for the spiritual life. I was standing at the center of the labyrinth, and when a child got to the center, I asked the child what his or her wish or desire was and then I said a prayer about that. When they got to the center, most of the kids said things like, "going on vacation, going to Kings Dominion, computer games...having a lot of money. I’m not sure what I expected them to say. Most of us do want that stuff. But why do we want it? How do we pray about it? So I said some prayers for the kids that they would have time to rest, the chance to have fun during the summer, and do some of the other things that give them joy. Joan Chittister has written a short but rich book entitled Illuminated Life: Monastic Wisdom for Seekers of Light. The title itself gives us something to think about—the illuminated life. The idea being that one can stumble through life without seeking the light which helps us to see what is true. We are called to be seekers of light. Chittister states that, "we must be converted to the consciousness that makes us one with the universe, in tune with the cosmic voice of God. We must become aware of the sacred in every single element of life (Chittister, Illuminated Life, Orbis Books, 2002 p. 81)." When we are aware of the sacred and in tune with God, we are able to "be where we are with a different state of mind...in the office with the good of the whole world in mind...on the corporate board with the public at heart...in the home in a way that has more to do with development than with control (Ibid. pp. 80-81.)." When our life is illuminated with a knowledge of God’s truth and love, we are able to be shrewd stewards. Shrewd in the sense of living our lives and using our wealth with what is eternal in mind. Shrewd stewards take seriously God’s work in the world and give of their wealth to support it. The Bible, tradition and reason ask that we give at least ten percent of our money to support the mission of the church. That can seem like a lot if you are basing your decisions about money on messages that come to us from our culture. I had to work towards the tithe before I was able to be open to it. Once I stepped out in faith—basing my decisions about money on God’s promises to me and our world, it became possible to tithe; it became a joy to tithe. God promises us nothing less than a role in changing our world for the better. Our money enables the gospel to be shared with this growing community of faith and beyond. If everyone in this congregation tithed, we could do much more than we are doing now. We are called to do more. It is a little early for a stewardship sermon, although some say that every sermon should be about stewardship. We will continue to talk about stewardship in the weeks to come. As we prepare spiritually and financially to make our pledge for 2005, my prayer is that we can all be shrewd stewards for God and the people God calls us to serve. Amen.