A little snatch of dialogue from a television show caught my attention. Could it be true, or was it just so much pretentious hype? Could it be right, or was it just another exercise in excuse-making?
The character who spoke, I noticed, was dressed tres chic and lived in a lavish house with a spectacular view. To all appearances, she had it all. But what was this coming out of her mouth? "It’s much worse to have had money and then lose it than never to have had it at all!" What do you think?
I don’t know, do you? "It’s much worse to have had money and then lose it than never to have had it at all." Is having and losing worse than not having? I don’t pretend to know. Of course, I would be willing to run a little experiment. With your help on the first part, the having part, I’d be willing to see what it feels like … though I’m a bit squeamish about the losing part!
And who isn’t? These are days in which it is easy to feel squeamish and unsettled about material things. These are shaky days for a whole lot of people.
If ever there was a message whose time has come, the message for today is surely on time. If ever there was a Scripture which would speak to the days in which we live, surely the Lord’s word to the church at Smyrna is right on target. "I know your affliction and your poverty, even though you are rich."
As you know, I plan my sermon themes and Scripture selections well in advance. I made my choice fully two months ago to bring you a Lenten series on the letters to the seven churches of Asia. That choice determined that I would be dealing with the church at Smyrna today. All cut and dried, right?
Who could have known then that in these months we would have been bombarded with all sorts of news about the shakiness of our financial situation? Who could have known that all across the political spectrum we would speak of enormous deficits and cutbacks in everything from school lunches to assisted housing? Who could have known? We feel like blaming somebody for a federal deficit that amounted in 1994 alone to 232 billion dollars! That’s billion, as in big, bulky, and blasphemous! I’m reminded of old Senator Dirksen, who used to say that up there on Capitol Hill, they spend a billion here and spend a billion there, and pretty soon it adds up to some real money!
Who could have known that our city would be faced with such incredible financial problems that the bankers would downgrade he city’s loans to the status of junk bonds? Who could have known, and who did know? Neither the new mayor, nor the old mayor, nor the old, old mayor who is also the new mayor ... none of these folk claims to have known.
We live in shaky times. Disturbing times. But more. This is a message whose time has surely come, because now some of us are facing job loss, benefit cuts, rent raises, and all sorts of anxious moments. Who could have known that this would happen? Just in the last week some of this happened, just yesterday! Who could have known?
And, as for our church, we too got a bit of a surprise. Your trustee chairman went to the bank to sign the final papers on the loan for our renovation work. When the interest rate came out at more than 10%, we groaned and said, "Who knew? Who could have known?" The banker told us to blame the Federal Reserve system; that’s not a lot of comfort.
And then, at the end of the week, who could have known that my insurance man would visit me and tell me I don’t have enough life insurance and I don’t have any disability insurance …and what if? Who knows? Who can know? These are shaky times.
So the message I have today is most timely. And as for the question, "Who knew? Who could have known?" ... I think there is an obvious answer. The planning and the timing of this message are not accidental. The answer lies in the first two words of our Lenten theme; the word of Jesus, the Lord of the church, is always this: "I know. I know."
This morning I want to focus on faithfulness in a time of disturbance, especially financial disturbance. I want to bring you good news in a time of troublesome news. I am convinced that the message of the Lord to the church at Smyrna is timely for the church at Takoma.
I
The first thing I see in this letter to the church at Smyrna is simply that our Lord understands our shakiness. He knows our anxiety, and He knows what it means. Christ never called us to live out in the dark. He never called us to be ignorant of financial and material realities. He does understand. He knows about such things. But His understanding them means also that He knows what our anxiety is really all about. He knows what it means.
“I know your affliction and your poverty, even though you are rich." Now the word ’affliction’ really means disturbance; it means being troubled. Let’s read the Lord’s declaration something like this: "I know how troubled you feel about what you don’t have, even though you have a great deal.” “I know your affliction and your poverty, even though you are rich.”
Throughout His ministry, Jesus showed that He did understand our anxiety about material things. He spoke of food to eat and clothes to wear, and encouraged us not to feel anxiety. But that does not mean He thought those things were unimportant. He knows that they are important. But He also knows that we will damage our spiritual health if we allow ourselves to be anxious about them.
After all, He had worked for a living, in that carpenter shop. He knew what it was to work all day and feel the sweat of your labor and the weariness of your body. Our Lord understands our need to have some degree of material security.
One theologian has said that Christianity is the most materialistic of all religions. He did not mean that Christ approves money-grubbing and self-indulgence. He meant that because our God chose to come in real human flesh and live in the real human world, God in Jesus Christ understands our material needs. But I’m saying that He understands more than just our need to be comfortable; He also understands the meaning of that, He understands our need to feel secure. "I know your affliction ... your disturbance ... and your poverty, even though you are rich."
II
However, our problem is that we want it both ways. We want both material security and spiritual security, and we are willing to make compromises in order to get both of them. We want to feel comfortable materially and we want to feel satisfied spiritually, all at the same time, and we have not recognized that there are times when choices have to be made.
That’s the meaning of the Lord’s second statement to the church at Smyrna. It’s a peculiar sentence if you don’t know the background, but it’s a most powerful one if you do.
"I know your affliction and your poverty, even though you are rich. [And] I know the slander on the part of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan." What in the world does that mean for us?
You will remember that in the first century the Jewish people were scattered all over the Mediterranean world. The Jews were by no means confined to the little pocket of land we call Israel. They were in Rome, in Egypt, and, of course, here in Asia Minor as well.
Now what do people do who are a racial and religious minority, trying to live in somebody else’s territory? How do you survive in someone else’s culture? You adapt. You struggle, but you adapt. Some of the Jews learned the Greek language; some adopted the clothing and the food of the people among whom they lived; some did business wherever they were. And, the scholars tell us, some of them also compromised their spiritual distinctives. Archaeologists say that in this region some synagogues have been found, built, obviously, for Jewish worship, but they also had images of the Greek gods in them. Some Jews compromised their faith, trying to have it both ways, trying to be secure materially and to stay secure spiritually.
Now can you see what the Lord is getting at when He cries out, "I know the slander on the part of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan"? He is saying that He knows there are those who want it both ways. There are those who want to be comfortable in the world and at the same time comfortable in the spirit. There are those who want to make peace with insecurity by taking on what the world calls security and at the same time try to be one of the Lord’s own.
But it won’t work. It just won’t work.
Now don’t hear me as an extremist on this point. I well know that there are some who urge their followers to give up material possessions altogether. I recognize that men and women who go into monasteries take a vow of poverty. I know that members of some sectarian groups stay away from modern conveniences. Some seem to believe there is some special virtue in doing without things you could well afford. I’m not talking about that. I’m not talking about some kind of trendy poverty, wearing torn designer jeans, so that you can affect an air of spirituality.
I’m talking instead about not allowing a dependence on things so to dominate your life that your spirit is crushed. I’m talking about knowing that money is a stern taskmaster, and that if you begin to dwell on it, it will dwell in you. You cannot depend on things for your well-being and at the same time claim to depend on the Lord. Jesus said that you cannot serve both God and mammon, God and the material.
Look at the well-publicized trial of the man who is accused of looting the United Way organization. I know he has not been convicted, but enough has come out of his own testimony to convict him of spiritual arrogance. Here is a man who, by all accounts, looted a charity, to which ordinary people had given their gifts; he decided that it was his personal piggy bank, through which he could indulge his private pleasures. Trying to have it both ways, trying to serve the things of the spirit … love and charity ... and still serve things themselves. The things won the battle!
We cannot be under the sway and control of the world and at one and the same time pretend to spiritual maturity. It just does not happen.
And so hear today the word of the Lord: "I know the slander on the part of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan." The issue is, "Where do you find your personal sense of security?" Is it in surrounding yourself with things? Or is it in finding a deep and certain place in the spirit? Don’t try to have your cake and eat it too. It won’t happen.
III
And so, the Lord Christ says to the church at Smyrna and to the church at Takoma, the answer is faithfulness. The answer to your financial dilemmas and your security issues is faithfulness. Sounds so simple; sounds too simple. But it is an answer. Listen to Him:
"Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Beware, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison so that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have affliction. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life."
"Do not fear what you are about to suffer. " No promise there that we will not suffer. I know very well that some of us will suffer in the coming days. We will find ourselves without jobs, with assistance checks cut, with salaries reduced, with a variety of financial problems. That’s going to happen. Some of us are going to be victims of economic change. Others are going to find that bad decisions they made will come home to haunt them. Still others will find out that they do not any longer have the skills that are going to be needed for new jobs. There will be turbulent times.
But in the midst of all of that, in the midst of disturbing news, the good news is: "Do not fear what you are about to suffer!" "Be faithful until death, and I will give you a crown of life." We are going to experience some tough times, but do not be overcome by them! Even though there is going to be testing and disturbance, we do not fear. Be faithful. Be trusting. Know that the Lord who will not let even a sparrow fall without noticing will see and care. Be faithful.
Having is losing, as much as we would like to keep it. But having Christ is having everything. Be faithful.
I want to close by sharing with you my heart about our church and our future. I want to tell you a little about what I am personally thinking and feeling these days. About my own security struggles.
I mentioned to you that our church is now in debt, trying to do all that needs to be done to prepare our building for the next generation. I also told you that the interest rate on that debt is a good deal more than we expected. If we were to do no better than pay this debt exactly on schedule over the next ten years, the added interest would be something like $50,000 extra, beyond what we originally expected. That doesn’t make any of us very happy, needless to say.
And yet, having run some calculations and having talked with the bankers and with several church leaders, I find myself strangely calm. I find that I don’t feel anxious about this problem. I feel concerned, yes, but not anxious. Why not?
I do understand the problem and I do have thoughts about how to resolve it. No, this is a deeper peace. This is a good news peace that I feel.
As I listen to my own heart, I am not afraid of ten years of debt for our church, because I find that I do trust the Lord of the church, and I trust its people. I know that when God’s people, who have been faithful for so many years, truly decide to resolve this matter, they will do so. I even know that stress like this is good for a church; that like a muscle that atrophies because it doesn’t get used enough, a church that doesn’t have to work hard to pay its bills gets lazy. And so ten years of debt, or maybe less, if we are truly faithful, will help us and not hurt us.
I could even rephrase the Lord’s word like this: "The devil is about to throw you into prison for ten days for testing ... " How about the banker is about to throw you into a tight time for testing, and for ten years, instead of ten days … you will have some tensions."
But the answer is the same, "Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life."
Oh, men and women, we are moving into some testing times in our lives and in our church. Christ’s word for us today becomes very clear. Be faithful. Be faithful. It is not so much to be faithful in paying off the building debt. Rather it is to be faithful to the mission and purpose of the church. Be faithful.
The Lord does not call you to faithfulness in dollars and cents as much as to be faithful in the task of winning souls and redeeming lives. Be faithful.
I do not claim for you the burden of being faithful to bricks and mortar so much as I call to you be faithful to create new ministries and train for Christian discipleship. Be faithful.
Neither I nor the Lord of the church call us to comfort and material security. We are called to be faithful in prayer, be faithful in worship, be faithful in a lifestyle of care. Be faithful.
Be faithful to freedom, to love, and to service. Be faithful until death, and He will give us a crown of life.
