The Kitchen Sink
An occasional piece of paper
March 7, 2010
Vol. 13 no. 10
A modern Psalmist sings, “I don’t care too much for money, money can’t buy me love” (P. McCartney). Don’t sing too loudly in the pews before worship! Sometimes the Biblical world is idealized as a bartering, non-monetary society to which we should return. Prophesying about 2700 years ago, Isaiah certainly saw money to be a problem no one thought they could live without.
When Jesus said you have to live “in the world, but not be of the world” he must have had money at the palm of his hand. Should we pay taxes to Caesar he was asked? His inquisitors expected him to say the wrong thing - to pay Roman taxes with idolatrous Caesar-faced coins, or to refuse to pay and be visited by Roman tax authorities. He asked his inquisitors for one of those idolatrous coins and they had one handy in their pocket. In churches we hate to talk about money, but seldom can talk about anything else.
Buying without money sounds like an oxymoron since buying means using money in the minds of most people. We hear those economists who break down the most common event or activity into its value in dollars and cents. If you go for a walk there is the cost of your shoes and clothing to protect you from the elements, the cost of maintaining the composition of the asphalted or concreted road or even the dirt trail. If you drove to the trail, naturally there’s gasoline. And of course, by walking you are not working and losing money.
Let’s not be self-righteous about how we don’t spend our money unethically - too much of that going around - but what can you buy without money and does that change your worth?
Preached by Robert Kitchen
Knox-Metropolitan United Church
Regina, Saskatchewan