From Chris Rushton – Guest preacher
‘Sell your possessions, and give alms.’
+ May I speak in the name of The Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.
One of the most common captions to jokes that amuses me is ‘more
tea vicar?’ and it is an often used jokey phrase used on me – usually when
it is my round in the pub.
Another illustration to an old cartoon is of a lady is giving tea to the
vicar, and praising her domestic servant.
‘She’s an absolute treasure,’ says the aristocrat. ‘I do hope she will be
able to work for me in the next life.’
The vicar comments, ‘When the gospel speaks of having your treasure in
heaven, I don’t think that’s quite what it means!’
The caption writer was right of course.
Your ‘treasure’ is whatever is most important to you.
If you have some precious possessions in your house, you will worry
constantly about being burgled.
In that case, owning expensive items is more important to you than
anything else.
Material possessions can easily become more important than God, in
which case, – goodbye to morality! then there’s no reason for being loving
and honest, if being deceitful makes you richer.
Whereas if your relationship with God is the most precious thing in your
life, no thief can rob you of that.
It’s what Jesus called ‘an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief
comes near and no moth destroys.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.’
During my time as a priest I have come across some colleagues who we
say lead the Religious life, male and female, base on traditional
monasticism and have indeed made some good friends even though this
is not my chosen way of devoting my live to God.
But think what Jesus also said, ‘Sell your possessions.’
He exaggerated, because he knew that rich people wouldn’t listen unless
he spoke in striking phrases.
Yet monks and nuns take this command literally.
When the religious orders in the Middle Ages became worldly, St Francis,
the son of a rich merchant in Assisi, brought them back to their ideals by
literally giving away all he had inherited and living and dressing like a poor
beggar.
But please don’t think I am suggesting this as a recipe for every Christian.
I have an extremely close friend in Holy Orders, who is a Poor Clare
Franciscan, and who after her mother died, gave away all the estate to
charity, she did not need it to live the way of St Francis she says.
The economic order would collapse if the majority didn’t remain, as
Jesus said, ‘in the world but not of the world’.
To them and indeed us, Jesus says, ‘Give alms.’
This word, spelt A L M S, comes from a Greek word meaning
compassion.
It’s related to the word we use in the chant, Kyrie eleison, meaning ‘Lord,
have mercy on us.’
Almsgiving is giving some — not all — of your money, to people who
are poorer than you are.
But there’s a problem with this.
If you give to a solitary beggar on the street, it encourages them to
become lazy, and tomorrow a dozen will be waiting for you.
We used to get callers to our door or meet them around our churches.
They will probably spin you a hard-luck story, then spend the money on
drink or drugs.
Some Christians have tried to draw a distinction between the deserving
and undeserving poor. Unfortunately, you seldom meet the deserving
poor, because they keep themselves to themselves.
Yes, it’s good to be generous to people whom you know to be
genuinely needy, but they probably won’t accept your help, because it’s
demeaning.
There are subtle ways of helping people without insulting them, but it
requires a great deal of thought.
In my voluntary work I meet some sad cases, but we encourage him or
her to move from the hostel into a bedsit, and help them to find proper
employment.
You often do better helping the needy in non-financial ways, and giving
your money to the charity.
But be warned, don’t, whatever happens, ever expect to be thanked
for your generosity – virtue is its own reward.
Neither does God have a rewards-and-punishments balance sheet;
‘treasure in heaven’ means being certain that God loves you and the
beggar equally, though neither of us deserves it.
Being a Christian requires great humility.
But we are all the same aren’t we?
Haven’t you ever been difficult, just to test somebody’s love for you?
And, isn’t this why Jesus was crucified – because we can not quite
believe that God loves us, until we have tested his tolerance to the limit?
Identifying ourselves with the dregs of society is what Jesus did.
So, following His example, even just a bit considering our weaknesses,
ensures our treasure in heaven.
AMEN