If Money Was Your God
1 Timothy 6:6-19 • Luke 16:19-31
If money was your God, how would you know?
In his letter to his coconspirator Timothy, Paul writes, “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” Many of us have heard this shortened and simplified into “money is the root of all evil.” That is an inaccurate and unfair characterization of what Paul writes. Money is not inherently problematic. As Paul explains, a love of money and especially a disproportionate love of money is the root of many evils.
The writers of the Revised Common Lectionary offer us this word from Paul alongside a story that Jesus tells the Pharisees. Jesus tells of a rich man—likely a very rich man—who wore purple (a color of royalty) and fine linens, and who feasted sumptuously. The rich man walked past a poor man—likely a very poor man—who was covered in sores and was consumed by his hunger. These men are posed as complete opposites—the rich man is clothed in fine purple linens, while Lazarus is covered in sores. The rich man feasts while Lazarus goes hungry. Both men, however, seem to be sons of Abraham—they are men who shared a common lineage.
The rich man is unwilling to help Lazarus. He loves his money! His love of money has caused evil: the evil of leaving kin and neighbor without the resources to live. “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” Indeed. Jesus offers a story that may have helped Paul come to this understanding, which he presents to Timothy and that we read today. It is only after death that the rich man learns the error of his ways. The rich man desires that his brothers be warned and persuaded away from a money-obsessed way of being. And Jesus presents us with the story so that we may learn from this man’s misdoings and the evil caused by his love of money.
I began this morning by asking, “If money was your God, how would you know?” In a seminary class on liturgy and the economy, we asked this question a lot in order to help us distinguish between money in and of itself and the love of money as an orienting force.
Money, in the form of coins or paper notes, is a convenient alternative to the barter system of early economies. People can buy and sell goods and services more easily. If a seller of grain does not need olive oil right now, he may not wish to barter with a person who only has oil to offer… hence money. In this way, money is neutral. It is a way of simplifying our economic lives and helping us to provide for one another.
The love of money, on the other hand, is not a natural simplification of our economic process. It is a perversion of the exchange of goods and labor. It is a posture of never-ending desire. The love of money places profits over people and can even put money in the position of our God.
Our society, a society that loves money, will tell us that what we have is not enough. We meet one financial achievement and the world tells us to set ever-growing standards. More. Make more money. Spend more money. Have more things.
Social psychologists tell us that there is a limit to the happiness and comfort money can buy us. Beyond a level of sufficiency and comfort, we arrive in a place of “more money more problems.” Before we know it the endless pursuit of more overtakes us. Money easily becomes our orienting force, our God.
Love of money is not the foundation of our Christian lives. It is not a foundation that connects us to the Almighty God. An endless succession of finite desires will never substitute for the Infinite.
Repeat: An endless succession of finite desires will never substitute for the Infinite. In other words, the pursuit of more money and more things will never be a replacement for God, who is Infinite.
The desire to meet one financial milestone after another places us in a position of finite desire after finite desire. Reaching those goals may seem glorious for a moment, and then another finite desire takes over. The Infinite never arrives. Thus, when the love of money controls us, we never arrive.
To be entirely clear, I am not talking about the deep accomplishment of getting out from under your debt. I am not talking about the joy of owning a first home. I am not talking about seeking to provide for a multigeneration family. I am not talking about getting beyond month to month.
I am talking about excess. I am talking about the sort of wealth that prevents any recognition of the Lazaruses of the world. The social and financial status that allows people to forget the struggles of our kin and our neighbors. I am talking about the life of the rich man who wears fine clothes, dines sumptuously, and ignores dear Lazarus.
I’ll ask a different question now: If the Almighty and Holy Trinity is our God, who would we know?
Paul tells us about this way of living as well. Paul reminds Timothy, and each of us by proxy, “As for those who in the present are are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share.”
If the God we speak about is truly the God we follow, we will put our hopes in the God who provides. The God who offers us what we need for authentic enjoyment and flourishing.
If the God we claim to follow is truly our God, we will be rich in good works. We will care for Lazarus and all those who, like him, exist in poverty, hunger, and unmet healthcare needs. We will be generous and ready to share. We will acknowledge our positions of privilege and share the riches we have.
Some of you may be in a financial position to hear this and think about those zeros in your bank account. You may be able to think of places of excess in your life.
Some of you may be thinking, this is not about me because you do not live with financial excess. There are other ways to be rich… such as being rich in privilege. I live very comfortably but am not wealthy, at least in terms of money. I am rich in other kinds of privilege though. I am a white person, with a lot of education, a strong social safety net, and with generational resources. I am called to use that privilege, to use my place in society, as a means of advocacy. Paul and Jesus both talk about material wealth in our readings today, but I do think it is important for us to consider that this call comes to each of us in different ways.
One last word I will draw from Paul in his letter to Timothy. “Take hold of the life that really is life.” I might paraphrase—“Take hold of the God that really is God.” Take hold of the goodness and generosity that come from God and that insure us the same richness in good works, generosity, and readiness to share.
When we take hold of God, we have faith that God will provide. When we cling only to money, we create a false sense of security.
When money is our God, we live in a space of anxiety, never-ending pursuit of more, and an inability to engage generously. The love of money can overpower our lives. Seeking more and more is exhausting and does not allow us to truly flourish.
When the true God is our God, we live in sufficiency, we are enough and what we have is enough, and we can follow Jesus’ teachings on generosity and giving of self. Seeking God is life-giving!
With God guiding us we can take hold of the life that really is life—a life of care, connection, sufficiency, grace, and faith. We can care for our neighbors and kin and be cared for by them as well. We live in the community of faith, seeking God in all we do.
If God truly is our God, we will know because we will live lives in the truth that—We have enough, we are enough, and God’s generous grace abounds.
We have enough, we are enough, and God’s generous grace abounds! Amen.
© 2022 The Rev. Adelyn Tyler-Williams
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church – Fayetteville, Arkansas