Sermon-7-31-22

<p>In his book, <em>Jacob the Baker: Gentle Wisdom For a Complicated World,</em> Jewish poet-philosopher, scholar and theologian, Noah BenShea, writes, “Either the key to a man's wallet is in his heart, or the key to a man's heart is in his wallet.  So, unless you express your charity, you are locked inside your greed.”  Did you hear that?  Unless you express your charity, unless you live generously by giving of what you have to others, you are locked inside, you are <em>imprisoned</em> in your greed!  Wow!!  I think Jesus would have liked what BenShea has to say because Jesus also has something to say about greed.  Today, we hear Jesus tell us, “Take care!  Be on your guard against all kinds of greed.” </p> <p>Today, Jesus takes us to a place where most of us do not want to go as he draws us into a conversation about money.  Quite frankly, talking about money makes us uncomfortable as individuals, uncomfortable within the context of our faith communities, and causes great anxiety.  Many of us learn from a very early age that conversations about money are taboo.  Avoiding such a conversation is one of those unspoken rules in our culture.  We find it very uncomfortable to talk about the amount of money we make, the amount of money we tightly hold on to, the amount of money we hold in investments, the amount of money we have as disposable income, the amount of money we pay in taxes, and the amount of money we give away.  Well, today, Jesus breaks this unspoken rule and takes us into territory of the taboo as <strong>he talks about money</strong>.  Today, Jesus exposes human greed and anxiety about money, and he uses his famous teaching tool, a parable, to burn away <strong>any</strong> illusion we may have that a godly life is synonymous with our American ideals of prosperity and success.  </p> <p>Quite frankly, Jesus talked more about our <strong>relationship</strong> with money <strong>and</strong> our possessions more than almost <strong>any</strong> other topic, and today is one example.  The writer of Luke’s g