Lent 2008: Can you be a Christian and wealthy?
A sermon preached by Revd Michael Fuller
at Liverpool Parish Church
I had intended to start with a very feeble joke but realized that it would not be appropriate, given the topic of these talks, Culture and Controversy. The strange thing is that the more I've thought about the topic and my particular sub heading in this group the more annoyed I have become.
So I want to say something that I consider to be important right at the very outset.
I think this question to be a fatuous, non-question, one not worthy of our consideration, and one that has no validity within our church.
I am tempted to say, in fact will say, that it is these sort of questions* that deter good quality ordinary folk from setting foot in the church, because they wonder where the church's judgment will stop? Gays, middle class scientific women today, left handed people tomorrow????
(* The other questions are; can you be a feminist, gay, a scientist and a believer in other faiths and be a Christian?)
The reason I believe them to be a judgment is because they bring the validity of the states being discussed into question
To me these questions rank among the great insults of the church. I would put the questions in the same category as Lord Carey, who as Archbishop of Canterbury did more harm in the Church of England than just about any other Archbishop, criticizing Rowan Williams at the weekend.
What has been done here is to lump together all the prejudices and bigotry that the Church continues to hold dear to itself, and clings on to, and expose them in series of talks, not discussions mind you, so that you get no chance to respond either in favour or against.
Well, of course anybody who believes that they truly are a Christian could be in no doubt as to where they stand on any of these questions.
What I find amazing is that the church expects people who are gay to come to a talk whilst someone patronisingly unpacks the question, 'Can you be a Christian and gay?' Or for wealthy people to sit there whilst I sit and ruminate as to whether or not you can be rich! And you women watch out, your faith could next be in doubt.
Now had the question been, 'What does it mean to be Christian and gay, or rich, or a feminist,' that would be entirely different. It would, I suggest, be a legitimate question!
What I would like to suggest, as respectfully as I can, is that these questions have a bearing on the nature of the God we believe in and I would further venture to suggest that any church that asks the questions posed in this series has a God that is too small! Or even worse they have a God that is recreated in their own image.
It is outrageous of anyone to even think that God is concerned with the acceptability of rich or gay, of women, and make no mistake when people in the church question feminism they are really questioning the role of women.
This question, can you be a Christian and be rich, together with the other questions, perpetuates, in a very subtle way, the church's bigotry.
The Bible, that book about us, that is so often used to beat us over the head tells us quite emphatically that:
In Christ's family there can be no division into Jew and
non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal.
That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ.
(Galatians 3 © The
Message)
So, the answer to the question is simple. But it depends on what sort of God you believe in and what you mean by riches.
I believe that as Christians we need first to discover for ourselves the riches of God as promised in Christ Jesus, we need that which is offered to us in the Mass here daily; a glimpse of Almighty God.
And that's what we all need, Rich and poor alike: a glimpse of God, and encounter with Christ! Then we will receive of His riches, grace upon grace.
So if I have to address the question can we be a Christian and rich we need to ask ourselves, 'what, in this context are the distinctive marks of Christianity?'
They stem, of course, not from the social but from the spiritual side of our lives. I would identify three beliefs in particular:
First, that from the beginning, humans have been endowed by God with the fundamental right to choose between good and evil.
Second, that we were made in God's own image and therefore we are expected to use all our own power of thought and judgment in exercising that choice; and further, if we open our hearts to God, He has promised to work within us.
And third, that Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, when faced with His terrible choice and lonely vigil, chose to lay down His life that our sins may be forgiven.
I remember very well a sermon on Armistice Sunday when our preacher said: "No one took away the life of Jesus, He chose to lay it down". I think back to many discussions in my early life when we all agreed that if you try to take the fruits of Christianity without its roots and be a "GOOD person", which, many do, the fruits would wither. And they will not come again unless you nurture the roots.
But it's no good trying to profess the Christian faith and going to church simply because we want social reforms and benefits or a better standard of behaviour - but because we accept the sanctity of life, the responsibility that comes with freedom and the supreme sacrifice of Christ expressed so well in the hymn we have just sung, if you'll excuse a little hymn-theology:
When I survey the wondrous Cross
On which the Prince of Glory died
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride.
I would also like to say a few words about my personal belief in the relevance of Christianity to government fiscal policy - to the things that are Caesar's. The Old Testament lays down in Exodus the Ten Commandments as given to Moses. It gives us the injunction in Leviticus to love our neighbour as ourselves, and generally the importance of observing a strict code of law.
The New Testament, as well as being a record of the Incarnation, death and resurrection and the teachings of Christ, places great emphasis on our relationship to God and our neighbour. Again we are exhorted to love our neighbour as ourselves and to 'Do-as-you-would-be-done-by.'
I believe that by taking together these key elements from the Old and New Testaments, we gain a view of the universe, a proper attitude to work and principles to shape economic and social life. Indeed, abundance rather than poverty has a legitimacy, which derives from the very nature of Creation.
And what of the creation of wealth?
The Tenth Commandment - 'Thou shalt not covet' - recognizes that making money and owning things could become selfish activities. We must guard ourselves against this about the obsession with money and wealth for its own sake.
You see it is not the creation of wealth that is wrong, but love of money for its own sake. The spiritual dimension comes in deciding what one does with the wealth. How could we respond to the many calls for help, or invest for the future, or support the wonderful artists or craftsmen whose work also glorifies God, unless we had first worked hard and used our talents to create the necessary wealth?
So in conclusion I want to say that it is incumbent upon every Christian to create wealth in order to support themselves, their families and those who cannot legitimately support themselves. And it is possible for almost every person to be a wealth creator. But that in enjoying ones wealth we do not fail to recognise others needs, for we are all after all our brothers keepers.
There is therefore no question about being a Christian rich, that's God's promise to us; but the riches are qualified by the condition under which a Christian may achieve this status. We may only be rich if we use our wealth to the glory of God and the extension of His Kingdom.
So may I please do something that really runs counter to my usual practice and leave you with a verse from the Bible?
Paul writing to Timothy says:
Tell those rich in this world's wealth to quit being so
full of themselves, and so obsessed with money, which is here today and
gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches
we could ever manage - to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be
extravagantly generous. If they do that, they'll build a treasury that
will last, gaining life that is truly life.
(1 Timothy 6:17 © The
Message)
© Fr Michael Fuller: 13th February 2008