09 September 2007

26th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C (2004)

15/09/07 23:09

Ordinary 26-C (2004)

When I was growing up as a little kid, one of my favorite TV shows was “Lost in Space.” I especially liked the little robot. Every time anything went wrong, the little robot would start turning left and right, left and right, and start screaming in its whiney robot voice, “Danger, Danger, Danger!” It went like this… [show TV clip]

In today’s gospel, Jesus gives us the parable of the rich man and poor Lazarus. It is a scary story, but also a challenging one. And it warns us, “Danger, danger, danger!” It is meant to wake us up.

This morning, we are going to practice staying alert and awake, just as our gospel asks of us. [Invite a volunteer forward]

_________ here is going to be our living alarm clock throughout this homily. I am giving him a smoke detector. Whenever you feel the urge, ___________, just press this little button and an alarm will sound, and that will keep all of us awake!

The story in our gospel is meant to keep us awake. It is a story about a rich man and a poor man, Lazarus. The basis of the story is written on your handouts. Let’s read it together… [Read Luke 16:19-23] Question: What is the one thing that the rich man and poor Lazarus have in common? --- Answer: They both die.

This is an important point. We can’t take our money with us! Both rich and poor, famous and not-so-famous, movie stars and professional athletes and presidents, along with all of us ordinary, regular people – we all die. As the famous saying goes, “There are only two things certain in life: death and taxes.” But in the parable, they end up in radically different places – the rich man in Hell, poor Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham, enjoying heaven. So this parable is meant to wake us up spiritually and warn us, before it’s too late, that the choices and decisions we make in this life have eternal consequences, for good or ill. That’s why I’ve entitled today’s homily, “Planning for the Future” – because all of us, if we’re wise, plan for tomorrow. But I’m not just talking about planning for our kids’ college, or for our next home or vacation, or for retirement. More important than that is our spiritual preparation for our eternal tomorrow, after we die.

Now if we look at this parable, at first it seems like Jesus is condemning the rich man because he is rich. But I want to note off the bat that this is not the case. How do I know? It’s simple, really. Lazarus is sitting in heaven in the bosom of Abraham, and the Bible tells us that Abraham was a very wealthy man – land, sheep, you name it!

Luke’s gospel has been called the “Gospel of the Poor.” It begins with the story of the birth of Jesus at Christmas, and Mary sings a song, called the Magnificat, that goes like this: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my savior…. He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart. He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly. The hungry he has filled with good things; the rich he has sent away empty.” It’s easy to see why this is called the “gospel of the poor.” Later, when Jesus is giving the Beatitudes, Luke says simply, “Blessed are the poor,” which is quite different from Matthew’s version, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Luke is the only gospel with the story of Zaccheus, the rich tax collector who converts and gives his money to the poor. Luke’s is the only gospel with this story of the rich man and Lazarus.

But we need to be careful to avoid two errors: First, the error of glorifying the poor; Second, the error of condemning the rich. Not all poor people are good, nor is abject poverty ever a good; and not all rich people are bad. Luke tells us that Jesus had many rich friends, who were evidently very generous in supporting his ministry with his disciples. Rather, Luke is sounding an alarm – [sound an alarm or smoke detector] to wake us up. This sin is NOT being rich, but rather, being INDIFFERENT and UNCONCERNED about the plight of the poor all around us, not helping, not using what God has given us in the correct way. The sin is being a bad steward or administrator of all that we have been given.

This is a theme throughout Luke’s gospel. “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.” (Luke 13:24). Or: “A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit. For every three is known by its own fruit.” (Luke 6:43-44]

Question: How many here are rich? Nobody?

Just yesterday, the newspaper contained an article, “Forbes names the richest men in America.” Topping the list was Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, worth $48 billion. At last count, his wealth equaled the assets of 43 percent of the American population! Altogether, there were 313 billionaires in the U.S. this past year, up from 262 the year before. They included the Walton family, who own Wal-Mart. Altogether, the 400 riches people in the United States controlled assets worth $1 trillion!

How many here are rich? None of us are rich like Bill Gates, but look at the pictures on your handout. Children starving, hungry, emaciated. How many of us are rich? Let’s conduct a poll.

How many own a car? Own 2 or more? How many have more than one TV in your house? How many own a radio, a tape player, a CD player or a DVD player? How many have a big screen TV in their homes? How many have a cellular phone? How many own a Nintendo or Sega? How many have a computer at home? How many own a watch? How many have shoes? How many have a shirt? How many ate breakfast today? These children in this photo don’t have shoes or a shirt, and they did not eat breakfast!

We are rich in so many ways. We have our health, our family, a roof over our head and food on the table and clothing to wear, friends, our faith.

The real question is this: How do we use our wealth? Did you know that in the U.S., we spend $400 million a year on chewing gum? We spend six times more on cigarettes than on combating world hunger. Our country comprises 6 percent of the world’s population, but we consume 40 percent of the world’s natural resources.

I read last week about an experiment at a college in the U.S. Students were given a dollar and could choose how to spend it. They were given several options: (1) help fight hunger in India; (2) help fight AIDS in Africa; (3) help provide books for poor kids in an inner city school; or (4) help purchase a new photocopier for the school and for their use. Guess what the results were? Eighty percent of the students gave their dollar to help purchase a new photocopier for the school!

A joke is told about a little girl who went to the store with her mom. In the store was a big jar of candy. The owner invited the girl to stick her hand into the jar and pull out a handful of candy, but she refused. The storekeeper coaxed her, and finally reaching in, grabbed a handful of candy, and give it to the reluctant little girl. Afterward, the mom asked the little girl, “Why were you so shy about reaching your hand into the candy jar.” The little girl replied, “Because I knew that the storekeeper’s hand was a lot bigger than mine!” We live in a society where we keep trying to get a bigger and bigger handful of candy for ourselves. But our gospel challenges us to look beyond ourselves and our own wants – and to look toward others.

Another story is told of a young man, driving a brand new Corvette. He was parked one day, and saw a boy – obviously very poor – admiring the car. The poor boy asked the owner, “How much did you pay for that car?” The young man replied, “I don’t know, because the car was given to me as a gift by my brother.” The poor boy said, “I sure wish…” and the young man thought he would say, “I sure wish I had a brother like that.” But he didn’t say that. Instead, he said, “I wish I could be a brother like that.” It turned out that he had a little brother at home who was crippled and could hardly get out of the house. The story has a happy ending. The young man with the Corvette drove the boy home, where they picked up his crippled brother and gave him a ride in the fancy Corvette. The other brother kept saying, “Someday, I’m going to buy you a car, just like this!”

How do we use what God has given us? How do we reach out to help those who are poor and in need?

On your handouts, it says, “Good Riches and Bad Riches.” Good riches are the spiritual riches we have been given – our health, our family and loved ones, our faith. Good riches are when we share generously of what we’ve been given, when we are good stewards and administrators. Bad riches are when we are indifferent to the needs of others, focused only on ourselves.

Look at the verses on your handout. Luke 12:21 tells us: “Yes, every person is a fool who gets rich on earth but not in heaven.” Genesis 4 is the story of Cain and Abel, and tells us how to be rich spiritually. Cain asks God, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The answer is – YES! A famous Jesuit priest in the 1960s, Daniel Berrigan, once said, “None of us can do everything to solve all the problems of the world.” In fact, that’s not what God asks of us. “But everyone can do something.”

Turn to the back of your handouts. Just as there are good riches and bad riches, there also is good poverty and bad poverty.” The bad poverty is the suffering and hunger and starvation of so many people in our world. But there is a good poverty – a poverty of spirit, where we are not dependent on the things we own, but rather, we are dependent on God. It’s when we are not attached or enslaved to things. That’s what Matthew means when he says, “Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

But look at what Amos says when we are attached to material things, and let those things squeeze out God in our lives, and when we are indifferent and inattentive to the poor in our midst. [Read Amos 6:1, 4-8]

Instead, we are to follow the advice that Paul gives to Timothy in our second reading --- [read 1 Tim. 6:11-12]

On your sheet are some Action steps – some ideas of what you can do. [Read action steps]

Finally, at the bottom of your handout, it says, “Sins of Omission: Doing Nothing.” That really was the sin of the rich man. He had been blessed with many good things, but he did nothing with what he had been given. He was a bad steward. He was indifferent to the poor Lazarus on his doorstep.

A final story, about a man who died and went to heaven. Saint Peter started looking for his name in the book of life, he couldn’t find it. The man protested, “There must be a mistake! I didn’t do anything!” St. Peter just looked at him and replied, “Precisely!” For that was precisely the problem – he had not done anything!

The word “hell” comes from an old English word that means, “not to see.” The rich man did not see. He was blind. He did nothing.

Notice that the poor man in today’s gospel is named Lazarus. The name “Lazarus” means “God is my help.” This gospel challenges us to see, to be alert and awake, to trust in God’s help, to not be indifferent as we prepare for our future.

By the way, did anyone notice the rich man’s name?

He remains nameless – and for a reason: His name is NOT written in the book of life, because he failed to use what God had given to him.

Warning, warning, warning! Stay alert. Let none of us make the same mistake as the rich man in our parable today. Rather, let us be good stewards of all that God has given us. Let us make wise plans for our future.

[Sound the alarm] Is everyone here still awake?

25th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C (2007)

15/09/07 23:08

25th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C
September 23, 2007

Stewardship: A Way of Life

How many here have ever heard the word “stewardship?” When I say that word, what’s the first image that comes into your mind? Right! Most people say, “Money.”

There are lots of jokes about the church and money. One of my favorites, which I use a lot at our Mini-Retreat 101, is about a child on an airplane who swallows a quarter and starts to choke. The panicked mother asks, “Is there a doctor on board?” Fortunately, a doctor on board comes rushing forward to help the little boy. After a while, however, the doctor cries out, “Is there a priest on board the plane?” By now, the mother is in a complete panic. “The doctor can’t save my child,” she things, “so he is calling for a priest for the last rites of the sick and dying.” But the doctor tells the mother, “Calm down! Don’t worry! Your child will be OK. It’s just that priests are the real experts at getting money out of people.”

Repeat after me: “Stewardship is not JUST about money. Stewardship is about gratitude.” Again! “Stewardship is not JUST about money. Stewardship is about gratitude.”

Notice: I said stewardship is not JUST about money. It is about money, and material things – but it also is about our time and our talent, and about how we use all that God has given us and administer what we have in a wise and godly manner. Stewardship is really a way of life, the way we follow God. It is a life lived in gratitude for all God’s blessings to us – and out of that gratitude flows us generously sharing what we have received from the Lord with others. That’s why our mini-Retreat workshops on stewardship are entitled “Blessed to Bless!”

In the next few weeks and months, we’re going to be talking a lot about stewardship here in this parish. In fact, in October, we’re beginning a 6-week series on stewardship in all of our small faith communities, as a way to help us prepare for our capital fundraising campaign in November to build a new church.

In our gospel today, Jesus talks about stewardship. He tells a story of a shrewd and dishonest administrator, or steward, who gets fired – but then protects himself by reducing the debts of this boss’ creditors. Smart fellow, crafty. Jesus tells us, "The children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.” (Luke 6:8-9, NAB) When Jesus tells us, “Make friends with dishonest wealth,” he means that, as Christians, we are to have a right relationship with money and our material wealth, not becoming overly attached to them and allowing God to be ruler over them.

In 1 Peter 4:10, the Bible tells us: “As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” (1 Peter 4:10, NAB) Saint Teresa of Avila, the 16th century saint and mystic, said: “Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours, yours are the eyes through which He is going about doing good, yours are the hands with which He is to bless people now…”

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Last week, I came across two helpful illustrations to help understand stewardship. One consists of a cross and says, “The Four Quadrants of Stewardship.” At the top of the cross, most importantly, is to follow God faithfully. Stewardship is really about us choosing to live as God wants, faithfully following Him. Out of this faithfulness flows living responsibly and sharing gratefully. And at the bottom of the cross, it says, “To Possess Loosely.” This means that we do not let money and material possessions dominate and control our lives – we are not attached and enslaved. Whenever I drive into the wealthier neighborhoods around here, I am always struck by how the rich live behind fences and guard gates, with elaborate security monitoring systems. The more we possess, the more we become preoccupied that someone might steal from us, and our fear leaves us trapped and controlled by our wealth. Jesus came to set us free, to liberate us from all fears and false attachments.

A second illustration of stewardship is the Stewardship Hand. The starting point, the little finger, says “Relationship.” Stewardship is us living in proper and right relationship with God and with other people and with all of God’s creation. If we are in a right relationship with the Lord, then comes a proper understanding of ownership and possessions – God is the owner, the boss, not me; my possessions belong to God, and are just on loan to me. Next, stewardship requires sacrifice. We are called to give sacrificially – not just of our leftovers, not just the second hand stuff we no longer need or want, but to give God the very best, the first fruits of our labor. Finally, everyone, hold up a hand. Which is the only finger than can touch all the other fingers? Right! It’s the thumb. And on our drawing of the Stewardship Hand, the thumb symbolizes love. Without love, none of these other things matter. Love is the o+nly right motive for being a good steward.

Let’s look quickly at three very specific questions about stewardship:

1. What difference will stewardship make in my life? Answer: All the difference in the world. It will transform and change you completely. A life of generosity and gratefulness and detachment is a life of freedom and joy, meaning and purpose.

2. How is stewardship different than fundraising? Answer: Fundraising is about raising money when there is a need. Stewardship is an attitude, a spiritual way of life. As we are in the midst of this campaign to build a new church, lots of people have come up to me and said, “Father, let’s just organize a bingo; a car wash; a tamale sale.” Those fundraising efforts are not bad, of course, but they are not stewardship. Sometimes, fundraisers become an excuse for us not to live as faithful stewards of God – “I’ll buy a taco or tamale at your festival, but don’t ask me to dig into my own pockets to give!” God wants our entire life to be lived as a gift given back to God.

3. How is stewardship different from tithing? Answer: In the Old Testament, God commanded that the Israelites give back 10 percent of their herds or crops to God, and this 10 percent is called a tithe. But stewardship is about developing an awareness and an attitude that everything we have belongs to God, not just 10 percent. The problem with 10 percent, or some other amount, is that we stop there and start to think we’ve done our duty. A few years ago, I suggested people might want to start by giving back to God and the church one hour of their weekly salary. That’s about 2.5 percent, by the way, a long way from the biblical 10 percent. But it’s a starting point. The problem is that some people end there. For the rest of their lives, they give that 2.5 percent. Stewardship says we are growing in our capacity and our ability to be generous. And it’s really not about any one set percentage. A Bill Gates, blessed with billions of dollars, can give away 99 percent of his wealth and still live comfortably on the remaining 1 percent. A couple with 10 children might struggle more to give $10 a week than a couple with no children to give $50 a week. Stewardship means we pray, ask God to guide us and be in charge of our giving, and we learn to give and to be generous in a sacrificial way, but the amount may be more or it may be less than 10 percent. Stewardship also means that we are generous, not just with money, but with giving back to God of our time and energy and talent. If we work a 40 hour work week, a tithe of our time would be giving back to God four hours a week in time in serving the Lord.

The bottom line question is simply this: Am I faithful to God? In our gospel today, Jesus tells us: “The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones. If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? …No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." (Luke 16:10-11, 13, NAB)

Each of us must ask ourselves: How am I called to be a steward for Christ? At home, with your kids and in your marriage. At work or while shopping or while driving down the highway. With my body – do I eat right, get enough sleep and exercise, not smoke or do other things that will harm my body? For our young people, stewardship means doing your homework, obeying your teachers, working hard at school. For me as priest, stewardship means I need to take care of the spiritual family here in this church, to help shepherd the flock of God, to challenge and sometimes push so that this spiritual family at this parish will grow strong and mature in Christ.

Last night, we baptized a baby. The challenge of stewardship, for those parents, is to teach that child about Jesus and to set a good spiritual example for the child. I told them that in the 1st century, when parents baptized a baby, they were taking a real risk, because Christianity in those days was illegal within the Roman Empire and punishable by death. By baptizing the baby, parents in those days were running a risk that their child might be arrested and executed for following Jesus Christ. Today, unfortunately, we’ve too often transformed baptism into just a pretty ceremony to please the parents and godparents, but with no real cost or commitment associated with it. Sad!

We are called to be good stewards, not just as individuals, but also as a community. That’s why, as a church, we tithe 10 percent of our collection every Sunday to help the poor and to a variety of worthy causes. As a Christian community, how do we vote on such issues as varied as abortion, capital punishment, the war in Iraq, immigration reform, health care insurance, the environment, recycling… Next week, the Bloodmobile will be here at our church. Donating blood to save the lives of others is being a good steward.

Two weeks ago, I preached on the cost of discipleship, the cost of following Jesus. There is a cost, too, when we do not follow Jesus. Our children suffer spiritually, for example, when parents fail to set a good spiritual example at home for their kids. And we, ourselves, suffer, too. One day, we all will be lying in that hospital bed, dying, reviewing our life – and how sad for those who look back, only to realize that they wasted the opportunities God gave them, that they missed out on living an authentic life, and now, it is too late. Last week, our gospel talked about lost things – a lost sheep, a lost coin, the lost sons in the parable of the Prodigal Son. This week, the good news of Jesus is about being found. Being good stewards of all that God has given us is the path to being found, not lost.

Has anyone here ever read or heard about the poem, “Footsteps in the Sand.” It’s a poem about Jesus carrying us when we are too weak to carry ourselves. But there is an updated version of that poem, slightly irreverent, not meant to offend, but rather, to challenge and, also, to make us laugh a little. It’s called “Butt Prints in the Sand,” and goes like this:

One night, I had a wondrous dream;  One set of footprints there was seen.  The footprints of my precious Lord,  But mine were not along the shore.  But then some stranger prints appeared,  And I asked the Lord, "What have we here?"  "Those prints are large and round and neat,  But, Lord, they are too big for feet."  "My child," He said in somber tones.  "For miles I carried you alone.  I challenged you to walk in faith,  But you refused and made me wait.  You disobeyed, you would not grow,  The walk of-faith you would not know.  So I got tired and fed up,  And there I dropped you on your butt,  Because in life, there comes a time,  When one must fight, and one must climb,  When one must rise and take a stand,  Or leave their butt prints in the sand."

Despite the humor, there’s some real truth in this little poem. Some of us Catholics really need to get off our “buts” – and now, I mean “but” in a different sense: “I really want to start going back to church, but…” “I really intend to join a small faith community, but…” “I really plan to jump into a ministry, but…” and we are full of excuses and procrastination.

Tony Barile, our business office manager, studied the envelope giving in our parish in 2006. He found that 3,249 persons used envelopes during the year, but here’s the breakdown:

♣ 1,190 persons (about a third) gave less than $25 in the entire year. That’s less than 50 cents a week!

♣ 992 persons (almost another third) gave between $25 and $100 over the course of a year – between 50 cents and $2 a week.

♣ Only 70 families contributed $1,000 or more to the church during 2006 – which is an average of $20 a week, or more.

♣ If you crunch the numbers, those 70 people gave more than twice as much as the 1,190 persons who only gave less than $25 in the course of a year.

♣ The average gift was about $147 a year, or $2.82 a week.

♣ We may be a poor parish, but some of this, quite frankly, is pathetic and a disgrace to God. Even the very poorest family in this town can afford to give more than 50 cents a week to God! I see people from our parish driving new, expensive cars and asking me to bless them, or walking out of Costco with expensive $1,600 flat panel TVs, or spending $10 or $15 on the ice cream trucks that sometimes park in front of the church on Sunday morning – but, only 50 cents for God!

God demands that we be good stewards of the blessings we have received. I suspect that if we could study the way people use their time, we’d find similar things as with the money – that a few people are dedicating lots of time to serving the Lord, but a huge majority are giving almost nothing of their time to God. Experts say the best way to measure a person’s real commitment to the Lord is to look at two things: (1) their wallet or purse, how they prioritize spending their money; and (2) their calendar books, how much time they spend serving God versus serving themselves.

One last point, and then, I want to give us a little test or quiz. Saint Paul tells us, “You must each make up your own mind as to how much you should give. Don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure, for God loves the person who gives cheerfully.” (2 Corinthians 9:7, NLT) The Lord wants us to be generous, but only if we can give joyfully. Stewardship as a way of life should fill us with God’s joy, because we are freed from attachments, freed to live fully for God and not just for ourselves, knowing that the Lord is in control and we no longer have any need to fear or worry. That’s great news!

Last week, a magazine at my alma mater, Indiana University, printed a cover story on me and this parish. The pictures are on the screen, above. This is not to brag, but I think we all look pretty happy in these photos from our parish, don’t you? Last week, I and the other priests in the diocese were at meetings with our bishop, and one of the speakers at the conference talked about the joys of priesthood. He began by noting that most lay persons think that most priests are not happy. After all, they must live lonely, celibate lives, with long hours and low pay, right? But surveys show that 90 percent of priests are very satisfied with their lives and would not choose any other way of life, despite the celibacy and long hours and low pay. That’s a higher satisfaction rate than any other profession – doctors, teachers, lawyers, you name it. Why? The survey found that it is because priests feel they are using their lives to make a contribution to the world that is greater than themselves, that their lives are filled with real purpose and meaning.

God wants all of us to have a sense of purpose and meaning and fulfillment in our lives. But that will only happen when we learn to live a life of faithful stewardship, living our lives for God and not for ourselves.

How to live a life of stewardship is real easy. It’s just two simple steps. First, take out your wallet or purse or checkbook and make God first. Every time you get paid, write out your first check payment to God. Put God first in the area of your finances. Second, take out your calendar book and, first thing before scheduling anything else in, block out time for God – time each day to pray, time each week to attend church, time during the week to participate in a small faith community and/or a ministry, time a few times a year to attend a spiritual workshop or retreat.

Now, let’s take our little quiz or test. Answer each question only to yourself. Nobody needs to raise a hand. You can take this survey home with you and answer these questions when you are alone. The survey is on your worship aid handout this morning. But if you answer these questions honestly, they will tell you how faithful you are in really following God in your life, and in living a life of real Christian stewardship and generosity. Here are the questions:

1. Do I REALLY love God? Is God first in my life?

2. Do I REALLY love God’s family, the church?

3. Am I mostly happy or mostly unhappy?

4. Am I thankful to God? What are some of the things for which I am thankful to God?

5. Am I a generous and giving person?

6. How am I a generous and giving person: With my time? With my talent? With my treasure?

7. Getting really specific:

♣ Am I serving in a ministry?

♣ Am I in a small group?

♣ Do I give away a sizable part of my income to God and charity?

♣ Did I attend any retreats or classes in the last year that were not required?

♣ Do I read the Bible and pray regularly?

♣ Did I read or listen to anything spiritual in the last year?

♣ Is my spiritual life more than just attending church?

♣ Where has God made me a steward? At work? At home? In my marriage? At school? At church? In my community?

As you ponder these questions, listen to the following song mediation – “Shine, Jesus, Shine.” I invite you to join in singing the refrain together.

Don’t just leave butt prints in the sand of your life. Leave real footprints. Let the Lord really lead you and your life. You see, a faithful life of stewardship means we are allowing the light of Jesus and the fire of the Holy Spirit to shine and to blaze in us, so that the love of God flows forth in our lives like a gushing river of life. Faithfully administering what God has given us, and in gratitude and in generosity, we allow the Lord to use us to help build His Kingdom!

Listen and sing!

Shine, Jesus, shine; fill this land with the Father’s glory!
Blaze, Spirit, blaze! Set our hearts on fire!
Flow, river, flow; flood the nations with grace and mercy.
Send forth your Word, Lord, and let there be light.
(Song by Graham Kendrick)

25th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C (2004)

15/09/07 23:08

Ordinary 25-C (2004)

Robert E. Lee, the famous civil war general who led the losing army of the Confederacy in the south, was bankrupt and destitute after the war. A company offered him a million dollar contract if he would sell them the use of his name. Robert E. Lee replied, “My name is all I have left, and it isn’t for sale.”

Robert E. Lee was a man of honesty and integrity. Are we people of honesty and integrity? Because that is what our gospel asks of us today!

Look at your handout today, at the top, where it says, “Living a Life of Honesty and Integrity.” Our readings today give us some clues on how to do that. But first, if we are honest, we must admit that in our society today, it’s an uphill fight, because honesty and integrity are in scarce supply. It’s even become a joke in some places. Take, for example, the story of the lawyer who went to the funeral home to arrange his tombstone in advance. He asked the undertaker to write on his tombstone, “Here lies an honest man and a lawyer.” But the undertaker refused, and explained, “It’s illegal to bury two different people in the same grave.”

Now I admit, lawyers and politicians always take the heat for being dishonest and corrupt. But dishonesty and corruption are all around us, in the business world, in the political world, in the entertainment industry, in our own lives.
• How many have every been to Mexico? What do you think of when I say the word “mordida?” [Bite – the bribe of corruption]
• Last week, in the news, it was revealed that the two airplanes that crashed in Russia because of two women suicide bombers – one of the women bombers was able to pass through security because she bribed the guard, paying him a mere $30, which costs dozens of innocent passengers their lives.
• Just the other day, I was talking with a parishioner who used to work in the auto dealer industry, selling cars. He told me how ruthless and cutthroat that industry is, how full of greed and dishonesty, how some dealers purposely doctor invoices and lie to customers so they can increase the markup on the cars they sell, and increase their own commissions and profits.
• Even here at the church, I’m surprised at how greedy and dishonest people can be. People are always stealing the outdoor lights near the Youth Center. Last week, I went into the bathrooms and found someone had stolen all the handles off the hot water for the sinks!

Let’s begin with a question: Is it OK to steal and cheat?

Watch these two video clips. The first is from “Liar, Liar,” with Jim Carrey. He’s explaining to his son that adults have to lie and cheat to be successful. And the second clip is from one of my favorite movies, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” where we see a typical teenager in action…. [show clips]

Cheating, deceit, dishonesty – they abound in our society, whether it’s cutting school or stealing pencils from the office or embezzling millions of dollars. There is a saying: “Opportunity, not conscience, separates the petty thief from the hardened criminal.”

If we are honest, we will admit that there’s a bit of thief in all of us. And too often, we justify it by saying, “Everybody does it.” But not everyone “does it,” and Jesus tells us clearly that if we are to be his followers, we need to be people of honesty and integrity, not deception and deceit.

Look at your handout. First, we have the example of the prophet Amos, from our first reading. On your handout it says, “Just Us or Justice?” Now obviously, that’s a play on words. But many people focus just on themselves, just on us. God wants us to focus on justice – on others. And notice how Amos denounces the corruption of his day, the attitude of “Just Us” rather than real “justice” -- Listen to this, you that trample on the needy and try to destroy the poor of the country. You say to yourselves, "We can hardly wait for the holy days to be over so that we can sell our grain. When will the Sabbath end, so that we can start selling again? Then we can overcharge, use false measures, and fix the scales to cheat our customers. We can sell worthless wheat at a high price. We'll find someone poor who can't pay his debts, not even the price of a pair of sandals, and we'll buy him as a slave." – Amos 8:4-6 (Today’s English Version)

Second, let’s look at the parable in our gospel today, the story of the Shrewd Manager. This is one of the strangest parables that Jesus ever told, because it seems to make a hero out of a dishonest servant, who steals from his master in order to save his own skin. It might almost seem that Jesus is invented a new Beatitude: “Blessed are the cunning and the crafty and the clever.”

To be honest, scholars themselves are not completely sure how to interpret this parable. It may be that the shrewd manager is stealing from his Master in order to save his own skin. Or it may be that the shrewd manager is just cutting into his own commission. That to me makes the most sense, and explains why the master commends his shrewd manager instead of criticizing him or having him arrested.

In any case, the real point of the story is that we too are called to be wise stewards and administrators of all that God has given to us. I remember a funny story about an Israeli soldier who was tired of fighting and wanted a leave of duty so he could rest and go home for a bit. His commander told him, “You can have a weekend pass if you bring me back a Syrian tank.” To the commander’s surprise, the young soldier returned an hour later, driving a Syrian tank. “How did you do that?” the commander asked, astonished. “Easy,” said the young man. “I simply drove one of our tanks over the Syrian side, asked the soldiers there if they also wanted a leave of absence, they said yes, so we traded tanks.”

Very shrewd, very wise! On your handout, it says that we have three choices in life:

• We can waste our life. Lots of people, unfortunately, do just that – destroying their lives with drugs, alcohol, marital infidelity, so on and so forth.
• We can spend our life: living just for ourselves, for pleasure and fame and popularity.
• Or – what God wants – we can invest our lives – use the gifts and talents that God has given us as an investment in the lives of other people, in making the world a better place, in building God’s kingdom, in building for eternity.

Last week, I read two stories about Harvard University, one that made me sad and the other that gave me great hope. The first story, which made me sad, was about a survey of the top priorities of the students at Harvard. In order, the top priorities were: Money, Power, Reputation. But the second story gave me hope. It was about the Law School, which had planned a lavish and expensive celebration at a fancy hotel for its graduating students. But the students asked the school to hold a much simpler, less expensive celebration so they could use the extra money they saved to help the poor. Here is a story of investing your life, not just spending it or wasting it!

Now, turn to the back of your handouts. Let’s get practical. Our gospel today gives us four steps to help us live lives of honesty and integrity.

STEP ONE: WISE AND FAITHFUL ADMINISTRATORS… Make wise use of what God gives them.
"The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the citizens of this world are more shrewd than the godly are. I tell you, use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. In this way, your generosity stores up a reward for you in heaven. – Luke 16:8-9 (New Living Translation)

Notice that the shrewd manager focused on long term rewards, not just short term gains. He gave up the quick buck in order to invest in the long term future of making friends instead of enemies. He made wise use of what God had given him. If we are to be good and wise and faithful administrators of what God has given us, we too need to think in the long range, not just the short term. Unfortunately, too many people think just about the immediate present, without looking ahead or planning for the future, including their eternal and spiritual future after they die.

STEP TWO: WISE AND FAITHFUL ADMINISTRATORS… Act NOW, not LATER.
The manager said to himself, "What shall I do NOW that my master is going to fire me? I can't dig ditches, and I'm ashamed to beg. I know what I'll do, so that people will welcome me into their homes after I've lost my job." – Luke 16:3-4 (Contemporary English Version)

It is foolish to procrastinate. Tomorrow may be too late. Now is the time to act. But too many people procrastinate spiritually.

STEP THREE: WISE AND FAITHFUL ADMINISTRATORS… Are faithful in SMALL and LARGE ways.
"Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won't be faithful in large ones. If you cheat even a little, you won't be honest with greater responsibilities. – Luke 16:10 (NLT)

Most of us today won’t write a book, win the lottery, govern a nation, stop a war, win a Super Bowl or NBA championship or Olympic gold medal, become movie star or sports hero – BUT all of us can become EVERYDAY HEROES. We follow God when we are faithful in small things – loving our spouses and our children, working hard, being honest and truthful. And if we are dishonest and unfaithful in small things, that too will eventually spill over and cause us problems in larger things.

STEP FOUR: WISE AND FAITHFUL ADMINISTRATORS… Prioritize correctly.
You cannot serve both God and money." – Luke 16:13 (NLT)

It is so sad that so many people mess up in this critical area of their lives. A few weeks ago, I talked to a young man who started selling drugs – the quick money. Greed is a powerful motivator. But he didn’t look at the big picture – the danger of getting arrested, the damage he was causing to his wife and kids, how his greed for money was contributing to the drug problem that is destroying our society.

A joke is told of a college professor who discovered a genie in a bottle. The genie offered him one of three blessings: infinite wealth, infinite fame or infinite wisdom. Being a college professor, he of course chose infinite wisdom. But his students, who were watching him, noticed that once he received infinite wisdom, he sat in a corner, thinking to himself, but saying nothing. Finally, one of the students asked him, “With your newly acquired infinite wisdom, tell us what you are thinking.” The professor replied, “I should have chosen infinite wealth!”

Greed is even in the church. I read last week of a man who came to the pastor of his church, begging for money to help a poor lady who couldn’t pay her rent. The priest was ready to open his wallet to help the poor woman, and was very impressed by the zeal of this man, in his efforts to help the poor woman. “It is always so good to see someone who is so concerned for the poor,” said the priest. “By the way, what do you do for a living?” The man replied, “I’m the poor woman’s landlord.” Sharks, even in the church!

Love of money can destroy us. ““Money is like seawater,” goes the saying. “The more you drink, the thirstier you get.” Yet our society bombards us with messages that promote greed and materialism: “He who dies with most toys, wins;” -- “When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping.”

A man was asked once to compare a glass window and a glass mirror. Looking through the glass window, he could see other people. Looking into the glass window, he could see only himself. A wise rabbi explained that the difference between the glass window and the glass mirror is the thin layer of silver on the back of the mirror. That silver, which represents the lure of money and wealth, blinds us so that we can only see ourselves, but we cannot see through the glass to see other people.

It’s like in the Holy Land, the difference between the Sea of Galilee in the north and the Dead Sea in the south. The Sea of Galilee in the north is surrounded by lush green hills and fields. The Dead Sea in the south is surrounded by desert and is lifeless. The difference is that the Sea of Galilee has tributaries and rivers that feed out from it and water and irrigate the fields and the hills. But the Dead Sea only takes in water from the Jordan River, but it never gives out. Our lives, too, will blossom like the Sea of Galilee if we give of our time, our talent and our treasure. But if we are selfish, our lives will wither and die, like the Dead Sea.

We need to look at life from the long term view, from God’s perspective, investing in eternity, not just spending our life or wasting our life. A joke is told of a man who was very rich and asked God to allow him to take one suitcase with him to heaven when he died. The man died, arrived at the gates of heaven, and St. Peter asked him to open his suitcase. Inside were many heavy blocks of gold. St. Peter asked, “You brought pavement with you in your suitcase?”
The final item on your handout is a “Life Investment Inventory.” This is something you can do in your head, or at home, if you wish. It’s very simple: On a scale of 1 to 10, how am I now doing in terms of giving of my time, my talent and my treasure? Am I doing well – that would be a 9 or 10? Or am I doing poorly – that would be a 1 or 2? Secondly, what is my goal for this coming year in each of those areas – where do I want to be? Do I want to move up from a 3 to a 6, or from a 6 to an 8? Finally, how am I going to do that?

Time – do I need to volunteer more? Am I just giving one hour a week on Sunday morning? Can I give more? Maybe attend some of the mini-retreats, or one of the bigger retreats, or a Bible study or small faith community.

Talent – am I using my gifts here in the church. Do I help out? Am I serving in a ministry?

Treasure – am I giving my fair share to support the church and its ministries? Here at this parish, we suggest that everyone at least try to give at least one hour of their weekly salary to God. But give more if you can, less if you really are unable.

Some people have lots of money – a good job, so on and so forth. They should give more. Others are struggling financially, maybe they are even unemployed. Perhaps they can’t give as much money, but they can give more of their time and talent. All of us can contribute in some way, financially or with our gifts and talents and with our time.

Let me conclude with two inspirational stories. One is about John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church in England. As a young pastor, he earned barely enough to live on, say $20,000 a year. But he only needed $18,000 to live on, so he gave the other $2,000 away to help the poor. A few years later, his salary had increased to $40,000 a year. But he still only needed about $18,000 a year to live on – so he gave away $22,000 to the poor. Still later, when he was now a world-renowned preacher, his salary had jumped to $100,000 a year. But he still only needed $18,000 to live on – so he gave away $82,000 to the poor.

See the example he set of being a wise and honest disciple of Jesus, a person of integrity? Instead of just spending, spending, spending, more and more and more, a bigger house and a fancier car –he invested in God’s Kingdom by helping the poor.

My second and last story is a bit sadder. It’s about a church of ducks. Every Sunday, they would wallow to their duck church, where the duck pastor would open the duck Bible and read and preach to them. One Sunday, the duck pastor opened the duck Bible and started to proclaim, “You ducks have wings like eagles. You ducks can fly. You ducks can soar!” All the ducks flapped their wings with joy and jubilation. But after the church service, they wallowed home again. Not one of them flew home.

As we start this new year, what kind of church to we want to become? A church like the ducks, who every Sunday hear what God asks us to do – that we are to be good stewards, good and wise administrators, a people of honesty and integrity, get more involved by investing our time, talent and treasure – but instead of flying, we just wallow home, and nothing changes? Or do we want to really soar and fly?

My brothers and sisters, it is up to us – really take this message to heart, really commit to becoming more plugged in to God in this coming year by generously giving of our time, talent and treasure? Or just letting God’s message go into one ear but out the other, and nothing changes.

God wants us to be people of honestly and integrity, good stewards, good administrators of all that He has given us.

LIFE INVESTMENT INVENTORY
My time I now give 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 I want to give ________ How?______
My talent I now give 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 I want to give ________ How?______
My treasure I now give 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 I want to give ________ How?______

24th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C (2007)

14/09/07 23:10

Homily
24th Sunday of Ordinary Time
September 16, 2007

Lost

Anyone here have a favorite TV show? Watch this short video clip and see if you can identify the show. It is one of the most popular shows on TV right now. [Show blurb for TV show “Lost”]

Our gospel today talks about lost things. Jesus tells three parables – but all three make essentially the same point: The lost sheep; the lost coin; and the prodigal, or lost, son. Notice that each story ends with a party, with celebration and rejoicing. Jesus is making the point that God always seeks out the lost, and always rejoices when the lost is found.

Who are the lost? The world is full of lost souls!

Some are lost to sin: drugs, alcohol, gambling, greed, sexual promiscuity and immorality, materialism, hedonism, and the pursuit of pleasure, or the pursuit of fame or popularity or acceptance or success, or maybe, lost to anger or bitterness or hatred or jealousy and envy, or to cynicism and negativity.

Some are lost through no direct fault of their own: a sickness, a failure, the loss of a loved one, financial distress, or maybe they have fallen into the hole of despair, depression, hopelessness. Last week, a dad called me who felt exactly as the father in Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son: “My son was dead, but now he has come back to life!” This dad’s teenage son is named Ezekiel. You may remember that, back in April, we prayed for Ezekiel. He was at a party in Thermal, there was a fight, Ezekiel was just trying to be the peacemaker and break up the fight, but someone pulled a gun, shot into the crowd, and Ezekiel was hit by three bullets. One bullet lodged between his heart and his aorta. Doctors said he would not live, that he had absolutely zero chance of survival. He was in a coma, at Desert Hospital – and we prayed, and we kept praying. Today, five months later, Ezekiel is walking and talking and almost 100 percent back to normal. The doctors have called it a miracle. He was lost, not through his own fault, but because of a gun, because of violence. His dad will say, rejoicing, “My son was dead, but now he has come back to life!”

Who are the lost souls? It can be a spouse, a child, a parent, a friend, a co-worker – or, ourselves! Look at the story of the prodigal son. Who are the “lost” in that story? The younger son, of course, who squanders his inheritance. But also the older son, who stays away from the party, who harbors anger, resentment, jealousy toward his younger brother, and, most of all, against the generous father, who in the story symbolizes God.

Last week, I read a story about a teacher who said to the children in his classroom, “If I painted all the bad children red, and all the good children green, which color would you be?” One very bright child yelled out, “I’d be striped!” And isn’t that true about all of us – we’re all striped, we’re all a bit of a mixture of good and bad. So we ought to be careful about pointing fingers and judging others.

One of my favorite jokes is about an employer who, on the weekend, needed to ask one of his employees a question, so he phoned the employee at home. But the employee’s little 4-year-old boy answered the phone. “Is your dad home?” the boss asked. “Yes,” said the little boy in a whisper, “but he’s busy.” “Is your mom home?” asked the boss. “Yes,” said the little boy, again in a quiet whisper, “but she’s busy, too.” “Do you have an older brother or sister at home whom I could talk to?” asked the boss. “I have both an older brother and an older sister,” said the little boy, “and both of them are home, but they’re both busy, too.” “Are there any other adults at your home?” asked the boss. “Yes,” said the little boy quietly. “Both the police and the firemen are here.” The boss, now rather worried, asked, “Can I talk to them?” “No,” said the little boy, “they’re all busy, too.” The boss, now completely beside himself, asks, “What’s happening at your house that everyone is so busy they can’t come to the phone?” “Oh,” said the little boy, “it’s because they’re all looking for me!” You see, spiritually, we can be like that little boy at times, hiding from God – but no matter how far we run from the Lord, he keeps searching for us, chasing after us, trying to find the lost sheep.

Look at our second reading, from St. Paul’s 1st letter to Timothy: “I give thanks to Christ Jesus our Lord … for considering me worthy and appointing me to serve him, even though in the past I spoke evil of him and persecuted and insulted him. But God was merciful to me, because I did not yet have faith and so did not know what I was doing… Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. I am the worst of them, but God was merciful to me.” (1 Timothy 1:12-13, 15-16, TEV) You see, even the great apostle to the Gentiles, St. Paul himself, felt lost spiritually at one time, until he was found by God.

Maybe you’ve been reading in the newspaper these past too weeks about Mother Teresa’s memoirs, how she struggled for years and years with a spiritual “lost-ness” – a “dark night of the soul.” I don’t think such darkness, such “lost-ness,” is that unusual. I just think a lot of people hide it because they don’t want to appear to be weak, spiritually. But the truth is that all of have moments of lost-ness and spiritual weakness.

Yesterday, in Le Mans, France, the founder of my religious community of Holy Cross, Father Basil Anthony Moreau, was beatified. As you leave church today, everyone will receive a special prayer card with his picture on it. But he founded Holy Cross, then his own community kicked him out, and he died all alone, cared for only by a group of religious sisters. Talk about being abandoned, feeling lost and rejected and alone! All of us experience lost-ness sometime in our lives.

The good new is that there is hope for lost souls like ourselves. God does not ever give up on us. Neither should we give up on ourselves or on others whom we see as lost. God loves all of us, and he wants us to start to see with his eyes, to see with the eye of the heart, with eyes of love and compassion for those who are lost and hurting. A little child once asked his mom, “Is God like a grown-up or like a parent?” The mom didn’t quite understand, of course, because parents are adults – so she asked the child the explain. “Grown-ups,” said the little boy, “love you when you are good, but parents just love you.” What is God like – a grown up or a parent?

Watch this next very short film clip… [show “Shrek,” when Princess Fiona changes into an ogress in front of Shrek and loses her outward beauty] There is a part of all of us that is a bit like Princess Fiona – hidden, lost, it causes us embarrassment or shame. But God sees us for who we really are – good and bad, green, red and stripes – and loves us nonetheless.

The context of these three parables is that the Pharisees and scribes are criticizing Jesus for hanging out with sinners, prostitutes, tax collectors. Jesus tells these stories so that we won’t imitate the Pharisees, we won’t imitate the older son, we won’t harbor anger and resentment or be judgmental of others. Rather, like Jesus, we will grow a heart of compassion and love for the lost. We will see others as God sees them, with tenderness and love, and reach out to rescue the lost because we want them to be found.

John Dominic Crossan, a famous Scripture scholar, says Jesus told parables to help us see how Jesus would run the world if Jesus sat on Caesar’s throne. It’s to help us start to run the world – or at least, to do our small part to transform the world – as Jesus would want. It’s not always easy. More often than not, we nurse our wounds instead of seeking real healing for them. A joke is told of a man who found a bottle lying on the beach. He rubbed it and out popped a genie. The genie promised him three wishes – but warned him that his worst enemy would get twice of whatever he asked. The man had this one really bad enemy, but he decided to make a wish anyway. “Give me $10 million,” he asked, and the genie instantly granted him his wish – but also gave his worst enemy $20 million. “Let me live 300 years,” the man asked. The genie granted his wish, but his worst enemy was given 600 years of life. Thinking real hard, the man finally asked the genie, “Please make me blind – but only in one eye!”

Aren’t we a bit like that – wanting our enemies to suffer, judging others in our minds, if not on our lips. Each of these three parables ends with a party, a fiesta, a celebration. God loves parties, especially if it is to welcome back one who was lost. But how would we feel if, when we get to God’s heavenly banquet, we find some folks we hadn’t quiet expected – a Genghis Khan or Adolph Hitler or Mussolini, or maybe a Sadaam Hussein or a bossy mother-in-law – waiting for us at the table?

Only God knows who will be at the table. We are not to judge. We are simply to love and to reach out with compassion to the lost, to help them so that they might be found. We are to join the party, to celebrate the return of the lost.

I want to end with a story from a book by Christian writer and sociologist Tony Campolo, entitled “The Kingdom of God is a Party.” A few years ago, Campolo traveled to Honolulu, Hawaii, for a speaking engagement. He flew all the way from Pennsylvania to Hawaii and had an awful case of jet lag. Therefore, at 3:00 a.m., he was wide awake. Tony found a donut shop near his hotel. As he sat there sipping coffee and glancing at a newspaper, the door to the diner swung open and in marched eight or nine provocative and boisterous prostitutes. Their talk was loud and crude. Tony was just about to make his getaway when he overheard one of the women say, "Tomorrow's my birthday. I'm gonna be thirty-nine." One of her friends responded in a sarcastic tone, "So, what do you want from me, a birthday party?" "No," she said. "I've never had a birthday party in my life. Too late to start now." Suddenly, Tony Campolo had an idea. As soon as the women had left, he said to Harry, the owner of the diner, "Do those women come in here every night?" "Yep," he said, "about this same time. Hope they weren't bothering you." "No," Tony said, "but I have an idea. The one sitting next to me is going to have a birthday tomorrow. I'll pay the bill if we can have a little birthday party for her."  A smile spread across Harry's face. "That's a good idea. Her name is Agnes." He called his wife out of the kitchen area and told her about it. They agreed to bake the cake. The next morning by 3:00 a.m., Campolo had decorated the diner with crepe paper and had made a big sign reading, "Happy Birthday, Agnes." Word had gotten around somehow because by 3:00 a.m. every prostitute in Honolulu was in the place. Wall to wall prostitutes and Tony Campolo. At 3:30 a.m. on the dot, Agnes walked in and confronted the cake with burning candles and the crowd singing loudly, "Happy Birthday." She was flabbergasted, stunned, shaken. Her eyes moistened. Then after she blew out the candles she completely lost it and openly cried.   After the party was over, Tony asked the group if he could say a prayer. He prayed for Agnes and everyone else in the group. Then after everyone was gone, he thanked Harry for going along with the party. Harry said, "Hey, you didn't tell me you were a preacher. What church do you belong to?" In one of those moments when just the right words came, Tony answered, "I belong to a church that throws birthday parties for prostitutes at 3:00 a.m."  
What kind of church are we? What kind of Christians are we? You see, Jesus loved the lost and throws a party when the lost are found. And Jesus invites us to imitate him, to seek out the lost and to join the party -- to celebrate with God when the lost are found.

23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C (2007)

13/09/07 21:11

23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time
September 9, 2007

Count the Cost

School started last week, so I want to begin today with a question for the teens and the children (and be honest, because we’re in church!): Any of you guys ever skipped school?

Second question, also for the kids: How many of you think your mom or dad skipped school when he or she was younger? OK, your turn, moms and dads: How many of you skipped school when you were younger?

Adults skip out on things even as adults. Not too long ago, I came across a story of a boss who asked one of his employees, “Do you believe in the resurrection of the dead?” The employee responded, “Yes.” The boss then said, “Good, because remember last week, when you took off two days of work to attend your grandmother’s funeral? Well, she showed up yesterday here at work, looking for you.”

How many think priests have skipped from time to time? How many think I’ve skipped? I want to tell you a true story. A few years ago, I was attending a weeklong conference of priests in Los Angeles. To be honest, some of the talks were kind of boring, so a group of us decided that on Wednesday, midway through the conference, we would skip out for one day. No one would notice – we thought! We decided to go into Hollywood, the “The Price is Right.” But we got caught skipping, and here’s how. You see, one of our group – Fr. Bill Faeilla -- got picked to go on the show. He’s a Holy Cross priest – that’s the name of our religious congregation – and his one-liner that got us onto the show was this: “I’m a Holy Cross priest – more cross than holy.” Anyway, he won in the first round. Then he won in the second round. He kept winning until, finally, he won the grand prize – a brand new car. Good news? You bet! Except for one thing – now we were all on national TV, so everyone would know that we played hooky that day!

Today, I want to help us NOT play hooky from God. I want to challenge us to follow the Lord wholeheartedly, not half-heartedly. Specifically, as we look at our gospel today, I want us to count the cost of being a disciple, a follower of Jesus.

Everything in life has a cost. If you want good health, it costs energy and effort to eat the right kinds of food, get enough sleep at night, stick to an exercise regime. If you want to be successful at school, it costs effort to study and complete homework assignments on time. How many of you who are parents believe there is a cost to being a good parent? Just last week, I heard a story of a poor dad, on a cross-country airplane flight with his two daughters, ages 3 and 4. Mom couldn’t join them on the trip so dad was all alone – and these two little ones were at that mischievous age. They were running up and down the aisles of the plane, throwing food and magazines at one another, occasionally crying out in a temper tantrum, and – in general – bothering all the other passengers. A stewardess even asked the father, only half jokingly, “Would you mind taking your children outside to play?” You know it’s bad when the stewardess asks you that! But then, one gentle turned to the father and asked him quietly, “Are those your two children?” The man replied, “Yes.” The other man then said, “My wife and I would give anything to have two children.” The father, now hushed, simply asked, “Oh, so you and your wife don’t have any kids?” But the man replied, “No, you misunderstood. We have eight kids. My wife and I would give anything just have two kids, like you!” You see, everything has a cost.

Let’s play a game – our church version of “The Price is Right.” I need two volunteers…

[Invite two volunteers forward, on TV screen show them a variety of products and three possible prices. Ask them to guess which is the correct price. Award each with a piece of candy if they get the answer correct. Items might include: A box of cereal; a gallon of milk; a package of tortillas; a liter bottle of soda pop; a McDonald’s Big Mac combo; an I-Pod; a video game console; a new car…]

Now all this was just in fun. But now, I have a serious question: What does it cost to be a follower of Jesus?

Here’s what it cost Jesus’ earliest followers, his 12 disciples:

♣ Andrew died on a cross
♣ Simon was crucified
♣ Bartholomew was flayed alive
♣ James (son of Zebedee) was beheaded
♣ The other James (son of Alphaeus) was beaten to death
♣ Thomas was run through with a lance
♣ Matthias was stoned and then beheaded
♣ Matthew was slain by the sword
♣ Peter was crucified upside down
♣ Thaddeus was shot to death with arrows
♣ Philip was hanged

You might have noticed that there are only 11 disciples listed here. That’s because the 12th disciple, John, is the only one who lived to old age and was not martyred for his faith in Jesus. But for the disciples, there was a real cost in following Jesus. It cost them their very lives.

In our gospel today, Jesus lays out the cost – and he’s pretty radical here. Let’s read this together: "If any one comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” - Luke 14:25-27 (NAB)

Just so no one here misunderstands, Jesus is NOT advocating real hatred toward our families. Remember, earlier he told his disciples not to hate anyone, and to even love their enemy. But Jesus is using exaggeration here to emphasize an important point: Jesus is to be the priority in our lives. Jesus is to come first, before father and mother, wife or children, brothers or sisters, or even our own very selves. Everything we have – health, money, car, house, family – is a gift from God, and we are called to dedicate all that we have back to God by making the Lord No. 1.

How much does it cost to be a follower of Jesus? The answer: NOTHING and EVERYTHING. In one sense, it is a free gift, just like those candies I gave away a few minutes ago to our winners on our parish “The Price is Right.” Jesus has already paid the price for our sin by sacrificing his life for us on the cross. His salvation is a free gift. But in another sense, following Jesus costs us everything, because we must accept the gift, and that means turning our lives and our hearts over to the Lord – not just part way but all the way, 100 percent.

Let’s read these Bible verses together, from the Gospel of Matthew:

Matthew 4:19 (NAB):
He said to them, "Come follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."   Matthew 8:22 (NAB):
But Jesus answered him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead."   Matthew 9:9 (NAB):
As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed him.

Matthew 10:38 (NAB):
And whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.   Matthew 16:24 (NAB):
Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.   Matthew 19:21 (NAB):
Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to (the) poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Notice a common denominator in all these verses? Every time, Jesus makes an invitation: Come, follow me! And that is the cost of being a disciple of Jesus. We must come and follow up wholeheartedly in our lives.

A simple questions: Are we “convenient” Christians or “committed” Christians? Lots of people just pick and choose which parts of the Bible and which parts of the Christian faith they will choose to believe and follow. They just ignore the rest, scratch it out, act like it doesn’t exist. They go to church when it suits them, when it is convenient, but they are not truly committed. The great Protestant reformer Martin Luther once said, “A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing and suffers nothing, is worth nothing.”

Maybe you’ve heard of a book written back in the early 1900s by Charles Sheldon, “In His Steps.” It’s now considered a spiritual classic. It inspired the WWJD trend a few years ago – “What Would Jesus Do.” It’s a parable, a story about a pastor who challenges his congregation – “For one year,” he tells them, “I invite those who wish to participate in a simple experiment: Before making a choice or a decision, ask yourself first, ‘What would Jesus do in this situation?’ and then, act accordingly. See if it makes a difference in your lives.” Those who participated in the experiment and stuck with it found that their lives were completely changed and transformed.

I read a story last week about a rich nobleman in the Middle Ages who decided to build a gigantic cathedral for the poor people of the village. When the townspeople came to the new church for the first time, for its dedication, they noticed one thing strange about the new church: No windows! They commented about this rather glaring omission, but the nobleman explained rather simply, “That was no mistake. It was intentional. You, the people, are the church, not this building. You must become the light of Christ in the world. If you come to this church, bring your lamps, and the church will be full of light. But if some of you are lazy, choose to stay home, fail to bring your lamps, fail to really follow Christ Jesus in your lives, then at least a part of this church will stay in darkness.”

The poet Edward Everett Hale wrote: “I am only one, but still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something I can do.”

Reflect on this silently: What if every member of the church supported the church as you do? What kind of church would we have? What if every one served the church, attended the church, gave exactly as you do? Some give a lot, some give very little. This is not about money. It’s about our time, our talent, our energy, our enthusiasm, our commitment, our heart. Some people can give a lot, others just a little – but this is not about giving equal amounts; it’s about giving equal sacrifice, equal dedication.

In our second reading today, Paul is in prison, writing a letter to a Christian slave owner named Philemon. One of Philemon’s slaves – a guy named Onesimus – has run away from his master, has undergone a spiritual conversion and become a follower of Christ, and is now helping Paul. Paul asks Philemon for a favor – to accept Onesimus back, but as a brother in Christ, not a slave. You see, for Philemon, there is a cost to following Jesus – in this case, rejecting ownership of Onesimus as a slave. And there is a cost for Onesimus – he is being asked to go back to his master, risk punishment. We don’t know how the story ends. There is a cost to follow Jesus for all of us – and that cost is different for each of us.

Here are the steps to following Jesus: First, establish priorities. Often, one of the greatest roadblocks in 21st century society to commitment to God is that we are too busy. But the solution is to make time for those things that are most important in our lives, not just the things that seem most immediate and urgent. Maybe cut some less important things out of your schedule so you can make room for the spiritual in your life. God wants to be No. 1, not just down the list. I’ve discovered that when you get your priorities in the right order, with God on top, then God makes everything else fall into place. But when God is not at the top, nothing else works, either.

Second: Count the cost. That’s Jesus’ point in the second part of the gospel today. Only a fool builds when he can’t complete the construction project. Only a fool attacks an enemy if he knows he’s going to be defeated. Look at Sadaam Hussein! There is a cost to following Jesus. Are you willing to pay that cost?

If so, step 3 is to pay the price and follow Jesus – but not half heartedly, not as a “convenient” Christian but as a committed Christian.

On the screen is the mission statement of Saddleback Church in Orange County: “A great commitment to the Great Commandment and to the Great Commission will grow a great church.” Did you know that most organizations have mission statements and goals? The mission statement of Disneyland is this: “Make people happy.” The goal of Coca Cola is this: Every place in the world, every single person on earth will see a bottle or can or ad for Coca Cola at least seven times a day. I like this mission statement from Saddleback because it reflects succinctly what Jesus wants of us. To follow him requires, first, a great commitment, a great passion, making the Lord a priority. Second, it requires commitment to the right things, the things of Jesus – the great commandment to love God above all, and to love our neighbors as ourselves; and to the great commission, to go out into the world and make disciples, to be a witness and evangelizer for Jesus. This great commitment will grow a great church. Do we want to be a great church? It will require great commitment, not just a Christianity of convenience.

I think of Pamela Ocampo here in our own church. Last year, she graduated from the University of Redlands. But instead of searching for a job, searching just for herself, trying to make money, she decided to spend the next two years as a missionary for Jesus Christ on college campuses, working among other young people to show them Jesus Christ. She is working for a Catholic evangelization organization on college campuses called FOCUS.

Why follow Jesus? Not out of fear, hopefully, not because we are afraid God will punish us with lightning bolts. And not just to receive a reward from God, to receive heaven. No, the real motive is love. We love God, because God loved us. Read with me these verses from the Bible:

We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in him. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. - 1 John 4:16 (NLT)

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16 (NLT)

But those who obey God's word really do love him. That is the way to know whether or not we live in him. - 1 John 2:5 (NLT)

Today, as you leave church, you will receive a newsletter, on yellow paper, announcing the start of our capital fundraising campaign to build a new church. The campaign is entitled “Building Our New Church Together.” That last word, “together,” is so important. We are one family and this will require all of us to work together, to sacrifice. It will require great commitment, not just financially, but also of time and energy and enthusiasm and – most of all – prayer.

I remember reading about when Saddleback built its church. The pastor there talked about the great sacrifices of the members of that church. Some sold new cars and bought older cars and gave the difference in money to their church for its building campaign. Some downsized homes. Some postponed a vacation or took on a second job for a period of time, all for the sake of their new church. It’s not about equal gifts of money. Some people can give more, some less. But it is about equal sacrifice – everyone sacrificing equally and everyone pulling their own weight as part of the family, to their ability.

The logo shows Mary watching over the Old Church and this new church, which will be for our children and our grandchildren to enjoy. It reminds us that this project will require commitment, but also, most importantly, lots of prayer. This is God’s project, not mine. But God is great, and God will grow a great church, if we are faithful and strong in our loyalty and love to Him.

Count the cost. Following Jesus costs nothing – but it also costs everything. Are we willing to pay the price? You see, Jesus is always extending his hand in welcome, inviting us to come, follow him, so that we can experience fullness of life. It is up to us to choose to say “yes” or “no” to his great invitation.

Count the cost.