PROPER 20C - Amos 8:4-7; Psalm 138; 1 Timothy 2:1-8; Luke 16:1-8 - 23 September 2007 -

A sermon preached by The Rev. Peter A. Munson for St. Ambrose Episcopal Church, Boulder, Colorado

 

To Whom Are You Indebted?

 

INTRODUCTION - Jesus’ parable

 

The main focus of our Gospel lesson today is a parable that Jesus told. If you have a Bible with headings, you might see it labeled as something like “The Parable of the Dishonest Manager.” One of the twists in the parable is the line where Jesus says, “his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly.” The manager, who was in the process of being fired for squandering his master’s property, made one final decision - slashing the debts of those who owed his master money - which cast himself, and his master, in a very good light.

 

Three years ago I preached on this parable in detail. I’m not going to do that again today. Instead, I’m going to ask you to reflect with me on the three questions that God seemed to put in my lap, as I pondered the parable again this year. Here are the questions:

 

To whom are you in debt?

Is that debt a good or a bad thing?

What are you going to do about it?

 

I think we will discover, if we really sit with these questions, that they can be answered on several different levels.

 

FINANCIAL DEBT

 

Most of us, like the debtors in Jesus’ parable, owe some other people money. In fact, from what I have been reading, in the last few years we are at a whole new place in American history, when it comes to debt. We are at a new place because, as a nation, our savings rate is now a negative number. That’s right. Cumulatively, we are spending more each year than we make. Why we are doing that gets into another (rather lengthy) sermon, it seems to me. The phrase “instant gratification” comes to mind. Borrowing against our #1 asset - our homes - is part of it. People being willing (or having) to work longer, since they aren’t going to have enough money to retire, comes into play here. As a person of faith, it seems that this negative savings rate has very real (and scary) ramifications when it comes to charitable giving.

 

Anyway, if you are debt free, you are in rare company. Julia and I have two financial debts. We owe a company called GMAC Mortgage a little over $105,000 on our house. Well, that’s the principal. When you throw in the interest, it’s more like $137,000. We owe a local bank $20,000 for some house improvements and a special family vacation we decided to take. With interest, it’s more like $25,000.

 

Are these debts a good thing? Well, they allowed us to buy a house that we otherwise couldn’t have bought, to make some improvements to that same house, and to take a trip we had dreamed of taking. What are we going to do about these debts? We are going to pay them off as soon as we can, that’s what. We started with a 30-year mortgage, refinanced when the rates were low to a 15-year mortgage, and have about eleven years to go. Our other debt is a seven year loan with the bank, and we plan to pay it off sooner than that.

 

This church has a loan that we recently refinanced. Is it a good or a bad thing? Well, it enabled us to add on the education wing that is right behind you. What are we going to do about it? Well, a lot of people think that it is time to do whatever we can to pay it off, or at least pay it way down, so that we can free up that money for programming and staffing needs. Paying down the loan, in fact, is the biggest goal of our new capital campaign. The Vestry has identified hiring a second priest - a curate - as our #1 goal for next year, of our four identified goals. (The others being a successful capital campaign and stewardship drive, increased opportunities for spiritual growth/transformation, and a greater presence in the community) Paying off the loan will get us a big part of the way toward hiring a curate, and I challenge you to help us meet that goal.

 

OTHER DEBTS

 

Financial debts are not the only debts you and I have, of course.

 

I told you a few weeks ago that right before I turned fifty, I went on a retreat and spent part of the time writing down all the people and things I was grateful for in the first fifty years of my life.

 

I am indebted to many, many people. That’s the truth. People who I can never pay back, by the way. The list began with my parents and included many, many teachers, spiritual mentors, one particular baseball coach, several priests, many authors, quite a few friends over the years, and parishioners in the three churches that I have served, who were too many to name.

 

I am indebted to my wife, Julia. About her, I wrote, “I am grateful for all the ways she has helped me grow emotionally and relationally, in ways I never would have, otherwise.” I am indebted to my children, who have taught me many things, including things I continue to learn about myself, as I strive to be a good father to them, and to simply enjoy them.

 

There are places I have been in my life that I am particularly grateful for, a number of which are so important to me that I continue to return to them. There are experiences that I have had and things that I love to do. A number of them are so important to me, that I continue to do them. Hiking, reading the Bible, singing, fishing, camping, going to baseball games are just a few of these. These activities all tend to be associated with particular people, to whom I am indebted. The activities and places and experiences cannot be separated, in fact, from the people to whom I am indebted.

 

What am I going to do about these debts? Well, in a very real sense they cannot be repaid. But I’ve already told you some of what I do. I keep going back to these particular places. I keep doing the activities which I know bring me life and renew my life. Doing these things is one of the ways that I say “thank you”. It is one of the ways that I honor the people that I am indebted to. And in the case of friends and family members who are still around, I try to set aside time to be with them, and love them, and enjoy them. I don’t always live out - in my actions - the gratitude that I feel inside. That’s the truth. God has a way of giving us reminders and second chances, though, and I start again - trying to demonstrate, by my love and gratitude, the truth that I know on a deep, deep level, of how indebted I am to all these people.

 

INDEBTED TO GOD

 

And that brings me to my biggest debt of all, the debt I have to my Lord.

 

The words in the parable from today just jumped all over me this week. “How much do you owe my master?” I only had to change one little word, and change the “m” in master to a capital “M”, and I was zapped. “How much do I owe my Master?”

 

How much, indeed?

 

How much do I owe the One who gave me life?

 

How much do I owe the One who gives me Himself, who teaches me - again and again - that life with Him is real life, abundant life, and that everything else pales in comparison... that life isn’t life without my Master?

 

How much do I owe the One who inspired so many authors, and inspired others to put the writings of these authors in one Book, containing 66 books, and by His Holy Spirit, leads us - again and again - through those words, to the Living Word of God, so that my soul is fed and renewed, and I have sustenance for my spiritual journey?

 

How much do I owe the One who gave himself for me, and who continues to give himself for me - bread and wine, body and blood - in ways that definitely nourish me, and strengthen me, and make me right with God once again, and keep me alive?

 

How much do I owe the One who guides me, and stays with me - through good times and terrible times - and loves me, no matter what?

 

How much do I owe the One who has put all the various people in my life who have loved me, taught me, listened to me, challenged me, and blessed me?

 

How much do I owe my Master? The truth is that this debt is absolutely huge, and it keeps getting bigger! And I will never, ever be able to repay it. That’s one definition of grace, I suppose.

 

What am I going to do about this debt?

 

I can worship Him and praise Him. I can strive to follow Him, and love and serve others, as He does. I can do my part to speak out against injustice, see the unseeable people, and point to all the beauty and love and healing that God continues to bring to our world, as He did. I can do whatever I can to try to make this world a better place, a more loving place, working alongside of Him to establish the kingdom of God. I can try not to make anything else in my life God, except for Him alone.

 

These are challenging things to do. I will fall short. You and I will both fall short. We can’t earn our way into his graces. His love for us is already way beyond anything we can begin to fathom. All we can do about this debt is try to love others as we are loved, it seems to me. I can’t possibly pay Him back, even if I had twenty lifetimes on this earth.

 

Maybe one other thing we can do is to continue to return to these questions, so we don’t forget the most important things of all.

 

To whom am I in debt?

Is that debt a good or a bad thing?

What am I going to do about it?