Investing in Each Other

sermon by Carrie Eikler
Philippians 4:1-9
Exodus 32:1-14

I don’t know about you, but I have been very interested in the past couple of weeks in catching the presidential and vice-presidential debates. I didn’t see the first one, since Torin and I were in New Windsor for the BVS anniversary reunion. But I have to admit, the Thursday of the vice-presidential debate a few weeks ago, it was what I looked forward to all day. I couldn’t wait to sit down, turn on the radio and just hear what happened.

Perhaps I was wondering if Joe Biden could control is often rambling discourse, or wondering if Sarah Palin would do something dreadfully embarrassing. I admit, I listened with relish to see how each candidate might mess up, put a foot in their mouth, or not answer the questions with lots of diversions, “you betchas” and references to Scranton, Pennsylvania. Quite a cynical attitude, I’ll admit.

But this last Tuesday, when Barack Obama and John McCain debated, I listened more intently for the content, especially to the questions that came from the audience in the town hall style meeting. And while issues of foreign policy, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and climate change were all addressed, it was clear that what was on people’s minds hit immediately and close to home: the economy.

The very first question was this: "With the economy on the downturn, and retired and older citizens and workers losing their incomes, what's the fastest, most positive solution to bail these people out of the economic ruin?" And the second question wasn’t much different.

To give the often spoken and certainly cliché response that the candidates gave during the debates: these are difficult times we are living in.

Torin and I have been reflecting, like many recently, on how the economy is affecting us. Luckily we live in a parsonage that you have provided for us, so there is no worry of the mortgage crisis affecting us, or the church for that matter since the house is paid for. We certainly have rethought our driving habits, particularly how many visits we can make to family who live far from us. We're wondering how much to spend on Christmas gifts…

But, honestly I don’t know what our pension through the church is looking like, or the state of my IRA that my dad keeps putting money in to even though I’m working, just because he knows we don’t “make all that much,” or the state of our small investments in mutual funds. So, maybe we take fewer trips to Black Bear Burritos or Apple Annie’s, but other than that, I feel pretty oblivious to the economic affect on our family.

Maybe I don’t see it because there was a wide safety net knitted for us by our parents. Perhaps because Torin and I have chosen to live a relatively simple lifestyle. Perhaps I’m just naïve and trust that the future will come and all the habits that I’ve cultivated up to now will help support me. Perhaps I’m far better off than I want my humble self to admit.

Wow, is that weird for you to hear all that? It was sort of weird to say it all. But hey, in two weeks you are all going to have in front of you our church budget which includes voting on our salary and benefits. Since you all know how much is coming to us, I might as well share with you some of the places it goes. If I were to ask you how the economy is affecting you, to stand up in church and share with those around you, or to ask you to put your annual salary on the table for everyone here to see, what would you do?

I’ve enjoyed listening to National Public Radio’s segment on Sunday called “Soapbox” where people write in with reflections on how the economy has affected them. As I reread through the stories online, I wondered how those of us here might connect with these people’s stories.

One woman wrote: “How has all this affected my life? It has forced me to live more simply. Gas prices forces me to stay closer to home. I'm saving more/spending less. With my home value down, there's no equity in my home, forcing me to pay cash for all the maintenance an equity line usually helps to pay. I also have 2 daughters currently in college -- they are totally dependent on student loans, so I'm concerned if they will be able to continue....I hope after the election is over the US economy will start to stabilize itself and we can begin the climb out of this mess that greed and arrogance put us.”

Or how about this one: “The downturn is more subtle and more gradual for me. I retired in 2000. According to several projections, my wife and I had enough saved to live to 100. Two years later, we needed to die by 90. Three years after that it was 85. Now it's 83 and we're not that far away. Where are you when we need you, Dr. K? (I’m assuming he refers to Dr. Kevorkian, the man who advocated medical assisted suicide)… We're really sick at heart over the Paulson Plunder and the Bush Bailout…How could our supposed representatives have fallen for this pathological liar once again?”

Do you notice a pattern here? They begin, as many did, with the reflection on how the economy has affected them, some more drastically than others, and they end with anger and accusations, likely properly aimed, at Wall Street, the White House, and our representatives. It's a common story of sacrifice, fear, and greed.

It would be ridiculous to assert that the economy is NOT affecting us in our congregation. Perhaps the only way we will see it among us is by examining our offerings, especially as we each discern how our families will contribute to next year's budget. It is also inaccurate to say that is affecting us all in the same way. Some of us are feeling it harder than others. Some of us might have small worries. Some of us might have sleepless nights. Looking out at you all, I can't say who is who.

But I think it is accurate to say that how it affects us is not something we want to share with our faith community. And why is that? Maybe it’s because money is not considered an appropriate topic for church, except when we ask it from you during offering and as we approve the budget. Perhaps because money so intertwined with our identity that to put the topic out for discussion is a little too personal.

Maybe it is like this story on Sunday Soapbox that solicited a huge response. Melissa Parker and her husband, like many young couples, bought a $285,000 home with an adjustable rate mortgage. And now they are in dire straights. Along with their regular bills of health insurance, utilities, fuel for two cars, and student loans, they are at risk of losing their house that is now worth approximately $135,000 less than when they bought it. Melissa Parker said they didn’t factor in the cost of home owners insurance, sewage, property taxes, all the things that go into home ownership. “And” she said, “We just ignored how horrible of a loan we were actually getting.”

Now when she shared her story, there were few responses blaming Wall Street, or the White House, or Congress. Most of the responses sounded like this: “I'm sorry the lady in Sacremento may lose her home; that said though...What the heck did she expect! Who in their right mind would buy a $285,000 home before they paid off student loans etc? Get real. Too many folks with no business getting home loans are crying now because they may lose them. Tuff. That's how a market adjusts.”

Here’s another response. “The Parker's sound like typical materialistic yuppies that want to impress with their stuff. Now they are paying the price. Sooooo sorry.

This was my favorite response. “Mrs. Parkers story was amazing. I really couldn’t understand two college educated people not realizing that you had to add in the cost of your taxes, insurance and utilities when you are thinking about your house payment.. Americans have come to believe that it is their right to own a home whether they can afford it or not and by goodness, they are going to do it no matter what and right now. I don’t expect to be too badly affected by this. I sold my home in 2006… I can rent far better than I ever owned…I drive my 20 yr old Mercedes that only cost $2500 cash and never breaks. We have no credit cards at all and neither of us ever have.... We live within our means..... I cannot imagine being in the kind of debt Mrs. Parker and her husband are in."

Hmm. So why don’t we talk about our personal economic issues in church or with others in our congregation (unless, of course, they are family members)?Perhaps with the finger pointing at Wall Street speculators, deregulating politicians, etc. we worry that someone might point a finger at us. Maybe it’s partially my fault for enjoying eating out so much, or being dependent on my car, or buying a house I really can't afford. Maybe I already feel both like a victim and a greedy spendthrift, and don’t want anyone else to remind me of either position

If we are honest we fear we might receive responses like those responding to Melissa Parker. Judgments. Tisk-tisking of the tongue. Let's face it, Brethren and Mennonites as well as other socially-conscious people of faith who have traditionally prided themselves on simplicity and non-materialism are not often the most understanding people when it comes to middle class woes, even though most of us tend to suffer from them.

But before we start wondering who is living within their means and who isn’t, it may be well to remember that all of us are living beyond our means. No matter if you can make your mortgage payments. No matter if you never drive and bike all around. No matter if you share one job with your spouse and try live simply so you can raise your child yourself. No matter if you grow your own food. As we have been exploring in Sunday School class, if you are American you have a golden calf.

It’s not too clear why the Hebrew people built a golden calf. Perhaps out of desperation. Perhaps out of boredom. Perhaps out of good intentions, but bad motivations.

Perhaps after reading this story in Exodus, we might worry that not only is our church family and neighbors judging us, but God.

In our case, could God be saying to Moses, “Go down at once! Your people, whom you built up from humble beginnings, have been quick to turn from me! They purchase unatainable mortgages for huge homes they don’t need! They live their lives on credit! They make gods out of their cars! Now, get out of the way as I smite them with economic crisis, predatory lending schemes, and unemployment!”

Now whether or not you see God as a being who works this way, I bet you wish there was a Moses in our midst who could change God’s mind, as he did with the Hebrew people, or at least change the outcomes of what has been happening. We are now forced to confront what we do with this golden calf in front of us.

Today many Churches of the Brethren are recognizing World Mission Sunday, where we reacquaint ourselves with the call to continue Jesus’ work by joining in God’s mission in the world. It seems to me that in our case, we are far more eager to look to the rest of the world as a receptacle of our service and money, and less likely to look among us. And I don’t mean in our town. I mean look at the needs of those of us sitting in the pews.

Do we know one another’s needs? Do we know the financial hardships that some of us are facing? Who has anxiety over loans, mortgages, 401 Ks? Who is living on beans and rice, not because More with Less is their favorite cookbook and they decided to become vegetarian and it’s what they want to eat, but because their grocery money includes only must haves. Who doesn't have health insurance and is anxious about the upcoming cold and flu season? Do you know? Or rather, do you really want to know?

Or perhaps, a simpler question: How many here have had another person or family in this congregation over for a meal at their house in the last year? And I don’t mean your immediate or extended families. As we gathered around the communion table last Sunday, perhaps the next step for becoming the body of Christ—among us—is to gather around each other’s kitchen tables once and a while.

Now I’m not suggesting we go to each person’s house with all our financial records and lay them out on the table. But I am suggesting that by finding those ways to connect with one another, to be closer to one another than on this pew and that pew, then maybe we can do more to build up our faith community than any number of Sunday worships can do. When we really start to know each other, when we know more about each other than what we feel is appropriate for church.

Obviously worship is a place to join together and praise God and we hope, be spiritually fed. I like how the Eugene Peterson’s translation in the The Message conveys day’s text from Paul: “Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! 6-7Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

But Paul doesn’t just say rejoice and pray. He continues on, again in Peterson’s translation “Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.”

In these small communities that Paul was supporting it is clear that he had a vision of building the kingdom of God. Maybe that’s the difference between the faith community and all the other communities we are a part of. Here we can work for what is true among a small group of people. We can share what we have, based on relationships, not on guilt. This can be the practice ground for creating the kind of world that Jesus spoke of, this can be the place where we are intentional about crafting the kingdom, as idealistic and anti-capitalistic it may sound: where we can all confess our golden calves, where God's will is done, and debts are forgiven…or at least debtors are helped along by the faithful.

Because let’s face it, the world is a big place. There are many needs out there that we have all been committed to. But we are about, what, 80 people? If we aren’t taking care of one another, how can we take care of the world out there? Are you willing to invest in each other? Are you willing to have someone over, even if they live in another part of town, even north of the state line, and just see what happens when you extend the communion table to the kitchen table?

And if we think that money isn't an appropriate topic to speak about with our church family, then we are ignoring a huge part of Jesus' words. Jesus talked about money more than He did Heaven and Hell combined. Jesus talked about money more than anything else except the Kingdom of God. 11 of 39 parables talk about money. One out of every seven verses in Luke's gospel is about money. Money is a faithful topic of conversation.

Are we willing to be that vulnerable? Are we willing to take what we have learned and received and heard from the good news of Jesus and try a novel experiment? It is as simple as it is courageous: Get to know one other. It may be one of the best investments you will ever make.