"The Temporal and The Eternal"

 

    Comedian Jack Benny, from TV's "Golden Age," had a skit which illustrated how we place money ahead of everything.  He is walking down the street when suddenly he is approached by an armed robber who says, "Your money or your life!"  There is a long pause.  Jack does nothing.  The robber impatiently queries, "Well?"  Jack replies, "Don't rush me.  I'm thinking it over."

 

    This morning  would like us to think a few moments about our money and our life.  Let's see what Jesus has to say about these two subjects.

 

    The background for our story is an incident that occurred in Galilee as Jesus was teaching to a large crowd.  A young man called out from the crowd and said, "Rabbi, tell my brother to divide the inheritance of our father."  Now, Jewish law clearly prescribed that at the death of a father, the elder son received two-thirds of the inheritance, and the younger son received the remaining one-third.  This is obviously a younger son who is complaining about the inherent unfairness of it all.  Nothing will divide brothers and sisters more than dividing up an estate.  So it was then, and so it is now.  Jesus refused to get involved in a petty family squabble.

 

    Jesus was concerned, however, with the larger implications of preoccupation with the things of this world.  He said:  "Beware of greed, for life does not consist of things possessed.  The sum total of a person's life is more than their financial portfolio."

 

                                                                                                                    Grace and peace,

                                                                                                                    Danny