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This Week's Message "Family Squabbles and Bigger Barns
"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
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