Monday

I have been working on my reflections for this Sunday. I will be preaching from Luke 12:13-21 about greed and so far the title of what I am preaching is How much is enought and what are to do with it. This follows some of the themes that I have been doing based on 5 practices of fruitful congregations. I have talked about Risk-taking mission, radical hospitality, intentional faith development. This speaks to the idea of extravagant generosity. Most of the scriptures have come from the lectionary and from the Gospel of Luke.

As part of that I want to share some illustrations that came from Homiletics. The first is a joke and pardon the slam on lawyers.
A stingy old lawyer who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness was determined to prove wrong the saying, “You can’t take it with you.”

After much thought and consideration, the old ambulance-chaser finally figured out how to take at least some of his money with him when he died. He instructed his wife to go to the bank and withdraw enough money to fill two pillow cases. He then directed her to take the bags of money to the attic and leave them directly above his bed. His plan: When he passed away, he would reach out and grab the bags on his way to heaven.

Several weeks after the funeral, the deceased lawyer’s wife, up in the attic cleaning, came upon the two forgotten pillow cases stuffed with cash.

“Oh, that darned old fool,” she exclaimed. “I knew he should have had me put the money in the basement.”
I know that I have said that the adage of the one who wins is the one who has the most toys at the end is false. When we die, we cannot take it with us.

The other quote is one that I continue to think on. I have often thought what would I think or do if everything was taken away from me here and now. Do I love my "stuff" more than the Lord?

The real measure of our wealth is how much we would be worth if we lost our money.

—J.H. Jowett.