Y’all…..Interesting times we’re living, right?  Now, I’m no expert, and frequently, I’m  not real bright, but it’s becoming more and more apparent that a bunch of folks have their priorities mixed up and they have forgotten just who they are supposed to be serving and how they should be conducting themselves.  God forbid I try to “control” anyone or be anyone’s “thought police.”  But some things need to be said and so this is a (maybe not so gentle) reminder…..

In the scriptures appointed for today, there is a lot of talk about how to treat the poor, folks’ attitudes toward the poor, and, conversely, about those who have the power over the poor.  So here we go.  From the prophet Amos we have God talking to some rich folks who are planning on cheating the poor:  Hear this, you who trample upon the needy  and destroy the poor of the land!   “When will the new moon be over,” you ask,  “that we may sell our grain,  and the sabbath, that we may display the wheat?  We will diminish the ephah,  add to the shekel,  and fix our scales for cheating!   We will buy the lowly for silver,  and the poor for a pair of sandals;  even the refuse of the wheat we will sell!”  The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob:
Never will I forget a thing they have done!

And Jesus had his own commentary in Luke 16:13:  No servant can serve two masters.  He will either hate one and love the other,  or be devoted to one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and mammon.”

That “mammon” thing?  It’s not just money.  Nope.  We’re talkin’ the immense power derived from wealth, influence, and material possessions. The term, originally from Aramaic for wealth, evolved to personify avarice and the greedy pursuit of money, later becoming a demonic lord of greed in Christian demonology. In a broader sense, the “Gospel of Mammonism” refers to the excessive materialistic power of capitalist institutions and the overwhelming influence of wealth on individuals and societies.   Think of the power wielded by those billionaires who influence our laws and policies.  Think of those billionaires who have meddled in politics.  Think of those other folks who cater to those billionaires.  See what I mean?

And then, think of the sway those folks have on the “little people,” those who, like you and I, certainly aren’t worth zillions of dollars, but who can be, and are, influenced by those who consider themselves our ‘betters.’  Those who try to talk a good game and try to teach us that because they use the name of Jesus a lot, they are good people.  These are the self-same folks who God was talking about when he said, “Thou shalt not take my name in vain.”  The folks who follow policies and procedures who are the antithesis of what our Lord has taught us.  These are also the people who advocate for oppressive legislation — rooted in far-right religious beliefs — that strip away equal rights  from LGBTQ folks, non-Christians, women, people of color, and immigrants, among others.  

They cry, “It’s a baby!” and then do their best to take food out of  babies’ mouths, refuse them health care, or any care at all.  They demand the 10 Commandments be posted in classrooms but shun The Sermon on the Mount as being woke.  They cry to “teach religion in our schools,” but only that bit of religion with which they agree (most of which comes from the holiness codes in the Hebrew Scriptures) but refuse to practice.  And heaven forbid any other religion but theirs be even mentioned in schools.

We are taught in Galatians 3:28 that “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”  That also means, by extension, no race, no nationality.  Isn’t it time we act like it?  Isn’t it time that we hold those in power accountable if this is what we wish?  We are taught in the book of James to “ show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?” James 2:1-26   Further, we are taught, again in James, that faith without works is dead. In other words, if the faith inside of us doesn’t get expression through our actions and words, it will no longer be alive. If we don’t use it, we will lose it, so to speak. We have to step out in faith in order to keep faith alive.  (James 2:26:  For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.  But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.)

As Christians, have we lost our focus of what is truly important?  Regardless of politics, of whether we are ‘blue’ or ‘red’ or ‘rainbow,’ we are to remain focused on the one thing that really matters in this world and the next:  Spreading and sharing the love of and for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  No matter who sits in the Oval Office, our job, our mission, our focus, has not changed and will not change:  We are called to love and to serve the Lord with gladness and singleness of heart.  We are called to care of each other, regardless of our politics.  We are commanded to ‘bless those who persecute us’ and we are called to ‘pray for our enemies.’  We are called to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, house the homeless. (Matthew 25:31-46). 

The hymnist, Eleanor H. Hull writes,

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;

Naught be all else to me save that thou art.

Thou my best thought by day and by night;

Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.

Riches I heed not, nor vain, empty praise;

Thou mine inheritance, now and always.

Thou and thou only, first in my heart,

High King of Heaven, my treasure thou art.

May we, all of us, be reminded to keep our eyes, our souls, focused on the One True Light.

Amen.