Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Good Morning!

I just found out that I'm going to have to travel for business this weekend - I've got to fly up to Baltimore on Saturday and back on Sunday, but I won't be back until 1230P or so on Sunday, so I'm going to miss class this Sunday. Sorry for the last minute change.

The new unit for this week is Unit 16 -- The Danger of Riches

Focus Scripture for the Week: 1 Timothy 6:10

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

Today's Scriptures: Luke 18:18-30

Today's Discussion:

-- this is a tough scripture, not in understanding as much as the standard that Jesus is setting out. Sell all you have? The point Jesus is making with the young rich man is that, when confronted with a choice of going to heaven or selling all his possessions, he chose his possessions. His possessions were where his heart lay, where he put his trust, what he believed in. That is the point Jesus is hammering home.

-- Wesley's readings are also tough, and they offer up a question -- what does it mean to be rich? That is one of the ways that we avoid the question - we generally define rich as being someone who has more money than we do OR someone who has a lot of money left over after everything is paid for. Wesley takes a very different tack, and the hurdle for being thought of as rich in Wesley's eyes is much lower. It is amazing how the world he is writing about is so similar to our world today -- he hits on the idea of how much we spend to make ourselves comfortable, to make our lives easier, and his take is that there is a limit to how much of that we should do, and that the ability to spend for those kinds of things is really his definition of rich.

-- To help us understand where Wesley is coming from, here's an example of what I think he would be talking about today. This is an easy target, and not to put anyone on the spot, but what would Wesley think of Starbucks? After reading his sermons for this week, don't you think that he would particularly hone on Starbucks if he were around today -- he would talk about the expense of spending $3+ dollars for a cup of coffee, and beyond that, the necessity that some people place on having to go to Starbucks. Don't tell my younger brother, but he gets put out if he can't find a Starbucks wherever he might be traveling. I think that whole "sitting around and drinking coffee for an hour or two" concept wouldn't fly with Wesley either. And the question then, in thinking about that, is if you can go to Starbucks, are you rich?

Question for Sunday:

-- what is your Starbucks? could you give it up?

Today's prayer request: Our bosses and others in positions of authority at our workplaces.

Part of our Christian calling is the idea of serving faithfully in our roles as employee and citizen. Let us pray for those in authority at our workplace -- pray for them to make good decisions, to be fair and to be honest.
Today's class member prayer:

Andrew Peebles

Have a great day.

Jay