Oct 28 Global Memory Loss

Oct 28, 2007 Global memory

I had this strangest thing happen to me a couple weeks ago.

I was working on the stewardship sermon for last Sunday
and for this Sunday
and I remembered this article, a ‘sermon illustration” article I was saving on the computer ; it was about the burden of money and it talked about the history of money and some of the stranger forms of money .
For example,
there was an old culture in the South Pacific that literally, had this huge form of money; they used 18 foot high rings made of stone..
Weighed about 15 tons

And then for smaller change you had smaller stone rings
that only weighed about a hundred pounds.

..You hauled them around with a carrying pole that went through the hole in the middle of the stone ring

( I suppose you had to really think twice before you carried around any cash like that)

I thought who ever heard having money that ways hundreds of pounds or even a ton ?
Giant money wheels!
and then I realized..oh we still have
that ..today
.we call them cars....Giant money wheels!

Then the article talked about the ancient Spartans back in Greece;
they had coins that seemed a little more normal
but they didn’t use silver or copper to make their coins
they used iron coins,..little iron disks
that way
they got reminded
that money was heavy.
it was a burden.

Now maybe those old cultures were on to something.

There was a deep wisdom in that, in fact,
Jesus and the early church gave us that kind of wisdom too

Look at I Timothy 6 and you hear these words that say watch out for greed. It can tempt you and trap you.. It can cause you pain.
The love of money (not money itself, but the power or love of money..is the root of all evil.

For two Sundays in a row now,we’ve talked about how much Jesus mentioned money and the role of giving as a spiritual practice.

...Anyway I was going to copy that article about the burden of money.
.and when I highlighted it for “copy” on the computer so I could put it into my set of sermon notes,
That’s when this strange thing happened

All of a sudden the computer started to make its working and processing sounds..
kind of clicking an humming way and
the little light is blinking.

.and then these words flashed on to the screen.

“Not enough global, memory available to preform this task.”

No enough global memory!

What does that mean? it sounds like a serious problem..global!!!

and then my computer got locked up ..it froze up.
..and I had to do a manual shut down..
Because I didn’t have enough “global memory”.

Like I said
I have no idea what that means in computer talk..
but this was the message..

I think it was a great metaphor....
think about what I was doing?


I was trying to copy a message on the burden of money.

But we don’t have the global memory to handle that reality.

Spiritually speaking, we don’t have the global memory to properly deal with money

.I told this story to the Wednesday lectionary group
and somebody said..
“Oh God talked to you through your computer!”

I don’t know .....

When it comes to the real use and purpose of money do you think we have a global memory loss?
We cant handle it...
We cant seem to copy it from one part of our life , to the next!

Is that why we have poverty?

Is that why we have people living without food and shelter and medicine
and water ?

“Not enough global memory available for this task”

Is that why there is such a difference between the rich and the poor in the world.

Is economic injustice the result of a global memory loss?


Do you know that just about every study you will ever find is going to say that we could end world hunger?

We can feed the world

We can end deep poverty..but its a matter of the will
spiritual, moral and political will,,,
and its matter of distribution

Some people say that the Christian population alone..has enough wealth,
if we really tithed ..for example..we could solve the problem

But then
that sign flashes on

“Not enough global memory available for this task.”
And we get locked up.

We don’t have enough global memory to do what we need to do

We forget
maybe we don’t want to hear it..

Somehow we just cant copy the message..
.the inner files get corrupted..

(Are you with me)


Do you and I remember ..in our daily living..
When your paying the bills,,and making the plans,,and going down town or watching tv..

Can we still remember what Jesus said about giving.. And sharing and caring..

“Give excepting nothing in return”

Love one one another as I have loved you

do we remember..really what he said
about being brothers ans sisters and children of God
that we are all connected to each other....

and we are witnesses ..and servants and disciples

Can you remember
what he said about losing your life, giving your life.. Taking up the cross
to find your real life

Can I remember..really..
the story of Lazarus ..the beggar at the rich man's gate.
When I am the rich man..?

Do we forget what he said about worrying about your clothes and food..
and what he said about bigger barns..
and false security
in the lesson you heard from Luke 12

Or
do we .. forget
in practical ways.. That the earth is the Lords and the fullness (the abundance) thereof

Do you think think we forget
as a nation
the biblical vision of caring for the stranger
the widows and the orphans.. the vulnerable..the left out

“Not enough global memory available for this task”

.....well,,you know what I mean..

But
,,maybe the calling of the church is
first of all

to remember

to restore the files
to fix the memory problem

can we want and chose to remember
something about money
the use of our gifts
the use of our life.?

Maybe we are here to be the global memory; to do what needs to be done.

There is a wonderful little Jewish story
about a rabbi in a Russian city years ago
in another century


the rabbi was thinking about the direction and sense of purpose in his life,

he went out for a walk late at night
out and around in the city
and he came to a part of the town that was guarded

it was a part of the town
where the richer people had hired someone to patrol the neighborhood

and this guard .
.this night watchman
saw the rabbi out in the dark
late at night and he shouted to the rabbi"Who are you? And what are you doing here?"
"Excuse me?" Said the rabbi.
"The guard said it again
...., ‘Who are you and what are you doing here?!’"

the rabbi, stopped for a moment
and didn’t say a word

and then finally
he said to the guard
, "How much do you get paid every day?"
The guard said
"What does that have to do with you?"
The rabbi said,
"I will pay you ..twice as much...
if you will just ask me those same two questions every day:
Who are you? And what are you doing here?"



Those are the questions that we need to remember on days like this

personally
and as a church;
Who are we
and what are we doing here.?

But we forget it.
Continually
.amnesia is the human problem

global memory loss happens
when we forget the great question and the deeper answers.

And it seems to me
as I said already

that when we get down to thinking about our money and our possessions and our egos and our faith...we get this financial amnesia.

What is the money for
why is it here.
Who does it serve?

What are we suppose to do with it?
But
that’s what we have to ask ,,as the church.. In the name of Jesus Christ
this where the faith comes back into play
Faith give us something to remember

Faith gives us Jesus
and the word of God
in this part of life,

What are we supposed to remember?

Let me say it this way

There is a Jewish Spanish story.
Almost one thousand years ago,
in the Moslem days of Spain,

there was a Jewish Rabbi ...named Samuel the Prince.

Rabbi Samuel was very wise,
and he was very trusted and very soon he became the Sultan's treasurer.

Well..this caused some jealously in the courts
and
rumors got started
that Rabbi Samuel was embezzling money from the royal treasury.
Of course the Sultan heard about the rumors..because that was the plan
.
So he decided to put the Rabbi to the test.

One day,
without any warning,
he called in the Rabbi
and ordered him to do a full accounting of his personal wealth.
Tell me about all the money that you have!

Rabbi Samuel was surprised by this ...
but you just don’t refuse the Sultan!

so He sat down at a table,
and he started writing..and writing
as fast as he could

half an hour later, he stopped,

he looked at the list silently,

and handed it over to the Sultan.
The Sultan read the inventory very carefully,

and then he slammed it down
with anger on the table.

How dare you lie to me.rabbi!

this is just a part of your wealth.
I know you have more than this
your hiding soemthign
I personally
have given you way more than what you are listing here as your income

My advisors must been telling the truth about you

You must be cheating me in your financial affairs

and so I will personally take awayeverything you own.

Guards, ...take this man away!'

But 'Your Majesty', the rabbi said, 'you asked me for an report of my wealth.

And As you can plainly see,my worldly possessions are not truly mine.

At any time,they can be taken away by robbers,
by war ...or natural disaster

. In fact, your Majesty ,
You have just proved it yourself
right now
you have just taken this money away from me
with a single command
The only possession I really have is the money that can never be taken from me;
that is ..the money I have given to charity.

You see, as a Jew I am taught by by the Torah to give one tenth of my income to those in need.
The figure that I gave you,
your Majesty,, was only the total
of all the money that I have given away to charity.
I listed only the money that I have given for others.

Because only that is my true wealth

That is the only benefit that cannot be taken away from me,

The Sultan listened to all of this
he was moved by that wisdom

and the rabbi was given a greater position in that kingdom

Thats the story

but you heard that same message before
Jesus said the same thing!

you heard it the words of Luke 12 about where your real treasure is.

maybe that means
that the real treasure that you have
is the not the money that you have in the bank
or in your pocket
in you property or your pension plan

but your real treasure
is what is written on the estimate of giving card
and what you shared this year.

Maybe the only money you have
is the not the money you a e keeping

but the money your giving..

Is there enough global memory for this task?

maybe tha t
means that what Park Church has in the financial statement
isnt the money that we have on hand ,
but the money that flowed through our hands

maybe we should celebrate the expenses
even more than the income..

maybe
instead of saying that the assets of park church are the dollars and the value of the building
and the cash on hand

but ..more so it is
the value of what has happened here.
In you ..and through you..

Remember that budget I sent out...
that said ...down that one side
priceless.. priceless ....prices less
and it listed the ministries of this church
priceless
lives changes
people celebrated
laughter given
hope lifted up
gospel proclaimed
hungry people fed
homeless given shelter
the cup of water given
the community shared
the lessons learned
the worship
the sacraments
the times gathered around the bible
the prayers
the tears
the deep silence
the children..and the growing
the people joining us this year.
the people whose names we are going to read next week..
the names of the people we know
the mystery felt
the beauty seen
the thanksgiving in the heart
the peace that passes understanding
the amazing grace
the calling and somehow the saying
yes.
To .something ..someone.
beyond and within..
To Jesus Christ
saying yes
to God saying yes
to the needs of the world
saying yes to one another in the soul
The life
this life of love
...priceless..

you see that’s what we have
that can never be taken way
that is the treasure that cannot be touched by moth or rust

the spiritual ..heavenly treasures.
that is what Jesus is saying to us
and giving us
and helping us to remember..
And when we restore that memory
we have enough memory to do the task

we can use the blessings of this life..
.right down to the dollars and cents.
Having enough memory to be followers of Jesus in ministry


If we spend some 280,000 dollars in the budget.. in ministry. this year

Then maybe That is what we have still rely have.

Only what we have given away...the treasure that cannot be taken away..

I think that’s what we celebrate on this gift of faith commitment Sunday

We are celebrating what we we really have ; and we are getting our memory back.
Little by little
in what we are doing right here.

I believe Jesus is restoring the global memory.

I pray for a new ..good ..large memory so there is enough here at Park church
to perform this task.
Amen