What Can You Give? Mark 10: 17-31 Years ago, when I had a national position in Stewardship, one of the meetings that I attended of the Program Committee of our church included a presentation by church leaders from a third world country. They shared many of their struggles trying to minister to an oppressed people. The people were oppressed by a corrupt dictator controlling his subjects by the use of military force. The people were also economically oppressed barely able to eke our a living on the land. They were forced to grow such crops as coffee and tobacco primarily for export to other countries, leaving little land for growing food to feed themselves. These church workers talked a lot about their work as being that of liberation - helping people to free themselves from such burdensome regimes. They supported this work for liberation by referring to such acts in the Bible as the Exodus where the people of Israel were led out from slavery in Egypt, and also the liberating work of Jesus delivering people from all kinds of things that enslaved them. After their presentation, I was asked to give a report of my work of stewardship. I said that my work was also a work of liberation. I was making some progress in liberating people from their money. Although there was a chuckle in the room when I said this, the people gathered there also knew the dead seriousness of the statement. One of the great issues in our society is the control that money has upon people's lives. We are all affected by an uncontrollable desire to accumulate wealth and possessions to the extent that we are never satisfied with what we have. We always want something more. This control that money has over us is sometimes quite subtle. John Cheevers begins his short story The Pot Of Gold with these words: You could not fairly say of Ralph and Laura Whittemore that they had the failings and the characteristics if incorrigible treasure hunters, but you could say truthfully of them that the shimmer and the smell, the peculiar force of money, the promise of it, had an untoward influence on their lives. * It was similar situation that Jesus faced in today's Gospel when I rich man came to ask him, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" . Jesus told him to keep the commandments! The man answered that he had since his youth. "Then" said Jesus "There is one thing that you lack. Sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor." The rich man could not do it and left sorrowfully. The man's problem was not that he had much money and possessions. His problem was that he was tied to his possessions. In fact one might say that he was owned by his money and possessions. He didn't own them. They owned him. The only way he could be liberated from the control that his possessions had on him was to give them away. It seems to me what Jesus was saying to this man was that the real value of a person is not in how much money and how many possessions you have accumulated, it is in how much you can give. A little stewardship pamphlet God, the Giver, the Gift by Bishop A. Heath Light produced a few years ago by the office of stewardship in the Episcopal church, offered this refelction: To put it in another way, you really only possess what you dare to give away. Otherwise it possesses you. If I cannot dare to give away my time, I am possessed by time. If I cannot dare to give up my children, I am their possession and the fulfilment of my life is dependent upon them. If I dare not offer the money that is under my control it possesses me; I do not possess it. The nature of freedom is discovered by the very ability both to be able to use responsibly what is yours and also to discover the extent to which you can give away the sum total of yourself and your possessions. The unique event of such self-possession and self giving, we believe took place in the person of Jesus Christ. Theologians tell us that he possessed his life to such a full extent that he was , therefore, able to offer it completely. My sense of both possession and offering is modest and meagre by comparison. I am still enslaved as a "possessor" of power, people, and of money. Nevertheless I am learning a new freedom in the gospel through finding ways in which I am not possessed by things external, but have the freedom to give them away. I might add to this statement by Bishop Light that I believe it is impossible for us alone to give the way that Jesus gave, but as Jesus said after the rich man departed, "With mortals it is impossible, but not for God. For God all things are possible." Through the grace of God working in us we can grow to new understandings about our possessions and our giving, and a new liberation which is so sadly needed today. This kind of liberation begins by examining our attitude toward our possessions. It begins by asking the question, "What Can I Give Away?" * What do we really own anyway? I read a little story the other day that gave a different twist on who is rich and who is poor and what we think we own. It was originally sent to me by a friend in New Zealand: On Being Poor One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people can be. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from their trip, the father asked his son,  "How was the trip?" "It was great Dad."  "Did you see how poor people can be?" "Oh yeah" .  "So what did you learn from the trip?" "I saw that we have one dog and they had four.  We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.  Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.  We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.  We buy our food, but they grow theirs.  We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them."With this the boy s father was speechless. Then his son added, "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are." Who is rich and who is poor? Perhaps the one who is rich is  the one who truly owns what they have, truly appreciates what they have, and in gratitude for all that they have, can truly share it with others. You are visitor number UK Online Casinos This free counter  is supplied by Visible Counter Connect with Deacon Sils Homelical resource Also for more sermon and lectionary resources connect to SERMON AND SERMON LECTIONARY RESOURCES   Check Out my daughter's web site CARLY'S STRENGTH THE GODDESS WITHIN MUSIC PROJECT Each year, thousands of women and children become homeless as a result of domestic violence.  "The Goddess Within" music project is designed to empower those whose lives have been affected by domestic abuse and to raise awareness of this issue. "The Goddess Within" compilation album will showcase artists and their songs, written for or relating to those escaping the cycle of violence.  The C.D. will be distributed throughout North America and proceeds from the sale of the C.D. will be donated to women's shelters. More information on the CD is available at ARTISTS FOR CHANGE My daughter Carly is featured on the album with her song The Mask.  The art for cover for the CD album is the creation of another daughter, Mary Anne Molcan. Another site to access is Ending Domestic Abuse * Mary Anne is a very talented artist.  She has a new web site called Faerie Artist where she displays her Art.   You can access her site at: Faerie Artist