"Spirituality of Money"
Peter Eichten
Sunday, September 24th 2006

The Finance Committee was really disappointed when they heard I wasn’t going to be talking about SJA finances –

I want to talk a bit about money from a spiritual perspective, but before I do I do need to say something about the money situation here at St. Joan of Arc. We are not in a very good situation right now. Our fiscal year ended June 30, and we ended the year with a $50,000 deficit. Now, through the first two months of the new year we find ourselves another $25,000 short. So, we’ve dug ourselves a $75,000 hole these past few months.

St. Joan’s run a very lean operation. Our budget is 25%-50% lower than other parishes our size. We offer high quality liturgies and ministries, and we want to continue to do that. I want to thank you for your financial support of St. Joan’s and for your willingness to respond when we are in need. You have done it before, and I know you will do it again. (That should make the Finance Committee happy)

In today’s gospel we are going to hear about the disciples of Jesus arguing about who is the most important among them. Jesus’ response to this discussion is to say to them: “If anyone wishes to rank first, they must remain the last one of all and the servant of all.” Then he takes a child and says to his disciples: “whoever welcomes a child such as this for my sake welcomes me.” Now we need to remember that children in first century Palestine were NOT highly esteemed, in fact they were thought of as being almost less than human, and they really didn’t matter until they came of age. So, what we are seeing here is Jesus raising up the position of children (and he does this throughout the gospels) much like he raises up the position of women and other marginalized people. What Jesus is really saying here is, when you welcome an outcast, the lowliest of the low, you are welcoming me.

The question that kept popping up for as I was preparing these remarks was; can there even be a spirituality of money? Or, are money and spirituality so different that they are mutually exclusive? I’m going to use today’s gospel to help answer that question – can there even be a “spirituality of money?”

Money. Money is the tool we have created to help us to achieve our material needs. At this time in history, we need money to survive. It pays the rent; it buys the food, etc. It’s simply the commodity we need to satisfy our material needs. From that perspective money is fine.

But as you know there are issues with money. And as Jacob Needleman pointed out in our first reading, money has become so central in our lives that it now embodies one of the central problems of humankind; that problem being our subordination to the principle of personal gain.

Needleman goes on to say that this principle of personal gain is so engrained into Western Civilization, and especially into our American culture that we have a difficult time even distinguishing what it is – Americans are to the principle of personal gain as fish are to water. The principle of personal gain, put simply is, “looking out for number one.”

Yet at the same time we humans are by our very nature compassionate and generous beings. We do look out for each other, and we do respond to others in times of need. The response that ordinary people had to the victims of hurricane Katrina a year ago is evidence of the compassionate and generous nature of human beings.

But we still have this money issue to deal with, and this principle of personal gain.

The great mystics and spiritual teachers of the world’s great religions have been very clear about the dangers of personal gain, and how it can lead us in the wrong direction as we journey through life. And these same spiritual teachers have given us methods and ways to break out of the seduction of the principle of personal gain. They tell us that ultimately, we break out of it by knowing that we are meant to serve something other than ourselves, and living that way. Exactly what Jesus says in our gospel today; “If anyone wishes to be first they must be servant of all.” And our compassionate, generous natures know that we are to live beyond ourselves, the problem is doing it.

It seems to me that’s where spirituality comes into play. To help us to do it. Spirituality is simply about developing our spirits. Many of us have come to know that part of developing our spiritual needs comes through prayer, meditation, contemplation; doing inner work, and the fruits of our inner work, is knowing that we are called to serve something beyond ourselves.

Serving something beyond ourselves – is tough stuff. While, I believe that it is in human nature to live that way; that is, to be compassionate and generous, it is also in human nature to be selfish and strive for personal gain. It is going to depend on which of those parts of our nature we nourish the most; our selfish part or our compassionate generous part.

It is easy to find the nourishment we need to develop our selfish part of human nature. All we need to do is turn on our televisions, (and by age 50, the average American has spent 9 years in front of the television) turn on the TV we’ll be told what we need to be successful humans, and at the heart of that is money, and personal gain.

Spirituality is the nourishment of our compassionate and generous part of human nature, and it is the antidote to the lure of money and personal gain.

One thing that has been a great spiritual nourishment for my wife, Jane, and me has been our participation in a SCC for the past 25 years. You know, when people come together to share their faith and their lives good things can happen. In our SCC we are constantly reminding each other that we are not here for ourselves and that we are called to serve something beyond ourselves. That kind of constant reminder has been a strong antidote to the lure of money and personal gain for us. (Consider attending our SCC retreat next month – it promises to be outstanding.)

Can there be a spirituality of money? I think perhaps there can. Spirituality is about what we will hear in today’s gospel, it’s about welcoming the lowest of the low, and it’s about going beyond my own personal gain to serve the needs of others. Those are the fruits of our inner work.

On the other hand, money so powerfully dominates our culture, and so strongly lures us into personal gain, that money just seems to be the very opposite of spirituality.

So, the challenge that I find for myself as I reflect upon the possibility of a spirituality of money is this: Does money help us or hinder us to welcome the outcasts of our society, does money help us or hinder us to be the servant of all; does money help us or hinder us to move beyond ourselves? If money can help us to do those things, then it seems to me there can be a rich and healthy spirituality of money.

When the welfare of others is as important in my life as my welfare and the welfare of my family, and my money is used accordingly then it seems that we can be on the road to a powerful spirituality of money. I know that I have a long way to go before I have a healthy spirituality of money in my life. Where are you in yours?