About Wealth...building on yesterday's sermon

Loosing Ourselves in our Possessions

There was a man who loved gold. Then he inherited a fortune. With joy he redecorated his bedroom. He put gold parchment wallpaper up, hung yellow curtains, had a golden colored rug and a yellow bedspread. He even bought some yellow pajamas. But then he got sick and came down with, of all things, yellow jaundice. His wife called the doctor who made a house call and went up to that bedroom for an examination. The doctor stayed up there a long while. When he came down, the wife asked, "How is he?"

"Don't know," said the doctor. "I couldn't find him."

Indeed many people today are absolutely absorbed in and lost in a world of greed and materialism.

Dr. Adrian Rogers

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The Doomed Wasp

George Orwell, writing during the Second World War, tells of a rather cruel trick he once played on a wasp. The wasp was sucking jam on his plate and he cut him in half. The wasp paid no attention to what had happened to him, but just went on with his meal, while a tiny, stream of jam trickled out of his severed esophagus. Only when he tried to fly did he realize the terrible thing that happened to him.

What a picture of a solely consumer-oriented humanity, gorging itself, earthbound, and oblivious to its plight.

Adapted from Orwell, The Collected Essays, Journals and Letters Vol. II New
York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1968, p. 15.

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The Trouble with Money

Guys, just remember, if you get lucky, if you make a lot of money, if you get out and buy a lot of stuff--it's gonna break. You got your biggest, fanciest mansion in the world. It has air conditioning. It's got a pool.
Just think of all the pumps that are going to go out. Or go to a yacht basin any place in the world. Nobody is smiling, and I'll tell you why. Something broke that morning. The generator's out; the microwave oven doesn't work. .
. .Things just don't mean happiness.

H. Ross Perot (Billionaire and former Presidential candidate) in Fortune magazine.

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Marketing Gone Mad

At the Coca-Cola Company, we have built and grown for more than 110 years.
Remaining disciplined to our mission has brought us to remarkable places.
Not long ago, we did some research and came up with an interesting set of facts.

A billion hours ago, human life appeared on Earth.

A billion minutes ago, Christianity emerged.

A billion seconds ago, the Beatles performed on The Ed Sullivan Show.

A billion Coca-Colas ago was yesterday morning.

And the question we are asking ourselves now is: What must we do to make a billion Coca-Colas ago be this morning?

Address by Roberto C. Goizueta, Chairman, CEO, Coca-Cola, delivered to the Executive Club of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, November 20, 1996. Taken from Vital Speeches of the Day, January 15, 1997, p. 201.

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We Want It Our Way

The story of Faust by Goethe has become part of our heritage. Faust was a man who longed for romance, academic success, and wealth. Unable to find these on his own, he made a pact with the devil. If he could be granted his wishes, have his true worth made public and enjoy its fruits, then he would give his soul to the devil. Sure enough, he enjoyed marvelous romances, fabulous successes, and much wealth. Oddly enough, when the time came, he was unwilling to keep his part of the bargain. I wonder if there is a parallel here. We put Jesus off, promising, “Just one more of this and one more of that -- then I will be willing to go with you, Jesus.” Are we not like little Fausts, wanting to have it our way? After all, we say, we deserve it! And what do we say to Jesus when he comes to claim us?


Thomas Peterson, The Needle's Eye, CSS Publishing Company.

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Remember, no one is worthless. Any person can always be held up as a bad example.

Anonymous