There is a story in which a young minister is sitting in her house one day when she hears a banging on the door. When she opens the door she discovers one of the church members standing before her. It is obvious that he is exhausted from running to her house and is barely holding back some tears.

“What’s wrong” asks the minister, seeing that this man is obviously in distress

“Please can you help”, replied the man, “A kind and considerate family in the area are in great trouble. The husband recently lost his job and the wife cannot work due to health problems. They have three young children to look after and on top of all that the man’s mother lives with them as she is unwell and needs constant care. They have no money at the moment and if they don’t pay the rent by tomorrow morning the landlord is going to kick them all onto the street, even though its winter”.

“That’s terrible”, said the minister, “Of course we will help. Anyway how do you know them”?

“I’m the landlord” replied the man.

The above parable is courtesy of Peter Rollins and is taken directly from his blog post on Irony and Fetishism.  What I most appreciate about Pete’s parables is his way of transforming the way we think about our faith and religious activity.  It makes me pause and think a bit.

I told the congregation in worship yesterday that when I first heard this parable, I imagined myself as the minister.  I was upset and outraged how this man could make such a decision, ignoring his responsibility to the family.  But the more that I’ve thought about it, I’m really the landlord in that story.

I’m the one who has the means to help others, the ability to make decisions regarding the use of the resources God has blessed me with.  And yet, I squander them.  Last week alone I spent $25 on coffee at Starbucks.  25 dollars!

What if I only spent $5 – instead choosing to use the rest of my money in a different way?

$8 can buy me two Venti, Caramel Macchiatos, or it can buy 25 fruit trees for farmers in Honduras to grow and sell fruit at their local market.

$25 can buy me five Grande, Mocha Frappacinos, or it can help feed a family of four who has lost their only source of income for two days.

Or the $75 I’m likely to have spent on coffee this month could be invested in a Kiva microfinance loan that will help women in Uganda start their own business – allowing them to feed their families and repay the loans.

I am the landlord telling the family they can no longer live here because I’ve got to buy coffee - really expensive coffee.

And I suspect I’m not the only landlord among us either.

So I have made a public commitment to reduce the amount of money I spend at Starbucks to once a week (so $5).  Instead, the rest of the money I may have otherwise spent there (at least $10 but at much as $20) I commit to investing in the work of the kingdom of God.  I will give that much more to the church, or to the Oxon Hill Food Pantry, or to Lutheran World Hunger.

And I asked those in worship yesterday morning to consider what resources God has blessed them with and how they could reorder their resources, investing some in other places.  Then I asked them to fill out a sheet of paper committing to God what that action will look like and place it on the altar as a sacrifice.

I was moved by the number of people who chose to make such commitments.  Many have committed to reordering their lives as I have, by eating out less and giving that extra money back to the church or another service organization.  But some others are choosing to walk and reorder their health/fitness so that they can be of more service to the church and the world.

While the Apostle Paul used financial language in the 2 Corinthians text yesterday (quoted below), I also wonder how many of us sacrifice our time - choosing to turn off the TV and invest that time in our families or friends.  How many of us are willing to invest in new relationships or those that are on shaky ground.  As I write this I’m beginning to think that will be my next sacrifice - investing in strong relationships, new relationships, and those with my neighbors.

Finally, I also asked the congregation to hold me accountable; to ask me from time to time how my commitment to spend less at Starbucks is going, how I’m investing more of my financial resources back into kingdom work.  I also encouraged them to each find somebody who is willing to do that for them as well.

As people left the worship space yesterday, many told me what it is that they are sacrificing, how they are reordering things.  I’m excited!  God is up to amazing things here and I look forward to how this will unfold into more in the future!

So what are you willing to sacrifice?  What commitment are you going to make?  If you’d like some accountability, then I encourage you to comment on the post and we can hold each other mutually accountable.

Now as you excel in everything– in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you– so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.  8 I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others.  9 For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.  10 And in this matter I am giving my advice: it is appropriate for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something–  11 now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means.  12 For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has– not according to what one does not have.  13 I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between  14 your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance.  15 As it is written, “The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.”  2 Corinthians 8:7-15

Photo courtesy of Steve Webel