In The World

Several items in the news recently caught my attention, all of them involving large sums of money. One was the loss of $2 billion by the investment bank JPMorgan Chase. Another was the initial public stock offering of Facebook, expected to raise $100 billion. That would instantly make Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder, worth more than $18 billion. In one day he would make more money than most African countries see in a year. If he were generous, he could give most of it to the State of California, which is over $15 billion in debt.

The JPMorgan Chase story falls under the category of “not again!” The chief investment officer bet that the European debt crisis would go one way, and it went another. Boom! The company lost billions, and she lost her $14 million-a-year job. “We made a terrible mistake,” the CEO said, adding that the bank was “sloppy” and “stupid.” Try using those excuses if you ever get audited by the IRS!

Such stories make us shake our heads at the greed of people. Secretly, though, I think many are envious of those who have so much money. Why else would state lotteries be so popular? The bigger the jackpot the more people buy tickets, ignoring the fact that the more tickets purchased, the lower the likelihood of winning. “Well, you can’t win if you don’t buy a ticket!” And if you do win, what then? You discover all sorts of friends and relatives you never knew you had.

Jesus didn’t deal with lotteries or stock offerings or JPMorgan Chase. We don’t really know how he might treat investment bankers, although once he chased after moneychangers with a whip of cords. He never did have a lot of good things to say about the rich, especially those who ignored the poor. In fact, when you come right down to it, Jesus said a lot of things about money that would make us uncomfortable if we took them to heart.

Jesus always had a different way of looking at things. That’s because he saw with God’s eyes. In the Gospel of John he expressed this by making a clear distinction between himself and “the world.” He extended that distinction to his followers. “They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world,” he said. This was not an invitation to withdraw from the world, to wait comfortably for pie in the sky by and by. Rather, it was recognition that the life of Christians should be different.

One way this played out was in choosing leaders, as shown in the Acts of the Apostles. With the death of Judas Iscariot, there was an opening in the Twelve. Until Pentecost that number had to be preserved, so two men were put forth: Joseph/Barsabbas/Justus, a man of many names, and Matthias. After prayer, lots were cast and Matthias was chosen. (I always wondered what happened to the other. Did he, like vestry candidates who aren’t voted in, just melt away?)

This is a rather different method for selecting a leader than the long interviews job candidates usually receive. Should we return to choosing people by lot? Oddly enough, even churches that say they interpret the Bible literally don’t cast lots; perhaps it sounds too much like gambling. Or perhaps they realize that casting lots is only a means. The real focus should be on the process, on grounding decisions in prayer.

This Sunday we are in that peculiar time between the ascension of Christ and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. It’s a time when again we hear Jesus tell us what would happen: the Holy Spirit will come and witness to the truth already given to the disciples. Jesus will be gone in body, yet the Spirit will come to guide and empower the church. That Spirit will enable the disciples, and enable us, to be in the world but not of it. The choice of Matthias through prayerful discernment reminds us of what that kind of life should be like.

What a contrast this is to the ways of the world! There is no discernment at JPMorgan Chase, only the desire to make as much money as possible. Everyone wants to be part of the Facebook cash cow. The desire for what is not of God resides in us, too. That is why Jesus also prayed to the Father, “I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one.” Evil, however we understand it, is always present to tempt us away from God.

Unlike the Amish, we do not separate ourselves from the world, but rather engage it. At the same time, we are witnesses to another way of life, a way that puts people first rather than money. That way leads through the cross and beyond it, to resurrection, to the very presence of God. It is a lifelong journey, one with twists and turns, missteps and joy-filled clarity. We have the promise of Jesus that the Holy Spirit will come to lead us on the way. May we always follow where the Spirit leads, so that our hearts and minds may ascend to where Jesus is, and with him dwell in the presence of God.

 [Easter 7, the Sunday after the Ascension: Acts 1:15-17, 21-26; Psalm 1; 1 John 5:9-13; John 17:6-19.]