I always associate Autumn with the beginning of a new academic year: A time when Principals give addresses about their vision for a college and its students. The then-principal of the theological college I attended always gave the same annual lecture to ordinands entering training. To be a deacon and priest in the CofE meant we were first and foremost servants; we were not to think of ourselves as being above any kind of work-in our ministerial capacity we would simply have to do what needed to be done. He said it would be most apt to regard ourselves as the toilet cleaners of the Church. Inevitably this lecture gained certain notoriety and returning students would say to first years- have you had the toilet cleaning lecture yet?’
After ordination when I first met up with friends from college someone asked So how many toilets have you cleaned in Hampstead Sarah?’ None, as yet’ I replied. What, not even your own?’ someone asked No’ I replied I have a cleaner’. There followed lots of jibes about living a typical Hampstead life where the ordinary, mundane and downright unpleasant tasks can always be done by someone else.
Whether you feel this is a fair view of life in Hampstead or not, we might still wonder why being wealthy can illicit these sorts of jibes -and what lies beneath this teasing? Well, it seems to me that being wealthy is associated with being disconnected from the trials that less wealthy people have to endure. Wealth creates the means through which one can be protected from having to engage with boring or unpleasant tasks.
In our society, where accumulating wealth is generally seen as a healthy and desirable goal, the wealthiest can end up living in a sort of vacuum, divorced from what is going on around them. It is this which comes through in all of today’s readings;
The prophet Amos denounces those who lie on beds of ivory, who lounge on their couches, who sing idle songs, drink wine from bowls, and anoint themselves with the finest oils. He sees an imminent reversal of their fortunes on the cards: they shall be the first to go into exile- which will mean that everything which has given them contentment and status will be taken away from them.
We witness a similar reversal of fortunes in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus from Luke’s gospel: the man who has been rich in this life, who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day is in death, subject to torment and suffering. Lazarus, who was poverty-stricken and suffered in this life, is carried away by the Angels to be with Abraham.
Is this then a call to renounce the material, earthly pleasures of life? Can we expect there to be some kind of punishment for enjoying an epicurean lifestyle?
It seems to me that both the prophet Amos and the evangelist Luke are objecting not to wealth per se but to a wealth which results in being disengaged from the suffering of others; Amos speaks against those who enjoy all the fine things of life but who are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!’. It is this final clause which is the most significant. They have used their wealth to create a gap between themselves and the world around them where bad things are happening and the life of their community is close to ruin. They have chosen to ignore signs of destruction in their midst.
In Luke’s gospel, when the rich man appeals to Abraham and asks just that Lazarus might dip the tip of his finger in water and cool his tongue, Abraham replies “between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.”
This rather chilling reply perhaps describes no more than what has been happening in their earthly lives; Lazarus has lain at the gate of the rich man and yet there has been a great gulf between them which the rich man has not even observed, let alone tried to breach.
Clearly enjoying wealth in a way that ignores the plight of others is incompatible with God’s call to care for the orphan, the widow, the refugee- those who are marginalised in every society.
But there is another question which underpins both these readings, and which is addressed in the reading from Timothy; how does wealth relate to our sense of contentment, our happiness?
For Paul contentment is found in having just enough; “for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these.” (v.7)
He then presents desiring wealth as something which may undermine our sense of contentment- those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.” It is as if he has here turned the lens inwards- not only is a love of money harmful to others- as Amos and Luke make clear, but it is harmful to ourselves as well.
Interestingly recent research would support this point of view: In Britain today we are wealthier than ever before yet incidents of depression are much greater. Alongside this growth in wealth is a growth in the gap between rich and poor, between the unnamed rich men of our world and the Lazarus of our society. Studies have shown that having more money, a higher disposable income, does not make us any happier, or more content- in fact in many cases the reverse seems to be true. The happiest societies are where the standard of living is often much lower than ours, but where the gap between rich and poor is not so great. In short where there is greater social cohesion and where people are more connected to one another.
This idea of being connected to the world around us, to others, relates also to how connected we feel to our true selves. This can only come from our connectedness to God through which we can engage more with the world around us. Our contentment rests on this sense of connectedness. The love of money is destructive partly because it inhibits our sense of connectedness to God and the world around us. So we find ourselves driven by a need to accumulate without ever feeling content.
So contentment lies in making connections- being connected firstly to God but through Him we are connected to our true selves, to others, to the world around us. We are freed to engage with the lives of others in a way that we can’t otherwise. and this is counter-cultural, as Paul makes clear. He talks of pursuing righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness’ as fighting the good fight of the faith.’ Paul does not ask those who are rich in this present age to give up their riches but they are not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share’. In doing so they will serve God and also find true contentment. In today’s collect we pray Almighty God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you’. We could also say our hearts are discontent, and disconnected, till they find their connectedness in you.
Let it be our prayer today that finding our contentment in God we may seek to use our wealth in a way which deepens our connections with our community. Amen