John Wesley, the founder of Methodism spoke often and at great length about money. In his sermon on the topic he outlined three guiding principles:

1. We ought to gain all we can but this it is certain – we ought not to do; we ought not to gain money at the expense of life, nor at the expense of our health.
2. Do not throw precious talent into the sea.
3. Having, First, gained all you can, and, Secondly saved all you can, then "give all you can." (link)

John Wesley lived this sermon out by limiting his expenses to what it took to keep his basic needs met while teaching at Oxford University. He was given a salary of thirty pounds a year, which provided a comfortable living for a single man. When first taking the position he enjoyed the money, a huge difference from the poverty he had grown up with. Something happened to change this: Wesley had just finished paying for some pictures for his room when one of the chambermaids came to his door. It was a cold winter day, and he noticed that she had nothing to protect her except a thin linen gown. He reached into his pocket to give her some money to buy a coat but found he had too little left. Immediately the thought struck him that the Lord was not please with the way he had spent his money. He asked himself, "Will thy master say, 'Well done, good and faithful steward?' Thou has adorned thy walls with the money which might have screened this poor creature from the cold! O justice! O mercy! Are not these pictures the blood of this poor maid?" (link) For the rest of his life, Wesley endeavored to live on his original salary so that the more he made, the more he could give away. Even when his earnings were 1400 pounds, he lived on the thirty pounds and gave away all the rest. Wesley believed that what should rise is not the Christian's standard of living, but the standard of giving.

In my grandfather's dying days we did all that we could to honor his wishes that he not go to the hospital. My father and his brother, along with the nine grandchildren took turns staying with him through the days and nights. We tried to keep up his habits for him. His coffee pot was set up to his specifications … the Borden's sweetened condensed milk can with its specially made lid right where it belonged; his TV shows switched on at the right times and the drapes opened and closed at the appointed hours. My grandfather had some very definite routines. On one of the last nights we were able to keep him at home my brother and I were settling things for the night. We asked him if he needed anything else. My grandfather looked around and everything and ended on our faces and said: "No, I have everything I need." We knew he was not speaking of any of his things, but of his family.

I offer those two thoughts as we begin our sermon series based on Adam Hamilton's book, "Enough, Discovering Joy Through Simplicity and Generosity." If you haven't been able to get the book, there are still copies for $5.00 and they will be available after worship this morning. We will be looking at this book through October 11th and then have a series of small group discussions during the week of the 11th. In the coming weeks you will have an opportunity to sign up for one of the group discussions. First, let me say upfront, I do not believe that we can live as Wesley did. He had no family to support, no children to put through college and economic realities did not change as quickly as they do today. The inflation rate from 1700 to 1800 hundred in England averaged half a percent! (link) Our realities are quite different from those in Wesley's time, but the fundamental thinking he proposed does give us a way to keep perspective on what we tend to accumulate: "what should rise is not the Christian's standard of living, but the standard of giving."

Stuff complicates our lives. In the book, Enough, Hamilton talks of the American Dream turning into the American Nightmare. The concept of the American Dream was first proposed by James Truslow Adams in 1931. The American Dream he said is: "that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position." (link) Today the American Dream for many has become the American Nightmare as more and more the dream is interpreted as a dream of accumulating more and more stuff in a culture that screams you can buy your way to happiness.

Three observations:

• An August 16th article in the New York Times reported on believers getting rich. "Onstage and before thousands of believers weighed down by dept and economic insecurity, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland and their all-star lineup of 'prosperity gospel' preachers delighted the crowd with anecdotes about the luxurious lives they had attained by following the Word of God. Private airplanes and boats. A motorcycle sent by an anonymous supporter. Vacations in Hawaii and cruises in Alaska. Designer handbags. A ring of emeralds and diamonds. 'God knows where the money is, and he knows how to get the money to you,' preached Mrs. Copland." (link)
• Just down the street from us there is a store that advertises to our "stuff addiction." Fittingly it is called The Shoe Addict and its slogan is – all the stuff you just gotta have.
• As we attended the 9/11 observances at Ground Zero I couldn't help but notice the latest Kenneth Cole ads that urged people to buy more stuff, by saying to do so was patriotic for to buy would stimulate our economy. His ads say: "American needs you to buy," and on his designer bags: "I pledge allegiance to the bag."

"For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?" That is the question that Jesus poses in the 16th chapter of Matthew. It is a reminder that contrary to the message of the Copeland's and other prosperity preachers, we cannot accumulate enough stuff to save our souls. The more we try to unthinkingly accumulate, the more we get ourselves living beyond our means, the more we are convinced we have to have the latest and greatest … the further we will get from living in Christ and pursuing God's will. For all of these things will weigh us down and keep us from being open to God's word and desires for us. The stuff in and of itself is not bad or wrong … it is when it gets in the way of God that it becomes detrimental to our souls. As I have been reading and living with the concepts in Hamilton's book over the past couple of months I have found myself being more thoughtful about finances and what I purchase. In the back of the book is a key tag similar to the ones many of us have for grocery stores and the like. That key tag has joined the Foodtown, and Wegeman's and gym and book store tag on my key chain. This tag is labeled Contentment and I have come to pray its prayer through the day: "Lord, help me to be grateful for what I have, to remember that I don't need most of what I want, and that joy is found in simplicity and generosity." If you have read the first chapter of the book you will know the story of Hamilton's attempt to buy the latest Apple iPhone. That incident has changed the way I am currently making a purchase. Ever since borrowing the Foster's TomTom last September I really want, and can convince myself that I need a GPS device. After all I do travel around a lot and such a device would come in handy in finding my way to new destinations. And how much fun is it to get the systems to tell you that you are going the wrong way – there is something about hearing "re-calculating," or when it really feels you have made a gross directional error "turn around at the first opportunity." I didn't do anything about purchasing a GPS and have made do with mapquest and old fashioned directions. But, then we went to Kentucky in July and there was the TomTom again. I really, really thought it is time. Enter the story of Hamilton's attempt to buy an iPhone. It changed how I am going about buying the system. Instead of going right out and purchasing a GPS, I've been saving for one. Each day when I have a dollar or two left in my pocket I've been putting it aside. In the meantime, old fashioned directions will do. In the month plus that I've been doing this I have accumulated $153. I'm getting there … Yes, it is a simple thing and I probably could have just outright purchased a GPS. But this process has made me more thoughtful about possessions and how they can get in the way of God.

At the end of each chapter in Enough there are exercises to go through. I encourage you to spend some time doing them as part of your daily devotions. Let them be a kind of spiritual check up for you … helping you find the places you where you are doing well, and celebrating those places, but also helping you find the places where you need to do some work. Remember John Wesley's encounter with the chambermaid and how he shamefully realized he could not help her? Through your days ask: Where is God calling me to a simpler life so that I have the resources and freedom to be generous when the chambermaids of the world come my way?

The words of a hymn remind us: "Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free, 'tis the gift to come down where we ought to be. And when we find ourselves in the place just right, 'twill be in the valley of love and delight. When true simplicity is gain'd, to bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed, to turn, turn will be our delight, till by turning, turning we come out right."