Some of us grew up on Aesop's Fables, a vast collection of short tales reportedly written by a Greek slave in the 620 and 560 BCE. In reading the second chapter of Enough I am reminded by this tale:

"In a field one summer's day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart's content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the next. 'Why not come and chat with me,' said the Grasshopper, 'instead of toiling and moiling in that way?' 'I am helping to lay up food for the winter,' said the Ant, 'and recommend you do the same' 'Why bother about winter?' said the Grasshopper, 'we have got plenty of food at present.' But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil. When the winter came the Grasshopper had no food, and found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants distributing every day corn and grain from the stores they had collected in the summer. Then the Grasshopper knew: It is best to prepare for the days of necessity."

In Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory we meet Veruca Salt. She has grown up getting everything she wants, as soon as she wants it. She gets her golden ticket to visit the chocolate factory because her father shuts down production in one of his factories so his workers can open Wonka bars until they find a golden ticket. In the chocolate factory her spoiled greed catches up with her – as, depending on which version you are watching or reading, Veruca demands to have the golden egg laying geese or a pet squirrel from the nut room … and after being told she can't have one, her temper tantrum sends her down the garbage chute.

"Then Jesus said, "There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.' So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living."

In the parable of the prodigal son, we find both the Grasshopper and Veruca Salt – live only for the moment and I want it and I want it now! We live in a society that fosters the idea that we are here to consume and to consume as much as we can, a society that seems to support the grasshoppers and Veruca's … we have to keep up with the proverbial Joneses. Our culture tells us in effect that our life purpose is acquisition and the more the better … and in many ways we have allowed culture to dictate our habits in this area. We have become a prodigal people.

The second chapter of our study book Enough calls us to think about this issue from the perspective of who we are as God's people, what our calling as God's people is about, how we live as the people who have accepted the call to follow Jesus. From the very beginning we are told what our purpose is. As the story of creation is recorded in Genesis God gives us the responsibility to care for all that God made. That responsibility needs to filter through how and what we acquire and consume. As a congregation we are seriously committed to this God given responsibility – a commitment that has led the leadership of the church to become the first United Methodist congregation to be accepted into the Green Faith certification process. In the theological statement I wrote for this process we are reminded of our God-created responsibility:

In the beginning God spoke and all that is was called into being. Out of the void, out of chaos creation happened. The book of Genesis records this creation in two different stories, one a story about the goodness of all creation, the second a story of brokenness. This brokenness is told through the story of Adam and Eve. God created human beings and gave us power over all creation. This is a power, I believe, that calls us to be keepers of God's creation in ways that continue the goodness that God saw in creation.

The church is the body of Christ, and as such we are charged with living in ways that show others God's love and power. A part of this is how we treat the created order. How we care for the environment, the decisions we make about what we will use, what we will consume are statements on how well we live out the mandate found in the first story of creation.

As a part of our task we acknowledge our failures, finding our story in the brokenness of Adam and Eve's experiences. We admit to participating in the destruction of our environment, overusing resources, and not caring for things as well as we should.

The United Methodist Church of Red Bank has pledged to become a Green Faith congregation. We will strive to take seriously God's charge to humanity that was begun in creation. We will acknowledge the ways we have participated in the bringing about the current state of our environment. With God's help we will work towards reversing such destructive habits and patterns not only at an individual level, but also on systemic levels.

Individually we are also called to consider what our purpose and calling is in life. The Westminster Catechism was developed in the 1600's to educate lay persons in matters of doctrine and belief. It is set in a simple question and answer format. The first question is the most famous and also most pertinent for our purpose this morning: "What is the chief end of humanity?" "Humanity's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy God forever." That is the question that should inform our living, and in particular, inform how we use our financial resources. Practically speaking, in order to do this we have to have our financial houses in order. Otherwise we will be bogged down in dealing with them and not be able to live out who we are called to be as God's people. Another way of looking at that how Hamilton puts it in his resource guide on Enough: "We have a life purpose that is greater than our own self-interest, and how we spend our God-given resources reflects our understanding and commitment to this life purpose or mission." (Enough Stewardship Guide, page 73)

As the people who have accepted that Jesus is our savior and the example we will follow we take seriously that we are called to serve him – in his example we reach out to caring for others, being part of mission work … and through every day opportunities. And lest we think that a discussion of wealth and finances is inappropriate in that calling … take a tour through Jesus' teachings. About the things the church tends to worry most about, particularly issues of sexuality, Jesus had little to say … it is wealth and money that he speaks of most … perhaps knowing that how we deal with money will ultimately say most about where our hearts truly are. You have a number of resources this morning to give yourself a financial check up. The bulletin insert is from the end of Chapter 2 in Enough, as you leave worship this morning you will receive a static cling reminding you of the Financial Planning Principles also detailed there. Use these as guides to see where you are doing well, where you need to do some adjusting … all with the understanding we do this so we might be clear about the ways in which God is calling us, and the purposes to which we are called as followers of Jesus the Christ.

God, you know what we don't even know.
We don't know where every dime went,
but somehow you know what we did with all that we had,
last year and the year before that.
You don't forbid us from having joy in our possessions.
In fact, you delight in having joy for us.
But what you know is that just acquiring
more and more stuff isn't where we find joy.
Lord, forgive us for being wasteful, for being prodigals.
Forgive us for leveraging our future in order to have pleasure in the present.
And help us to be good managers of the talents you've given to us.
Help us to be generous and willing to share
and focused on accomplishing your purposes for our lives.
In Jesus' name, Amen.

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