On the printing of every single dollar bill is the well-known phrase “In God We Trust.” In our popular memory we may think that this has been the case since the beginning of printed money in the United States, but it is not the case. The phrase “In God We Trust” first appeared on the two cent piece in 1864, following the end of the Civil War. The phrase “In God We Trust” was not printed on paper currency until 1957 following a joint resolution by the 84th Congress that all printed money should carry this phrase from that vote until the foreseeable future.
In many ways it is a fitting motto to be printed on our national currency. There are many things you can do with money. You can use money buy a home. You can money to buy a meal. You can use money to pay health costs, insurance premiums, and out of pocket expenses. You can use money to pay off debts. You can use money to help a friend or neighbor in need. You can save money, you can spend money, you can invest money. You can give money to charity. You can give money to church. You can give money to a worthy organization.
Like Pablo Escobar, during his last days, you can use piles of money to start a fire and keep yourself warm. There is a seemingly endless list of things you can do with money.
It’s a funny cultural phenomenon that it is considered rude to talk about religion, politics, and money. In short, it’s rude to talk about the things that most immediately shape and impact our lives. Which is why I love this church. We get to talk about all the things that it’s considered rude to talk about it polite conversation, all the things that impact and shape our lives.
If I had to boil down the whole point of these three aspects of life: religion, politics, and money I could do it. The point of all these elements is that we and those we love might live and thrive. That’s it. It’s a means to an end. The end being the place where we can live and thrive.
The problem that we continually run into in religion, politics, and with money is the narrow usage of the word “we.” We run into consistent problems and create mass suffering when “we” only relates to people who we know or people who think and act like us.
We get into trouble when we subtly or not so subtly communicate through our actions and thoughts that certain persons deserve to live and thrive while others do not. It’s a common myth that has been tested and exposed in Youngstown, that only those who work hard have money. Only those who have worked and applied themselves, and beat the competition. Only the smartest, the shrewdest, those who happened to be at the right place at the right time gain access to the right amounts of paper currency with the appropriate motto on every bill “In God We Trust.” We consider it an accomplishment to raise a child with these qualities. But we also just believe in plain luck.
It is an odd American strain of belief that money will come to us if we’re either lucky or well liked. “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller spoke plainly about the quiet anxiety of businessman who believed that their whole livelihood was based on how others perceived them. Miller dared to write this play in 1949, during the largest economic boom in American history post-World War II.
In New York City, I studied with a teacher who was old enough to have attended the play when it first opened on Broadway. He described it as a play where, during intermission, all these businessman fell silent and exchanged uneasy glances.
This is the power of great art and I believe can be the power of a church. We can cause people to look more deeply at what we may consider reality to be…and to look deeper, deeper into ourselves, and deeper into the circumstances of those around us. What we discover may first make us uneasy, but that is always what freedom feels like. Through a subversive and sacred act, we discover levels of life and livelihood that often go unnoticed or that remain in shadow. When we bring these elements into the light, it can be scary, uneasy, but ultimately compelling.
So you each now have 50 dollars. It’s not a fortune, but it’s not nothing. Now I’ll give you my assignment for this week. On top of all the ideas that you’ve brainstormed, and on top of all the ideas you may be ruminating on, I’d like you to carry this simple question with you wherever you go this week.
The question is simple, but the more you sit and walk with it, you may be surprised about what opens up for you. The question is this: What is the value of money? I’ll walk you through my own reflecting about this to get you started. What is the value of money? My first thoughts were about the practical matters: I could buy a house. I could be able to take care of my health and the health of my loved ones. I can save it for the unexpected. By the way, that’s a sermon for another time about health care and the necessity of money to guarantee it. But for now those were my first thoughts. Then I started to dig a little deeper. Why would I want a house? Why would I want adequate health care? Why would I want to save for the unexpected? Then we get down to basic primal needs: like the need for security, the need for safety, the need to feel taken care of. Then the next level of reflection: What is the value of money? In short, will money satisfy these basic primal needs? My conclusion so far: No, but it helps.
The money you were given this morning has the inscription: “In God We Trust.” I recommend you use this money this week as a sacrament. A sacrament is a means of grace in classic theology. It is a means but not the end itself.
The sacrament does not bring grace, but it acts as a gateway. Money may not be the end. It may not be the ultimate satisfaction however much our culture teaches us that it is. But it can be used as a sacrament. It can be used as a means of grace. The money we possess can make our lives small when we feel it is scarce, and we feel we need to protect what we have, what we’ve earned, and give ourselves a false sense of security. Or it can make our lives large with abundance when we dare to practice generosity. Our lives become larger when we become curious about others’ struggles, and see what we can do to help, even if what we can offer is 50 dollars. That 50 dollars can make sure someone has gas to get to work. It can buy groceries for a family. It can buy a present for someone who never would spend the money on themselves. Whether it is a dollar or 50, use your money as a sacrament, as a means of kindness. It turns out that’s the only real currency there is.
