Deuteronomy 15:1-11
Matthew 19:16-22
“Our Money Story: Release”
Preached on Sunday, October 16, 2022
In 2017 the hashtag “metoo” went viral. The Me Too movement was around over a decade before that. Here’s a blurb of the history of the me too movement from their website:
“In 2006, the ‘me too’ Movement was founded by survivor and activist Tarana Burke. In those early years, we developed our vision to bring resources, support, and pathways to healing where none existed before. And we got to work building a community of advocates determined to interrupt sexual violence wherever it happens.
In 2017, the #metoo hashtag went viral and woke up the world to the magnitude of the problem of sexual violence. What had begun as local grassroots work had now become a global movement — seemingly overnight. Within a six-month span, our message reached a global community of survivors. Suddenly there were millions of people from all walks of life saying ‘me too.’”
End quote.
For centuries, women have been shamed, discredited, and even attacked when they have spoken out about violence done against them - especially when that violence was sexual and/or domestic in nature. Men, too, are victims of these crimes, although less statistically likely. And men too have suffered backlash for coming forward with their stories. And so many women - and men- have carried their stories as secrets within them through their whole lives - where shame and fear and guilt and all those things can fester and be internalized - and where healing and accountability can’t happen. And what we found is that, when one person takes the very brave step to share her story and say, “This happened to me.” So many other people find the courage to use their voices, tell their stories, and say “me too.”
And while the “me too” movement was about sexual violence - we know this is true for many other traumatizing things that people are made to feel shame for - even when those things, and let me be clear on this, are far from shameful.
From support groups for those in recovery from addictions. To women who have struggled with infertility or suffered miscarriage or infant loss opening up about their stories. From those who came from abusive homes. From veterans of wars struggling with the aftermath. And so may more. Anyone who has gone through something, and kept the story inside to their detriment…they know the power in finally releasing their story.
Sometimes, telling your story, releasing that which you’ve had kept up inside you, tucked away where no one else can see it - it is only in releasing and telling that story that you begin to find healing. It is only in the open that the stigma dissipates. In the telling, freedom is found. And in the telling of one story, others are freed to say, “me too.” Allyship, companionship, mutuality is found when we release our stories and release the stigma and shame attached to them.
Let’s put a pin in this as we center ourselves back into our sermon series, “Our Money Story.” The idea behind this sermon series is that stories matter - all stories! They shape our lives, our relationships, our actions - everything. And stories about money seem to get to the heart of what we value or don’t value and the heart of how we view our neighbors and view God. And that’s maybe why talking about money makes us so uncomfortable - cause it’s never just about money. It’s about our mutuality.
So last week we talked about how stories matter and how we are called to remember our whole stories - even the bits we’d conveniently forgotten. We talked about how God re-wrote the story of the Israelites in the dessert, freeing them not just from slavery in Egypt but freeing them from the scarcity mindset to one of God’s providence, care, and providence - literal manna from heaven. And we talked about how maybe our money stories are like Judas’s - filled with shame, fear, anxiety….but let us not forget that even Judas had a seat at the last supper with Jesus, that there was room for him at the table and there is room for us - all of us - and room for our stories - ALL of our stories. It is only in knowing and telling our stories that we, with the help of God, can re-write our stories.
And today we are talking about this: (*open and close hand*) - okay, let me explain myself by turning to our text from Deuteronomy.
Now there is a command here that every seven years there is to be a remittance of debt for fellow Israelites in their community. The question I was asking of myself in this text was, was it a one-year hold on collecting debts? Was it a forgiveness of debts? I honestly couldn’t find the answer but it was, at the least, putting debts on hold for a year - done every seven years. It was a practice for the big remittance, the big forgiveness that is the year of Jubilee which is every seventh seventh year. And we’re going to be talking about the year of Jubilee next week as we continue our sermon series. But what strikes me is what comes after giving the command. The text says, remit debts every seven years…but should there really be any among you in need in the first place? Not if you’re treating each other like you should! Should there really be any among you who had to go into debt to survive? Not if you care for one another as you have been commanded! Oh if we only still held and followed this value today.
The last line of the passage from today really gets to the core of the values embedded in this passage: “Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so, for on this account the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, ‘Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.’”
Open your hand…
Are you starting to get what I mean by this? (*open and close hand*)
Now, I want everyone to do this with me. Close your fists tightly….Now open, release….Now close tightly…and now open, release…
This is the primary concept or idea we are looking at in our sermon today - the juxtaposition between holding on too tightly to something or releasing it, letting it go.
Deuteronomy gives us instructions to open our hands for the good of our neighbors, to not hold too tightly or begrudgingly onto things, instead to liberally open our hands to our neighbors, the poor and needy.
In our Gospel lesson from Matthew we see a man holding on too tightly to what he has. A man comes to Jesus and asks him, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” To which Jesus replies, “If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
Well, “Which ones?”
“And Jesus said, ‘You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness. Honor your father and mother. Also, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
“I have kept all these; what do I still lack?”
Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”
And then that line we know all too well: “When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.”
He was holding on too tightly. Too tightly to his possessions. And maybe too tightly to his narrative of what those possessions could do for him. His money story. Maybe his money story was one of greed. Maybe his money story was one of shame because he had while others had not. Maybe his money story was one of trying to find peace and security in possessions and to give up his possessions would be to give up the false narrative that he is secure in them. We don’t know his story - but he has one - and it wasn’t giving him life - that’s why he came to Jesus. And yet…stories are hard to release, hard to re-write, and so he went away grieving…
Let’s open and close our hands again. Clench them tightly….now open, release…clench them tightly….now open, release….
I read one person say that the commandments that Jesus chooses to tell this young man are all relational commandments, neighbor to neighbor. And so while the young man says he has done them all…maybe he hasn’t. Sure, he might not be a murderer…but it’s hard to love your neighbor as yourself when you’re holding on to your things too tightly. If your fists are clenched tightly, literally or metaphorically, you cannot, as Deuteronomy says, open your hand and give liberally and ungrudgingly to your neighbors, the poor and needy.
So everyone, clench those fists again…hold them up, look at them. What does a world of clenched fists give us? I feel like we’re all rock ‘em sock ‘em robots. Literally or metaphorically, a world of clenched fists does not give itself to generosity, reciprocity, love and care…it leads to, well, fighting, hoarding, mine and yours, have and have nots…
And, on another level, it leads to not just not sharing goods - it leads to not telling our stories. And when we don’t tell our stories, our whole stories, people can be made to feel alone. Made to feel ashamed. Made to feel as if we can’t share our stories and made to feel like we can’t rewrite those stories.
Something really beautiful happens when we unclench our fists - go ahead, unclench your fists - when we unclench our fists and share our stories. Turn to your neighbor and offer them your hand. You can shake hands. You can hold hands. You can offer a hand up. You can be in relationship with each other. And when you’re in relationship with one other, we can tell each other our stories, releasing those things which bind us in shame or fear and find freedom and friendship in their place. When we relinquish our hold - on narratives that aren’t life giving, on money and possessions we hold on to, on whatever we are holding on to too tightly - and in releasing our own fists, our own stories - we empower others to do the same. To say, “me too.” To share their stories. To let go of that which is holding them back from rewriting their story. To let go of that which is holding us back from love of neighbor as self.
So today I will ask the same question that I asked of you last week: What is your story? What is your faith story? What is your money story? And how are the two intertwined? Are there parts of your story are you holding on too tightly to? What chapters of your story is God calling you to share in order to free yourself and free others? May all of us find release and share our stories so that we can live in relationship with one another, so that we can care for one another. So that we can open our hands and our stories to one another, giving liberally and ungrudgingly, loving neighbor as self.
Let’s tell our stories.
Amen.
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