by Carol Howard Merritt
Gospel Reading: Luke 19:1-10
For Sunday, Novemeber 3, 2013: Year C —Lectionary 31
When I became a pastor, I thought that I was disconnecting from money in some way. In my mind, I made a deal with God—I would serve the church, get the food and shelter I needed (without expectation of much more), and then I would never have to worry about money again. I’m not a materialistic person, so I assumed my new vocation would lead me to a hermetic detachment.
Wrong again…and again?
I was wrong. What I didn’t understand is that I would be struggling with money on a deeper, more spiritual level. My interaction with money became much more intense than whether I could balance my checkbook at the end of the month. Many personal issues arose.
There was an assumption that I should keep the wealthier members of our congregation happy. I didn’t know who they were or how much anyone contributed to the church. I just knew that I could never cross them.
There was an expectation that my family and I would dress a certain way or participate in activities that were far above what our means would allow. Other times, people would be annoyed that I ate out for dinner, because they thought that I ought to be more frugal.
Self-worth and “The Ask”
I needed to ask people for money in order to support my salary, and all of my issues of self-worth came to the forefront.
One time, the largest giver in the church said that she would walk away with her pledge if anyone discussed cutting my position. I became aware of the great salary difference between men, women, racial ethnic minorities, and immigrant pastors and realized that I needed to advocate for more equitable pay.
Then there were larger, social justice issues that arose.
Filling Gaps
In our country, during the economic recovery, the gap between the rich and the poor widened. In poorer areas of our country, there were few educational and job opportunities. We had neglected to invest in particular neighborhoods. Throughout the banking and mortgage scandals, we saw how laws favored the rich and the poor were made vulnerable. The Occupy movement arose and turned our attention to the inequities of the 99 and 1%. They lifted up the unjust laws and fought against foreclosures.
In all of it, I realized that I needed to work out my own relationship with money. Money could be used as a means to gain favor and wield power. The lessons of the last twenty years taught me that when a person had more money, he or she was more likely to get away with stealing more. And money could be used to support ministries and allow beautiful work to flourish.
Redeeming Zacchaeus’ $$$
Jesus often preached about money, telling us about Lazurus and the thirsty rich man or the camel who couldn’t cram into the eye of the needle. But here we have something else happening. Jesus calls out Zacchaeus, a man who collected taxes from his own people and gave it to the Roman government. And if that wasn’t nasty enough, Zacchaeus skimmed money off the top. This despicable man stole from the poor to line his own pockets.
We sing about Zacchaeus being a cute “wee little man” in Sunday school, but when we get older, we realize that he was like the broker who added hidden fees to our widowed mother’s mortgage so he could vacation in Barbados.
The Hardest Question
So the hardest question for me is: How do we defend the poor and dine with the rich? How do we call out the injustice of our system, while realizing that we need to minister to the 1%?
Carol Howard Merritt grew up along the beaches of Florida. After being raised as a conservative Baptist and attending a fundamentalist Bible college, she went to Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and decided to become a minister. Carol has been a pastor for 13 years, serving growing Presbyterian Churches in the swamps of Cajun Louisiana, a bayside village in Rhode Island, and in an urban neighborhood in D.C. She is the award-winning author of Tribal Church (Alban 2007) and Reframing Hope (Alban 2010). She has contributed to numerous books, websites, magazines, and journals. Her blog, TribalChurch.org, is hosted by the Christian Century. She blogs regularly at Huffington Post and Dukes Divinity's Faith and Leadership site. Carol is a sought-after speaker. She hosts Unco (short for Unconference), open-space gatherings where participants dream about and plan for the future of the church. And she co-hosts God Complex Radio, a podcast with Derrick Weston. Carol lives in Chattanooga, TN with her daughter and husband, Brian Merritt, who is starting a new church. You can follow her on Twitter (@CarolHoward) or Facebook.
