Stewardship is all that I do with all that I have after I say, "I believe". "All things come of thee, O Lord, of thine own have we given thee." That line probably call back old fond memories for us old-timers, who have been kicking around this Episcopal Church for a generation, that old verse and response we use to say ads the priest received the offering plates at the Altar, and blessed the collection the people had made that morning. The phrasing and style of that may now sound archaic to newer members, but the message is still as it was - unrelenting, demanding, a sweeping admission that we are often loathe to make - none of it is ours, none of it. Stewardship - pledging - money. Not my favorite topic. Bet it is not your favorite topic either. Awkwardly and undeniably it is however, one of the Bible’s favorite topics. And, more compellingly, one of Jesus favorite topics. I am sick to death of people talking about what the Bible says about sex, what Jesus said about sex is actually very sparse, a few verses only and only ever about adultery--nothing more. He speaks about money and possessions and material wealth ten times more often. Noteworthy is the statistic that he spoke about money five times more than about prayer itself! What was Jesus interested in, concerned about--how we handle sex in our lives or how we handle our money and our possessions? Both, surely, but there is absolutely no contest in regard to the significance he gave one over the other - no contest, no argument, no confusion. And why his interest in, his stress on, his abiding concern with how we deal with our money? Because Jesus clearly understands what we ourselves also understand, if a little vaguely. How we relate to money is the most accurate assessment and indication and proof of how we relate to God. What we think about money proves what we think about our faith, and our Lord, and our souls. A young man runs up to Jesus, and clearly wants to follow him, believes in him, seems to love and revere him, and wants to be one of his disciples. Jesus sees the problem at once. He does not dislike the man, or pity the man, or tolerate him, no, rather the Bible notes: "And Jesus, looking on him, loved him." But first of all, Jesus needs to know and the young man has to decide, Jesus must know, can you, will you, give your money away and follow me, love me more, want me more, find me and the Kingdom of God more important and more significant than your money? Could you choose me over your money if it came to that choice, can you choose me first, give your money away, and follow me? And the young man goes away, sorrowful yes, but goes away, leaves, silently says "No, no, I cannot." And he goes away. The Gospel quietly, sadly reports: "because he had great riches." 'Nuff said. That is the problem with money, that is its danger, that is the risk we all face. Young or not, rich or not, the risk is always the same for all of us. The danger equal. Neither money or possessions is ever branded by Jesus as, in themselves ungodly, and our having them is not irreverent. Just, risky. To those who handle their money and their possessions well and responsibly and carefully, Jesus promises more, there will be given to him to him who has still more, good measure, pressed down, running over. Bit not if it is more important than God. It is hard I know it is very hard for me, always has been. Even if we are not young men with vast riches, it is still hard. Easy and good to say we want to follow we want to be disciples, we want to be faithful, we want to love and serve the Lord. But the cost is great, Like, I guess, a camel going through the eye of a needle. Tough. It seems our sexual behavior or our swearing or our foioidpoise or our every or our silliness or our selfishness our laziness pose as much risk - yes, all that is wrong, all of that should raise red flags, and needs to be addressed, but it is our money, our possessions, that are the biggest threat, how we handle money seems to be the chief thing that puts us in mortal danger. Jesus does occasionally speak about all those other issues, very occasionally. He is always talking about money and what it means to us and what dangers and risks it poses to those how would follow him faithfully. Not, as I said, my favorite topic. Not surprisingly. But still, there is Jesus and he wants to know. Do I really want to follow him. Can I do it? Will I? Or will I go away, because ...