The great-granddaddy of public opinion polls is the Gallup Poll, founded by George Gallup in the 30’s. A woman once approached Dr. Gallup at a cocktail party, demanding to know why she had never been called to participate in the his poll. After all, surely her opinion was worth something. "Madam, your chances of being selected for our Poll are about the same as your chances of being struck by lightning." Her response: "I have been struck by lightning!"

Well, very few of us have been struck by lightning, and even fewer have survived. But a lot of people spend a lot of money every week, hoping for something that is about as likely—winning the lottery.

Don’t get me wrong—I’m not telling you not to buy lottery tickets. I will even admit to buying the occasional ticket myself—very occasional and only one at a time. $2 buys you the chance to dream a bit. What would I do with $4M? Hmmm…

Most of us have some idea, but it is sadly true that winning the lottery changes many people’s lives for the worse, not the better as might be expected.

The huge significance of wealth in today’s society is indisputable, but our era has no unique claim in this respect. There are many warnings about the dangers of wealth throughout the Bible, in both testaments. We heard some of that today in our readings from Proverbs and the Letter of James.

Proverbs is a book that for me does not really bear extended reading. After a while, all of these semi-related sayings jumble up on each other, and my mind spins. The Letter of James, on the other hand, should be read through. It stands by itself in the New Testament, somewhat akin to Hebrew Wisdom books like Proverbs, but with a central theme, summed up in the last words of today’s lesson:

If our faith is alive, it should be visible in our lives, and especially in our public gatherings. It should make a difference. In the words of a remarkable woman who died this past week,

James is particularly concerned about how we deal with riches and those who possess them. He castigates his readers for showing partiality to the wealthy and dishonouring the poor. The assemblies of Christ should show no favour to anyone.

The world we live in has always given honour to the rich, while disregarding the poor. No news there! But the church is called to be different:

The church is challenged to provide an alternative to the ways of the world, ignoring social distinctions of all kinds, especially those created by wealth and poverty. It is a challenge that we have not always met well—and at times have failed abysmally!

One of the ways in which we have failed the challenge is to pretend that these differences don’t exist—we don’t talk about money in any way. The AA movement talks about the "elephant in the living room" to refer to the way many families deal with a member’s alcoholism—it’s there, it’s unavoidable, but it’s never mentioned. Never confronting it in any way does not make it go away—it makes it worse. Money is very often the "elephant in the living room" in many congregations—it’s there, it’s unavoidable, but it’s never mentioned.

Churches that never talk about how their members’ faith is visible in their economic lives are simply avoiding the issue. "If we don’t talk about it, maybe things will get better on their own." The truth is, they almost never do.

Friends, we have to find a way to talk about money in the church without showing favour or dishonour to any person or group. James provides us with a clue to how to do this, in insisting that our faith should be visible in our works.

Our faith should be visible in all that we do—which most certainly includes how we use our wealth.

Bishop Jim Cruikshank, the last Bishop of Cariboo, used to ask people to show him their personal mission statements. "But I don’t have one!" was the typical reply. "Oh, yes, you do. Get out your chequebook. That will tell anyone where your priorities are." In our lives of faith, the rubber does not hit the road in here in this church building, but outside, as we interact with other people in daily business.

Riches… the Greek word in James and most of the New Testament is ploutos, which is closely related to the verb "to fill." Riches are that which "fills up." When we are full, we have little room for God.

Let us pray, then, that we may be rich in the faith, and not filled up with what does not save.

What is likely—what is sure!—is that we shall be blessed by God in all that we do, as we live our lives in the faith of Christ, who