WHAT A WASTE!

[For the sake of  transparency I’m preaching this sermon to myself for starters….]

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily  for this 25 Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C - is, “What a Waste!”

I better spell our waste. WASTE   not   WAIST.

HOMEWORK: A QUESTIONNAIRE

This week - while driving - or waiting on some line - or when alone - or with your spouse or family or friends, come up five instances when someone might say, “What a waste!”

Here are a quick five I came up with last night:

A gigantic and expensive meal is put together and it rains or snows or nobody shows and the food is thrown out. Someone says, “What a waste!”

An athlete - an obvious first round pick - gets addicted to heroin - and ends up homeless - on the streets - and someone says, “What a waste!”

I heard this about a priest. It wasn’t me. The guy was handsome - smart - great priest - and someone said of him becoming a priest, “What a waste!”

I heard the same thing about a nun once. Gorgeous. Thin. What a waist! W A I S T. Talented. Great high school teacher. And someone seeing her and being told she was a nun, the person said, “What a waste!”

A man is managing several stores for this other guy - and is very successful at it - and he starts dipping into his boss’ funds - hears he’s about to get fired - calls up some of his contacts - and contracts - and gives them sweet deals - with the idea - after he loses his job - they will hire him. And his boss says, “You’re smart. You’re talented. You’re gifted. You’re fired. But what a waste!”

TODAY’S GOSPEL

I’m assuming that fifth example sounds familiar - that you recognize it’s a variation on today’s gospel. The conniving steward is a sharp guy - but he’s dishonest - and loses his job. And the rich man - his boss -  is shaking his head and basically saying, “What a waste!”

Jesus in today’s gospel is challenging all of us to look at our lives and our families and our jobs - and our thoughts - and our morality - and our values.

Jesus in today’s gospel is also challenging us to look at ourselves and ask: am I honest or dishonest with my wealth - and by wealth - I mean my skills, my gifts and my talents.

A quote I once read - but can’t find again   - has always challenged me. I think it was Ted Roethke, the poet, who said it. It goes something like this: “Oh the lies I have told my energies.”

I have been interested in writing ever since the 8^th grade in grammar school - and from time to time - I get going with that talent - but “Oh the lies I have told my energies.”

Lies and laziness can lay waste to a lot of our energies.  I’m sure you’ve heard from time to time that we only use something like 10% of our brain.  I don’t know if that’s true - and how that’s measured - but whenever we hear it - I’m sure we say, “Yeah, that’s right. I got  to get moving. I got to get such and such a thing done or cleaned up or finished.” “Oh the lies I have told my energies.”

Jesus in this gospel tells us how difficult it is to be divided - how tricky it is to serve two masters. We either hate one and love the other or we’re devoted to one and we despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon. A good translation for mammon is “stuff”.

Hopefully anyone who  is cheating on his or her spouse or company or government or time with one’s kids - feels it. Hopefully anyone who is cheating on themselves - down deep - knows it. There’s hope when we feel divided - when we feel the pulls and the “Uh oh’s” inside us,  when we’re cheating others or when we’re wasting our lives - our time - our talents - on the wrong things.

THE MIRROR METAPHOR OR MIRROR IMAGE

The mirror metaphor has always been a great metaphor - because we have mirrors in our bathrooms, bedrooms, cars, etc.

It’s always smart to look in the mirror - not just to see spinach or caraway seeds stuck between our teeth - but to look into our eye - and check in on ourselves with honesty questions.

It’s always smart to take a pad or iPad - and type in or jot down our job description and expectations and hopes which we have for ourselves - as well as  taking and making an honest inventory of our wealth - that is, our talents - our calls to be the best we can be.

Some people have a pad by the side of their bed to jot down their dreams from the middle of the night!

It’s good to jot down our day dreams - our hopes - those “some day I’m going to’s”.

How many people do we know who can paint or play the guitar or piano or banjo or violin - and the only instrument they play is the TV remote?

We point a finger at them and say or think: “You’re wasting your time and your life on meaningless pursuits.”  Then we lie to ourselves and say, “If I could play the banjo or if I could paint, I’d be in a band or painting on Saturday or Sunday afternoons.”

In the meanwhile we know the old saying, “Every time we point one finger towards another - three fingers are pointing back at us”

What are those 3 gifts and talents we have - that are sitting in a box in our brain. So it’s good to look at what I’m doing with my gifts and my talents and my skills. It’s good to know  my failures and weaknesses. It’s good when we admit at least to ourselves  when and where I am lazy - where I’m being dishonest with my energies.

The one skill I keep telling myself - when I look into myself - is to work on the skill of getting things done in between getting things done. I can have an appointment from 1 to 2 and then another from 3 to 4. It’s the skill of learning how to get going on that  2 to 3 time slot that I am lazy at. That’s a skill I keep saying, “I’m going to get going on that - and get doing those things I know I got to get done - but without being too compulsive.”

TODAY’S FIRST READING FROM THE PROPHET AMOS

Today’s first reading is from the prophet Amos. I don’t know if he had a brother named Andy. He’s a shepherd. Well, we hear from him today and next Sunday in the first reading.

Amos challenges us not just to get going with our gifts - whether it’s playing the banjo or bridge - or paint or writing poetry - or taking care of sheep - but on not being a waste with our lives.

He sees what all of us see every day - the good, the bad, and the ugly - out there. Jesus will challenge us to also see in here - inside ourselves as well - the good, the bad and the ugly.

Amos must have done a lot of talking and thinking with God out there in the hills while caring for his sheep. It’s called prayer. He must have got in touch with what he didn’t like was happening in town - in the marketplace. People fixed scales and manipulated money - and cheated the poor or anyone they could steal from in selling grain or wheat or what have you.

And he spoke up. That makes him a prophet. That’s one of those calls we all are given in our baptism - when the deacon or priest anoints us in the Baptismal ceremony as prophet, priest and king or queen. That’s us.

Now nobody likes whistle blowers or people who when they walk into a room, everybody goes, “Oh no not her again!”

As we’re learning from our new pope, action speaks louder than words - but of course, words sometimes work, but we can be prophets by living life to the full - with deep concern for all.

Others will pick up on us. Okay, sometimes we’ll be crucified - and sometimes we have to crucify ourselves if we want to live life to the full - as Jesus calls us to.

CONCLUSION

How to conclude this. I’m not sure.

I know that Erik Erikson says that the 8^th Stage of life is the Meaning stage - when we are pulling together our life - to see if it makes sense. He says some people get there and go into despair.

I would assume what they are doing is looking at their life and making a final judgment and saying, “What a waste!”

I would assume some go into death with a great fear that God is going to say the same thing at a final judgment: “What a waste!”  Matthew 25: 31-46 has that powerful scene of the end of the world being a separation of the sheep from the goats - can certainly lead to that way of thinking and worrying. Luke 15 - last Sunday’s gospel - certainly leans towards a God who doesn’t voice those big time eternal punishment threats - but welcomes us into the banquet - no matter what.

I would assume in the meanwhile, if we have been lying to our energies much of our lives,  there’s always time to head for the vineyards - to get to work - to get going - even if it’s the last hour.

Ooops: How do we make this practical?  

4 minutes is all it takes.

Two minutes in the morning: what do I want to do today? A daily log on paper or some kind of gadget can give creditability to self - not others  - or if you’re married - make your plans  for your day with your spouse - and then at the end of the day - to look at the list. Then answer the question: Was today a waste or a wow! And I’m not talking about all work and no play - that can lead to craziness - but to living a giving, a balanced, and gracious life each day.  Amen.