Today’s sermon was based on Luke 12:13-21 and featured Jimmy Moneybags being interviewed on “St Margaret’s Island Discs”
Jimmy’s first disc choice was “Money, Money, Money” (ABBA) – after all, what’s life without wealth?
Second choice: “Money Makes the World go Around”. Jimmy says if you’ve got it, flaunt it!
Third choice: “Material Girl” (Madonna) because, he says, we live in a material world, and life is nothing without our comforts.
Fourth choice: “Heaven on Earth” (Belinda Carlisle…), because JImmy’s own happiness on earth matters to him most, and he said that we make our own heavens.
“Really? Isn’t that all terribly selfish?”, asked the interviewer, shocked.
Next, Jimmy declined the offer of a bible, choosing instead Dicken’s “Great Expectations”, and when asked to choose ONE luxury, Jimmy’s list was endless.
The interviewer asked whether Jimmy Moneybags would manage to survive. He replied, “Of course – desert islands make good tax havens!”
“But”, asked the interviewer, “don’t you believe in God? What about when you die?” Jimmy scoffed “Inheritance tax! Live now, leave nothing”.
But Jimmy died suddenly and unprepared.
Jesus warns us against greed. Do not allow good fortune to blinker the wider vision. All we have comes from God. There is more to the “good life” than money. To live a good life we need relationships, a good heart, a good attitude towards money.
St Margaret's Church Prestwich 