Wealthy Now - The Rev. Philip DeVaul

Sermons from the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer

We want to be okay. We want to know that we are taken care of. We want to enjoy life, but also our pursuit of that can sometimes make us forget about the people around us. And if we make the pursuit of wealth and the pursuit of power and the pursuit of luxury, if we make that the center of our lives, then its Hades and torment coming our way, plain and simple. This is powerful on a number of levels for us. On one level it's very powerful because by the way, when Jesus talks about heaven and hell, he's not talking about people believing the right things or acting the right way or going to synagogue, or going to church. He's literally talking about how we treat each other in this life. And he's not just talking about being kind to one another or being understanding and tolerant of one another. He is literally talking about the fact that we live in a space of deep inequity, and we are completely complicit in it. And this is Jesus talking 2000 years ago. This isn't just an America problem or a Cincinnati problem. This is a human problem.