You know, tombstones are pretty boring these days. If you‘ve traveled a lot and gone into old cemeteries, you’ll find, more than occasionally, some very interesting tombstones.  I was looking yesterday on the internet and there was one tombstone in Nova Scotia that says, “Here lies Ezekiel Ankle. Age102.  The good die young.”  This one in Harstcomb, England, “On the 22nd of June, Jonathon Fiddle went out of tune.”  You’ve heard this one.  It should be on the tomb of every hypochondriac.  “Bill Wilson, Rest in Peace.  I told you I was sick.”  There are some really good ones out there if you take the time to look. 

So, this priest is driving down the road wondering how he was going to sum up his life.

In a way, Ecclesiastes was on somewhat of the same message.  If you listen carefully to that first reading, it’s very depressing.  It’s because Qoheleth is in despair.  During the time when that book was written, the majority of the Jews didn’t believe in an afterlife.  They thought that this was it.  If this is as good as it is, even if you have been blessed immeasurably during life, when you get to the point of death, what can you do but despair if this really is all there is.  So, Qoheleth is in despair as he talks about the vanity, everything is vanity, everything is useless, and everything means ultimately nothing if there is anything beyond death.  They believe that you go to Sheol, a place of nothingness, not even of consciousness.  They are not atheists but they had the same eternal view as atheists.

I don’t know how anyone can be an atheist.  I know you work with some people who are atheists.  I’ve met some atheists who are a lot better than some Christians I know.  It takes a great deal of faith to be an atheist.  Faith in nothing; that there was nothing. . . and yet, there is that baby you’re holding in your arms.  I don’t buy that.  In Thurmont, Maryland there is a gravestone that says, “Here lies an atheist.  All dressed up and no place to go.” 

But Qoheleth makes an important point; "Money does not buy happiness."  We know that, and even with that knowledge, we act like it will buy happiness by the way we treat money and our attitudes towards the possessions money will buy.  Qoheleth says, “What profit comes to a man for all the toil and anxiety of heart with which he has labored under the sun.  Even at night his mind is not at rest.”  Isn’t it ironic, that people who worry most about money have a lot of money?  People, who have a lot of money and property and stuff, think a lot about it. They  have to manage it.  They have to increase it. They have to think about this stock and that.  People, who have very little money, I don’t think worry as much about it. 

Last week I was cleaning out some old files in the rectory and I came across a package of family papers.  I found a checkbook in there from 1978 that had belonged to my parents.  My dad had retired by that time and mom and dad lived in Albuquerque.  They had a very meager income -- just a pension check and social security.  They had no CD’s or investments. Of course, no one had stocks and bonds 20 years ago but a few rich folk. Now, everybody has stocks and bonds.  In any case, I looked at this checkbook and you could see when my Dad put his checks in at the end of the month.  It was interesting to see where they wrote checks.  One month there was a check to Walgreen’s for $30 and you look at the balance and it was $30.  That’s all they had.  I’d come home on leave and I’d say, “How you doing?”  And they’d say, “Great.”  They didn’t have any money problems that they were aware of.  My Dad's attitude was "There's a check coming here in two weeks.  We can eat bacon and eggs until then. That’s good food."  One of the checks at Christmas was for John, $100.  That was my Christmas present.  Talk about giving money to useless relatives who will squander it.  I don’t know what I did with that $100 but in 1978, I don’t think I bought religious articles with it.  I was not always the saint that you have come to know and love. 

St. Paul says, “Greed is idolatry.  Put to death then the parts of you that are earthly: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire and the greed that is idolatry.”  What is an idol?  An idol is an object or a symbol that we worship.  That’s why I don’t like these TV programs like American Idol.  While there is another meaning for the word idol that we can give them a pass on, in the scriptures, an idol is an object of worship, like the golden calf.  When Moses went up to the mountains to get the Commandments, the people were bored.  So, they fashioned a molten calf of gold and worshiped it--an idol.  There are lots of idols.   Money can be an idol. Work can be an idol. Seriously, examine your attitudes towards work.  I hope that on your priority list, work comes after your wife or husband, after your children and family, and certainly, well after your relationship with God.  There is a saying, "Where your time is that’s where your treasure is."  So take a look at your life regarding work or even hobbies.  Hobbies can be addictive. 

There is a story about a fellow playing golf.  He’d played golf two or three times a week for twenty years with the same partner. One day they were on the 17th green and a funeral came by and this man took his hat off, put it over his heart and blessed himself.  The other guy said, “I didn’t know you were so religious.”  He replied, “Well, I was married to her for 35 years.”  Seriously, some people worship a golf ball.  It’s crazy.  We need to be careful not to have idols, to worship only the One True God.  God said to the rich man, “You fool.  This night your life will be demanded of you.  And the things that you have prepared, to whom will they belong?  Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God.”

What matters to God?  It is our attitude towards wealth, not wealth.  Does the Bible say that money is the root of all evil?  No, it says that the love of money is the root of all evil.  Many of the saints of our church were very wealthy.  It’s what they did with their wealth that made them saints.  Money is not the problem.  It’s our attitude towards stuff and towards possessions.  So, to help you be godly with your possessions, here are some Biblical suggestions. Recognize that whatever you possess comes from God.  You came into this world naked and you will leave it naked, as will I.  Everything we have comes from God.  He is the creator, the prime mover, and the first cause.  God.  Therefore, we should see ourselves not as owners but as stewards of our possessions because we are only with them for a little while.  We need to be good stewards.  That’s why Christians should be good environmentalists.  The environment is sacred.  It is a gift from God.  We must keep it pure and pass it on to our children and grandchildren in better condition than when we received it.  If you have the right attitudes towards wealth, you should never be overwhelmed with anxiety and worry.  Trust the Lord who has provided and will continue to provide.  Challenge yourself.  Have you lost sleep worrying about stuff?  If you have than that stuff is an idol. 

Next, we should strive to give God our first fruits, not our leftovers.  That’s why tithing is important.  Give 10% to God.  You keep the other 90% and spend it.  It’s good for the economy.  As a woman said, “Being of sound mind and body, I spent it all.”  The American dream is to die broke and have your last check bounce.  What does it matter?  Ninety percent of all you have is yours. Go ahead and spend it.  But 10% is God’s and don’t take that from him. 

Finally, this all leads to placing God where he belongs.  He is the person, not the object, of our worship.  I suspect that all of us could use some improvement concerning our attitudes towards wealth and possessions and work and hobbies.  I know I can.  So, I ask you to pray with me now, that on this day, God will make us pure, make us holy.  If you would bow your heads, we’ll pray.

Father, give us the grace and wisdom to act justly and with generosity so that we may grow rich in what matters to you.  Help us to acknowledge that whatever success we enjoy, and things we possess, these are things that you have given us.  Help us to open our hearts and be filled with profound gratitude for your goodness.  Make us generous with our gifts that we might return to you the first fruits of our labors for the building up of your kingdom and to help those in need.  Father, give us the grace to surrender to you the worries and anxieties that burden us and keep us awake at night.  We know that if we really trusted in your holy providence, we would not worry; we would be like a baby safe in her father’s arms.  Loving God, we trust our lives to your provident care.  We pray today that you take out of our hearts any selfishness or greed or cheapness or pettiness and bless us with generous hearts.  It is in confidence that we make this prayer this morning for we pray through your son Jesus, the perfect example of generosity.  He is our Lord and God, forever and ever. Amen.