Money and the Monkey Trap

In lots of places in the world, people like to catch monkeys.  And they’ve figured out an ingenious way to do it.   They hang a small gourd from a tree.    And in the gourd, they make a little hole. Then inside they place something a monkey would love to have like say a bunch of dates or this banana here.   So the monkey comes up, and checks out the trap.   He smells something really good inside.   So he reaches in to grab it.   And here’s where the gourd becomes a trap.   The hole is just big enough for the monkey to get his hand in, but it’s not big enough for the monkey to get it out, unless he lets go of what’s in the box.   So what does the monkey do?  The monkey doesn’t let go.  He tugs at that hole.   He tries to shake the gourd off, to tear it from the tree.   He tries everything but letting go of the banana.    And so the hunter comes up, throws a blanket over the monkey and takes him away.   This monkey loses his freedom, sometimes even his life, and why?   It’s all because the monkey can’t let go of the banana.  That story is not just true of monkeys, it’s true of us.     

In a letter that Jesus’ brother, James wrote he had some pretty harsh words to say about rich folks.   Why was James so angry at rich people?  He was trying to wake them up.  James knew that that there was a huge difference between professing belief in Jesus and possessing faith in Jesus.   What do I mean?   Well, even the demons believe in Jesus.   What you believe or profess about Jesus doesn’t save you.  What saves you is how that belief possesses your life, how it changes who you are, and how you behave.   And James knows.  If your belief in Jesus isn’t affecting how you spend your money, then you better start asking yourself.   Am I really trusting in Jesus or not?   Now you may very well be, but James wants to make you uncomfortable enough to ask the question.   But why does James care so much about this money stuff?   Why does James think if we have a lot of money that we’re in serious danger?   What’s the problem? 

Over the last 50 years, the per capita income of Americans has doubled.   But this doubling of wealth hasn’t made us twice as happy, it’s made us twice as unhappy.   The rate of teen suicide has quadrupled.  Divorce has doubled.  And our rates of depression and anxiety have all hugely increased.      

What’s going on?   Is money that bad?  Of course not.   We all need money.   Is it that money can’t buy you happiness?   No, that’s not true either.   Money does help a bit with happiness.   Some years ago two researchers tried to figure out what makes people happy.  They studied over a million people in 45 countries.   And they discovered that what increased people’s happiness were a couple of things.   If they could read, they were happier.  If they lived in a place with political freedom and civil rights, they were happier.  And yes, if they had enough money to live on they were happier too.   And what made people unhappier?   Well, if they had a high level of poverty, and they didn’t have a lot of freedom.  But the researchers discovered that money makes us only happy to a certain point.  A person that has enough money to provide for basic needs is about as happy as someone with a lot more.  The person riding in the bus to work, and the person riding in the Mercedes had about the same level of happiness.  

So if money doesn’t make us unhappy, what does?   It’s not the money.  It’s the meaning we give our money.  It’s the materialism.  It’s how folks, including teens, base their value on how cool a phone they have or how fashionable their clothes are, or even how high their grades get.  It’s when any of us base our value on stuff outside of ourselves, whether it’s something we have or something we achieve.   And when this happens, James say something else begins to happen.  We begin to value things over people.   James isn’t just upset about the hoarding going on, but about how their hoarding affects other people, particularly those working for them.   Even as these rich Christians accumulate all this money, James sees the folks working for them struggling to put food on the table, and it appalls him.   How in the world can they value things over people?  

Now I know how that’s possible because I’ve done it.  For a long time along with many others in this church, I’ve been a supporter of what’s called the penny per pound campaign.   It’s a campaign by tomato pickers in the fields of South Florida to secure a higher wage by asking big tomato purchasers to add a penny per pound to their costs to make it happen.   After years of work, almost all the tomato farms are supporting the idea, and lots of companies have come on board including the biggest Kahuna of all, Walmart.   One of the stores that hasn’t is Publix, which really disappoints me because I shop at Publix.  But I could shop more at Walmart or even Whole Foods as they both support the campaign.  Why don’t I?  Well, Walmart is a little further away and Whole Foods is a little pricey.   Even though I know this campaign has enabled these workers to get their first pay raise in 30 years, and stopped all sorts of abuses in the fields, I’ve been either too lazy or cheap to shop at stores that support the campaign.   James has called me on the carpet, and I get the message.  It’s time to go more Walmart, and less Publix. 

But this valuing of things over people can go far beyond tomatoes.  I talk to counselors who see kids who are struggling emotionally.   That’s why their parents are sending them to therapy.   But often as the therapists meet with them, they discover how desperately these kids want their parents’ attention, how they yearn to just to sit down and have a meal together as a family.   But when the counselors talk to the parents, they say.   “Well, that’s not possible. We have jobs that demand a lot of time.  And if the counselors suggest someone quitting or adjusting their hours, they balk.  That would mean we would have to sell our house or our boat or not be able to afford this luxury.”   Even as they see their children hurting so profoundly they need professional help, what do they choose?  They choose things over people, even their own kids.  

Now we may not find ourselves doing that, but are there places where we are putting money over relationships?  How many of you have had terrible arguments with their parents because of a thing that you wanted them to buy?  I know I did.  I was willing to injure the relationship with the people who loved me the most over a thing.  What was I thinking?   So how do we become free?    How do we stop giving so much meaning to our money?  

James gives us a pretty deep answer in the last verse.   He writes.   You have killed the righteous one, who did not resist you?   He’s no longer talking about the poor.  Who is James talking about here? He’s talking about a person.  He’s talking about Jesus.    He’s talking about the one whose life was sold for thirty pieces of silver and didn’t resist.   James is saying.  If you are caught up in stuff, getting it or keeping it, you are forgetting the One who has given everything for you.  

In Jesus’ last week, one of his close friends, a woman named Mary, took a bottle of ointment and anointed his head.   This wasn’t just any ointment, it was incredibly valuable, probably worth a whole year’s salary, likely a family heirloom, maybe even Mary’s entire savings.  Yet she takes it, and pours it all away to bless Jesus.  And it is after this that Judas goes out and betrays Jesus for thirty pieces of silver.  What is going on?  It’s as if Judas couldn’t handle that extravagance, Mary laying down such a valuable thing to Jesus.  He couldn’t handle that sacrifice of a thing for a relationship.   So he took his relationship and betrayed it for things.   James is asking us.  What sort of person will you be?  Will you be a Mary or will you be a Judas.    Will you give it all for the one who gave it all for you?  Or will you betray Jesus for things?   What is your money or stuff compared to what Jesus has given for you?     When you get caught up in your money or stuff, James is saying, remember.  Remember what Jesus has done for you.   Remember the God, whose life is worth infinitely more than all the gold and silver, who gave that life up for you.  If you remember that, it will change your attitude toward everything, including your money.  You will let go of the banana.  Because, you will realize.  Jesus is more than enough.