Monopoly Money

Learning to see the heavenly value of money  

Luke 16:1-13  

Jesus said to his disciples, “A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for squandering his property. He summoned him and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Prepare a full account of your stewardship, because you can no longer be my steward.’ The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do, now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me?  I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I shall do so that, when I am removed from the stewardship, they may welcome me into their homes.’ He called in his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note. Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’ Then to another the steward said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘One hundred kors of wheat.’ The steward said to him,  ‘Here is your promissory note; write one for eighty.’ And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently.   

          Today I want to talk to you about money. But let me add that I do this with great hesitation. Why? Well, I’ll never forget driving home from Mass as a little boy. If the priest talked about money in the homily, my father would complain, saying, “Why do those priests always have to talk about money??” And from the backseat I made a promise to myself: If I ever become a priest, I’ll never talk about money!” Well, never say never. So, my apologies to all you poor kids who will sit in the back seat driving home and listen to your father complain about priests talking about money!   

          One day, a rich, miserly, old man was lying on his deathbed and called to his wife. He told her: “I want to take all my money with me when I die. I want you to promise that you’ll put all my money in my casket.” She dutifully promised. After the man died, his widow attended the funeral with her best friend. Just before the funeral director closed the casket, she walked up and placed a large, ornate metal box inside. Her friend looked at her in horror. When she returned to her seat, the friend asked in shock: “Surely, you didn’t put all his money in there?!” The widow answered: “I did promise him I would. So, I got all his money together, deposited every penny in my account, and wrote him a check. If he can cash it, he can spend it.”   

          Now, what makes that joke funny is not just that the widow got to keep all the money. Rather, it’s also the fact that even if the man could cash the check in heaven, what good would it do him? Do you really think people in heaven need money? Does St. Peter take VISA or MasterCard when you want to enter the Pearly Gates? Will some credit cards give you frequent flier miles or cash back on every heavenly purchase? Do you think the angels and saints ever misplace their wallets and pray to St. Anthony to find it? Folks, I am convinced that in heaven the money we use on earth will look like “Monopoly money” – not worth the paper it is printed on. Money looks a lot different from you look at it from heaven; indeed, everything looks a lot different from heaven.

          This is the point of the puzzling parable in the gospel today: the steward starts to see money differently, almost like Monopoly money. At first the steward is greedy and a thief, stealing from his master so he can grow rich. But when he gets caught, the steward starts using money differently: for other purposes, like helping people get out of debt, and even to obtain more money for his master. And that’s why Jesus concludes: “I tell you make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth (Monopoly money), so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings (where you don’t need money).” In other words, don’t worship money, don’t let it be the be-all and end-all of your life. But rather, use it to help others in this world. You see, money looks a lot different when you look at it from heaven.   

          My friends, may I suggest three ways you can start to see your wealth as if you were seeing it from heaven? First, don’t judge yourself by how rich you are, or how big your house is or how expensive your car or clothes are. One of the most tragic images from the Great Depression was of bankers jumping out of tall buildings when the stock market crashed in 1929. Why did they do that? Because suddenly everyone saw the mighty U.S. dollar like Monopoly money; they suddenly realized that during the “roaring 20’s” they had been worshiping paper. They had based their self-worth on the worth of the stock market: when it crashed, they crashed.

          Second, don’t judge others by their wealth or lack thereof. Try not to ask someone what they do for work, or what part of town they reside in, or where their children attend school (unless they go to I.C. or Trinity). Such questions only serve to pigeon-hole people into socio-economic groups: high, middle or lower class. Remember that when rich people die, the most they can take to heaven will be a “billion dollar check” that they will have a lot of fun trying to cash.   

          And third, don’t judge God by who’s rich and who’s poor. Have you noticed how some people draw the crazy conclusion that God must really love the rich people, and he must be punishing the poor people? After all, isn’t health and wealth the best sign of God’s blessings? Not really. Remember what God thinks of money in heaven: he sees it more like Monopoly money. Of course, God blesses us in all kinds of ways, and sometimes even financially. But his best blessings are not monetary; instead, they’re more like what St. Paul lists in Galatians 5:22-23, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” No mountain of money, however high, could ever buy such blessings.   

          Have you seen that annoying commercial with the actor, Samuel L. Jackson, selling the Capital One credit card? At the end of the commercial, he asks the dramatic question: “What’s in your wallet?” I’m not a fan of that commercial, but I am a fan of that question. Folks, ask yourself right now, “What’s in my wallet?” Is it $20? It is $1,000? It is filled with credit cards, or just filled with lint? May I suggest to you that what’s really in your wallet is merely Monopoly money? That’s what your wallet looks like from heaven. And you can either figure that out on your car ride home today, or you can wait till your last car ride in a hearse.   

          Praised be Jesus Christ!