Enough

​Enough
Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Greenwood, Virginia
September 22, 2019
Proper 20, Year C
The Rev. John Taliaferro Thomas
 
The University Maryland, Baltimore County.  Mascot: Chesapeake Bay Retriever named Fever.  On March 17, 2018, USA today described UMBC as “having no football team and chess is their best sport.”  On March 16, 2018, you may remember that they beat a certain local sports team in an historic basketball tournament upset. Unfortunately, I was there with lots of other UVA fans.  It was not pretty.
 
Walking back to the hotel that night on the sad and nearly silent streets of Charlotte, North Carolina, I remember discussing Coach Tony Bennett’s future with the University of Virginia.  We reflected that most coaches in his position would have the moving truck on standby for the next day because coaching college basketball is not a forgiving business.  But Tony Bennett is more than a coach.  He is a program builder and an invested leader.  He about building relationships more than building a résumé.
 
 After that the crushing defeat he said: “if you play this game and you step into the arena, this stuff can happen. And those who haven’t been in the arena or in the competition, maybe they don’t understand that. But there’s chances for wonderful things to happen, but when you’re in the arena, stuff like this can happen and all those who compete take that on. And so, we’ll accept it…  They played well and we did not.”
 
We all know what happened.  A year later, having common adversity as motivation, Bennett and the Cavaliers went from the agony of defeat to the thrill of victory.  That made the championship that much more sweet.
 
Fast forward to last week, exactly eighteen months after legendary defeat, Bennett signed a contract extension and instead of taking the monster raise, he asked for those resources to be given to the other coaches and to enhance other programs.  Then, he pledged five hundred thousand dollars of his own money to a career development program for his players past and present.  At the press conference has said this: “I have more than enough”
 
Over the past several weeks the predominant sports headlines have been all about money.  Certain players have received record high salary contracts.  One bad boy receiver in the NFL lost his multi-million-dollar contract with one team, only to be given another multi-million-dollar contract with another team, all amid serious allegations of felony misconduct.  When seeking respect and adulation, the operative phrase for most in the sports business is the old line from the movie Jerry Maguire: “Show me the money.”
 
We need to pause here.  Sure, Bennett is a local hero.  Sure, we may be a little biased in our love of the winning coach, and he is a human like the rest of us, but his words are prophetic, countercultural, and, to my mind, historic. “I have more than enough.”  That is real, servant leadership.  And it is in short supply in all areas of public life.
 
In an odd way that I do not accept as mere coincidence, the Gospel appointed for this week is all about the tension of serving God in a world that ascribes big money as the measure of success.  It starts with a parable of a man called the dishonest manager.  His boss has catches him squandering the company assets and tells him he is about to be fired.  The manager seeks to soften the blow, realizing that he is too old to work, and too proud to beg.  He calls in all of his vendors and tells them to cut their invoices in half and collects the money.  Strangely, the boss is complimentary of this tactic rather than being enraged at his shrinking bottom line.  And that is where the parable ends.
 
This is not a cut and dried morality tale with clear lines of good and evil.  Because the man is called the dishonest manager, it is clear that his reputation is not sterling, and must have been cheating people in business for a long time, putting his thumb on the scales and skimming the profits all along.  But finally, the boss’s suppliers are doing an honest deal.  Only when the hapless manager faces losing his position does he wake up to the he is going to need some friends, and he needs to set his relationships right.  The boss sees the bigger picture and even though the man is dishonest and desperate, he is delighted that he has begun the see the light.
 
As we see the metaphor for what it is, it is not all that flattering as to our place in the story.  We are children of a material world and we are consumed with having and being enough.  The story reminds us of the folly of false loves and the great idols of material security.  It reminds us that our motivations in life are not always so pure.   Using people and loving stuff leads to a false economy of true value.  In the end, our relationship with God and with one another is worth all of our attention, esteem, and effort.
 
Taken as a whole, the lessons for today urge us to seek the light even though there is plenty of darkness out there.  Jeremiah laments human corruption and faithlessness.  The letter to Timothy urges us to lift up our leaders in prayer that they may be “saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”  Bless their hearts.  And finally, it is laid out clearly that we “cannot serve God and wealth.”
 
When Coach Bennett made his case for sharing the resources of good fortune this week, we were given a gift that is a rare find in the public arena.  In saying “I have more than enough,” and then giving of his own resources to boot, I see a challenge and opportunity for all of us.  The leadership that needs following is that which values people: our lives, our future, and our deep joy.
 
Remember where this sermon started.  UMBC, the 16 seed in the regional bracket, delivering an historic upset.  Coach Bennett’s response was not blame and shame, it was acceptance and rededication.  His world has not been all success, sunshine, and adulation.  He is a flawed human like the rest of us.  And yet, he kept the main thing the main thing: gratitude for any and all success and respect for the players who take the court to grow through the challenge.  Win or lose, it is hard not to be a fan of this way of being.  That is leadership worth following way beyond the courts of play.
 
When we are honest we have to admit that we try and fail often in making our life reflective of God’s unlimited love.  We succumb to anxiety and worry as we listen to the voices of secular insecurity that tell us we are not enough and we do not have enough.  What we are here to tell the good stories and the cautionary tales.  We are here to remember and affirm that God draws us out of the human mire, showing and telling us that all is not lost and that God’s world is not past redeeming.  God so loves us that he becomes Jesus, staying lively among us in His Spirit.  In loving people first of all, we love God most of all.  And that is more than enough.  Amen.