Hello, Dolly! A devotion

A devotion for our church for June 13, 2021. Our pastor is doing a summer sermon series around popular musicals.  

By Beth Stroble

Money—It's all in how you use it

As we begin this sermon series, Stories Matter: Lessons Learned from Musical Theatre, so many stories, songs, lines, plots, performances leap to mind! I have never been very good at identifying a favorite book, food,or place,much less naming my favorite musical. But,the experience of getting to see Carol Channing in a reprise of her Tony Award-winning role in Hello Dolly!  is a joyful high point in Paul’s and my experiences as audience members for live theatre.

The musical, set in the 1890s in Yonkers and in New York City, tells a complicated story of how the matchmaker and widow, Dolly Levi, assists several romantic matches to be made, including her own with her client, “half-a-millionaire” widower Horace Vandergelder. Because Dolly frequently quotes her late husband Ephraim’s wisdom about the best uses of wealth, we cannot miss the message about why as a single woman in the 1890s she seeks to regain the status and capacity for generosity she once enjoyed as Ephraim’s wife. It is clear that she has plans for Vandergelder’s wealth, recalling her late husband’s advice: “Money, pardon the expression, is like manure. It's not worth a thing unless it's spread around, encouraging young things to grow. “

We recall the scripture passages that warn of the results of greed and urge us to place our confidence in God’s loving care, setting aside worry about our earthly needs, and instead to store up our treasures in heaven. Proverbs 23:5 compares a coveted possession to the elusive flight of a bird: “When your eyes light upon it, it is gone: for suddenly it takes wings to itself, flying like an eagle toward heaven.” As Jesus responded to a question about whether he would urge the questioner’s brother to share the family inheritance, Jesus shares a telling parable about the foolish man who built larger and larger barns to hold the bounty of his crops. While this man believed his future to now be secure, Jesus points out the folly of hording one’s treasure, “‘Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions’” Luke 12:15. Jesus tells his disciples to strive for God’s kingdom, taking comfort from the care God provides for the birds and the lilies of the field. I love these comforting words, “’Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom’” (Luke 12:32).

Finally, Jesus urges his listeners to be “rich with God” (verse 21). And it is here that we each can find ways that our wealth—the abundance of our talents, skills, time, attention, and financial assets—can benefit God’s creatures and creation rather than ourselves. As I read today that more have died from COVID in 2021 than in 2020 with ¾ of those deaths now in developing countries, I think of these wise words from Winnie Byanyima, UNAIDS Executive Director about another persistent and continuing health threat: “We’re not interconnected, we’re inseparable.  We cannot end AIDS in one country or one continent, we can only end AIDS everywhere.” As we celebrate being more social and enjoy being present without masks, pandemic disease continues to claim lives. There is an urgent and present need to share humanitarian relief, vaccines, medical knowledge and so much more.  Ending COVID here depends upon ending it everywhere.  And in the words of Rabbi Joachim Prinz, “Neighbor is not a geographic term. It is a moral concept.” We are called to love God and to love our neighbor.

For what purposes did Dolly Levi plan to use her unique skills and restored wealth?  We can only write our own next chapter of that story, heeding the lesson in her words, “The difference between a little money and no money at all is enormous and can shatter the world! And the difference between a little money and an enormous amount of money is very slight and that can shatter the world, too. It’s all in how you use it.”

Heavenly Father, we need your comfort, your reminder to fear not. In our worry, we know we miss the full joy of embracing your love and grace. In our focus on ourselves, we lose the call to love our neighbor. Help us to use our time, our talents, our treasure to shatter the world’s ills and to seek your Kingdom. Amen.