Bill Easums Observations

Folks, there is only one sermon you must preach Sunday and its about what happened today on Wall Street and the implications to our economy. The market dropped some 777 points (almost 10% of the dow) Over the past two months, many people lost upwards of 20-30% of their retirement and savings. If you are saving for your pension, it was hit hard today. If you want to have any credibility with the public you must address this issue. It is the most serious issue facing our world since the Great Depression

Here’s some of what they need to hear

First, they need to know the end of the world has not come.  This will have little effect on the everyday economics of our country. Business will go on. People will still buy. People who can afford to get credit will get it and people who can’t wont. Tell your people to look around Monday and see that the stores are still open and the world is still turning.

Second, they need to know that God is always a source of comfort when things dont feel comfortable especially if they are retired. These are the folks who will be hurt the most.

Third, they need to know you understand the situation and are addressing it.

If I were picking a text it would be “The love of money is the root of all evils.”  There are several culprits in this situation.

1. the wall street wheelers and dealers

2. the CEOs of major corps. who cooked their books

3. the governement for eliminating all of the regulations

4. the public for thinking the market can always go up and up

5. the press for blowing it entirely out of proportion

6. the politicians who voted based on how close a race they were in at the moment.

7. the people who bought more house they could afford.

All of these groups have pursued money at the expense of truth and honor and the public good.
I would stay away from the so-called bailout. Its too emotional and none of us are smart enough to know which is good. I favored the bailout as long as the CEOs were punished and the tax payers had some hope of recouping the money. but then what do i know. I think it is blown out of proportion unless someone or some corp needs a loan and doesn’t have good enough credit. then they shouldn’t get it anyway.

Wall street has long been an example of bogus books and shadowy figures and greedy characters. And what makes it worse is the politicians aren’t helping. Partisan politics will be the ruin of this great country (my editorial, I wouldn’t suggest using that)

Of course this could all be settled by Sunday. Even if it is, people will have lost part of their shirt and they are smart enough to know the problem is far from over. So stay alert and be ready to adjust your message at the drop of a hat.

Here is some podder for the sermon

 Greed is  one of the 7 deadly sins. if you are preaching on it you might want to brush up on the 7 deadly sins

This is from Wikipedia

Greed (or avarice, covetousness) is, like lust and gluttony, a sin of excess. However, greed (as seen by the church) is applied to the acquisition of wealth in particular. St. Thomas Aquinas wrote that greed was “a sin against God, just as all mortal sins, in as much as man condemns things eternal for the sake of temporal things.” In Dante’s Purgatory, the penitents were bound and laid face down on the ground for having concentrated too much on earthly thoughts. “Avarice” is more of a blanket term that can describe many other examples of greedy behavior. These include disloyalty, deliberate betrayal, or treason,^{[citations needed]} especially for personal gain, for example through bribery . Scavenging and hoarding of materials or objects, theft and robbery, especially by means of violence, trickery, or manipulation of authority are all actions that may be inspired by greed. Such misdeeds can include simony, where one profits from soliciting goods within the actual confines of a church.

here is the url  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_deadly_sins

This entry was posted on Monday, September 29th, 2008 at 6:22 pm and is filed under world affairs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.