It was Pentecost Sunday. The ushers handed each worshipper a bright red carnation to symbolize the festive spirit of the day. The people listened attentively to the reading of the Pentecost story from the Book of Acts. They heard about the "powerful wind from heaven" and about the "tongues of fire." Then came the sermon.

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon us," the preacher began.

"Like the powerful wind from heaven!" shouted a woman sitting in the first pew. Then she threw one of the red carnations toward the altar.

The preacher began again, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon us." The same woman''s voice rang out: "Like the tongues of fire, like tongues of fire!" Again, she threw a red carnation toward the altar.

The preacher looked straight at her and said, "This time, instead of throwing a carnation, throw your pocketbook."

The woman replied, "Preacher, you have just calmed the wind and put out the fire." (1)This morning I may calm the wind and put out the fire.

A survey of church members once revealed that most lay people feel it is perfectly legitimate for their pastor to preach about money. However, most of them believe once a year is sufficient. This morning is that morning, and I want to speak in stronger terms than I ordinarily do about a subject that is more serious than most of us normally consider it to be. I want to talk about the scariest drug on the market today, and that drug is the love of money.

It was Jesus who first pointed out to us the danger of the love of money. It wasn't Paul or Peter or John in his Revelation. It was Jesus. He called the love of money "the root of all evil." Pretty strong words. Jesus dealt with the dangers of wealth more than with any other subject. When he said that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God, he was saying something very stark and real to us. He was saying to us that there is something about material wealth that has robbed as many people of their spiritual inheritance as any of the sins of the flesh. And since the love of money may very well be the primary preoccupation of so many of us today, it well behooves us to spend a few moments considering what the dangers of this particular drug may be.

FIRST OF ALL, THE LOVE OF MONEY IS ADDICTIVE. That''s one reason I am using the analogy of drugs this morning. The love of money is addictive! Isn't this the danger of any sinful practice? It is habit forming.

During the Depression, Bernard Baruch accumulated billions of dollars. A reporter asked him, "Mr. Baruch, you''re a wealthy man. How much is going to be enough?" Bernard Baruch answered, "Just a little more." Is Baruch''s experience isolated? Hardly. There is something about money that is intoxicating and addictive. Let me give you an example.

Studies show that the more a person earns, the less proportionally he or she gives to charitable causes. There are exceptions, of course, but this is the general rule. The more we get, the less we give. It should work the other way, of course. As we get wealthier we have more of what is generally called discretionary income. If we are earning $70,000 a year, it should be much easier to give $7,000 than it is for the person earning $30,000 to give $3,000. After all, the necessities of life--food, shelter, clothing--cost no more when you earn $70,000 than when you earn $30,000. Look at how much you should have left over. That is not how it works though, is it? As we become wealthier, our idea of so-called necessities change.We do not even realize it, but something happens to our soul. Outwardly we still worship God--but inwardly we begin worshipping things.

A test was given to a group of children in Istanbul for the purpose of discovering traits of selfishness or generosity. Here is what they found. Children of the poor were less selfish than children of the rich. Children from larger families were more generous than those from smaller families. Is anyone surprised? Among people with little, sharing is a way of life. With those who have a lot, protecting what they have becomes the priority.

Rationalizations are resorted to. The poor are unworthy. If I give, I''ll just encourage laziness. I already pay too much in taxes to take care of these bums. And slowly the jaws of the trap close more surely around the addicted.

As Haddon Robinson once put it, "It''s a bit like the fly and the flypaper. The fly lands on the flypaper and says, `My flypaper.'' When the flypaper says, `My fly,'' the fly is dead. It is one thing to have money, another for money to have you. When it does, it will kill you."

It reminds me of the story of a wealthy man who attended a missionary service. When the special offering was taken he gave a nickel. On the way home a storm came up and his car was turned over. He was trapped inside. Thinking of all the many things he had as he lay trapped and about to be crushed to death, he thought of the nickel he had just given to the poor missionaries. As he thought of this he became so small he easily crawled out from under the car. (2) The love of money is addictive.

THE SECOND DANGER OF THIS DRUG IS THAT IT IS DEADENING. Just as novocaine dulls the nerves in the mouth so that the dentist can work on our teeth, just as alcohol dulls the senses so we feel we are having more fun than we really are, so money deadens our sensitivity to others and to God. There are very few people addicted to the love of money who do not feel that they are somehow superior to those without.

The story is told about a woman who lived in a "changing" neighborhood. The area was becoming increasingly overcrowded, noisy and dirty. It was a bad situation. The woman decided something would have to be done about it. She started a fund-raising drive. She called people. She sent letters. She got some financial support from private foundations. She finally raised $85,000. Then she used the money to move to another neighborhood.

There is a parable there. How many times we see it with idealistic youths? Ask them what they would do if they had a million dollars and they will tell you that they would feed the hungry and house the homeless, but when they actually are in a position to help, what do they do? That''s right, they move to another neighborhood.

The Chinese tell of a man who dreamed day and night of gold. He rose one day and when the sun was high he went to the crowded marketplace. He stepped directly to the booth of a gold dealer, snatched a bag full of gold coins, and walked calmly away. The officials who arrested him were puzzled. "Why did you rob the gold dealer in broad daylight?" they asked. "And in the presence of so many people?"

"I did not see any people," the man replied. "I saw only gold." How often we see it happen. People no longer see people; they see only gold.

Now we must be careful at this point. There is nothing inherently evil about money. Indeed, properly used money can do much good.

Gert Behanna, author of The Late Liz, was a very wealthy and successful woman. But after a lifetime of too much money, booze, drugs and husbands, her life was changed by the acceptance of Jesus Christ. In an act of Christian faith, she gave away all her money. "I don''t need it now," she reasoned. "I have the love of God and He will supply all my needs."

But Gert Behanna learned a hard lesson that she would long regret. Because she had chosen poverty, she no longer had any money to invest in projects designed to help people in need.

Jesus is not asking most of us to give away all that we have. He is saying to us that we must be careful. Money is not only addictive. It is deadening. It deadens our sensitivity to those around us. EVEN MORE DANGEROUSLY, IT DEADENS OUR SENSITIVITY TO GOD.

Once upon a time there was a man who had nothing. So God gave him ten apples. He gave him the first three apples to eat. He gave him the second three apples to trade for shelter from the sun and rain. He gave him the third three apples to trade for clothing to wear. He gave him the last apple so that he might have something to give back to God to show his gratitude for the other nine apples.

The man ate the first three apples. He traded the second three for shelter from the sun and rain. He traded the third three for clothing to wear. Then he looked at the tenth apple. It seemed bigger and juicier than the rest. He knew that God had given him the tenth apple so that he might return it to Him out of gratitude for the other nine. But the tenth apple looked bigger and juicier than the rest. And he reasoned that God had all the other apples in the world. So the man ate the tenth apple and gave back to God the core. (3)

There are some of us who are taking from God blessings that would inspire awe and envy in the hearts of most of the world''s people and we are only giving Him back the core. That will rob you of your soul.

The love of money is the scariest drug on the market, by Jesus'' standards. It is addictive. It is deadening. It causes us to lose our sensitivity to others and to God. BESIDES, IT KEEPS US FROM BEING PART OF GOD''S MINISTRY TO THE WORLD.

A lady in West Virginia says that when she has a few dollars to spare, she tucks them away in her Bible. "As I grow older," she says, I tend to forget where I put things. Now, when I say to myself, `Where in heaven''s name did I put that money?'' the answer is obvious." (4)

Dr. Thomas Lane Butts once put it this way: "One of the miracles of the organized church is that you can be busy at your daily tasks at home and at the same time be preaching the Gospel in Africa, feeding the hungry in Haiti, or helping the homeless in India. You can win some victory for humanity, wherever you are, by your tithe." All the good things we could be doing--if somehow we could find release from this drug with its addictive and deadening power. We could even be ministering to the Lord himself.

There was once a Roman soldier and a Christian named Martin of Tours. One cold winter day as he was entering a city, a beggar stopped him and asked for alms; Martin had no money, but the beggar was blue and shivering with cold, so Martin gave what he had. He took off his soldier''s coat, worn and frayed as it was; he cut it in two and gave half of it to the beggar man. That night he had a dream. In it he saw the heavenly places and all the angels and Jesus in the midst of them; and Jesus was wearing half a Roman soldier''s cloak. One of the angels said to him, "Master, why are you wearing that battered old cloak? Who gave it to you?" And Jesus answered softly, "My servant Martin gave it to me." (5)

Wouldn't you love to find that kind of favor with the Lord? All we have to do is take our eyes off our gold and lift them toward God. All we have to do is take our eyes off our gold and turn them in compassion toward others. Isn't it time you were liberated from your dependence on this terrible drug? Isn't it time you learned to sing in the words of that old hymn, "Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold...."? Isn't it time you were set free to love and worship and be all God created you to be?