What story does your checkbook tell?

     Jesus' sermon on the mount continues this week from Matthew 6, as he talks about God's care for the sparrows of the fields and the lilies of the valleys.  He reminds us that no one can serve two masters, for we will either hate the one or love the other.  Jesus is explicitly talking about money in this passage, and he tells us not to worry about what we will eat or wear, for God provides.
     One of my good friends and mentors once told me that a checkbook is a theological document - it tells the story of one's faith.  Where do you spend your money?  In what do you invest?  These are first and foremost questions that deal with faith.  Do you worry about money?  Or do you worry about what you have or don't have?  I remember when I was younger I thought I might die if I didn't get a pair of Guess jeans.  Everybody was wearing them, but they were not something my family could afford.  I remember thinking that other people would notice if I didn't wear this particular brand because it was 'cool'.  In my adult life, it became not clothes as much, but decorating the house.  Did our home meet the standards of the day? 
     There is a teaching that says income should be divided into 10, 10, 80.  10% is what you save each pay check, 10% is what you give away (also called tithing), and 80% is what you spend.  One thing I am curious about, however, is who this formula serves?  90% of this goes for the self - retirement, food, clothing, shelter, transportation, entertainment...and only 10% goes to others.  When Jesus tells us to seek first God's kingdom and its righteousness, I wonder if he only wanted us to seek it 10%?  What would it look like, if instead of worrying about our retirement accounts we were worried about the people in Cedar Rapids who weren't eating dinner?  What would it look like, if instead of worrying about securing our own financial well-being we were worried about that of our neighbors?  What would be happening in Wisconsin if that were the case?  Or Washington D.C.? 
     If Jesus was serious about money and not worrying, and sparrows work right up until they die, perhaps retirement is something we needn't worry ourselves with...maybe.  It is just interesting to contemplate the meaning of Jesus' words.  It also leaves me wondering, what story does your checkbook tell?