Let me start with a legend, some biography, some information, and Scripture.

First the legend. A great, powerful and wealthy king lacked only one thing in the world, and that was happiness. He was loaded with cares and responsibilities. One especially wise man told him, "To be happy, your highness, you must find the happiest man in your kingdom, and wear that man's shirt for one day."

The king immediately sent ambassadors all over the kingdom, but they could find no truly, utterly happy person. Finally, one of his knights announced that he had found the most supremely happy man in the whole kingdom: a simple woodchopper. The king went to the woodchopper, and asked if he could wear his shirt for one day. "Your majesty," the man answered, "I don't have a shirt."

Next, some biography. St. Francis of Assisi is probably the best known and most universally revered saint of the church. He lived in the early thirteenth century and was the son of an Italian cloth merchant. Francis grew up dreaming of becoming a troubador or a soldier, but more than likely preparing to be a merchant like his father.

As a young man he had a spiritual experience that made him devote his life to serving Christ. He is remembered as the one who took care of lepers, who rebuilt ruined churches, who was so much in harmony with the entire world that he could preach sermons to the birds, and they would listen and understand. He founded the Franciscan order of friars, which carried the gospel to every corner of the world. He lit a light of faith and morality that helped break the whole Christian Church out of the Dark Ages.

Before he did any of that, he renounced all possessions. He gave back to his father everything his father had ever given him, including the very clothes he was wearing, and walked away from his home naked. He never again owned anything, except robes that he obtained by begging. He ate only what he could beg; he lived in caves and abandoned buildings.

When he was dying, the famous head of a great religious order, he lay on the dirt floor. St. Francis' amazing life of Christian service was built on his conviction that he couldn't serve Christ if he owned or needed anything worldly.

Third, some information. Psychology Today conducted a survey a number of years ago on the role and influence of money in people's lives. The survey found that the people who are most money-conscious -- that is, those who consider money most important and who think about their money the most, not necessarily those who have the most money -- are "least likely to be involved in a satisfactory love relationship."

They also "report worsening health, and almost half of them are troubled by constant worry, anxiety, and loneliness." The more important wealth becomes to people, the more troubled their lives are. (Carin Rubenstein, in Psychology Today, May 1981, p. 42)

Fourth, a Scripture lesson, in Mark 10. An anxious young man comes running up to Jesus, and falls on the ground at Jesus' feet. He's obviously very troubled, maybe desperate. "Good teacher," he begs, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"