Name that Bible verse: stainless steel pots

Last updated on: February 10, 2016 at 8:52 am by Jane the Actuary

Name that Bible verse: stainless steel pots 2016-02-10T08:52:56-06:00 Jane the Actuary

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I’m going to tell you a little story, then, just for fun, quiz you at the end.

Back when I was in grad school, I was something of a church shopper — no, actually, a church tourist. Before I started RCIA, I went with friends, or by myself, to various churches around town. Even after RCIA, when I began to consider myself as bound to the Sunday Obligation of attending mass, I still did so occasionally, though either visiting a Catholic Church or doubling up. I went to a Presbyterian church (they pass communion trays around, just like they do the offering plate!), an Episcopalian church, multiple Lutheran churches (including one which was so high-church, I might have stayed), and my roommate’s Mormon church for Sunday services. Later on, when we first moved to the Chicago area, in addition to visiting all the nearby Catholic parishes, I also worshipped at two English-speaking Orthodox churches, and, of course, Willow Creek.

But here’s a story from the time we went to Calvary Chapel. My friend said, “I went to a Calvary Chapel church back when I was in college (in California) and I saw in the phone book that there’s one here; would you like to come with me on Sunday?” (Turns out, according to this Church Locator, it wasn’t affiliated — my guess is that it may be this Apostolic Calvary Chapel, though, if so, they’ve grown and moved.) So four of us went: Carolyn, Monica, Lisa, and myself. And — wow, that was a true cross-cultural experience! Grad school was at Notre Dame, and, while there are certainly some parts of town that are middle class, and even the favored neighborhoods of faculty, this wasn’t one of them. The church itself: small, very conservative/fundamentalist, with that model of hymn-singing followed by a looooong and painful sermon. I remember that the girls all had long hair and, it seems to me, bandanas to keep their hair back. But there we were. The sermon kept going on and on and on, and I was sorely tempted to whisper to my friends that maybe we could all discreetly slip out (well, actually, it was too small to do that discreetly except, perhaps, by each of us slipping out as if to use the facilities, and just hoping the congregation was too focused on the sermon to notice), but then Lisa started taking notes! (Well, actually, it turned out she was just writing a shopping list.)

But this is what I remember from the sermon: the pastor talked about rich people, who earned $50,000 a year, drove Cadillacs, and had stainless steel pots and pans.

Stainless steel pots and pans! It seems to me that at the time, once released from this church service, it was comical, that someone could think of stainless steel as a luxury good.

Now, of course, it just reminds me of how narrow my world, my life experiences are. Sure, I’ve travelled to Europe, even lived there for two years — and got to know middle class Germans (and, mostly, upper middle class expats). And here at home, pretty much my entire social circle, such as it is, consists of people who I know either through church, or, more narrowly, through the (parochial) school. Heck, my commenters are a far more diverse lot than anyone I know personally!

Anyway, I was thinking about this as I scrubbed my Farberware skillet, which I’ve had since grad school (part of a set from Mom and Dad), and marvelled at how quickly the seemingly stuck-on food came off.

Which brings me to the quiz, to which even I don’t know the answer: what was the Bible verse that led this pastor to preach about stainless steel pots?

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