Money, Possessions & Eternity (ii)
The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor.
(Prov.22:9)
A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.
(Prov.24:33-34)
Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless. As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them?
(Eccl.5:10-11)
Whether we are rich or poor, or see ourselves as somewhere in between, our relationship with money and possessions will present a raft of temptations. We often think of money-related temptations as associated with those who have it. But the Bible isn’t so naïve. The temptations facing those who don’t have money are different from those who do. But both are real, and the Bible speaks to them with equal seriousness. We may wish we had to negotiate the temptations that came with wealth (as Woody Allen once quipped: I only want the opportunity to prove that money doesn’t buy happiness!); but as in everything, it is better to trust the wisdom and providence of God to order the circumstances of our life to best fit our deepest spiritual needs.
Which isn’t fatalism! The Bible has nothing to say against honest and ethical wealth creation. In fact, it can be a good thing, and as a result Christianity has an impulse towards it. There is nothing virtuous per se about poverty, which is why asceticism is not an adequate Christian response to the question of money and possessions (…poverty is the ruin of the poor, Prov.10:15). We do well to remember that the Bible often links poverty to righteousness not because poverty is righteous, but because the righteous are often persecuted, and thus impoverished. In many parts of the world, and I suspect this will increasingly be the case in Britain, we see certain opportunities in education and employment closed to those who follow Christ.
But neither is there any virtue per se in being wealthy. There is a misconception that in the Bible (or at least in the OT) wealth was a sign of being blessed by God. The reality of the Bible’s teaching is far more sophisticated. Sometimes wealth and ‘high’ positions of influence are granted to Christians (think of Joseph in Egypt – at least in his latter years!). In such situations faithfulness to God leads people into the corridors of power and sometimes with that, wealth. But at other times faithfulness to God and identifying with the people of God leads people out of those corridors and into marginalisation and poverty (think of Moses at the other end of the Church’s sojourn in Egypt).
As we read through the wisdom of Proverbs we find that there are those who are poor because they are sinful (e.g. Prov.6:11, 11:24, 23:21, 28:19 etc.); there are those who are poor and righteous (e.g. Ruth, Prov.19:1, 22:7, 28:6 etc.); and there are those who are poor through no fault of their own – they are oppressed, and the structures of injustice are against them (13:23, 18:23, 28:3). Similarly, there are those who are wealthy because they are sinful (14:31, 18:11, 22:16, 28:6 etc.), and those who are wealthy and righteous, diligent and generous (8:18, 10:4, 11:24, 21:5 etc.). The relationship between a person’s financial standing, and their standing before God is more complex than often assumed, and we can’t judge someone’s relationship with God by the dealings of Providence (i.e. by the circumstances of their life). That includes their wealth or otherwise. For some, wealth might be a blessing, for others it is a curse, and sign of impending judgement. For some poverty might be a blessing, for others it is a consequence of sin and curse. But the rich and the poor have this in common: The LORD is the maker of them all (Prov.22:2).
A few weeks ago at DTP we asked: How does God answer the petition in the Lord’s Prayer: Give us this day our daily bread? We considered a number of ways, including though our vocation. God calls us to work, and through our work we are able to buy the food we need. Ancient wisdom teaches us to pursue righteousness, which includes diligence in our work and preparation for future provision. But this in the context of a contentedness and confidence in the provision of God. As we saw last week, our capacity to produce wealth is a God-given gift. It isn’t exercised in a way that is divorced from His provision, and as such, we rest in His orchestrating the outcome of our efforts.
Questions
Is this the sort of thing we should be preaching on in Church? …Is the question of what we do with our money best left to personal consideration?
In the light of last week’s Memory Passage, do you think the Church should financially cover the debts of its members? Why / why not? What help should we expect from our Church when it comes to the question of our finances?
For the duration of this series, keep a ‘Spending Diary’, in which you record every purchase, or gift, you make in the next 6 weeks. What financial habits do you think this exercise will reveal?
Read Prov.30:1-9
What temptations – don’t feel limited by these handful of verses – confront the rich? … and the poor? How as a Church can we support both those who are more rich and those who are more poor in their pursuit of righteousness?
We explored one way in which God might answer the prayer for ‘daily bread’ in our notes. What other ways are there? How does this tie into Jesus’ use of this phrase in the Lord’s Prayer?
Why does wealth lead us into the temptation to ‘disown’ God? How would you recognise a Christian who had done this? What does our susceptibility to this temptation reveal about us?
Why does Agur celebrate the superiority of God’s wisdom (vv.2-3) and power (v.4), know-ability through Christ (v.4), and the trustworthiness of God’s word (vv.5-6) before praying for truthfulness (v.8) and moderation in financial income (vv.8-9)?
How much is ‘too much’? … and how could we make sure that we do not exceed that ‘spiritual safety limit’? What might make it difficult to stay within those limits?
Memory Passage:
So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matt.6:31-34
Going Deeper:
When John D. Rockerfeller – reputedly one of the wealthiest people who has ever lived – died, his accountant was asked: ‘How much did John D. leave?’. The accountant’s answer: ‘All of it’. It is a common aphorism that ‘you can’t take it with you when you die’. It’s a wry observation that when Howard Carter discovered King Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922, all the treasures he had buried with him to take to the afterlife, were still there. ‘They will take nothing with them when they die, their splendour will not descend with them. Though while they live they count themselves blessed — and people praise you when you prosper — they will join those who have gone before them, who will never again see the light of life. People who have wealth but lack understanding are like the beasts that perish’ (Ps.49:17-20).
But there is a sense in which we can invest our financial resources such that we enjoy the return in the age to come. Or, as Jesus puts it: ‘…store up for yourselves treasures in heaven’ (Matt.6:20, see also I Tim.6:18-19). The Bible’s perspective is not that long-term financial planning is a bad thing (Prov.6:6-11), but rather that we don’t think long-term enough. We invest for retirement, but for nothing beyond that! That is the tragedy of those who ‘have wealth, but lack understanding’. To have been given a resource of such power, and to have wasted it by excessive investing in this passing age, rather than in the age to come, is a sign of devastating financial and spiritual folly. In a counter-intuitive development of Biblical thought, it turns out that we are the ultimate beneficiaries of our generosity (so Matt.19:21, Phil.4:17). God’s glory, other’s benefit and our good converge in our giving. Such is the wisdom of God.
