Thought for Today
Genesis 41:57 Moreover, all the world came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine became severe throughout the world.
Proverbs 22:2 The rich and the poor have this in common: the LORD is the maker of them all.
Matthew 19:23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven.
1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.
Interestingly, I could find no words in the Bible beginning with the letters ‘eco.’ Economics, economy, economies, no words beginning with ‘eco,’ nor does the word finance appear in scripture. Ponder on that this weekend as you visit the shopping malls and/or watch the various news reports about this first post-Thanksgiving weekend and Cyber Monday. Ask yourself ‘Why?”
Our Founding Fathers very rightly added those words to the Constitution which we refer to as the Establishment Clause. “The Establishment Clause states: ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.’” (Copilot Search) Personally and professionally, I am a very strong supporter of the First Amendment and of that clause. However, we far too often refer to that clause as “the separation of church and state. We do so, implying that somehow issues of governance and faith never overlap.
Many of us were taught history in elementary school, those familiar stories about the Pilgrims and the Puritans coming to America to escape religious persecution in Europe. In part, the first European settlers to North America did come to escape persecution. The Protestant Reformation is generally dated to October 31, 1517. “The Puritans, also known as the Pilgrims, landed at Plymouth Rock in December 1620.” (Copilot Search) Earlier, “The Puritans landed at Jamestown on May 14, 1607. This date marks the establishment of the first permanent English settlement in North America . . .” (Copilot Search)
Irrespective of the historical accuracy of some of the details we were taught, many of us came to believe that it was and is possible to isolate the practice or non-practice of religion from all aspects of civil governments. Even on the surface, that is an absurd idea. Yet, for most of us, there are still remnants of that basic concept of separation in our thinking.
All human societies throughout time have dealt with concepts of economics and finance at some level. Agrarian societies, barter economies every nation, society and government has dealt with such issues. And, equally, every religion and faith tradition throughout human history has also done so. Priests, shamans, holy-men, congregants and non-believers have all had to deal with economics and finance at some level. All of us have to eat; all of us need clothing; all of us need shelter.
The Bible doesn’t speak directly to such issues because they are so ubiquitous. Yet, somehow and for some reason, we still try to isolate the Church and our individual churches from all things monetary or financial. Unless you are involved in your Church Council, Session or other governing body, you may never have had to acknowledge that even churches have light bills, water bills, salaries and other expenses.
Many of us were raised to believe such considerations were somehow unworthy of consideration in any church-related discussions. We even misquote 1 Timothy 6:10 as “Money is the root of all evil.” We focus on Jesus’ words about the difficulty of a rich person’s entering the kingdom of heaven. We forget that Jesus never said it was impossible, just that it was difficult. It is difficult for any person to enter the kingdom of heaven.
For me, maybe for all of us, it is easy to smugly condemn all we see this season about crowded malls and stores. All of the conspicuous consumption on display seems wrong. It is easy to forget that Advent is an extended birthday party celebrating the birth of Jesus, the Son of God. Of course, there is nothing wrong with putting some of that money in the collection plate to be used to widen those gates into the kingdom of heaven. Celebrate the reason for the season.
Stay safe, enjoy the birthday party, trust God,
Pastor Ray