Thought for Today
Leviticus 25:37 You shall not lend them your money at interest taken in advance, or provide them food at a profit.
Ecclesiastes 5:10 The lover of money will not be satisfied with money; nor the lover of wealth, with gain. This also is vanity.
Luke 9:3 He said to them, "Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money-- not even an extra tunic.
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.
I last wrote “As I ponder thought itself, I realize that my mind is often a swirling pool of random thoughts. Unless I am focused on a sermon or lost deep in reading some book, my mind is constantly churning. It flits from topic to topic, Some thoughts are serious, deep reflections on something I see, hear or sense. Some thoughts are inane and silly, hardly worth the mental effort of forming them.” I cannot decide whether the topic on my mind this morning is a serious, deep reflection or a silly inane triviality. Something Greta and I saw last night as we watched the news on television caused me to think about money.
The ancient Greeks believed that there is a separation between things material and things spiritual, that nothing material can ever be truly holy. We find that division inculcated in much of the Gnostic teachings and religions. To some degree, that idea even influences the thoughts of many today, including Christians. Does the material somehow, intrinsically profane the holy?
It is instructive for us as Christians to understand the place of money and finance in scripture. Interestingly, the word money and associated terms (coin, coins, talent, talents, shekel, shekels) appear more than 360 times in the Bible. The word love appears between 310 – 574 times, depending on the translation. The Bible verse possibly the most often cited incorrectly is 1 Timothy 6:10, often mistakenly quoted as “money is the root of all evil.” “What is money? By definition, it's something of value. But over the last 10,000 years, the material form that money has taken has changed considerably—from cattle and cowrie shells to today's electronic currency.” (www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/history-money/)
Money seems to be an inescapable part of human society and interaction. It should be obvious that for Christians to worship together in churches, money is a necessity. Yet, many of us are uncomfortable discussing money at the same time we discuss our faith and worship. Church discussions, church meetings should be all about ‘spiritual stuff,’ not ‘material stuff!’ But, there are those unavoidable numbers, money and associated terms appear more than 360 times in the Bible, the word love appears between 310 – 574 times, depending on the translation. Obviously, our ancestors-in-the-faith understood the importance of finances.
I have always been fascinated by Jesus’ instructions to his disciples as he sent them out on that first missionary journey. "Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money-- not even an extra tunic.” Imagine setting out on a journey of any sort without any resources, no sack lunch, no spare clothes, no money or credit card to use to buy anything. It almost sounds like some of the ‘reality’ television shows I see advertised. How were those disciples to cope with being on the road?
It seems to me that much of the answer to how money, finance and spirit are to work together to advance the Kingdom of God is in those verses above. Certainly the Prophet was correct, “The lover of money will not be satisfied with money; nor the lover of wealth, with gain.” Paul was also correct, “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.”
Christians are called to understand money as a tool, not as a goal. Christians should work to advance the Kingdom in all we think, say and do. We are to know and live the Great Commission, “Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Money is a tool for us to use to do just that.
Stay safe, be a disciple, trust God,
Pastor Ray