Thought for Today
Psalm 118:26 Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD. We bless you from the house of the LORD.
Psalm 119:1 Happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD.
Matthew 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
“The political and social structures of our world depend on making invisible the suffering behind the economic engines of our time.” (These Days, September 26, 2025)
“It is God’s will that things go well for those who walk in his commandments (Ps, 119:1) . . . There are Christians who want to be more spiritual than God himself. They like to speak of struggle, renunciation, suffering, and cross, but it is almost embarrassing for them that, while the Holy Scripture speaks of those things, it does not speak at all often enough about the good fortune of the pious, the well-being of the righteous.” (I Want to Live These Days with You, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, pg. 281)
I’m still thinking about that award ceremony Greta and I attended on Wednesday. This morning, as I continued to marvel at the stories we heard about so many individuals combatting the suffering and need of others, I read those devotionals from which I quoted above. As I did, I could not help but wonder about whether or not I ‘should’ be embarrassed about the many blessings in my life or thankful. I asked myself whether I am “blind to the suffering behind the economic engines of our time.”
As Christians, must we suffer economic want, be deprived of comfort, ease and wealth of goods? Or, is it God’s will that we be materially comfortable in life? Selective use of scripture would allow one to make a case either way. Of course, we must always be very careful in our use and understanding of the Bible. Scripture does not exist to provide us justification for our own opinions, desires or proclivities. I believe the Bible is a textbook on how we are to “Luke 10:27 . . . love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."
So, as I . . . we ponder the issue of material wealth verses poverty, we must be very careful as we choose scriptural justification. We must also be aware that many of us live in the middle of that spectrum, neither poor nor wealthy. I have known few truly poor people. I have never known any of the truly rich. I do not associate with billionaires or multi-billionaires. I live in a comparatively wealthy nation; however, the wealth is not evenly distributed. One of the characteristics of our nation is the large number of those who are ‘middle-class,’ neither rich nor poor. Surveys have indicated that the majority of Americans consider themselves to be ‘middle-class.’
In addition to those scriptures above, 2 other passages come to mind as I think on this issue. “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.” Paul warns Timothy not about money but rather about the love of money. The pursuit of money, economic wealth to the exclusion of everything else is spiritually disastrous. It precludes any possibility of striving to fulfill Luke 10:27.
However, we must also remember “Proverbs 22:9 Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor.” If we read that proverb as metaphorically using ‘bread’ to represent material wealth, I believe it shines a great light on all those stories Greta and I heard on Wednesday. Irrespective of any consideration of receiving material blessings, all of those honorees and everyone participating in or supporting their efforts is receiving spiritual blessings. They are storing up “Matthew 6:20 . . . treasures in heaven . . .”
Is material wealth a source of embarrassment for Christians? Should it be? Only if your love is restricted to that wealth and/or its accumulation. If that is the case, you will not receive the spiritual blessings, you are not storing up treasures in heaven. If you are generous and share with others as do those honorees, their supporters and many others, you are storing up those heavenly treasures. While you are thinking on all of this, you might want to review the Parable of the Widow’s Mite in Mark 12.
Stay safe, be generous, trust God,
Pastor Ray