Are You Rich In The Love Of God?

Good Morning Friends,

At some point we figure out that events are not as random as we might believe. It is then, only as the events in our lives connect, do we discover the real pattern, the real purpose. Hopefully the light comes on so our time here for glorifying God is not wasted. The challenge of church and community here is learning to share and thereby better understand the rewards of being a Christian. Are You Rich In The Love Of God?

Scripture: Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”

Luke 12:13-21 (NRSV)

So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!

Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11 (NRSV)

Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. because sometimes one who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by another who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. What do mortals get from all the toil and strain with which they toil under the sun? For all their days are full of pain, and their work is a vexation; even at night their minds do not rest. This also is vanity.

Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23 (NRSV)

Message: Today’s question may seem a little odd for those who overvalue money. But it does bring into focus our emotions in greater awareness of worldly privileges we have and the greater privilege of being a Christian. You see, as we consider the things we own and have lost, our hearts are either moving to God as our treasure or toward the things of this world. Solomon discovered just how foolish all our labor is for things. How we are using our earthly riches in response to our desires shows how we value God. Scripture tells us that money can be helpful in forwarding God’s Kingdom and the church in response to its member’s needs, but also hazardous when it lures us away from God. The movement of our money reflects the movement of our heart and in the Church, should demonstrate how sharing money, according to need, so that none would suffer, brings us closer to God’s will. Here the nature of the church is designed to prompt our faithfulness in giving to a common good. And here the use of money, in the wisest ways, is a good thing but not necessarily and easy thing. We should listen to the deeper message about mercy here. The problem with this is that, often, we will discover we cannot make it on our own. We need the Creator’s mercy to even exist, but it does not stop there. We need to extend mercy. And we need the mercy of others too. Mercy is needed to save us more times than we realize. The amazing thing is that mercy can even lead us in doing good works for others that will encourage them in the faith. You see mercy is associated with grace, and grace is the best ministry gift we as Christians can give because it is the best gift we have ever received. But if we have received true grace then we will come alive in Christ and we cannot help but be gracious in loving others as we have been loved. If we fail here, we probably never really accepted the transformation of grace in the first place. Accepting and sharing is the labor of our lives, but not something for which we can take credit. This good work of doing good things is a result of our salvation not the cause of it. Still we need to share the overabundance that Christ has made available to us in our life. We cannot use it all. To horde it away is insane. The world hungers for it. So, know that we all are helpless when it comes to our salvation regardless of the size of our bank accounts, but in many ways, it is harder for those with excessive wealth. For ultimately, we will learn that the trouble with greed is that our goods go and worse, we go.

And So, it is better to store up treasure in heaven, invest in spiritual riches, and become rich toward God realizing that the reward is not all in the life to come but in the life here and now as well. The supreme value is to be rich in God. To have a heart to worship God like David and to benefit from the richness of a relationship with the King of kings.

Pray we be wary of greed. Pray do not value things more than God at the risk of losing our very souls. Pray we realize that material possessions do not bring security to life. Pray we seek the Kingdom of God. that Christ’s saving grace comes alive in our lives. Pray we realize that hording joy, money and things is pointless and unproductive. Pray we reorganize our thinking and start looking for and anticipating God in our lives. Pray we begin to see history through the eyes of mercy not money. Pray we place our trust wisely. Pray we realize that we cannot live without God’s help. Pray we realize that God forgives even when we can do nothing but watch Him meet our real needs. Pray we receive God’s grace and eagerly share it with others in all we do. Pray we are prepared to give up something good for something very good. Pray that we seek the Kingdom first, that grace not be so hard to believe, so hard to accept, so hard to receive and so hard to share. Pray that we are not envious about the grace given to others. Pray that we learn to share the overabundance of mercy that Christ has made available to us in our life. Pray we are rich in good works. Pray we are not deceived by money. Pray that our ambitions not become addictions. Pray that our careers not become compulsions. Pray that objects not become the objectives. Pray we share with others in a way that glorifies God. Pray we fulfill our commitments to each other by showing the world what it means to have God as our riches. Pray we are rich in what matters to God.

Blessings,

John Lawson