2007-08-10
Good Morning Cherished Ones of God,
You'll remember that we began a new segment of these Sermon on the Mount messages called "Mammon." We are taking a careful look at MT 6: 24, "No one can be the slave of two masters; he will hate one and love the other; he will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon." The word, mammon, is described as "material riches or wealth." If careful examination of the ancient Hebrew is given, that definition originally meant "wealth entrusted to another's possession." That's a passive expression, but as time went on people changed its meaning, by their practices and interpretation, to mean it in the active sense of the word, to "that in which a man trusts." If we see it from God's perspective, the original meaning implies God's sovereign ownership of everything on earth, all of His creation. God gave David these words to say in PS 89: 11, "Heaven is yours, the earth also; You made the world and everything in it." God's own assertions to the ancient Jews regarding idolatry, in DT 7: 6, lend illumination to this ownership issue. "Do this because you belong to the Lord your God. From all the peoples on earth He chose you to be His own special people." We all know that the love of material things over God is indeed a form of idolatry. This concept of God's ownership is also mentioned in the NT, e.g. 1 COR 1: 29-30, "This means that no one can boast in God's presence. But God has brought you into union with Christ Jesus, and God has made Christ to be our Wisdom. By Him we are put right with God, we become God's holy people and are set free." From what are we set free in this context? We are set free from slavery to sin, in this case, the inability to choose whether or not to reject loving mammon over God. Paul too is inspired to weigh in on this issue, in 2 TIM 2: 19. "But the solid foundations that God has laid cannot be shaken; and on it are written these words: 'The Lord knows those who are His' and 'Whoever says that he belongs to the Lord must turn away from wrongdoing.'"
It may be tough talk to say this, but the degree to which we worry about material possessions is a measure of the strength and depth of our faith in God's promises. I'm as guilty of weakened faith as the next person in this area, having gone through a drastic change in my own lifestyle resulting from an equally extreme reduction in our own income in the last nine years. God has promised believers His provision of our basic needs in both the OT and NT. PS 37:11, "But all who humble themselves before the Lord shall be given every blessing, and shall have wonderful peace." PS 81: 10, "I, the Lord, am your God, Who brought you out of Egypt. Open your mouth and I will feed you." PHIL 4: 19, "PHIL 4: 19, "And with all His abundant wealth through Christ Jesus, my God will supply all your needs." We have arrived at "where the rubber meets the road" with our willingness to trust God and have profound faith in Him. Christ has a lot to say in His Sermon on the Mount about this worrying that most of us do about money and material wealth.
MT 6: 25, 27, 31, "This is why I tell you: do not be worried about the food and drink you need in order to stay alive, or about clothes for your body. After all, isn't life worth more than food? And isn't the body worth more than clothes?...Worrying won't add another day to your life...So do not start worrying: 'From where will my food come? or my drink? or my clothes?'" We can't take this to mean we shouldn't work to earn a living, but we can take it to mean that if we are faithful and trouble happens, God will supply our needs. My own life is a living proof of this. Despite our financial stress, we live in a decent home and are not wanting for food, water, or clothing. God has seen both of us through tremendous illnesses and has blessed us with wonderful friends and a great congregation. And, we have transportation. Our basic needs are met. Above and beyond that, we have Him in our lives, there for us 24/7. Christ goes on to say some of His most important words in MT 6: 33-34. "Instead, be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God and with what He requires of you, and He will provide you with all these other things. So do not worry about tomorrow; it will have enough worries of its own. There is no need to add to the troubles each day brings." Worry is a tool the devil uses to tempt us away from God. We can only be vulnerable to the evil one, if we refuse to trust God and keep our mind on His Kingdom. We are told that His Kingdom is now- in the hearts of those who are true believers [LK 17: 21b]. Lest we forget, our Lord Jesus supplied us with our greatest need of all-the opportunity for salvation from slavery to sin by His death on the cross! So as I see it, Christ is asking each of us to examine the status of our faith and trust in His provision here. While not easy to do, He expects us to be open and honest with Him, even if it forces us to face a pocket of unbelief in our lives that needs conversion to His way. I also know in my heart that if we seek help in doing this from Him, He will grant it. Remember PS 46: 1, "God is our Shelter and our Strength, always ready to help in times of trouble."
PRAYER: O Lord, we come before Your throne to praise You and ask You to examine our heart-attitude about mammon today. You are a generous and wise God, One Who cares deeply about His children [1 PET 5: 7]. PS 139: 23-24, "Examine me, O God, and know my mind; test me, and discover my thoughts. Find out if there is any evil in me and guide me in the everlasting way." We are aware that this might bring us to some painful truths about ourselves and our attitude. But, all of that pain, if it forces us to place our trust in You and deepen our faith in You, is a blessing in disguise. The evil one tempts us to the point at times where we feel we can't resist. But inability to resist the devil by a true believer is really a lie [EPH 1: 18-20; 1 JN 4: 4]. We submit to Your will and ask for Your protection. PS 31: 3-5, "You are my Refuge and Defense; guide me and lead me as You have promised. Keep me safe from the snare that has been set for me; shelter me from danger. I place myself in your care. You will save me, Lord; You are a faithful God." We live in a very materialistic society, Dearest Abba, one in which a person's material wealth, titles, educational background, and demographics are used to judge him. But those are things of this earth and have nothing to do with heavenly treasures. You ask us to place our riches in heaven, those riches are things that transcend the grave [MT 6: 19-21]. To do this, we must accept that we can't depend on ourselves or on other people. We must depend on You. For You alone are our Strength and Defense. There are times when we are asked to do things in the workplace or elsewhere that are not in keeping with Your idea of integrity. You have made that clear to us in PS 1: 1 and MICAH 6: 8, "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night...He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Dearest Father, we stand before You with thanks, praise, worship, adoration, and our hearts open to Your direction. In Christ's holy name, we pray. Amen.
Next week, I'm led to write more about the attitude that God wants us to have regarding mammon. The Holy Spirit leads me to look at Paul as one example of someone who really understood Christ's teaching. It would be flippant of me to say, "Since Christ and Paul could live without much material wealth, we can all do it." This is certainly true in view of my own struggles in this area. However, God does measure the strength and depth of our faith from time to time and in different contexts. He has to be doing this in order to judge our readiness, or lack thereof, to be glorified-that is, taken up to heaven for a blissful life of eternal fellowship with the Father. As we get older, we will experience the physical deaths of others close to us, either family or friends. We will be, if we haven't already been, forced to come to terms with our own mortality. True believers know and understand the ultimate sovereignty of our Lord. True believers are not afraid of death, because they know Christ's Atonement has "destroyed the devil, whose has the power over death" and "freed [the believers] from fear of death [HE 2: 14b-15]." This is huge for us! If we truly believe, we will use the ethical foundation that God's word gives us in making decisions, including ones dealing with mammon. The Holy Spirit leads me to end this week's devotion with this comforting reminder and admonition in HE 12: 1b-2. "...Let us run with determination the race that lies before us. Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on Whom our faith depends from beginning to end. He did not give up because of the cross! On the contrary, because of the joy that ways waiting for Him, He thought nothing of the disgrace of dying on the cross, and He is now seated at the right side of God's throne." And remember, RO 8: 29 tells us He is "the First among many brothers." Praise be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn