About the same time I heard of Arabs buying up tenement blocks in New York. It was said the new landlord would door-knock on his tenants to announce, "I am your new landlord. I am sorry about this, but your rent is going to treble. Of course, if you become a Moslem, your rent will not have to increase at all."
We are shocked by the very thought of such "evangelism". Some of us know Moslems who would share our shock. Yet it could be argued that this behaviour is quite consistent with the basic teachings of Muhammed, the warrior-prophet who went out with his army to "evangelise" with the sword.
Jesus is the only fully integrated person who has ever lived. He is described in Hebrews as having been "tempted in every way that we are, but did not sin" (4.15). Unlike the rest of us, he had absolutely nothing to hide.
The final purpose of God in redemption is not simply that our sins be forgiven - that we be "justified" (put right with God). He has made us "holy" in the sense of having separated us to himself, but he hasn't finished with us yet. He is at work in us by his Holy Spirit to make us holy in the sense of transforming our thoughts, attitudes, motives and behaviour into a perfect expression of his will.
In his first letter, John writes, "My dear friends, we are now God's children, but it is not yet clear what we shall become. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he really is" (3.2). That is where we are headed in our life in Christ, and it should be increasingly evident in our daily life.
In 2 Cor. 5.17, Paul writes, "Anyone who is joined to Christ is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come." The initial work has been done. From the perspective of God's eternity, it is complete. At the end of this life, we enter into that fullness. Right now, however, the reality is that so much of the old ways still cling to us and we don't yet see the new full-grown. But, when eternity comes for us, "we shall be like him…"
Today's selection focuses on the market-place - how we gain our money and possessions and what we do with them.
Let's note at the outset that the Bible doesn't endorse any particular political system. For a variety of reasons, we may have preference for one party over the others. In our congregation we may well have active members of a whole range of political parties. As far as it is possible, we need to submit such party allegiances to the Word of God and the Lordship of Christ. No party should ever be given the allegiance that is due to God alone.
In Biblical terms, ownership is real but not absolute. Ownership is stewardship and therefore needs to be accountable to God. The Psalmist wrote, "The world and all that is in it belong to the Lord; the earth and all who live on it are his" (Ps. 24.1). This rules out absolute allegiance either to communism which denies private ownership or to capitalism which ignores stewardship and accountability.
One of the themes in these passages has to do with how we gain our money. We notice 12.11 - "A hard-working farmer has plenty to eat, but it is stupid to waste time on useless projects." Money is simply our convenient way of exchanging the value of service and goods. Certainly it is not straightforward to determine the value of a case of apples or a stereo - or the value of a day's work by a road worker or by an airline pilot. The supply and demand of the market-place and the bargaining of the work-place (whether through arbitration or enterprise bargaining) determine these things. But the whole of society runs into serious problems when money is unrelated to value - whether it is the demand of a worker for more pay for less work or the sale of an end-product for a price that far exceeds its value. 20.21 sets an important principle before us - "The more easily you get your wealth, the less good it will do you."
In 11.26 we have manipulation of the market-place - "People curse someone who hoards grain, waiting for a higher price, but they praise the one who puts it up for sale." The situation is slightly different when Amos describes the thoughts of such a person - "We can hardly wait for the holy days to be over so that we can sell our corn. When will the Sabbath end, so that we can start selling again? Then we can overcharge, use false measures, and tamper with the scales to cheat our customers. We can sell worthless wheat at a high price. We'll find a poor person who can't pay his debts, not even the price of a pair of sandals, and we'll buy him as a slave" (Amos 8.5-6). Obsessive greed is not to be our motivation in gaining money.
And the reference in Amos also highlights the importance of honesty. Proverbs 20.23 reminds us that "The Lord hates people who use dishonest scales and weights" and v. 17 gives the practical advice, "What you get by dishonesty you may enjoy like the finest food, but sooner or later it will be like a mouthful of sand."
Another theme in these passages is how we regard and use our money. 11.28 gives us the key - "Those who depend on their wealth will fall like the leaves of autumn, but the righteous will prosper like the leaves of summer." We all need to use money, of course - and to exercise good stewardship of it. However, our ultimate dependence is to be on the Lord alone. Hear the words of Jesus, "So don't be all upset, always concerned about what you will eat and drink… Your Father knows that you need these things. Instead, be concerned with his Kingdom, and he will provide you with these things" (Lk. 12.29-31).
And as a shopper? "The customer always complains that the price is too high, but then he goes off and brags about the bargain he got" (20.14). We may not have a barter system, but some people seem skilled at it. I have heard people boast that they never pay the marked price for anything. They come straight to the point with "What is the best price you can sell this to me?" And some goods seem to be priced with the old barter system in mind. But, whatever our "negotiation", we should be endeavouring to pay what is fair.
How are we to spend money? "Some people spend their money freely and still grow richer. Others are cautious, and yet grow poorer" (12.24). The Good News Bible takes this verse to refer to spending habits. Most translations give a reference to alms-giving. Literally, the Hebrew says, "There is one scattering and still increasing, and one holding back from what is due, only to (ending in) poverty." "Scattering" could mean either spending money or giving alms. Think for the moment about our spending. We shouldn't be caught up in the consumerism of our age. And yet - if we don't spend, other people could be out of a job. However, the basic issue is whether the focus of our lives is just on ourselves or on others.
This really leads us on to the third issue of how we give our money. The translators may have debated how to render 11.24, but there is no question about v. 25 - "Be generous, and you will be prosperous. Help others, and you will be helped." Prosperity will be the result rather than the motivation of our giving!
It is sad that this spiritual principle has been distorted and abused over the past twenty or thirty years. The monthly "Faith Digest" of one American evangelist regularly printed testimonials from people who had donated (say) $1000 and the next day their financial circumstances changed and they were able to purchase a Mercedes Benz. Needless to say, the evangelist himself prospered well from the gullibility of his readers.
Jesus warned his hearers to "Watch out and guard yourselves from every kind of greed; because a person's true life is not made up of the things he owns, no matter how rich he may be" (Lk. 12.15). He also counselled them, "Give to others, and God will give to you. Indeed, you will receive a full measure, a generous helping, poured into your hands - all that you can hold. The measure you use for others is the one that God will use for you" (6.38). We are to give without expecting return - at least, not in this life. To the rich young man, Jesus said, "There is still one more thing you need to do. Sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come and follow me" (18.22).
It comes back to our initial theme of Christian integrity - a life which genuinely flows from our trust in the Lord and our commitment to his way of life. How we gain our money, how we regard and use our money, how we give our money… cannot be isolated from our faith in God.
In his sermon on "The Use of Money", John Wesley urged his hearers to:
That still represents a sound and solid basis for all of us as we seek to live with integrity as followers of Christ at the end of the twentieth century.
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