It's been a strange week with the weather around my part of the country. Tuesday it was hot and very humid. Last night, the temperatures were below freezing, and it actually snowed a little. I wonder if Spring is ever going to really come this year.
I've been enjoying posting chapters from my book about my friend Toby. Posting these chapters is like going back in time to the good days when I was much happier. I'll be posting chapters each Wednesday for the next few weeks. I am breaking chapters into smaller sections so that it lasts longer. I invite you to read them if you wish.
In last week's message, I talked about Jesus' teachings about laying up treasure on earth versus laying up treasure in Heaven.
We lay up treasure on earth when we spend our efforts on the accumulation of material things. These are the things that will pass away and they will not last. They are of no eternal value.
Thinking about things that are passing away reminded me of a II Peter 3:10 that says, "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up." The heavens referred to here is the atmosphere not the Heaven where God dwells. Everything that is temporal will pass away.
We need to lay up treasure in Heaven. This includes those whom we lead to Jesus and the good deeds that we do to help others and make the world a better place.
The Apostle Paul addresses the issue of our works and treasure in I Corinthians 3:12-15. Paul compares the work we do for Jesus to gold, silver and precious stones. Our earthly works are referred to as wood, hay and stubble. Our works will be tried by fire, and the temporal works of earth will be destroyed. Only what is done for the glory of the Lord will remain.
Now, we come to where we left off last week with Matthew 6:22 where Jesus says, "The lamp of the body is the eye, if therefore your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light." In verse 23, Jesus will say that if your eye is bad, your body will be full of darkness.
In light of what He just taught, I believe that Jesus is referring to what our values are. If we value monetary gain and the things of this earth, our eye is bad. As we saw when we studied I John, John refers to this as walking in darkness. We are following the wrong path.
On the other hand, our eye is good and we are walking in the light when we value the things that Jesus values, when we obey the commandments of Jesus we walk in the light, and our eye is good. Jesus lived a life of service to others, and so should those who claim to be His followers. Also, obeying the Great Commission and sharing the gospel and the love of Jesus with others demonstrates where are true values and allegiance are.
This lead us to chapter 6 verse 24 that many find to be a difficult verse. In this verse, Jesus says, "No one can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."
Jesus begins this verse with the master and slave relationship. To put it in a modern context, you can't serve multiple bosses. If there are multiple people vying for your allegiance in a business setting, the natural reaction is to favor one over the other. It is impossible to please everyone.
In the spiritual realm, we have the choice, we can serve Jesus and obey Him and adhere to the values that He commands, or we can follow the ways and values of this world. Jesus says that you cannot do both. We cannot serve God and money.
Money and the accumulation of material things are the values and the gods of this world. According to the values of this world, the only standard of success is how much money a person makes or possesses. Everything in the world system is based on money.
This is the opposite of the values of the Kingdom of God. Jesus talked about this in the story of the rich man and Lazarus. Lazarus was a beggar. He had no food, and He was covered with sores. In the eyes of the rich man and the people that passed him by he was worthless. But when Lazarus died, he was carried to Abraham's bosom. Lazarus was of great value to God. On the other hand, the rich man had everything a successful person was supposed to have. When he died, he went to hell. Who was the true success?
The way that the world system is established, it is very hard to achieve a great level of wealth through business and investment without violating the principles of the Kingdom of God.
Much of the corporate and business world is based upon exploitation. Many have become wealthy by under paying those who work for them which is a clear violation of all that was taught by the prophets and Jesus. You can't tell me that Jesus would approve of a CEO making millions of dollars while many of his/her employees make just over the minimum wage in this country and less than that in some third world countries. You also can't convince me that Jesus would approve of people keeping millions of dollars in their possession for their own enjoyment while people are starving to death around the world.
Many banks and financial institutions gained great wealth through lies and less than honest business practices. We've seen this in the banking scandals of the last few years.
Just think about investment vehicles for the common person. And here I've been guilty as well. God have mercy. Most mutual funds contain stocks for businesses that a Christian really shouldn't be involved in. For instance, most mutual funds contain shares from large hotel corporations. These firms freely admit that much of their revenue come from the sale of in room so called "adult" movies. Should a Christian really profit from this? And what about companies that make money by building weapons, or guns, or who exploit their work force?
These are just a few examples. If someone really and truly wants to serve God and not money, it will be hard to be truly wealthy in worldly goods. It's not impossible, but it is difficult. That is why Jesus said that it was hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven." As Christians, we need to look at our investments. We need to examine our business practices and make very sure that they are in line with the precepts of the Lord.
Jesus will speak more about these things in His teachings, and we will look into them more next week. If the Lord is willing. May God bless, You. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment