Thursday, March 7, 2013

MONEY AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD

Matthew 6: 21, 24, 33)
Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also  .  .  .   No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth  .  .  .   strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
 
   MONEY WAS A TOPIC JESUS FREQUENTLY addressed in the Gospels. Jesus personally knew the temptation to bypass God’s mission in order to have more money, yet he resisted. He knew that it was human nature to hoard and store rather than to give and share. He knew that while we claim that God is King in our lives, we often live as though cash is king. He knew that we human beings worry about money. For all these reasons, Jesus regularly addressed this topic.
  
   It is so easy for us to believe that money and material things will bring us happiness. To some degree, at times, they do— but only to a point. I recently bought a new car. I’d been looking, researching, dreaming, and saving for several years in anticipation of the purchase. I was excited when I picked up my new Mustang, but I noticed that within a few days the feeling wore off. Several weeks later, when someone left a large ding in my door, I had to remind myself, “It’s only a car.”
 
   I went to visit a member of my church yesterday. She was nearing the end of a battle with cancer. Her husband, children, and good friend were sitting around her. She said to me and to them, “It seems so clear to me right now that houses and cars and things really don’t matter. The only things that matters are the people I love, the memories we share, and our faith in God— what he’s done for us and what we do in living for him. None of the rest really matters.”
 
   So many people devote their lives to the amassing of money and the acquisition of things. It is the American way. But Jesus reminded us that there can be only one king on the throne of our hearts. We can only have one “most important thing.”
 
   A friend I know received a windfall this year. He had an investment that left him with $ 500,000 in income that he had not expected. He made a list of what he would do with the money. His first decision was to give $ 150,000 to his church and to projects benefiting low-income people. His second was to set aside enough to pay taxes on it. His third was to help a couple of family members. Finally he set aside money for retirement. Only after doing all of these things did he spend any of it on things he and his wife might enjoy. He noted that the money he gave away was the most rewarding thing he did with his windfall.
  
   What is your relationship with money and possessions? What do you treasure? Are you seeking first the Kingdom of God?


Lord, you know the temptation of wealth and possessions. I confess that there are times when I did not seek first your kingdom; when money, possessions, and the acquiring of them took greater priority in my heart. Forgive me, and help me to treasure you and your kingdom above all else. Amen.

Adam Hamilton, The Way: 40 Days of Reflection: Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus