God's Fairness

“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

    “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’

    “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

    “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’

    “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

    “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

    “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

    “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’"

Matthew 25:14-30 NIV

It's funny in our world how there are those who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ and to be knowledgeable of Scripture then try to co-opt Christ into a Social Justice movement focused on the redistribution of wealth and say that that is what Jesus Christ was doing.  Now don't get me wrong I do believe that we are called to care for the sick, the hungry, the imprisoned, and the poor which he does speak of as you read through Matthew 25, but this parable leads into the next in speaking of caring for the needy and here he gives to the one who has much from the one that has little which would be contrary to those who say that Jesus was for the redistribution of those who have little.

We live in a world that is so focused on getting what "they deserve" that they miss out on the blessing of what it is that they are receiving instead of what they deserve.  We are called to care for one another and we are called to invest of what God has entrusted to us in the gifts that he has given us to help the other.  It is not about doing things just for our sole benefit or gain or maintaining what we have just so we may appear faithful.  One of the greatest excuses I hear from people about why they do not give or why the churches are doing poorly is "Well, the economy is bad."  When did the economic situation become the sole factor of our faith.  Financially it is true that we may not have as much to share, but that should not preclude us from sharing with one another.  The fact remains that we are still in one of the most economically wealthy times in history, we have more wealth even amongst the poor (though the economic divide is increasing between the rich and the poor), and we are the least generous in our sharing of those gifts because we are more fearful of losing what we have then helping others who have less and possibly finding ourselves much richer in the end.  When times are tough opportunities abound because needs become more visible.  When we are satisfied and content we become blind to possibilities.

The Church has been satisfied and content for a long time and opportunities have been lost, but God is active and busy within His creation and the fields are ripe for the harvest.  We are called to step out unafraid of losing what God has entrusted to us and reach out for the possibilities that abound.  We may find that some things will not work out, but as we discern the work which God is calling us to we will find that he has prepared for us great things which we will benefit from that others have prepared for us.  It is by his hands we are healed and it is in him we find our hope and our salvation.  What has God been placing on your spirit to do for him?  Don't be afraid, invest and see the rich rewards ahead!

Father, we thank you for the great trust that you put on our hearts.  Let us not be fearful of failure, but seek to do your good work to which you call us to.  Guide us with your Spirit and lead us in faith.  In your name Lord Jesus Christ we pray.  Amen.

The Clearing of the Temple

 

Matthew 21:11-13, Mark 11:15-17, Luke 19:45-46, John 2:13-25

The story of Jesus clearing the temple is a short, but poignant piece of the Gospel and of Jesus' ministry on earth.  It highlights the zeal and love that our Lord has for the worship of God, but also highlights how much it disturbs our Lord to have it defiled with the pursuits of the world.  The reason that I write on this as a devotion is to correct and abuse that I have seen by some Christians to spin this story into a tale against capitalism and for the redistribution of wealth.  That I believe is a lie that has been spun and re-spun within Christian circles for millenia.

What was it that Jesus was doing?  Well, I believe that can be easily defined by the title oft given this segment of Scripture, "Jesus' cleansing of the Temple."  The cleansing word is a wonderful read of what he was doing it, what was it that they were doing that was so offensive, was it the selling or the location of the selling?  Location is of great importance here because this is the only place that he comes out with such zeal.  To understand what was going on here one must understand the context.

In the times of Jesus the Temple was the center of Jewish life and on the passover it was the desire of every Jew to come and sacrifice at the Temple.  The distances of travel for many were often great and the idea of bringing their sacrifice to the temple from home was not practical, so they would often sell their offering and bring with them the money which they had made in the sale.  When they would arrive they would then have to exchange their monies from the local currency to the temple currency and purchase an acceptable sacrifice to present to the priest.  This practice was wrought with corruption as the exchange rate for temple currency was not to the benefit of the worshiper and the cost of the sacrifice was much higher then if they were to have purchased it elsewhere or if they were to sell in the normal marketplace.

The scales were not even.

This practice was contrary to Scriptural ideas, but was being propped up by the religious leadership because of how it benefited them.  It was a corruption and was neither honoring to God or to the Temple which was His home.  Therefore it was making the Temple into a "Den of Thieves" that was, in many ways, worse than the common market.  The issue of tying this to movements going on today and in the past against corporate greed is trying to paint a picture of this that makes it different than it truly was.  If Jesus was against cheating in the market then he would have not only cleared out the temple to cleanse it, but his attack would have extended beyond the temple to the markets, which it did not.  Jesus never advised the disciples not to enter the market nor did he speak against the market.  The story of the rich young ruler (Matthew 19:16-22[23-30], Mark 10:17-22[23-31], Luke 18:18-23[24-30]).  One need only look to the Parables of the Laborers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16) to understand that fairness and equal distribution are not even in the agenda of Jesus as some would like to assert.  Jesus did believe and teach the importance of sharing and the giving of self and possessions to other, but to try and place upon that more than it was is trying to create something that is not there.   Jesus' intention was the destruction of idols that stand between us and our God - covetousness and stealing are still wrong - to bear false witness and speak poorly of our neighbor is still wrong.  Our faith is one that calls us to be satisfied and content in what the Lord provides and not to begrudge another for their good fortune.

Father, when our hearts are desirous to take, let us repent of it.  Let us then return to those whom we have spoken poorly of ten-fold what we have taken or have desired to take that we may be blameless before you.  Guide us with your Holy Spirit that we may see your way and do all that you would have us do in service toward our neighbor and in humble obedience to you.  For your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord who died and gave all for us we pray.  Amen.