Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Old Testament Lesson just read, from Ecclesiastes 5. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- It must be acknowledged that one of the scourges of American life and culture is the general understanding of wealth and success that is embedded in our history and social fabric. In fact, much of the political warfare in our country is based in differences of economic philosophy – in spite of the fact that the basic view of the value and importance of wealth is the same on both sides.
- Our independence from Great Britain was motivated by economic concerns – principally taxation. Much was risked by those who immigrated to America in the early years. Why was it risked – life, health, and survival? One of the principle reasons was “opportunity” to have a better life, one of greater freedom, and one with greater potential for financial success and wealth.
- People immigrating to America over the years have had these same motivations – and such motivations have been encouraged. It is part of our most basic assumptions that the purpose of government – laws and policies – is to provide us, American citizens, with greater economic opportunities to “succeed,” and such success is often defined as “personal wealth building.”
- That this is contrary to biblical principles and concerns is often overlooked – selfishness and greed are such a powerful motivations of our sinful nature that we are especially vulnerable to cloaking these vices as virtues. We simply identify “greed” with “ambition” – and this evil then becomes quite virtuous. It is true that “laziness” is also an evil. But there is a great deal of middle ground between laziness and greed, and “ambition” need not be centered on “greed” and “wealth-building.”
- However, because of the confusion in American culture in regard to the virtues of wealth and financial success, the principles in our Scripture readings may become blurred and even ignored – as we try to blend our Christianity with our culture. When we do this, it is almost certain that our sinful flesh will skew our beliefs and behaviors toward culture – toward that “second” part of the unholy trinity of “the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh.”
- So we must really concentrate as we consider the Word of God this morning – so that we can hear and contemplate what the Lord says to us in regard to wealth and idolatry. First, that God’s Word teaches that:
I. Money And Wealth Are Generally A Scourge
A. Money And Wealth Can Keep Us From Repentance And Faith, And Out Of The Kingdom Of God
Gospel: “Jesus said to His disciples, ‘How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God. . . . It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.’”
Again, we must hear the warning of God’s Word against closing our minds to the truth:
Epistle: “For the good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. For we who have believed enter that rest, as He has said, ‘As I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter My rest.’ . . . those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience . . . Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.”
B. Further, Money And Wealth Does Not Truly Satisfy Those Who Desire It, No Matter How Much Is Gained
Text: “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.”
C. And Wealth And Money Are Vulnerable And Can Be Lost – Which Causes Great Vexation For Those Who Love Money
Text: “When goods increase, they increase who eat them. . . . There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, and those riches were lost in a bad venture.”
D. And Wealth Is Certainly Temporal – Not Of Eternal Value Or Concern
Text: “As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand. This also is a grievous evil: just as he came so shall he go, and what gain is there to him who toils for the wind.”
E. Greed And Love Of Money And Wealth Is Actually A Grievous Curse
Text: “Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger.” [because of envy of others, lack of contentment, and losses]
Statement: Now, here’s the kicker – the devil’s lie: we believe that somehow we will be able to avoid all of this as we work ambitiously and devote ourselves to the accumulation of wealth, that these realities clearly asserted in God’s Word will not apply to us, will not be true for us. And we continue believing this – and covering our eyes to the reality – until it is too late.
Application: You see, the real problem with love of money is that it is essentially idolatry. If we have wealth we trust wealth, rather than praying “give us this day our DAILY bread.” Likewise, if we love wealth then we love it, and this makes us selfish rather than generous and loving. Each time I see another in need, each time I hear the Lord calling me to return a tithe [a tenth] of my income to Him in offerings, for the sake of His kingdom, the ministry of His Word, I realize that this will be a reduction in my bank account, my net worth, and a hindrance to getting the things that I want. I may soothe my conscience in many ways – as I refuse to reverse my selfishness and my commitment to “wealth building” [such as: at least I give more than others; I give of my time; others have more than me – they should give more; I’m still a good person; or, God can do without my offering, etc., etc.].
But the bottom line is that each time I refuse to give generously to the Lord I am confirming my idolatry and each time I excuse myself I am confirming my impenitence – and my ingratitude to the Lord. I am demonstrating that I love money more than I love God and more than I desire to do good in the world – and because I stubbornly defend myself in impenitence, this makes it difficult to enter the kingdom, as difficult as a camel passing through the eye of a needle.
Transition: Something other than “the American Dream” is held up to us in our text, and in the rest of God’s Word – and this is the wisdom that God offers to us and advises us, which is actually much better! For:
II. A Godly Life Of Repentance And Faith, Of Service And Love To God And Others, Is The Most Joyful Thing We Can Have
A. Finding Enjoyment In Our Labor Rather Than In Wealth
Text: “Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot.”
B. Toiling And Laboring For God Is Joyful And Is Repaid
Gospel: “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for My sake and for the Gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.”
C. And If We Have Wealth It Is A Joy To Use It Wisely – For Good, For Those In Need And To Serve God, And For The Ministry Of The Gospel
Text: “Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil – this is the gift of God.”
D. And To Accept Our Lot In Life And To Have Joy In The Lord Always – Occupied With Joy So That We Forget Our Sorrow And Woes
Text: “For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.”
Statement: But the opposite of this joy and blessing of God is to be preoccupied with wealth – with the acquisition, accumulation, and retention of wealth – as the principle occupation of our heart and our highest priority – so that we give nothing away, or only give a little away, fearful that God will not give us “daily bread,” envious of those who have more than us, and blind to the blessings that truly endure, the temporal and eternal blessings of God, and scandalized also by the persecutions and hardships that accompany our faithfulness to God.
Application: So the choices are set before us – and the wisdom of God is quite different than the wisdom of this world, as it is framed in the American Dream and in American culture. We must take cognizance of this – for while we can make these choices here and now, and can camouflage our disloyalty to God from other people, God is not deceived and neither is He mocked. As the apostle wrote:
“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” [Gal. 6:7-9 ]
Conclusion: The great blessing of living in America is not the freedom to have unbridled greed and to fulfill the passions of our sinful and selfish flesh, but rather the freedom to serve God by “sowing to the Spirit” and heeding the wisdom of God’s Word. For some of us, this will mean rethinking our goals and ambitions and our common assumptions about “success.”
This will surely make us “different” and “counter-cultural” – perhaps even to our family and even to some within the church. But again, we are free to make our choices now – in regard to what we sow – but not in regard to what we will reap at the end. This is imposed by God in consequence of what we choose to sow now. May God grant each of us wisdom – in His gracious forgiveness and love – to live in repentance and in His love, so that we also live by love and service to God, to His church, and to others. Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.