In God We Trust: Faith & Finances

 “In God We Trust: Faith & Finances” // Text: Matthew 19:16-22

 Message @ Jericho Ridge Community Church – Sun, May 24, 2020

Hello friends, my name is Brad and I’m part of the teaching and leadership team here at Jericho Ridge.  I want to welcome you into this online space.  As we begin a teaching series where we ask the question “How are you.. Really?”  We’re going to dive into 6 topics that are practical, timely and we’re going to see what faith has to say about navigating the complicated world we find ourselves in these days.  Let’s jump right in!      

I will sometimes ask people the question “what do you think Jesus talked about the most?” If you are joining on the live stream on our website, maybe time a minute and put your ideas into the chat function. If you are watching with people take a minute to share your guess out loud…  Of all the topics you think Jesus may have spoken about and somebody paid attention and wrote it down, what do think Jesus said the most about? 

People sometimes guess heaven. Or prayer.  Or faith.  These would be all good guesses but you would miss the mark.  Of all of the things Jesus could have talked about, he spent a lot of time talking about finances.    

Consider the following.  There are over 2,000 verses in the Bible on money.  Of the 38 parables or stories that Jesus told, 16 of them around about finances.  If you total Jesus word count in the gospels, the 4 records of his life in the New Testament, 25% of Jesus words deal with stewardship or being a wise manager of what you have been entrusted with.  1 in 10 verses in the gospels deals with money.  So clearly this was an important subject to Jesus, and it is obviously an important subject to us.

Matthew, one of Jesus’ first century followers who was a tax collector by profession, wrote down one of these conversations that Jesus had about faith and finances and it gives us some amazing and helpful insight into God’s view on money and what you and I need to pay attention to in our lives, no matter how old or young, rich or poor we are.  Let’s look together at Matthew 19:16-22.  I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation & selections will come up on the screen to help you follow along. 

Someone came to Jesus with this question: “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 “Why ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. But to answer your question—if you want to receive eternal life, keep the commandments.” 18 “Which ones?” the man asked.

And Jesus replied: “‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. 19 Honor your father and mother. Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 20 “I’ve obeyed all these commandments,” the young man replied. “What else must I do?” 21 Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 But when the young man heard this, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

At first glance, this can seem a bit harsh.  And it should prompt several good questions in us.  Does Jesus just hate money that much?  Is Jesus saying it’s wrong to be well-off & that the only way to be like super spiritual is to take a vow of perpetual poverty?  But let’s unpack this carefully.

First of all, I kinda like this guy. I love that he has the boldness to come to Jesus with his question.  And it’s a great question, asked respectfully.  The guy wants to know what it will take to secure a spot in Jesus eternal kingdom.  “What good deed must I do to have eternal life?”  So while he’s respectful, he’s already barking up the wrong tree here.  There’s a bit of a transactional feeling to this already.  “OK, Jesus – just tell me.  How many palms do I gotta grease.. How many donations to how many charities do I need to make in order to make it past St. Peter at the proverbial pearly gates?” 

Jesus pushes back and says “whoa… let’s define our terms here a bit, my friend.  If we are going to talk about who is GOOD meaning who is perfect, the only one who fits that description is the one who has kept God’s perfect commandments perfectly. You are going to have to demonstrate that you have lived your life under God’s rule and by God’s rules.”

To which the man essentially says “well, there’s’ a lot of those.  Which ones are like the most important ones? The “not to be missed” ones?”  (so he might be looking for a legal loop hole here)

And Jesus humours him, with a recitation of a selection of the 10 commandments which this young man would have grown up having memorized and internalized as part of his cultural and religious upbringing as a first century Jew.  And then Jesus gives a kind of summary statement: to keep God’s commands means that you will Love Your neighbour as yourself”.  According to Jesus, Loving your neighbour means acting in the best interest of those who are weak and vulnerable in our society.  Acting in a way that considers the good of others with everything from how I spend my time to what’s in my investment portfolios to how I treat my friends. 

This man says “yes! I’ve done all of that!  I’ve checked every box, Jesus!”

But notice that he himself still identifies that there is something missing.  This is true regardless of our social or economic status.  We can do everything right but inside know that something is still not right.  We can have enough money or job security to isolate ourselves from a global pandemic but when things get quiet enough to listen to what’s going on in your soul, there’s a whisper of a question that keeps bubbling to the surface up: “there must be more to life than this!” 

Here’s a person who has more than enough money and possessions to live comfortably, but he is still troubled.  He feels like he’s on the right track of being a “good person” but he is bumping up against the reality, as writer Matthew Henry says, “you can be free and clear from gross sin but still come up short of grace and glory.” 

So Jesus gives this young man a BIG challenge.  Sell all your possessions and give your money to the poor and I will give you two things: one, you can then follow me and also, you will get what you asked for: eternal life.  Now, it’s worth noting that this is not a universal requirement that Jesus makes.  Many other honest inquirers come to Jesus and He doesn’t’ universally lay this out as the pathway forward.  And Jesus is also not saying that earning or investing or spending money is bad wrong and evil.  The Scriptures say that the LOVE of money is the root of all evil things, not money itself.  After all, we all need money in order to live! 

But with this individual, Jesus is after something in particular.  I love that the text says that Jesus looked at this person and LOVED him.  In other words, the invitations that Jesus makes – both of this young man and of you and I in our lives – are always rooted in God’s love for us & God’s desire for our best and highest good.  Jesus is genuinely interested, not in bankrupting this man, but in extending an invitation that is for his benefit.  Because Jesus sees something that the man himself cannot or perhaps will not choose to see. 

Jesus is pointing out that meaningful relationships, whether with God or with other human beings, are not simply about keeping a set of rules, but they are about how your heart is oriented.  My wife and I just celebrated our 21^st wedding anniversary this month and I didn’t turn to Meg and say “well, I’ve kept all the rules, so clearly I love you” (relationship tip: this is NOT the way to the heart of your spouse). It’s about “is my heart still be inclined towards her. Is she still the object of my affections and attention?    

And this man’s heart is oriented not ultimately toward eternal life but toward his possessions.  Jesus asks him to exercise faith – to believe that God’s provision for him will continue to be enough, both in this life and the life to come – but he cannot get past his attachment to the things of this world. And Jesus says in Matthew 6:23 ““Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”

This is one of the powerful lessons that I am observing and learning as we navigate through COVID-19. That my possessions cannot give me security.  They can insulate us, they can offer us comfort but things can ultimately not give us meaning and purpose in life.  And one of the most challenging effects of wealth is that is re-orders our priorities.  Uncertainty reveals what I’m attached to and what we allow to attach to us.   This is why Jesus invited this particular young man to walk away from his wealth. Not because it was a bad thing, but because he was treating it as an ultimate thing. 

The question that you and I need to ask as we think about this in light of our own lives is “what am I attached to?”  For you, it may be money.  But it might also be work.  Or your skills. Or it might be relationships.  Or your dreams and hopes for the future. When you begin to let these things define you, when they shape your sense of self-worth, the challenge is that they can begin to cut you off from vibrant relationships with other people and ultimately with God.  For this man, he had let his concept of self be defined by his financial position.  And so when Jesus challenges this and says to him “those are good things, but they are secondary things”, he goes away sad.  Because he has failed to realize the truth that your self worth is not determined by your net worth. 

So let’s wrap up and I want to speak to two groups of people for a minute.  The first group is people who have a tendency to link their self-worth and net worth.  This encounter Jesus shows us that where our money goes, our heart flows and so we need to be careful about how attached we get to our wealth and possessions or status or the kinds of clothes or shoes we wear or how much money is in our bank accounts or RRSP’s.  These things are not bad and wrong, but they are temporary and are here today and can be gone tomorrow. In times of crisis, we can become hyper-focused on what we are loosing or might loose instead of what we can and will gain if our hearts are oriented rightly. 

This is really all about your heart.  If our heart is connected in an unhealthy way with our finances, then this negatively impacts all our relationships – both with other people and with God.  If you have been seeking to find ultimate purpose and meaning in the things of this life, you are taking secondary things and trying to make them into a primary thing.  The r=primary thing is always and has always been relationships not things.  And this is particularly true when it comes to relationship with God.  Jesus is offering you and me the same thing he offered this man: a rich and full and vibrant relationship with the God of the universe.  A life that had purpose and meaning that starts now and goes on forever.  But in order to say yes that that and to put it at the centre of your life, you have to make sure that nothing else takes that place.  So if that’s new for you, you can start walking our that pathway today.  If you are watching on our live stream, use the chat function, raise your hand for salvation and we’d love to pray with you.  If you are wanting on YouTube or non-live, today we are launching a live prayer line.  If you call 604-629-7805, you can speak with one of our pastoral team who would like to pray with you. 

The second group I want to speak to it those who are struggling in the area of finances.  It can be hard to ask for help.  Every company is saying “we’re here for you”.  When 7-11 says it, they mean “we’ll bring a Slurpee to your door and charge you money so we have a better bottom line for our shareholders”.  But when we say “we are here for you” we actually mean it.  We have banded together with 16 other churches in our city via the Hello Church initiative and we are working with the school district and the Food Bank and other agencies to provide meaningful help to those in places of need.  And if that’s you, I want you to reach out to us.  Go to Hellochurch.ca and fill out the form there.  We would love to meet you and provide you with some practical support so that you know that our heart and our money is where our mouths are as well.  It can be easy in the midst of a crisis to loose hope and to loose heart and we don’t want that for you.

I want to invite you as we move into a time of responding to God in song to consider again that question “what am I attached to?” what is holding on to me and in the midst of this crisis, who or what am I holding on to?