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Centennial Family,
During last Sunday’s sermon I talked about some of Jesus’s strong words and warnings regarding finances and wealth. I emphasized the clear teaching from Matthew 19, as well as across the full council of scripture, that we are commanded by God to consider that all our possessions belong to God and are on loan to us. We manage them as he instructs, with open-handed Kingdom generosity. However, I wanted to pause and mention something that I didn’t say during the sermon but is important to acknowledge about Jesus’ many teachings on wealth and generosity.
Jesus didn’t give one-size-fits-all financial mandates.
Here in Matthew 19, he gave a generic instruction to “Go sell your possessions.” In his Sermon on the Mount, he warned about “the deceitfulness of wealth. The gospels also clearly portray some of his disciples as being financially well off and supporting his ministry. It’s worth citing here a couple observations made by Biblical scholar and Centennial member, Craig Blomberg, from his commentary on Matthew’s gospel. This is a bit of a longer citation, but more than worth the read:
As in the dialogue with the Pharisees on divorce, Jesus tailors his remarks [in Matthew 19] to a specific situation. Jesus is addressing just one man in his unique circumstances. In Luke, two stories follow closely on the heels of this episode (Luke 18:18–30) that prove Jesus makes different demands of different individuals. Zaccheus gives away only half his income and uses some of the rest to pay back those he had defrauded (Luke 19:1–10). The parable of the talents encourages God’s people not to give money away but to invest it wisely for their Master’s use (Luke 19:11–27). But in each of these passages, Jesus commands Christians to use all their possessions, not just some fixed percentage of them, for kingdom priorities. If money stands in the way of a person’s committing their life to Christ, Jesus will make the identical demands on that individual that he did on this young man. If the obstacle is something else, the demands will vary.
Quoting other scholars, Blomberg continues:
Ridderbos’ remarks should cause some soul searching, “The man [in Matthew 19] of course did not think that his riches were worth more than eternal life, but he must have told himself that he did not really have to give up his wealth to gain it.” Or, with Gundry, “that Jesus did not command all his followers to sell all their possessions gives comfort only to the kind of people to whom he would issue that command.” That may be too harsh, since this rich young man is the only one in the entire Bible who received so absolute a command, and there surely were others throughout history with similar attitudes. Heinz Giesen may have the better summary: “Possessions are positive only when they are at the service of love of one’s neighbor or are given away in order to follow Jesus.” Yet Giesen also refers to Jesus’s “offensive freedom and lack of prejudice” that allows him to enjoy banquets, accept gifts from wealthy women, and avoid fasting. Once one is generous and perhaps even sacrificial with one’s material resources, one does not have to feel guilty for enjoying the rest (cf. 1 Tim. 6:17-19).”
I wrap up these reflections with my simple observation.
All we have belongs to God and is only on loan to us to steward according to his Kingdom purposes.
There may indeed be different details of the specific amounts we each give, the organizations we support, the level of sacrificial giving we make but one thing is universal to all disciples,
All that we have is his.
I pray we all find the joy and freedom that comes from living with open-handed Kingdom generosity. May we steward well all he has given is, handle it and grow it with wisdom and shrewdness, and readily put it all to the service of his will and his ways.
Grace and peace,
Karl Helvig
P.S. There continues to be evidence that the people of CCC are expressing precisely this kind of Kingdom generosity. Here is a snapshot of the current finances of CCC. Thanks for your generosity, may his Kingdom come, will be done, and name be glorified in and through the ministries of Centennial Covenant Church!
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