Tag: faith

One Master

On By Bp. Justin ElwellIn Applied Theology1 Comment

The Song of the Mountains – Verse 44  

A Crescendo. 

Yeshua/Jesus has asked us where our treasure is, what sort of treasure it is, and He has instructed us regarding how that treasure causes us to experience the world around us. He now brings this section of the Sermon on the Mount to a crescendo – causing us to ask ourselves, “just who are we serving?”

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stick by one and look down on the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Matt. 6:24). 

The underlying meaning of this verse speaks to an ethic of worship – who are we serving, who are we trusting, and at who’s command do we respond? 

No other.

If you recall the language of the second commandment, “You are to have no other gods before me. You are not to make for yourselves a carved image or any kind of representation of anything in heaven above, on the earth beneath or in the water below the shoreline. You are not to bow down to them or serve them; for I, the Lord you God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sins of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but displaying grace to the thousandth generation of those who love me and obey my commandments” (Ex. 20:3-6). 

The second commandment directs the people of God to exclusive worship, based upon His act of salvation referenced in the first commandment. Still, the allure of money, possessions, and the power it seems to bring is always tempting. 

The wallet. 

John Wesley famously remarked that the last part of a person to be converted is his wallet. I can attest from many years of preaching, that few things that I have taught on, in dozens of congregations, causes people to shift in their seats like the mention of money. It might surprise you to learn that regarding the subject of faith, the Apostolic Scriptures has about 500 verses. On the subject of prayer, also, about 500 verses. On the subject of money, however, we find an astounding 2,350 verses, approximately 29% of the Apostolic Scriptures. 

Why would this be? For many of us, money is intimately connected to our understanding of survival, of comfort, and is a direct representation of the fruit of our labor. Keeping all this in mind, unfortunately, we can see that our faith and our finances are closely linked together – undoubtedly warring in our heart. Paul warns us that, “The Love of money is a root for all kinds of evil.” Therefore, money can, if we are not cautious, harden our hearts to the needs of others.

What Yeshua taught. 

Yeshua often spoke of money, and its various applications, in the form of parables. He spoke of investments (Matt. 13:44-45), of savings (Matt. 13:52), of debt (Matt. 18:23-35), of earning wages (Matt. 20:1-16), of capital and interest (Matt. 25:14-30), money lending (Lk. 7:41-43), of inheritance (Lk. 15:11-32), and of the contrast between the rich and poor (Lk. 16:19-31). 

As I have addressed in previous articles on the Sermon on the Mount, earthly treasure does influence how we see and experience this world; and as we walk this life in faith with Messiah, we must be cautious to yield ourselves to the Lord God, and not to the powerful influence of money. 

Life lesson.

On my first trip to Kenya, East Africa, I became aware of a need of particular importance. My host was speaking to a gentleman that I had traveled with about a situation regarding a young man was now orphaned, and the primary provider for his four (4) younger siblings. The family had been fishermen on Lake Victoria, and both of this young man’s parents died within weeks of each other. “Steven,” who had wanted to become a teacher, then took on the burden of the family business, but was soon overwhelmed by it and he turned to drugs and alcohol. 

Having reached the bottom, he had heard of my friend Pastor Peter, who frequently took in orphans, and walked the fifty (50) miles to his house barefoot. After a time, Peter found a sponsor so that he could go to a local teachers college, and I enter the picture after the boy finished his first year, and lost his sponsor.

I had spent a considerable amount of time with “Steven,” and after I learned of his situation I pledged that I would find the money for his second year of college.  

As the Lord would have it, I was preaching at a conference on the compound of the school he attended for a week. I had met the overseer of the school and went to speak with him. He informed me that “Steven” could not return until his fee was paid, but when I guaranteed it, he admitted him marked paid in full – the money was quickly dispatched after I returned home, as my home congregation sponsored the remainder of his education.

“Steven” finished school, found a work-study position to finish a third year qualification to be licensed to teach in any Kenyan school; and when I returned in 2014, he immediately found me and before anything else, brought me to his apartment to introduce me to his wife (he married a young widow with a small daughter), and his new baby. “Steven” not only supported his wife and children, but he paid the school fees for all of his siblings. 

With a little generosity of spirit, lives were changed and bettered. 

Dear reader, individually we are not called to change the world, that is the position of Messiah, but we are called to share joyfully of what we have – and this is not limited to money – and we do this because we love the Lord more than our earthly treasures.

The longer we live in this life of faith, the more that we discover that money makes the same exclusive demands as the Lord; but while one takes of us, the other gives to us. The Lord loves a cheerful giver – one giving freely – because it is a demonstration, of not only our love for our fellow man, but also our love for Him.

Be well. Shalom.  

Idioms, O Idioms!

On By Bp. Justin ElwellIn Applied Theology2 Comments

The Song of the Mountains – Verse 43

Flashlights.

Have you ever had occasion when you needed a flashlight to see in the dark, only to find that the batteries were dead, leaving you to fumble around in the dark to find what you need or make your way? It is an unpleasant, and sometimes dangerous experience for sure. What causes the flashlight to work is that internal charge, its power-supply, the batteries. When the batteries are full, the flashlight gives off a bright light; but as they drain, the light begins to darken until its dead.

The lesson. 

In Matthew 6:22-23 Yeshua/Jesus teaches, “The eye is the lamp of the body. Therefore if your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” 

These verses are often approached from an esoteric perspective. Drawing on some hidden meaning of light, darkness, eye and lamp. What does Yeshua mean by “light” and “darkness,” “eye” and “lamp”? I submit that there is nothing inherently esoteric about these verses at all. Their meaning is rather simple, and the lesson flows in perfect harmony with the context of what Yeshua has been speaking about.

Context.

In the past two articles on the Sermon on the Mount, we have been corrected regarding what we treasure, and upon what we rest our hearts – as what we treasure will be the position from which we experience this life. Then, in the verse that follows our present subject, Matthew 6:24, Yeshua tells us that we cannot serve two masters: we cannot serve both God and money. 

The question we need to ask is this, “How do we demonstrate the location of our treasure? How do we demonstrate that we serve the Lord alone? Yeshua provides the answer, yet He does so in a way that is rather unusual to us, but well known to His audience.

Idioms. 

Yeshua uses two rather well known Hebraic idioms. Every language has idiomatic expressions, which do not often translate well into other languages. In English more than I have space to list, but as examples: “kick the bucket,” “when pigs fly,” “hit the books,” “hit the sack,” “go cold turkey,” “on the ball,” “under the weather,” etc. 

If you speak English, specifically American English, you know what these expressions mean; the imagery, however, created by these expressions is rather confusing to non-American English speakers. One idiomatic expression that I like comes from the Luo Language spoken in the lake district of Kenya, it’s the name for Kale, “sua wiki,” which means “push the week,” meaning in English terms, “I’m broke but this green stuff will get me through the week.” Yeshua is using well-known Hebraic idioms.

The eye doctor. 

The “good eye” in first-century Jewish culture meant to be content and generous; conversely, the “bad eye” meant to be discontented and stingy. 

If we are full of treasure that has been laid up and secured for us in heaven, we are content, generous, selfless and care for the condition of others. If we only care about earthly treasures, we will be discontent, stingy, selfish, and not care for the well-being of others. 

Yeshua is speaking to our inward condition, and how it affects our relation to, and outlook on the world around us. The contextual flow of Matthew 6:19-24 can be paraphrased something like this:

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth that time degrades or thieves steal. Be open handed, trusting in God, thereby laying up treasure in His heavenly depository. It is that treasure that is of real value, and infinite worth. Heavenly treasure allows your eyes to see well beyond natural sight, to the infinite worth of those around you. Earthly treasure closes your eyes as you begin to focus on the glitter of this world, not recognizing the encroaching darkness. In a daze you sleepwalk through life. Serving money, a slave to the very thing you believe you control. Lulled to sleep, the darkness deepens until the light overcomes your darkness.   

We can be abundantly blessed in this life, and never bless others. This is darkness.

We can be abundantly blessed in this life, and share that blessing with others. This is light.

So where is it? Your treasure? 

Messiah has said where our treasure is, there our heart will be. He then inquires as to our generosity – the way in which we “love our neighbor as ourselves.” This section of the Sermon on the Mount will come to a conclusion when Messiah asks us where our allegiance is: with the God’s Kingdom? Or with money? 

Dear reader, I pray that we are walking in His light, and not in the darkness of fear. 

Shalom. Be well.

A Lasting Investment

On By Bp. Justin ElwellIn Applied TheologyLeave a comment

The Song of the Mountains – Verse 42

Teach them well. 

All of us are familiar with the stresses and difficulties of adulthood, not the least of which is financial stress. As a father I have tried to teach financial conservatism by example. Making sure that we save enough, that we consider options before making purchases, and that we measure future considerations appropriately. Most of us desire to ensure that our children can take care of themselves as they leave the nest, and when needed, of course, we help them. Obviously none of us can see the future and adequately prepare for every twist and turn that life has to offer; but you pray that you prepare your children to be as responsible, and equipped as possible for the life that is before them.

The lesson. 

In Matthew 6:19-21 Messiah teaches, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in or steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” 

An important component that must be included in raising children, and the teaching of financial responsibility, is faith. We should teach them to work hard with honesty and integrity in order to support themselves and their families; but that there is a greater treasure to be found in life.

In what do we trust? 

In this lesson, Yeshua/Jesus is teaching us a valuable lesson regarding what we are placing our trust in. Now, He knows that we need financial means to live, and He is not telling us to ignore such concerns. Rather, He is speaking to us regarding treasure that does not tarnish, and cannot be stolen: heavenly treasure.

His disciples. 

One of the first things that we note in our text is this: Yeshua is speaking to us as His disciples, and that we are going to heaven, Amen! Yet, what of the earthly? In our text we find four descriptions of “earthly treasures.”

  1. Possessions: How many of us still own our first television or computer? Many things that we treasured or greatly enjoyed got old, or fell out of fashion with time. The apostle Paul wrote, “Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” The story is told of a wealthy old man on his death bed, who asked that all of his gold be brought to his bed: jewelry, coins and gold nuggets. He lay on his bed, holding the things that he treasured most, but when he died it slipped from his hands and fell to the ground. 
  2. Earthly Power: Some people have great wealth that brings with it influence over other people, as examples: Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch or Warren Buffett. Our society highly respects such people, and in many cases, stand in awe of them – but they too will die.
  3. Pleasure: There are many pleasurable things in this life, but some things are taken to excess; yet, pleasures too will end.
  4. Praise: We must be careful not to live for the praise of men, but the praise of God to one day hear, “well done, thy good and faithful servant.” 

Wealth is a blessing, but not the only blessing. 

Scripture has a favorable attitude regarding wealth; as wealth, blessing, and prosperity are an outworking of covenant blessing. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were wealthy by the Lord’s design. Job, after being tried, was blessed by the Lord with great wealth once again. Joseph of Arimathea was a wealthy and faithful man, who tended to Yeshua’s body – an act of a disciple. The apostle Paul tells us that there were “not many” wealthy people in the congregation, implying that there were some (I Cor. 1:26). 

However, wealth, and yearning for it, can become a snare. It can lead to a vain attempt to serve both God and money. After a wealthy man refuses to give up his wealth in order to follow Yeshua, He says, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” The lingering nature of the old man, with its preoccupation with wealth, can easily influence us to pursue such things under the guise of faith. Paul rightly warns that the “love of money is the root of all kinds of evil” (I Tim. 6:9-10), so it is not money itself that is evil, but the love of it; our treasure leading our hearts in this instance. 

U-Haul?

The bottom line is that earthly treasures and wealth, although not inherently bad, do not last and we cannot take them with us – have you ever seen a U-Haul behind a hearse? Having officiated at many funerals, I have yet to witness such a sight. I recall watching an interview of the chairman of Lehman Brothers back in 2008, the morning after the company collapsed, he was a billionaire the night before and bankrupt the next morning – all while he was sleeping.

Getting to the point. 

So what point am I leading us to? As followers of Messiah, we are not only living for today and the care and concerns of daily life, we must have a mindset of eternity before us as well. There is a poetic verse by Charles Studd that brings this point forward: “Only one life, t’will soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last.”

Dear reader, where your treasure is, your heart will also be there. Unfortunately, our hearts often follow our currency. The Lord, then, asks us to invest in people, in His Kingdom, both near and far, so that our hearts are always with them, and ultimately, with Him.

The deeds we do in faith, for Messiah, showing care, concern, and love to those around us, both family, friend and stranger, is deposited in our heavenly account from which no one can steal and upon which, no corruption will come. Yeshua asked, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?”

It’s a matter of faith.  

Shalom. Be well.