Materialism, greed, generosity, and stewardship

Last week we examined the sin of idolatry and concluded by asking if every square inch of your existence was submitted to God. Before we start, take a moment to think back to that question and ask the Lord once again to show you any areas of your life that you’ve kept back from him.

All of us have blind spots; areas of our lives where we see our sin a little less clearly. For many in our country, materialism is perhaps the most blatant blind spot. After all, we live in a culture that prizes independence and the idea of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.

And there’s nothing inherently wrong with either concept. In many ways, much of America’s greatness is tied to those impulses. However, they come with a downside, and that’s where we’re going to spend our time today.

Is God your top priority?

Tied to idolatry is materialism and greed. For example, God said of Israel, “Their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures; their land is filled with horses, and there is no end to their chariots” (Isaiah 2:7). Note what comes next: “Their land is filled with idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their own fingers have made” (v. 8). Consequently, “Man is humbled, and each one is brought low” (v. 9).

As another example: When the Jewish people returned from their Babylonian exile to Judah in 538 BC, they began rebuilding the temple but soon abandoned the work. The Lord raised up the prophet Haggai to ask them, “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?” (Haggai 1:4). He added, “My house . . . lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house” (v. 9).

As a result, “the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors” (Haggai 1:10–11). In response, the leaders and people “obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet” (v. 12) and rebuilt the temple, and God promised, “I will fill this house with glory . . . And in this place I will give peace” (Haggai 2:7, 9).

Why God blessed America

When people worship what they make and own, “each one is brought low” (Isaiah 2:9). By contrast, sacrificial generosity is applauded and rewarded by our Lord.

Jesus himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). He promised, “Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:38).

I have a friend who serves as a pastor in Cuba. He once told me that he believes God has blessed America so America’s Christians could bless the world. His thesis illustrates Jesus’s promise and encourages us to remember Solomon’s maxim, “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed” (Proverbs 19:17).

Jesus said as much in his famous parable of the sheep and the goats:

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” Then the righteous will answer him, saying, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?” And the King will answer them, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:31–40)

By contrast, Jesus warned, those who did not care for those in need “did not do it to me” (Matthew 25:45). As a consequence, “these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (v. 46).

“The only safe rule” for giving

Helping others is one of the best ways to guard against the sin of materialism and to make sure that everything we have belongs to God. Now, it’s vital that the Holy Spirit remain in charge of letting us know which needs we are called to meet, but learning to say yes when God tells us to help will teach us how to say yes to God in other areas of our lives as well.

When we are faithful to use the possessions entrusted to us for God’s purposes, we will hear our Master say, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21). This call to generosity applies to Americans, and to America as well. I am convinced that God blesses our nation in proportion to our work in blessing those in need, both at home and around the world, and that our nation’s Christians should set the standard by paying forward the grace we have received from our Lord.

In Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis raised the question of how much we ought to give to charity, then answered it: “I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare.”

Do you agree?

Faith of the Founders

John Hancock and the Stewardship of Life

John Hancock was born in 1736 to the Rev. John and Mary Hancock, but he was soon orphaned. However, he was adopted by his childless uncle Thomas, who was an extremely successful businessman. Hancock attended Harvard, then became a partner in his uncle’s business. When his uncle died in 1765, Hancock inherited his entire fortune.

He was reputed to be the wealthiest man in New England, but he used his resources for the larger cause of liberty at great personal risk to himself. He became head of the Town Committee in Boston, then president of the Provincial Congress, before being elected president of the Second Continental Congress. He was famously the first to sign the Declaration of Independence, affixing his name so boldly as to make himself a clear enemy of the Crown.

In 1780, he became president of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention, served as governor of the state from 1780 to 1785 and 1787 to 1793, and presided over the Massachusetts Convention to ratify the US Constitution. He died in 1793 while still governor.

A lifelong member of the Brattle Street (Congregationalist) Church in Boston, Hancock frequently employed arguments from Scripture to justify America’s revolution and described the colonies’ quest for independence with providential language. During his time as governor of Massachusetts, he regularly thanked God for blessing its citizens, urged them to repent of their sins, and used the biblical principles of fairness and justice as the foundation for his policies.

In 1775, as president of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, Hancock issued a call for “a Day of Public Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer . . . to confess the sins . . . to implore the Forgiveness of all our Transgression . . . and a blessing on the Husbandry, Manufactures, and other lawful Employments of this People . . . and that AMERICA may soon behold a gracious Interposition of Heaven.”

He repeatedly asserted that God is sovereign over human affairs and reassured Americans of the Lord’s many blessings. In an appeal to the states in September 1776, he stated, “Under the gracious smiles of Providence, assisted by our own most strenuous endeavors, we shall finally succeed.” In 1782, he assured members of the Massachusetts legislature that the “favor of heaven” would eventually establish America’s righteous claims.

Hancock was convinced that “resistance to tyranny becomes the Christian and social duty of each individual.” Accordingly, he encouraged Americans to “continue steadfast and, with a proper sense of your dependence on God, nobly defend those rights which heaven gave, and no man ought to take from us.”

Hancock could issue such exhortations from positions of such public influence because he utilized his enormous wealth and resources in causes greater than himself, risking his life and fortune to do so. For example, Paul Revere embarked on his famous ride to Boston to warn Hancock and Samuel Adams that the British were coming to arrest them. They got the news in time and escaped with their lives.

In advocating for Massachusetts to adopt the US Constitution, John Hancock famously asserted, “We must all rise or fall together.”

Let us employ our best resources to this high purpose, to the glory of God.

 

 

Denison Forum