Tag: stewardship

Politics, Salvation, and Tzedakah

*2 Kings 15-16

*Psalm 67

*2 Corinthians 9

-Devotion by Jeremy Martin (TN) 

            The books of Kings read like a fast paced ancient soap opera, with lots of betrayals, fighting, and excitement.  In the short span of these two chapters in 2 Kings from today’s reading we see 9 different shifts of political power, including 1 guy that only lasted a month in the job (1Ki 15:13-14). There’s a LOT going on here.  These books let us know right off if we like a guy or if we don’t, as one of the first lines describing every ruler who takes power in either Israel or Judah (this was the time of the split kingdoms) says something along the lines of “…And he did what was right in the sight of Yahweh” or “…And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh” (LSB translation used for both quotes).  These books were always very interesting to me as a kid, because of all the excitement going on.

            Our modern politics get a little exciting too, occasionally.  I remember during the last American election it seemed like there was a very strong delineation in ideological beliefs, with some folks heavily leaning in one direction and some folks leaning heavily in the other.  I’m going to share my favorite verse on politics because I think it’s important to keep in mind what kingdom we aspire to be citizens of.  This is a good one to memorize, it’s found in Isaiah 8:11-13 and states:

            “11For thus Yahweh spoke to me with a strong hand and disciplined me not to walk           

              in the way of this people, saying,

       12“You are not to say, ‘It is a conspiracy!’

In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy;

And you are not to fear what they fear, and you shall not tremble.

       13It is Yahweh of hosts whom you should regard as holy.

And He shall be your fear,

And He shall be your cause of trembling.” (LSB Translation)

            Focus on the important things, in other words.  So sure, things might be getting exciting in the local political arena.   There may be mud slinging, drama, excitement, slander, conspiracies, etc going on, but what we need to remember politically is that God’s got this.  All these things will happen according to God’s will, and God’s plan, and we know according to scripture that it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better.  Don’t get too caught up in it.  I’m not saying don’t vote, or care, I’m saying our focus needs to be on God.  It does not behoove us as followers of Christ to focus overmuch in the politics of this kingdom, but rather to focus on seeking first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness. 

            I did want to briefly point out a verse in our Psalms reading today, because it’s just so cool.  I have mentioned this in passing before, but the name of Jesus (Yehushua, or Yeshua for short) means literally “salvation” or “Yahweh saves”.  So when we get to our reading  in Ps 67:2 today it says “That Your way may be known on the earth, Your salvation (יְשׁוּעָתֶֽךָ׃ , “Yeshuateka”) among all the nations.”.  It literally is telling us that God’s Yeshua will be known among all the nations.  Read that in context with the entire chapter.  This is the ultimate foreshadowing.  Pretty cool, isn’t it?!  For a similar use of Yeshua in prophetic foreshadowing also check out Isaiah 49:6.  He reveals to us His plans in advance, it’s pretty awesome.

            We’re going to really focus in on our 2 Corinthians 9 reading today and being a good steward of the blessings that God’s given you, because it very much highlights a concept that is critical but largely ignored in the Christian community, and I firmly believe that it is a necessary information/practice (based on a number of scriptures) to enter into God’s kingdom, so please take note!  This is probably going to be a new word for you, but what I’m talking about is Tzedakah.  A (bad) translation of Tzedakah would be “Charity”, but that doesn’t come even close to covering the full flavor or meaning of the term.  Here’s (some of) what Wikipedia says about it (and I encourage you to look this up yourself as well, there are even some Youtube videos on the subject):

WIKIPEDIA: “…Tzedakah (Tzedaka) refers to the religious obligation to do what is right and just, which Judaism emphasizes as an important part of living a spiritual life. Unlike voluntary philanthropy, tzedakah is seen as a religious obligation that must be performed regardless of one’s financial standing, and so is mandatory even for those of limited financial means.  Tzedakah is considered to be one of the three main acts that can positively influence an unfavorable heavenly decree.

The word tzedakah is based on the Hebrew (צדק‎,Tzedeq), meaning

“righteousness, fairness,or justice

            The concept of tzedaka is completely intertwined with the concepts of righteousness, equity, mercy, and justice: so much so that you can almost substitute each word with one of the others listed above when you see any of them in the scriptures, if tzedeq is the root word (it usually is).  There are hundreds of instances like this in scripture, but most of the time we translate it into english as “Righteousness”, or “Justice” and completely ignore the deeper spiritual aspect of “Mercy”, but they are all inseparably intertwined!  Charity isn’t what it’s talking about, specifically.  I’ll try to elaborate a little for a better understanding.

            God has given you an abundance of gifts.  He has given these gifts to each of us in varying degrees, but all blessings have come from God (James 1:17).  You didn’t earn that, God gave it to you. Everything and everyone on this earth belongs to God, and He has chosen to share some with you (Ps 24:1).  Now if you think that God gave you that blessing so you could hoard it up and lord it over your fellow creation (like most of us tend to think nowadays) you would be 100% wrong: He gave us gifts so that we could share them and by so doing honor our God. 

            Jesus himself actually commands us to “give to any who ask” in Matt 5:42.  This is not  about charity, this is about radical generosity as a proof of your faith, rooted in the trust of God’s provison and a desire to honor Him and reflect His unconditional love to the rest of your fellow creation.  This is an opportunity to model a working faith and trust in our God.  This is not an option.  See James 5:1-5, and begin to understand in no uncertain terms that this is a command by God.  It is God’s expectation of you that when your cup runneth over, you splash it around, in other words.  As an indication of importance, each of our other sister religions, our fellow “Children of the Book” (consisting of Jews, Christians, and Muslims), each have a word and a religious requirement to do this.  Oddly, we don’t.  Please, do not let the money you’ve kept in your pockets weigh you down so much that you can’t enter into the kingdom of Heaven.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

  1. Which kingdom are you more focused on, the one you’re living in, or the one coming?  Follow up question: How’s that working out for you?
  2. Do you currently practice tzedakah (even if you didn’t know the word, before)? Why?
  3. How can we do better?

PRAYER

Father God, from Your generous hand has come all of our many blessings, which we have not deserved or earned.   Father, forgive us the times when we have been selfish, and help us to change our hearts to become better servants and an example of Your love to those around us, to everyone we know and to everyone we meet.  In Jesus name, Amen.

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How Important Is Money?

As a Christian, what am I supposed to think about money?  Do I need to give all my money away to the poor?  Can I take a vacation?  How much should I give to the church?  I know money can buy a lot of useful things, such as food, shelter, Bibles, church buildings, etc., but how hard should I work to earn money?  How much money do I need?  Can I put a steak on the grill when I know there are so many people starving?  These questions were gnawing at me because I wanted to do the right thing, but I wasn’t sure what the proper Christian perspective regarding money was.  Therefore, several years ago I set out to find as many answers as I could in the Bible.  I thought of every money term I could think of and looked up every verse I could find with those words.  I found a lot of answers that I would like to share with you this week.

I think many Christians are ultra-concerned about money.  They want to be good stewards with what God has given them.  They know they can do a lot of good with their money, so it becomes very important to them.  I used to think the same way, but my mindset shifted after I completed my study, and I no longer think money is that important.  Don’t get me wrong, we need money to survive, and we can do God’s work with the money we have, but our focus just shouldn’t be on money.  I find it weird to talk a whole week about something I don’t think is very important, but I think it is very important to get our thoughts about money right.

Money is a salvation issue.  Luke 16:13-15 says we can’t serve both God and money.  You must choose one or the other.  1 Timothy 6:6-10 warns that money is the root of all kinds of evil.  I think we have all seen and probably experienced how money can lead to sin.  Have you ever stolen something?  Have you ever cheated on your taxes by increasing a charitable deduction or not even paying taxes on money you have earned?  Have you ever spent your money foolishly on worldly things?  Are you so driven to make money because there is so much pleasure to buy in this world?  These verses tell us that our salvation is lost if money becomes too important to us.

Proverbs 23:1-8 was very confusing to me at first, but once my eyes were opened, it really helped me form my view about money.  The story is about dining with a ruler who provides all sorts of great food and dining with a stingy man who cuts corners with the meal to save money.  The verses say that both situations should be avoided.  It was easy to understand why eating with the rich man and giving in to gluttony was wrong, but why would it be so wrong to try to be prudent with your money and not overspend on a meal for your guests?  I had to read this several times before it hit me that the problem with the begrudging host was that he thought money was too important, even though he may not have had much of it.  Today we call this person “cheap”.  It might seem like you are being a good steward with your money by buying cheaper things, looking for all the deals, cutting coupons, etc., but it may also be a sign that money is too important to you.  I’m not saying you should never use a coupon or look for a great deal, but the point is that you want to be sure that money is not your master.

Psalm 49:5-20 points out the obvious, you can’t take it with you when you die.  Money is quite meaningless when you consider the big picture, living in a Kingdom for eternity.  You can work hard to make a lot of money and buy a lot of stuff, but it is all quite useless to you when you die.  Jesus was asked in Matthew 22:17-22 about paying taxes to Caesar.  He pointed out that it was Caesar’s image on the coin and told them to give back to Caesar what is his and give to God what is his.  It doesn’t sound like Jesus thought money was very important.

Hopefully you are realizing that money is not important, but you still might be thinking, “Hey, everyone needs some money to live in this world.”  That is true, and I think Proverbs 30:7-9 sums it up very well where our mindset should be.  Agur, son of Jakeh, asked the Lord to neither make him rich or poor, but just to give him his daily bread.  He didn’t want to make so much that he would disown God, and he didn’t want to be too poor and steal.  That seems like a pretty good place to be; you have what you need to live comfortably so your focus is not on money.

-Rick McClain

While our devotions this week will be following the important topic of not focusing on money – and having a proper attitude toward and use of our finances, if you’ve been using the Bible reading plan, keep it up! What important lessons are you finding? Today’s Bible reading plan passages can be read or listened to at BibleGateway.com here – Isaiah 47-48 and 1 Timothy 5

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Make Better Investments

Matthew 25:14-30

Matt 25 21

Today we are talking about the New Year’s resolution of making better investments. This is a common resolution in the world whether people are people of faith or not. However I am going to talk about faith investments, more than monetary investments. Yes finances and being responsible are important in our lives and in our faith, however we need to be able to ask God for guidance in all areas of our lives including that one and we need to be flexible enough to listen to him.

At the start of the New Year one of my friends asked God, “Where and in whom should I invest my time, in 2018?” My thought was this, invest your time in the people who will give your time more meaning than just the time that they spend with you. Yes sometimes it is nice to have friends and family who will spend time with you, without there being a specific reason or purpose. However, you need to truly invest your time and energy in the people who will do something big with that time, not necessarily for you but maybe for them and their future. Today we are reading from Matthew 25:14-30. This passage is the parable of the talents. It is about the Master who gave 3 servants different number of talents, which were a type of coin. One was given 5, one was given 2, and one was given 1. The one with 5 invested them and doubled the money. The second servant did the same. The last servant buried the 1 talent in the ground, he did not even put it in the bank to at least collect interest. The first servant proved himself and so the master gave him even more, but to the last servant he gave him nothing, and he actually threw him out into the darkness where there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (That seems a little harsh to me, but the reality is life can be pretty difficult sometimes.)

I take a few things from this parable. 1.) Make smart choices and smart investments in your life, and take care of things that people entrust you with. The servants who made their master happy increased the master’s wealth, but they also did not lose the money that he gave them because they were proactive and took care of what they were entrusted with. The servant who did not make his master happy, did nothing with what he was given. This is what we should pay attention to. God gives us a lot of things. He gave us a life to live, and he has a plan for each of us. If you are not listening to him, how are you taking care of the gift that he has given you? If you are not taking care of the earth, and being conscious of how your actions affect other people and other creatures, how can you be taking care of a gift that was given to you? You are not. Think about this as you go about your daily life. How can you take care of the life you have been given? How can you listen to and follow God’s plan for your life?

2.) Invest in the people who are going to give you more than just time. Invest in the people who are going to give you wholesome friendships. Invest in the people that push you to be a better person, and those who hold you accountable to the things that you see. Invest in people who will push you in your relationship with God, and invest in those who will support you when you fall. We are imperfect beings and we will fall short sometimes. We will not always meet others’ expectations of us, God’s expectations or even our own expectations. Those will be difficult moments, but they will be easier to face if we have surrounded ourselves with people who will support us. It will also be easier if we have nurtured those relationships and given them the time that they deserve.

3.) Invest in God. This seems simple, and you’re probably going to guess what I am going to say. A relationship with God is not a one way street. You can not accept that Jesus is your savior and the son of God, and that God is one and only God, and not do anything else. You have to live a life with works. James 2:17 “Even so, faith, if it does not have works, is dead in itself.” This means investing in time in prayer, and in time in the word, and even in time with other believers in fellowship. Find little ways to do more of these in your daily life. Later in the week we will talk more about how to do more in the investment of your relationship with God, as we enter into this new year.

-Jana Swanson