Kingdom Response to Things II
Mathew
13:44-46; 19:20-26
Horatio
Spafford was a nineteenth century Christian lawyer credited for writing the
hymn ‘when sorrow like sea billows roll whatever my lot. It is well; it is well with my soul.’ He lost
his son, a little later his real estate properties in the Great Chicago fire
and had just lost his four daughters in a ship collision, all within about two
years. He penned the song on a boat to see his wife who had survived the ship collision.
This man had not only lost material wealth but also loved ones. How could he dare sing ‘It is well’? How
could he have such inner fortitude and uncommon perspective to his losses? We proved
his attachment to God was stronger than to things the world could afford. He did not always understand his situations
but was always confident that God loved him and everything good came from God.
That freed him from fear and buckling under loss.
The key
to stewardship is obedience to God. Obedience was the responsibility for Adam
in the Garden of Eden. Believers’ primary responsibility is faith in Christ’s
obedience. That faith produces transformation that facilitates their personal obedience.
Some bondage in life will not go just by praying, having hands laid on you,
attending meetings or church activities but by obeying God’s word and
principles. Adam lost eternal life by disobedience regarding things. The last
Adam, Jesus, regained eternal life by obedience regarding things (Mathew
4).
You will
never know true happiness until you live your life applying things completely
for him. As George Beverly Shea song based on Rhea F. Miller poem says, ‘I
would rather have Jesus than silver or gold, than houses and lands, than to be
king of a vast kingdom.’ Attachment to
Jesus requires detachment from all else (Philippians 3:8; Mathew 16:26). It
requires love dedicated to God (Mathew 22:37; 1 John 2:15). The reason being, everything else comes short
of eternity’s requirements. Everything else disappoints in the end. Everything
else fails to satisfy the quest of the soul for meaning and completeness. Everything else is vanity as Solomon
discovered (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Material things however are not evil in
themselves otherwise; God who owns the earth including all the gold and silver
would not be holy. However they are the
root of evil when they divert love for God (1 Timothy 6:10).
To be
free from attachment to things and money you need to:
1) Understand that what you gain in God is
much more than all you have
Jesus
likened the benefits of the kingdom of heaven with treasure and a pearl of such
great value that a person sacrificed everything else he/she has to gain it
(Mathew 13:44-46). Gaining the treasure
made every loss insignificant and losing it made every gain insignificant in
comparison (Mathew 16:26). However, to find the kingdom treasure the person had
to hunger and search for it. Those searching for kingdom treasure find it and
prove its incomparable worth. They become aware of how God graciously allowed humanity
to shortchange him infinitely. As a result, they voluntarily let go of
everything they have to obtain kingdom treasure. Attachment to tangible or intangible things is
eyes closed to treasure the things keep from you.
Jesus
tried to help a young man who wanted to know what else was required for him to
inherit eternal life after having obeyed all the law (Mathew 19:20-26). Jesus
said that he still needed to sell all he had, give it to the poor and be his
follower. The young man went away sorrowful because he had great possessions (v
21-22). The young man had embraced the letter of the law but missed the spirit
of it. He had the frame of the law but lacked the heart of it. He had the bone and flesh without the life of
the law. The lesson is if your religious and church commitments fail to detach your
heart from things, you have missed the essence of it all.
Jesus
explained to his disciples how hard it was for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God
2) Understand that what you do with things reveals
your spiritual condition and prospects
What you
do with your things:
- Shows your thankfulness to God
- Is a barometer of your love for God
- Exposes your source of confidence
- Reveals the level of your faith in
God
- Tells your level of commitment to
God’s work
- Governs what God can trust you with
(Luke 16:8-13)
If you do
not use your gold to build the tabernacle of God, you will build a golden calf with
it. Exodus 32:24. 1 Timothy 6:17-19.
3) Understand that the power of aligning with
God’s principles concerning things
God gave
people things not to displace himself but to provide instruments for worship
and tools for his service. Things serve
this purpose through the following principles:
i) Principle of
common good. What God created was for the benefit of
everyone. Land, vegetation, water, animals, atmosphere, space, minerals, sunshine,
etc should benefit local communities. All created things and those produced by
humans should be shared justly. Personal possessions give responsibility to
share and should not serve self-interests only.
Stewardship
is looking at the interests of others also.
It includes giving to church and to community. God measures social
justice where advantage interfaces with the poor, hurting and marginalized/disadvantaged
in a society. Sharing should however not only be to give relief but to develop
through training and giving access to opportunities. Bear in mind that most of
politics and conflicts are about distribution and power to control
resources/ideas.
2) Principle of investment
and inheritance.
What God created is to be cared for and increased for future generations. One
of the marks of the righteous is that they leave an inheritance for their
children and grand children (Proverbs 13:22a). Investing in God’s work, includes wisely investing/applying what you
have for example in business enterprise for a return.
Stewardship
has implications going beyond one’s lifetime. You are either building something or digging graves for future generations. Aim to leave something positive for future
generations. If you destroy and waste the earth’s resources today, it will harm
your children and grandchildren. Believers ought therefore to care about environmental sustainability beginning
with how they look after their possessions and immediate environments at home
and office. Then be an example in contributing solutions to problems of global
warming, atmospheric pollution, soil erosion, and other environmental concerns.
3) Principle of souls
and eternity.
Most importantly, one should steward things for eternal returns. You cannot
trade your soul for anything else. Stewardship is deeper than giving your
things and looking after things it is about giving yourself (2 Corinthians
8:5). It is about interest in the bigger scheme of what God is doing on earth –
winning souls, building people in their faith, planting churches and
transforming communities.
You enjoy
kingdom economics by bringing the first, best and complete 10% of what you
receive for the work of God’s house (Leviticus 22:22; Mathew 6:33; Proverbs
3:9-10; 1 Kings 17:13; Malachi 3:10). In God's economy sowing precedes reaping,
and giving precedes receiving (Philippians 4:15). Aligning your economics with
kingdom principles therefore activates kingdom dynamics/power for overflow
(Malachi 3:10-12). Kingdom economic
principles release kingdom power. Giving is not only a sign of faith but also a
way to release faith and blessings for all other areas. An open purse is an
open heaven. Closed hand is a closed heaven.
The
quality of giving to God is determined by the attitude and priority of the
giver. God’s interest is not on the gift but the giver. He loves a cheerful
giver - one without resentment, heavy heart, regret, and complaining. Kingdom
economic principles work by sowing that brings a harvest. The law of giving and
receiving is universal (Philippians 4:15). Jesus commends the degree of
sacrifice not just the amount you give (Mark 12:43-44). It is about bringing
what you have not the lots you do not have. God said ‘none shall appear before
me empty’ (Exodus 34:20). Your gift to him paves the way for favor from him. When
you give, your best expect his best harvest.
Economics
in the world is about managing production and exchange of goods and services in
an environment with scarce resources. Kingdom economics operates on the premise
of seed faith in giving, receiving and investing in a spiritual environment
where there is no lack. Faith is the currency in God’s economy. Faith and natural resources only made
Adam wealthy – he had no bank account, and
no credit card. The economy has no inflation, no deficit, no depression,
no inefficiencies, no wastages, no corruption, no lack, no exclusion, no risk, no depletion, and no
decay. Jesus came not just to restore relationships but all things. That is why
you can always recover and flourish (Psalm 92:12). He turns your losses to profit.
Message by Dr. Kurai Chitima.
Faith
Ministries – Johannesburg
Faith Life
Center
Ground
and First Floors Sunset
Bay Building
204B
Bram Fischer drive,
Randburg,
Johannesburg , South Africa
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