Money

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:1-6).

Early one spring, a sailing ship with about a hundred passengers was wrecked on an island deep in the South Seas. Thankfully everyone made it ashore safely, along with enough food to live on for several months. Even better, they were able to salvage quite a few bags of seed that were ready for planting. But the men had barely started making their survival plans when someone discovered gold on the island. Everyone began to dig and pan furiously, heaping up gold for themselves and forgetting all about the seed and the need to get it planted. When the fall winds began to blow and the cold of winter settled over the island, there was no harvest and they all died of starvation.

If there is anything that defines America, it’s our money. Americans earn and spend more money than any other nation on earth. Every day we are bombarded with commercials, advertisements and billboards urging us to spend our money on some product or service. Many people even regard shopping as a form of entertainment, something you do for fun.

And speaking of fun with money, let’s not overlook gambling. In America, even the poorest among us can scrape together a few bucks for a poker game or to purchase a lottery ticket. We have so much money that we are comfortable simply playing games with it.

Not that everyone treats their money frivolously. More than ever before, Americans are investing in stocks, mutual funds, and commodities. Many people are online every day managing their portfolios, making adjustments in response to every fluctuation in the market. Making and managing money is the focal point of their lives.

Of course not everyone has lots of money to play around with. Even in America, we have homeless people living in cars and city parks. We have poor people crammed into tenements who cannot afford to pay for heat or electricity or water. We have people on fixed incomes who often have to decide between three meals a day or filling their prescriptions.

Given these circumstances, it is not surprising that there is jealously and conflict in our land. There are only so many high-paying jobs to be had; is it any surprise that friends are willing to stab each other in the back when competing for a juicy promotion? When advertisers tell us how much we need their products in order to be happy, is it any wonder that people break into stores to steal what they can’t afford to buy?

Even though there is a lot of money in our country, there can never be enough to satisfy everyone’s desires. But consider this: what do you really need to spend money on? Your diet doesn’t need soda pop, bottled water, or liquor; you can eat more economically if you cook from scratch instead of buying microwave dinners. You don’t need designer clothing, and you can make the clothes you already have last longer by repairing rips instead of throwing torn garments away. A home doesn’t need a recreation room or a yard planted with grass instead of fruits and vegetables. The car that takes you to work and church doesn’t have to have power seats or a DVD player.

Our lives are filled with luxuries that we think we must have—but odds are that our grandparents and great grandparents got along just fine without them. They lived full and happy lives, content with having a full stomach, warm clothes, a place to sleep that was sheltered from bad weather, and the means to reach both church and market. Was their way of life more difficult than ours? Probably. But are we happier than they were? I wouldn’t bet on it.

Having money is no guarantee of happiness. In today’s Epistle lesson, James warns us of the conflicts that can come from making money your priority: You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. Remember that word from the Ten Commandments, "covet"? It means wanting something so much that you can hardly think about anything else. You want it so badly that you are willing to fight over it; you might consider stealing it if you can avoid getting caught. When two people covet the same thing, trouble quickly follows.

And how long do the things you covet actually satisfy you? How long before your designer clothes go out of fashion? How long before the next new car model comes out with a bunch of new features? How long before you need to add to your collection or want to head back to the casino? Coveting is a hunger that never stays fed for very long.

In 1st Timothy chapter six, Paul warns us about the problems caused by money: the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. Money can actually get between us and our God. Jesus said, No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money (Matthew 6:24).

How does this happen? If you are willing to bad mouth someone so that you can get a fat promotion, your love for money has resulted in breaking the 8th commandment. If you cheat on your income taxes to keep some extra cash in your pocket, your love for money has broken the seventh commandment. If you get into a fight with a loved one over an old debt, your love of money has broken the fifth commandment and destroyed an important relationship as well. If you throw a temper tantrum because your parents won’t buy you a certain toy, you have now broken the fourth commandment.

God does not want us to tell lies about other people or steal from them. He does not want us fighting with each other or disrespecting our parents. But coveting can lead to even worse behavior. If you can’t pry open your wallet to support the Church, then you are breaking the first commandment, because you love money more than the God who gave it to you.

God gives us money, but not to blow it all on ourselves. Holy Scripture tells us how God’s money is properly used. In the first three verses of Luke chapter 8, notice how the women used their assets. Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases…These women were helping to support them out of their own means. This was a God-pleasing use of money.

The gospel of Mark chapter 12 records the ultimate example of such devotion: Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything--all she had to live on."

All she had to live on—we can scarcely imagine giving to the Church in this way. What was she thinking, putting everything she had in the collection box? I’ll tell you what she was thinking. She had her priorities straight. She looked at her life and what she could do with it over the next few days. She looked at the work of the Temple and what it could do over the next few days. She could eat another couple of meals before her money ran out and she died, or the House of God could be supported in offering forgiveness to sinners and peace with God that leads to heaven. In her mind, it was no choice at all. Her sins were forgiven and she had God’s promise of eternal life; far better to help God’s servants bring that message of salvation to others, than to squander her last coins on making herself comfortable.

What is your giving like? Does the Lord only get your spare change? Consider God’s words spoken through the prophet Malachi (chapter three): Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, `How do we rob you?' In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse--the whole nation of you--because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this…and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.

You may have gone through lean times. Maybe that’s your situation right now. And maybe you have even asked God for help with your finances, but things haven’t changed. Of course I can’t know God’s will for you, but I can point you back to James where he says: You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. Don’t be disappointed that even though you’ve prayed and prayed, you can’t come up with the money for that fancy new car you want. Don’t assume God isn’t listening just because He doesn’t shower you with earthly gifts. God does love you—loves you so much that He sent His Son to suffer and die to free you from your sins. And God is often very generous. But He does not give you money just so you can have a good time with it. You receive money so that you can use it to serve God.

In 1st Corinthians chapter 16, Paul suggests how we should manage our money to honor God. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. Notice when Paul says to set aside money—on the first day of every week, in other words, on Sunday. And not just on the weeks when you are in church, but every week. Paul goes on to say, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. If you miss church one week because you were sick, then next week bring double the offering. Plan your giving on 52 weeks a year, whether you are present every Sunday or not.

But how much should you give? Paul suggests, a sum of money in keeping with his income; the King James Version puts it this way: as God hath prospered him. If God has given you a large income, then it would be appropriate to give a considerable amount of money. Remember that Jesus said, From everyone who has been given much, much will be expected (Luke 12:48). But if God is giving you just enough to get by, then you should give to the Church accordingly.

In the Old Testament, every believer was expected each year to give God 10% of his income before taxes. However, in the New Testament that rule has been changed. God has given us a new standard for measuring the size of our donations, which is given in 2nd Corinthians chapter 9: Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. His takes us back to the widows we discussed earlier. They did not give of their money because they were pressured to, they did not give to curry favor with Jesus. They gave because they wanted to. They loved the work that God does through His son: freeing the guilty from their shame, filling despairing hearts with hope, reaching out to the sick and poor, and bringing the promise of heaven to the dying. They loved the Lord for giving generously to them, and that love showed itself in their support of God’s work here on earth. They were indeed ‘cheerful givers.’

So let go of your love for money and all the problems such misspent love results in. Dedicate your money to God; use it to show Him how thankful you are for His great generosity to you.