Continuing my ongoing look at what the Bible has to say about money, wealth and poverty, I turn today to Jesus' Sermon on the Mount as found in Matthew. We've looked at Luke's version of part of this, but Matthew adds something to the story. If you are new to visiting here, you can find links to all of these looks at the Bible and Economy on the left below. My goal is to eventually have a fairly exhaustive list of all that the Bible has to say on these topics, but that may take a while.
From Matthew 5 and 6, Jesus' own words...
Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.
Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.
Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.
~Matthew 5: 23-26
You have heard that it was said, 'AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.'
But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.
If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also.
Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two.
Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.
~Matthew 5: 38-42
Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.
So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.
But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing
~Matthew 6: 1-3
Pray, then, in this way:
'Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [some texts add: For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]'
For if you forgive others for their transgressions [literally, debts], your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions [literally, debts].
~Matthew 6: 9-15
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 your heart will be also...
No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other You cannot serve God and wealth.
For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?
And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?
And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.
But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!
Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?'
For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Creator knows that you need all these things.
But seek first God's kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
~Matthew 6: 19-34
12 comments:
A couple of notes:
1. I think it important here especially to remember to whom Jesus was speaking: The poor and relatively poor, marginalized Jews of a Roman-occupied Jerusalem, under the thumb of both the Romans and the Jewish elite who often worked with the Romans.
2. It is important to remember that this is shortly after (if I'm not mistaken) Jesus' Jubilee proclamation - I have come to proclaim good news to the poor, release for the captives, etc.
3. I think it significant to note that Jesus twice said, "WHEN you give to the poor..." as if it were a foregone presumption.
4. I think the authority with which he asserts such blank commands as "DO NOT store up treasures here..." "you can not serve both God and money..." Pick your sides, but do so well, he is saying.
5. But it is not just the authoritative commands to not store up treasures, there is also the loving reasons why, "who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?
And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself..."
Great stuff.
First, may I say how sorry I am that some doofus is spoiling a good thing with the whole Ann Coulter nonsense (I take Alan's advice, and will not mention that one's name again).
As far as these verses from Matthew are concerned, I do not wish to sound like a braggart, but in truth, I have lived my life this way. I should say, my wife and I do so. This is not to say we don't sometimes scratch our heads at bill-paying time, or have had to ask for help. Everyone does these things. I just refuse to get so caught up in that game. Somehow, we have managed to muddle through, and have had an abundance of affirmations that ours is the path for us.
Of course, as our current national economy hovers on the brink of utter collapse, I find myself far more worried than I have ever been in my entire life. Yet, to what end is that worry? Should I lose my job, we will do what have to do to keep going; should the church go bankrupt and Lisa find herself out of work, we will do what we have to do to keep going. Not because we believe it will be easy, and certainly not with the thought that God wants nothing to do with us, or has abandoned us. Even the most frightening part of life have us deep within the sheltering wing of the Most High. Isn't that the lesson of the 23rd Psalm?
What's with all the scripture?
Do you think that posting of other people's thoughts is somehow helpful to your position? How so?
I love our resident coward, Ann.
The scriptures are there because I like what the Bible says. Because I am a Christian, a follower of Christ and these are the Christ's words, or at least a record of them.
You ask this question, I suppose, in reference to my asking you why you'd post Ann whatshername. My response is I post this passage because I am a follower of Christ.
Does that mean you are a follower of Coulter? Has Coulter saved your mortal soul? Is that why you'd anonymously and rudely go to someone else's blog and repeatedly post something dozens of times that you've been asked not to post? Because she is your goddess?
And I am still waiting for an original thought - ANY original thought from our Annie.
And I know, I know I should not engage in conversation with trolls, sometimes I can't help myself.
Whenever this comes up, I generally like to mention how many Sodomites are on Wall Street. It always creates some 'dynamic' conversation.
Ezekiel 16:49
"'Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy"
Yeah, but that was only God speaking. What does God know about the "sin of Sodom?" My childhood pastor knew better...
I started to publish an on-topic comment from our anonymous troll friend, but decided that I shan't publish anymore from her, at least not until an apology is offered for her actions and assurances that she can behave like an adult in the future.
So, Ann Onamouse, if you'd truly like to have a conversation, them are the rules. I'm a forgiving guy, but I do have some parameters on decent behavior here and yours was childish and ugly to the extreme. The ball is in your court.
I have always had a problem reconciling my recollections of verses from the Bible with the words and actions of what now passes for social conservatives (which I have referred to as social liberals and if they go really to the extreme with patriotism then they move to the category of fascists) I maybe conservative but I am also a christian and I cannot match those two and come up with social conservatism....so keep up the good work!
Tao,
Most of what passes for social conservatism is merely right wing politics with a Bible waved in the air.
Something I like to point out is that the exact same word used for man lying with man 'abomination' is the word used for interest bearing loans. yes, taking interest is an 'abomination' before God.
So wonder when those right wing guys are going to protest the credit card companies? ;)
I love the Sermon on the Mount, Dan.
Chapter 6 in particular points out a progression of doing acts of righteousness for the wrong reasons - selfishness, greed, and fear.
Even the poor among us get caught up in doing deeds "to be honored by men" or trying to serve "God and money" or "worrying about our life" - what we eat, drink or wear.
How much more of a temptation are these for those of us with disposable income?
The good news about so much of biblical economics is the ongoing theme of God's abundance despite our selfishness, greed and fear.
It IS such a lovely, powerful teaching, Roger. I love it, too. Sometimes I fear it a bit, in its rugged honesty and lofty ideals, but then there is that loving grace that is so evident in the words of Jesus, that I can't fear it too awfully bad.
Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?
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