WAR ENDED, VICTORY DECLARED!

 

Proverbs 22: 1--2, [7-]-9, [16,] 22--23    [suggested]

           

The topic of these selected verses is not money, but the proper use of it.  The underlying theme touches on personal priorities.  Being rich, having wealth and possessions are not per se sinful; where people fall is in their attitude toward them.  The allure of gold is stronger than that of self-esteem; the desire for silver greater than that for inner peace.  Madison Avenue and Wall Street prey (and thrive) on this human tendency.

 

·        The Word of God says:

            Repute is preferable to great wealth,

            Grace is better than silver and gold. (1)

So which are you going to listen to?

 

Psalm 125

           

·        But those who in their crookedness act corruptly,

                let the LORD make them go the way of evildoers. (5)

           

The verses from Proverbs make it plain that money can-- but does not necessarily-- corrupt.  The person possessing (or craving) wealth has control over the matter.  Today's Proverbs and Psalms provide warnings, in hope of giving the individual strength to resist the awful temptation in this struggle that never ceases.  Moment by moment, each day, we face choices.  What are our priorities?  What value system are they based on?

 

James 2: 1-[-4, 8--9, 12-]-17[1] [suggested]

           

The words: For instance, (2) indicate that the visitors to your worship service, rich and poor, are an example, a parable on James' opening teaching: you must always be impartial. (1)  This impacts on our attitude toward wealth, our own as well as that of others.  The Apostle's example shows how they are related: we desire gold so that we may be the recipients of preferential treatment and honor by other people.  We follow the folly of this world's wisdom: money "buys" a good reputation.  God's wisdom says otherwise.

 

But James' teaching about impartiality goes far deeper than our attitudes toward silver and gold.  If, however, you are observing the sovereign law laid down in scripture, 'Love your neighbour as yourself,' that is excellent. (8)  Rich and poor are our neighbors (Pro. 22: 2), everyone we encounter in life is our neighbor.  And we are to accept them for who they are, not for what they possess.  We are to appreciate them for what they say and do (insofar as the two are compatible), not for their sex, age, skin color, accent or choice of life-partner.[2]

 

Always speak and act[3] as [people] who are to be judged under a law which makes them free. (12)  Is this not an astounding statement?  James is, of course, speaking of the sovereign law laid down in scripture.  First, study the adjective, sovereign.  Remember the author's political context, derived from ancient precedent: the king's word is both inviolable without penalty and cannot be retracted, not even by the king.[4]  The law, once spoken, is sovereign.

 

Second, note the source of the law: laid down in scripture.  The Apostle-- as I think Jesus also would have done-- appeals to an older and greater authority than his Lord and Savior.  John equates Jesus Christ with God's Word, but it is the "lesser" that is elevated in stature by being related to the "greater".[5] 

 

Finally, consider (this is almost unbelievable!) what this sovereign law does: it makes those who are to be judged... free.  The world's wisdom thinks of laws as words that bind, restrict, enslave.  But Scripture says that God's law sets us free!  Is that not a remarkable teaching?  Is it not worth preaching?

 

But, being human, we wonder: how can any law make anyone free?  James brings us full circle with his explanation.  The setting for his proclamation of the sovereign law... which makes [people] free is judgement.  Judgement on us by the sovereign law-giver is impartial, and is based on the judgement that we exercise toward others.[6]  In [God's] judgement there will be no mercy for the [person] who has shown none.  Nail that to your doorpost and engrave it on your forehead, Christian.  For the sovereign law leads to freedom because Mercy triumphs over judgement. (13)  Triumphs!

 

Mark 7: 24--37

           

Christians have long discussed the difficulties of this passage, where Jesus is portrayed as showing bias, of judging between the children and the dogs (27).  Would it help if we read this as a parable by Mark, teaching that grace can overcome partiality and prejudice?  The Evangelist shows Jesus acceding to the Gentile woman's argument: 'even the dogs under the table eat the children's scraps.' (28)  Mercy triumphs over judgement.

 

'I now understand how true it is that God has no favourites' (Acts 10:34), Peter declared.[7]  He learned that lesson also in the context of food and in relation with Gentiles.  Mercy triumphs over judgement.  When will the Church learn?

 

[Jesus] said to her, 'For saying that, go, and you will find the demon has left your daughter.'  And when she returned home, she found the child lying in bed; the demon had left her. (29-30)  What is remarkable in this story is not that it is an "absentee" healing, but that it points to a frequently overlooked site of illness: the mother's mind.  How often is it that we think there is "something wrong" with another person, when the "illness" is actually only in our own heads, a matter of our misperception, our lack of understanding, our vain imaginings, our prejudices?  But when we believe in Jesus' power to heal[8], the "disease" leaves not the object of our concern, but us.  Mercy triumphs over judgement.