Having enough

P 3204 The Star Chasers!

/ DVH

Three very powerful, rich intellectual guys set out once, in their day’s version of a BMW, to investigate a brand new star. These astrologers had noticed that star in the evening sky. Nowadays we would probably just turn the James West Space Telescope onto it. Sigh… I know the Hubble was old, and the JWST can see much further, but I really wish that they had found a much more fun name for itI I liked the name Hubble better than that mouthful! Any-way … these guys had come a very long way because they knew enough to know that the star meant something incredible was about to happen. 

The thing is, this journey for the Wise men took much longer than it takes for us to find a local McDonalds! They had to travel through other countries to get to the great King the star foretold. A lot of time had passed between the star appearing and the Magi travelling to get to Bethlehem. Imagine only being able to travel at night, because you are following a star! I mean, you can’t see stars until it is night! Not to mention those normal obstructive atmospheric things like – snow, rain, fog or cloud-cover!!  This is what I call a long-term devotion to the task ahead of them. These are patient men. 

Do you know what I like about this nativity story? The poor people got to the stable on the night. They were the first to be invited to worship Jesus. However, God did not leave the rich and powerful intellectuals out – He led them there too. They just had to make a bigger effort. Let’s look at something Jesus said when He was teaching His disciples, in Matthew 19:22-24. “When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” 

It is ‘not easy’ Jesus tells us, for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God – it seems their view is blocked by dollar signs. EG: money and comfort. The shepherds were used to sitting on the ground, the wise men were used to a swisho ride!  I sometimes wonder why the Western world is breaking its neck to get more and more money and things, and why they put all their security in that stuff! Um… money is just bits of printed paper and metal, we are the ones who put a value on it. Meanwhile, there is no U-haul on the back of a hearse. What matters, and will last, is what HE DID FOR US.

Back to the Magi! By the time they arrived, months or years later. They had to do a search for Jesus, and they didn’t have Google Maps or whatever either! So they went to the most logical place to find a new King – Herod’s palace.  And here is what is fascinating … King Herod didn’t have clue what was going on until these men rocked up. He’s the duly appointed King and he doesn’t know what is going on in his own kingdom – he’s out of touch with the people He is ruling. 

The shepherds knew and they probably told everyone what they had seen and heard, but Herod didn’t travel in those circles. He was above that. Securely closeted in his palace with armed guards around him. Herod responds the way many rich people would respond to the news that another big man in town is on the scene. He wants to protect what he has. So he plots to get rid of the opposition and then carries it out with appallingly murderous consequences.  Anybody want to be Herod – when Jesus asks him to ‘please explain,’ in front of the big white throne?

Herod shows me that we think we know about someone, is not all there is. The more you have, the more you have to lose. What we read in the newspapers, or podcasts, or news broadcasts isn’t always truth. It is often doctored, and distorted because the people producing these things have an agenda. There may be elements of truth in what is said, but it is mainly coloured by what I call the rich powerful man’s doctrine.

A rich powerful person always wants more money than yesterday, and they perceive things through the kind of filter that says – what was enough last year, won’t be enough this year. I think that the line for ‘having enough’ always moves away from us. What we sometimes hear on the news is the hyped-up panicky report of people who are scared to lose their income. Moving on …

We all know the conclusion of this story about the Wise men, Jesus is eventually located in a house in Bethleham, and He is given expensive prophetic gifts. Those gifts may well have funded all the moving this little family had to do to get away from a jealous King who didn’t bother to understand what was actually going on! Jesus didn’t ever threaten Rome, He didn’t come to threaten anyone! He came to explain there is a far bigger reality than anyone understands. Our God is not a God Who is far away – He is THE GOD who came near, and lived like we do.

Jesus came to give, not take. He came to include everyone, rich, poor. Whoever they are, wherever they were born – God is not partisan! He loves us all. That baby born in a cowshed was His Way of communicating with the world mankind lives in. This time He didn’t send a messenger – He came Himself, to tell everyone there are no barriers anymore. Just like those shepherds came from the fields and those foreign astronomers came from afar — we too can come to Him just as we are. 

There is room for everyone in the stable. It’s like the proverbial Tardis, it has lots more room inside, than it looks like on the outside. Bye. 👋

P 3015 ‘The Lord loves a generous giver.’

/ DVH

We all know the above verse, it is one of many verses that get dragged out whenever the cost of living gets higher than the pastor’s wages! Actually, I think the real issue about money is this: people work hard for their money. Unless they are aware of their own inner attitude, they don’t see the money that they earn as coming from the Lord Himself. 

Let’s look at what Almighty God thinks about money – Jesus is speaking: “For the kingdom of heaven is LIKE a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.“About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right. So they went.“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’“‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.“ He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.

“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’“The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’ “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’”

I believe this parable shows us what God thinks about money. Money is a tool for generosity! You know, our God is so rich that the streets of heaven are paved with the purest gold, and precious jewels are the walls and gates. He asks His people to give because it is good for US, as His kids, to be generous too. PS God doesn’t need our money, but the pastor and his family just might like a new pair of shoes every 9 years or so! 

The above parable is about generosity. Jesus is explaining God’s generosity to the people around Him using a story that will challenge them. “Well, that story is unfair” – we cry – “why wouldn’t the guys who came late get paid less, or the guys who worked all day get paid more!” Because it was the OWNER’S money! Sadly most human beings still half kill themselves trying to get more and more money and aim at things that are beyond our reach. We put our sense of safety in our money, in our ability to earn. When it comes to money we all forget Who promised to take care of us. God made the Israelites rich and they were escaping slaves!

The biggest mistake Christians can make regarding their faith, concerns money. I’m sure you have loads of places etc that you love to give, but ask yourself this: who, in your own mind and heart, OWNS whatever you have? That’s the real issue. Sometimes the things we own – own us. BTW, I am not talking about selling everything, giving all our money away and sitting on a street corner – I am talking about deliberately setting ourselves free from the love of money. And that includes the idea that we need it. God will supply all our needs – so if we don’t got it we don’t need it. Tell Him what you need.

Here’s a bigger thought – make the Lord Himself your money manager! He’s been managing our money for years – we pray and ask for His help whenever we need it. So give whatever you have to Him and then deal with the fear of not having enough .😳 We know we must pay our bills so how do we give to others hilariously? “Let giving flow from your heart, not from a sense of religious duty. Let it spring up freely from the joy of giving—all because God loves hilarious generosity!” 2 Corinthians 9:7. Giving flows out of a full heart, so we need to deal with our hearts first. Instead of hoping one day that that awful fear we have in the back of our mind about not having enough, will go away!!

Some of the best givers I know live like all of their money is the Lord’s. They do not give out of excess, they simply give as the Lord tells them to give. This means they need to use their faith to live. Like I’ve said before, giving is a win-win situation! Think about that little widow lady in the temple who took her two small coins, all she had, and put them into the coffers. And Jesus commended her for it, right in front of His disciples.

What we do with our money is an issue of control, and when we follow Jesus, He is in control. If and when we want to deepen our faith, it is going to cost us. And that, in my opinion, is the reason most of the church is idling along in neutral, going nowhere much. Our God dearly loves us! It’s His nature, He can’t help it! But we can choose to go to our graves stuck in the mud and mire of a “gimme gimme gimme” world. Sadly, the line for ‘having enough’ always moves away from us. Think about it. Bye. 👋.