“ So Jesus didn’t wear rolex?”
Bible Study on Matthew 6:19-34 presented at the Kirchentag - Dresden Germany June 4 2011 by Fr Michael Lapsley,SSM assisted by a broad and rich cross section of humanity
My dear Sisters and Brothers.
When I was growing up I heard about Dresden and about its bombing. My understanding was that the bombing of Dresden was a war crime, an act of terror (as Winston Churchill called it), carried out by the Allied side during the second world war. I felt guilt and shame at the terrible things our side did as they fought for freedom. It was but one example of the grievous wrong that was done to a people as both sides crossed moral threshholds. I cannot begin to imagine how much pain was endured by that generation who lived in this city.
I am sorry about what was done to you, and your parents and grand parents.
How wonderful that today the Kirchentag should be celebrated in this beautiful city – another step in the healing of old wounds.
I never imagined in my wildest dreams, that one day I would be asked to lead a Bible study at the Kirchentag – this extraordinary Church festival.. This is especially so because I am not a Biblical theologian. Unless of course that is precisely the reason I was asked, because I am NOT a Biblical Theologian!
Nevertheless I accepted – then I began to panic as I imagined myself standing in front of you in Dresden with nothing to say.
After I stopped panicking, I decided on a methodology to prepare myself for today.
First of all I decided to ask my facebook friends to help. I realized that Facebook would not be enough. In 1998, I started an Institute for Healing of Memories in Cape Town, South Africa. We have an email list of people connected to us from across the globe. I asked everyone on that list to read the passage carefully and if they were wiling to share what the passage meant to them in their context.
Only some of the people on that email list are Christians, so I explicitly wrote to all my friends: Buddhist, Christian, Communist, Atheist, Moslem, Hindu, Agnostic….asking for their input to this Bible Study. I have long come to the conclusion that the future of humanity is not a Christian future but an interfaith future including deep reverence and respect for atheists, agnostics and those with indigenous spiritualities. I asked everyone to read the text carefully and share your reflections upon it from your life and context
Over the last months, I have received responses from a rich diversity of the human family.
Many years ago I was very startled when I read a theologian from Latin American, Carlose Mesters, who referred to the Bible as God’s second book. He asserted that the whole created order including ourselves as human beings, constitute God’s first book. The Bible, God’s second book is like a guide book to make sense of the first book.
We come to the second book to make sense of the first. The Latin Americans also helped many of us to see that we must always begin with the context of who we are. None of us come to scripture objectively – we all come subjectively in the light of who we are, of our place in the world and all that is happening in the world. The same passage will mean different things to us at different stages in our lives.
So today we come to Matthew 6: 18-35 at this great church festival - but what is in your heart today? What has been happening in your life recently – joy - happiness, sorrow, satisfaction – do you have a secure job – are you unemployed – have you ever gone to bed hungry? how old are you – what kind of family do you come from – full of joy and laughter - pain and sorrow – more of one, less of the other. How significant to you is your racial and gender identity – how have they affected your life – what about your sexual identity - be it known or unknown – heterosexual or same gender loving.
Do you have old wounds in your heart, in your family, in your nation –that have not yet healed.
What is your experience of scripture – disturbing or comforting, oppressive or liberating - have people ever used Scripture as a weapon against you and your identity.
Lets read the passage together. I am reading from the NRSV translation which has inclusive language.
Matthew 6:19-34 (NRSV)
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and
rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for
yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes
and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure
is, there your heart will be also.
"The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body
will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
"No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one
and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and wealth.
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat
or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not
life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the
birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and
yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than
they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of
life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the
field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even
Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God
so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow
is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you -- you of
little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What will we eat?' or
'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?' For it is the Gentiles
who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows
that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of
God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you
"So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of
its own. Today's trouble is enough for today.
My first impression of this passage was that it is about priorities – Jesus is inviting us all to look at our own lives –
I was always challenged by the radical demands of Jesus to follow him. For me that meant both the priesthood and the religious life as a member of a religious order since adolescence.
Like all of us, I suspect, I have been challenged by conflicting demands for obedience.
Sure you cant serve two masters but in reality don’t we all have many masters?
Someone has said the obvious – what is life threatening will be life changing. Death and the possibility of death are what often cause people to rethink what is really important in their lives. So it is with me.
Many years ago when I was part of the liberation struggle in South Africa, the Zimbabwean authorities came to me and told me that I was on a South African Government hit list of those they wished to kill. For a moment in time stood still. I asked myself – what is it that I am living for if in fact a Government would wish to kill me for it. Where is my heart.
And then in 1990, they almost succeeded in killing me. Once more I had to face my priorities. For me the struggle to free South Africa had become my priotity – it was the context in which my priesthood and discipleship of Christ was lived out. After I was bombed I realised my struggle, was now the struggle to get well , to return, to live my life as fully, as joyfully, as completely as possible.
Step by step I was transformed from being a freedom fighter to becoming a healer – providing safe and sacred spaces for others to take significant steps on the journey to healing and wholeness.
A week before Easter, the day before Palm Sunday, my Mother completed her earthly journey – my Father having left us 23 years before.. In the days since, while grieving – I have been re-examining what is really important in my life - what is my treasure?
I am a member of an Anglican religious order - the Society of the Sacred Mission. I first went to the community when I was 17. Most of my brothers today are young Africans living in the tiny and very impoverished – economically speaking - Southern African mountain Kingdom of Lesotho. I invited my brothers to study this text together.
We also began by reading the passage out loud
After two hours of study my religious brothers came to some conclusions
- We have to have faith. We don’t have to be that person killed by his treasure. Put our heart where our treasure is.
- It is good to have this kind of study and see how other brothers are thinking. There are 2 ways of passing knowledge – I learn from you and you learn from me. Our community grows.
- Today I have learnt not to complain every day. I must not worry.
- From now I will always make sure to see what sort of people Jesus was speaking to. When reading the Bible, I have not always focussed on my context.
- It has reminded me what a shared gift the Holy Spirit truly is, and how my own view is a very partial one.
- Jesus is talking to his disciples and they are committing themselves to serve God, reminds me to look back to what I have said and done before.
- Your heart will always be where your treasure is. I am not going back, but as we discuss – remembering those people who own something – I learn from other brothers. We make one thing together, shaping this passage to our lives.
- This Bible study has helped me to see more broadly, to look at other points. But we must be focussed. Let’s have one a month, it will help us understand each other and grow together.
- I am thankful to the German Church (we were doing this Bible study because the German church had asked me to prepare for the Kirchentag). What could be more appropriate than for brothers to sit together and study together? The key is what is important? What are my priorities? I experienced the deepening of my own faith, enriched by others’ contributions.
Let me now share with you what was written by Brother Clark who is Minister General of the Anglican Society of St Francis
Matthew 6:19-34 is part of the Sermon on the Mount
As I read it some Franciscan associations come to mind:
"...where your treasure is..." Francis was particularly adamant about
divesting property and owning nothing because ownership prompted
possessiveness and lead people to fight for property. Poverty and owning
nothing was a way to peace. It was about placing my treasure with God,
the things most precious to me, my peace, joy, love gratitude and there I
would find my center, my heart. God dwelling in us and us in him.
The sound eye and the body being full of light, of finding illumination,
being transparent to God's love. The body full of light is the body full
of love. I am reminded Jesus restored sight, healed eyes several times in
the gospels. To see is to delight in the world to be dazzled by the beauty
of the world, the beauty of God. That is joy, it is peace, it is light.
Francis' prayer (the Absorbeat): "May the power of your love, o Lord,
fiery and sweet as honey so fill my heart that I may be willing to die for
love of your love as you died for love of mine."
Francis was single hearted, rejecting money (Mammon). It was all about
freedom. His call to us in the world is to recognize the radical freedom
Jesus was preaching and offering us. When he strips himself in the public
square and returns the money he stole (to rebuild San Damiano church) to
his father along with all his clothing he says: "I no longer have a father
on earth, but only my Father which art in heaven..."
Jesus says: seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these
things shall be yours as well..." Thomas of Celano, Francis' first great
biographer says of Francis: "Thus he would direct all his attention and
affection toward the one thing he asked of the Lord, not so much praying
as becoming totally prayer." As Ilia Delio, the Franciscan theologian
says "If we persevere in prayer the bitter will become sweet..." the
darkness will become light. Francis totally "got" Jesus' teaching about
entrusting ourselves to God and finding it returned a hundredfold.
Thinking about the specific admonition abut being anxious, I am reminded
about how the brothers in the Solomons (living the Franciscan spirituality
today) say grace before meals, listing everything which God provided to
make this all possible for us to eat: "We thank you holy father for the
air we breathe, the water we drink, the animals who gave their lives for
us, the wood we burn, the strength to gather all you give us" God
provides and we collaborate. It is all about what God is doing for us.
There is no need to be unduly worried about food, drink or clothing. there
is enough for everybody. This conviction fires the commitment to social
justice. As a friend once wrote: "There is enough for everybody, we only
need the political will to share." That's the rub, where sin distorts. It
comes back to where your heart is and if you are loving, trusting or
greedy, and willing to fight for your "stuff"
Sr Assumpta HC A Catholic Sister from Germany who has spent a lfetime working in Namibia wrote her response to studying this passage
Freed anew in spirit as a result of my reflection, I was called to throw myself in utter dedication to concentration on his concerns - the Kingdom of God through continued practical LOVING in my community and in my parish.
I would like to quote extensively from what Professor Gerald West wrote to me. Professor West heads up an Institute for the Study of the Bible. His take is markedly different from most of the contributions, I received but very compelling. It is also confronting and challenging.
Professor West wrote:
“My own reading of this text would be strongly shaped by the so-called 'Lord's Prayer' that precedes it. In Matthew 6:9-13 Jesus sets out 'God's project/kingdom', which is a vision for 'on earth' as 'in heaven'. Jesus is assuring the marginalised, who make up his movement, that God does have a project for social transformation, and that this transformation is intended to be 'on earth, as it is in heaven'. God's project is about this life, and not (only) the life to come.
Key to this prayer is the economic dimension of life. I would place a colon after 10. In other words, verses 9-10 set up the vision of God's project 'on earth', and verses 11-13 indicate what this vision would look like in practice. The key is economic change. And the economic change must be systemic.
Since the emergence of the monarchy (see 1 Samuel 8) and the construction of a temple-state under Solomon, the world of ancient Israel was shaped by a tributary mode of production, in which the surplus of the local peasant farmers was extracted in various ways to support the increasingly centralised state and its urban elite. One of the mechanisms of extraction was debt, which eventually forced farmers off their land. Without land their could be no 'daily bread'.
Jesus understand this, and so assures his listeners that God does want everyone, even the poor, to have bread for each day (verse 11). But he goes further, making it clear that he is not talking about charity or soup kitchens here! He moves, in verse 12, to the systemic dimension, namely 'debt'. It is this fundamental mechanism of the economic system that Jesus confronts. Just as our modern capitalist system is rooted in debt, so was the ancient tributary system. Jesus argues that without the 'release from debt' there can be no sustained 'bread for the day'. So there must be a release from debt, and the return of people to their land and the control of the economic system - Marx made a similar point!!!
But just in case the marginalised see this as about 'the other', Jesus challenges them too to release their own colleagues from debt (verse 12b). We cannot expect macro-economic justice without mico-economic justice. Indeed, Jesus goes on to argue, the 'temptation' of the 'evil one' is precisely here, namely, that we expect others to put the sysem right but do not see ourselves as also involved in structural injustice.”
One of the lessons we have learnt in the Institute for Healing of Memories is that all people are capable of being both victims and victimisers even at the same time
The rest of the section, verses 14-34, which is our focus, is a detailed argument to a marginalised community not to get caught up in the accumulation of wealth. Verse 24b is key, 'you cannot serve God and Mamon'. The focus is on systemic economic injustice, and how these systems are the very opposite of God's project/kingdom. There can be no 'kingdom on earth' unless we embrace a life of sharing rather than hoarding”
Personal / Political economy
Gert Rüppell wrote
This text brings many experiences in my
life to the surface, which have been different according to the periods I have been
handling this text.
There is the period, when I was involved in development education, coming originally
from business, I new what it meant to store treasures and how futile it was
in many of the businesses one was doing (when gain became a target of speculation,
grain speculation became futile due to unexpected surplus production. Gain often
was very near to loss (e.g. the thieves at the exchange) . And secure gain was
very often a matter of cutting production costs through transnationalisation (wage
exploitation).
My change from one profession (chartering broker) to the other (Theologian /
development education in Mission) was an insight from this fact. My belonging to the
church, could not permit, to serve two masters, one had to make a decision.
This the more as I became involved in the ecumenical movement for which the
question related to International Economic Injustice, became a more and more
central one due to its globalisation, transculturisation and greater pariticipation of the
poor Seite 2 in dialogue. I understood: The Christian had to be with and not only for
the poor.
If we do not see the reality of asymmetric relations between North and ‘South, but
also in our own countries, our body represents darkness. We spoke in those days of
“tertiaterranity of Christianity” meaning, that the “wounds of the body, the blindness
of the eyes” where structural and global and Christ’s crucifixion was cutting
through all nations / populations.
The German folk song tradition knows a song, which takes some of the ideas from
theis text. It tells about the flowers in spring, which dress up with great colours,
much more beautiful then Salomon’s dresses
„Narzissen und die Tulipan Die ziehen sich viel schöner an Als Salomonis Seide“
(Geh aus mein Herz und suche Freud)
German church
Friederike.Schulze wrote
Mt. 6, 19ff. contradicts in my point of view fundamentally the society in which I live as well as the church I belong to, which is part of that society, and benefits from it. Although state and church in Germany are officially separated in our constitution, the church has been privileged by law, since centuries, and defends those privileges.
Our protestant churches started a “reform process” under the slogan: “salt of the earth”, but if you read the documents and proposals concerning the reform process, they do not rely on bible texts like Mt. 6. The “reform process” focus on the subject how to win more churchmembers and churchtaxpayers, and how to make the church more efficient and more attractive (I ask: in which eyes efficient and attractive?)
I understand Mt. 6 as a fundamental challenge to the capitalist neoliberal concept. As far as I see, Mt. 6 is taken seriously by individuals and groups, inside and outside the church, who look and work for an alternative peaceful, just and sustainable life on earth.
Monique Ruppert from Luxembourg wrote
First I asked myself at what stage of his life Jesus might have spoken these words. He was surely in a good mood.
"Don't worry about what you will eat tomorrow..."
It can't have been as he was setting out on the Way of the Cross.
However, as I reread the text several times, I noticed that it runs contrary to everything today's society would like us to believe through its political messages and advertising announcements:
To be happy, you must take steps to have more and more: more money, more clothes, more consumer goods.
Jesus then asks us to choose between two values, two treasures, to commit ourselves to God or to a material treasure. To trust God or to become slaves of society.
(On 1 February 2009 on French morning TV, the French advertising tycoon Jacques Séguéla said: "How can anyone criticise the President of the Republic for having a Rolex? Everyone has a Rolex. Any 50-year-old without a Rolex is a failure" *).
Jesus made that choice. He followed the way of his commitment and "agreed to suffer out of loyalty to the truth" (**).
(From ML So Jesus didn’t wear a Rolex!)
I realise how weak I am in relation to my need for security and my future. Is my faith strong enough to allow me to commit myself to God's way right now, when the adversary would like me to worry about tomorrow?
(*) F. Lenoir
(**) René Labbé
Mike Bick asks
In terms of its modern application; the environmental issues and their long term economic effects seem to point to the need to find an alternative to growth in GNP as the key mechanism for stabilising societies. If there is an alternative, then some of the words of the text might be reinterpreted to promote an alternative ethos which might engender the sort of behaviour required for sustainable living.
Osama assassination
Jenny Sprong
SOCIAL JUSTICE COORDINATOR
DIAKONIA COUNCIL OF CHURCHES
wrote
My reflections on this passage are influenced today by the horror story of the revenge killing of Osama bin Laden.
- ‘Storing up treasures’ – what do we view as important? What is a treasure today? Oil? The lasting treasures of love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, self-control, faithfulness and gentleness, are not on many people’s lists anymore – these are obviously fruits so what is called for in order for us to bear these fruits or rather to allow the Holy Spirit to bear these fruits in and through us? Justice, fairness and acceptance of ‘the other’.
- ‘If your eye is healthy then your body will be full of light …’ what makes our eye ‘healthy’? My perception of the United States at the moment is that its eye is full of revenge and hatred, which renders their ‘body’ full of darkness. It is now also open to more darkness, whereas if they had turned towards the Light, the darkness would have been dispelled.
- Serving two sovereigns? To whom is our allegiance? When people celebrate the death of ‘an enemy’ they show who their ‘master’ is – the ‘master of war, violence, power, greed and force. When Christ asked God to forgive ‘the enemy’ because they did not know what they were doing, Jesus’ allegiance was clear – forgiveness and reconciliation come from the God of love and when we serve the God of love, there is no room for the god of power, greed and revenge.
Sigrid Brüggemann, Germany
(6,22 “The eye is the lamp of the body ….”)
A healthy eye brings light to the body. If the eyes are ill
darkness might come to the body. We will become blind
and timid. Sorrows are not needed. We are not any more
openhearted. We have problems to recognize the truth.
Helpful would be discussions in small groups where
Equally minded people can encourage each others frank-
ness. That should lead to political involvement (e. g.
Amnesty International, Greenpeace etc.)
Gay
Theo an Epeiscopal priest from the US writes
Speaking from "my own life and context," this passage has always been close to my heart as a kind of personal philosophy. You might expect that growing up as a teenager with a gay identity in the 1960s in the deep suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri would have been traumatizing: oppression from peers, church, family, self.
And yet it wasn't. It was confusing (mostly because I felt I couldn't talk to anyone and so was "all alone") but never threatening to my core sense of the goodness of life and of myself. Which brings me back to the Matthew passage: somehow I have been gifted with a sense of trust that no matter what happens, God walks with me through it all and therefore gives meaning to it all, a confidence that no trouble can ever shake.
Worry
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,…..”
In recent years my late Mother in her wisdom began to say – I no longer worry but I am concerned. A number of people shared their reflection about “worry”.
Georgette Delinois and friends
Going through Matthews 6:19-34, we had an interesting discussion that enhanced or helped us discern our faith in God's promise to always take care of us even when it does not seem like it;helped us make the difference between worries and concerns with the definite understanding that worry can: Damage our health; cause the things we're worrying about to consume and cripple us; and to negatively affect our relationships with others; reduce our ability to trust in God. Whereas concerns can be a more practical/rational phenomenon and a definite great force that can help us move ahead, take actions and make a difference in our life and in our world here. Ultimately worries immobilize us, cause depression, anxiety and even psychosis and concerns lead us to take actions for example raise money to help the victims of the earthquake in Japan and Haiti to help individuals regain their dignitiy and acquire some of their basics human rights.. --" Planning for tomorrow is time well spent worrying about tomorrow is time wasted.
Lucy Janjigian wrote:
To Trust in God. In my life I have discovered that when my faith is weak I tend to worry.. then I know I am far from Christ.. He is not at the center of my life.. I have put my faith in myself. When my faith is strong I do not worry. I take it to the Lord in prayer.
Serena Newby (USA), Maryse Barak and Judy Bekker in Cape Town write
“Worry” is much less part of my personal script
As I understand things, Jesus was talking to very poor people, most of the time. I think about the innocence of poorer people....fewer complexities of the western mind. There is a truth in these words that goes beyond and I believe many of those in poverty know this.
Dr. Gert Rüppell
Open heart surgery
Just recently I had to undergo open heart surgery. It is in one way threatening, on the other hand I experienced, that there was a deep trust, that things would go the way God wants (you never fall deeper then into the hand of God) My wife and myself, took the Eucharist on the evening before
and I feel, that this gave the trust to us, the text describes.”
"So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's
trouble is enough for today. And one more final thought, even if the text has meant different things to me at different times, it always has served as an eye-opener for what it means, to leave comfort, for a life in discipleship and how difficult this is.
SSM brothers
You worry, you die. If you don’t worry you still die
Can worrying make you live any longer? I think Jesus was challenging people, especially rich people, with beautiful clothes etc. He makes example of wild flowers versus Solomon’s wealth. I think of Jesus’ discussion with the rich man in Luke. I will do this, but today you will die. You will leave it behind. Who will take care of it when you are gone? Jesus is showing us not to be obsessed with what we have – but to share what we have.
Elias Wanyama who spent 8 years on death row in Uganda wrote:
The “Life’s worry” was the greatest battle I had during my 8 years as a death row prisoner, the Worry later turned into fear of death by hanging.
Sigrid Brüggemann, Germany
“Therefore I tell you do not worry….”)
This is the answer to our normal behaviour. God knows what
we need. Do we really believe in that and act accordingly ?
For us this request sounds too radical, we are scared about
this. We are allowed to build “our own house”, we should
however not think about us alone but we should share our
possibilities with others at the same time
SSM brothers
I have often tired of the seesaw the Church does over this particular challenge of our Lord. Poor, pious and left leaning Christians have used it to bash the rich (for being rich); whereas rich or comfortable Christians like to stress that material possessions are not bad in themselves, providing we can maintain detachment from them and they do not get in the way of our pilgrimage here on earth. Yet today I was struck by the 6 times Jesus tells us not to worry in the text – but to trust in God. For me, this is the heart of the message – rich or poor, male or female, white or black, we must trust in God in our lives – and actually live our lives as if we believed this.
Jeremy Lucas - suicide
When I was in high school in about grade 10 I was considered a nerd. Because of a thyroid problem I was exceptionally tall and very thin and hyperactive. It was so bad that a biology teacher remarked that I was very figity and that was generally considered a feminine characteristic. I played the drums in the marching band and on the outside was generally a happy looking teen. The problem was that on the inside I was wracked with teenage angst about life. It was the mid 80’s and I had taken the cynical, though not unrealistic view that the world would be destroyed by nuclear war before I graduated. It was during this dark time that I seriously began to consider suicide.
I was trying to stay connected to church, and was attending with a girlfriend at the time. We attended a youth group that met on Sunday nights and was led by a young man named Bill New. I was struggling in my life and Bill could see it. It was during this time that I came closest to killing myself. One day when my parents were out of the house I found my grandfathers revolver that my father kept in a chest. It was loaded and I sat with the gun on my chest for the longest time contemplating taking my own life. As I sat there thinking it was Bill New who came to my mind and a bible verse that he shared with me just a week or so before. Matthew 6:34 Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries enough of its own. At that point I realized that I had to make the choice of life or death and with the words of Jesus telling me not to worry, I chose to live.
Inter faith
Serena Newby (USA), Maryse Barak and Judy Bekker in Cape Town write
“Sufficient unto the day – lay up for yourselves, treasures in heaven” – speaks to me of letting go of attachment. I became aware of how Buddhist the text is actually.
“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”
Similar Quotes in other sacred texts:
Men who have not lived a religious life and have not laid up treasure in their youth lie like worn-out bows, sighing after the past
Buddhism Dhammapada 155-56
Wealth and sons are the adornment of the present world; but the abiding things, the deeds of righteousness, are better with God in reward, and better in hope
Islam Qur’an 18.46
If by gving up a lesser happiness one may behold a greater one, let the wise man give up the lesser happiness in consideration of the greater happiness.
Buddhism, Dhamapada 290
Both the good and the pleasant present themselves to a man. The calm soul
examines them well and disriminates. Yea, he prefers the good to the pleasant; but the fool chooses the pleasant out of greed and avarice.
Hinduism, Katha Upanishad 1.2.2
How many animals do not carry their own provision! God provides for them and for you. He is Alert. Aware.
Islam Qur’an 29,60
Whoever has bread in his basket and says “What am I going to eat tomorrow?” only belongs to those who are little in faith.
Judaism. Talmud, Sota 48b
Running after that cur, money, I have forgotten you, O Lord
What a shame! I have time only for making money, not for you.
How can a dog who loves rotten meat, relish the nectar
Hinduism.Basavanna, Vacana 313
General
SEGASINDE NGABO YA FATI.
RWANDA/KIGALI
What an important message in a materialistic world,and when the main message in many churches today is about'' PROSPERITY''.
My comments on this message is summarized at the Math6;33.
The most important thing in human life,and purpose is not wealth,celebrity,honor,etc..it is abundant life,peaceful and eternal life.
look around you peoples are destroying peoples and their properties,nations are destroying nations and properties in order to get more properties and wealth ,what
absurdity?in the name of democratic,social justice,human being are killing in mass human being,this show that they do not know the way to peace....[james3;18.]
God is greater than mammon
Life greater than food.
Body than clothes.
let us seek and hold on what is eternal[spiritual]and worship God that anything else.
Craig writes about Mammon
It is also important to note that this version loses the plot in translation when it says, ‘You cannot serve God and wealth.’ The Hebrew word is not wealth/money (as some translations have it) but Mammon. Mammon is a spirit, a spirit that controls the desires of men for riches. As you rightly point out these things are innately powerless. So the point is: If your heart is not seeking after God it will give way to another master (and the most powerful being Mammon.)
Challenges
John Ferris
As a 77 year old Catholic father, grandfather, and great grandfather, these words have always made me smile because they are so simplistic and sincere but at the same time quite impossible to live by not only today but at any time and place in the lives of ordinary men and women if, taken too literally.
I know only too well where I would be today if all I did in my life was follow this reading blindly and not do anything else to look after the physical needs and aspirations of my self and my family.
What I did realize is that I had to try and do the two things with equal emphasis in life if I wanted to be reasonably happy and comfortable in this world and in the life hereafter.
These two things were to treat all people as I would wish them to treat me and mine, and to try to the best of my ability to live up to the beliefs of my Catholic faith.
Loraine Tulleken writes
I matriculated from a Catholic boarding school, feeling that I’d done enough church for a life time and only returned to church after I turned 50 – a bit of an end-of-life insurance policy. My son, who had suffered a head injury in a motorcycle accident, still refers to those years as the RODs (rich old days) . We lived in a wealthy suburb, drove nice cars and travelled overseas every year.
Then came the call to priesthood. At the time I was acutely aware of the need to be less materialistic. In fact, during a meditation of John 21:1-17 I felt I was being told to give my business one last big push and that I would emerge secure enough to go into full time ministry and be able to look after my son (then in his early 30s).
What fools we are when we take the Bible at face value or read it like a horoscope, but, in my defence I was still doing theology 101.
My constant refrain has been “I must make sure Malcolm is safe once I’m gone”
My constant prayer has been “Lord please let me live long enough to achieve that.”
M is now 43.
As a 67 year old systematic theologian I’m not going to reach any conclusions without , prayer, study and an eagerly awaited read of your paper. But, in replying to you, I wonder:
- Where the line sits between good stewardship (providing for my son) and not trusting enough;
- I know that I have enjoyed a fulfilling ministry in the business world because people of all denominations and faiths turn to the priest in their circle (It’s like having an uncle in the furniture business) but, as a self supporting, did it free me from disciplines of Church?
On the outside we look fine but we walk a tightrope created by lack of trust in God and in others to look after my son. So, as I see it, it’s not just about not serving two masters but not allowing others the freedom to minister to oneself. The trust needs to be accompanied by a readiness to let go control to God and to others.
I believe there are many Christians who really wrestle with the issues raised in your Bible Study, especially when one starts to look at it multi-dimensionally.
Angela Lee
We must not be tacit but explicit by sharing. For when we die all our earthly treasure remain on earth. Therefore we need to focus on the Lord and not material things which can lead us to sin.
Delene Mark
I suppose its all very well for people who have easy access to all the necessities of life to not worry about tomorrow or to not save for the future…however we live in a world full of inequality and in justice.
I have no clue what this bible passage means, especially as it defeats everything you get taught in life about being prepared for the future. Organisations are constantly aiming to create sustainability!!!
I assume then it’s a long winded way of saying…focus on God, and if we contemplate what God is saying to us and to all creation, we will not be greedy and selfish and hide away things that could be shared for the benefit of all.
If we all use what we need, then there is ample for everyone.
When we are not consumed by acquiring wealth and possession, we have more time to spend on relationships with people and also to appreciate all God’s creation.
The message here is that we should maintain the constant health and wellbeing of our minds and bodies, however conceitedness and greed have no place in life. Its does not matter if you wear levis or jeans from Pick and pay…as long as you are warm and comfortable?
Fr Jack Martin
I share in the ministry in Haiti.
Two quick reflections
1) I think it was John xxiii (or another pope) who said,
"If I have the love of God in my heart, everything else is secondary;
If I don't have the love of God in my heart, everything else is meaningless"
**********
Gillian Lloyd
There is no sin in becoming rich legally, it is what we do with our riches that counts
Irene Bick
My personal comment is, "Treasure is where your heart is, where ever and what ever that is!"
If it is relevant to people's lives now, it doesn't matter who wrote it, why or when. I can't see that it is of any more value because it is in a 'gospel'. I can see that it would take some careful consideration to apply it to lives now. It is not really feasible in our economy to live without insurance for example - unless you think it is all right that other people should bear the burden of your fecklessness.
The thing about worry is that it doesn't actually achieve anything. If you spend your life concerned about what is going to /might happen and live in fear and apprehension because of it your are missing the opportunity of making the most of 'now' which is actually all we can influence.
Living and appreciating the present seems a pretty good maxim for anyone.
Political/Personal
GREG MASHABA
Firstly, I wish to express my profound gratitude at your invitation to share our personal reflections with yourself. This has been both a beautiful and humbling experience. Through his exercise, I have had the opportunity to reflect on my own personal experiences, firstly as both a Christian and a revolutionary, and secondly as a citizien of the democratic and formally a non racial Republic of South Africa.
My immediate reaction at the reading the passage is that this a call to myself, my comrades and all the persons of goodwill to strive always to:
- Uphold the highest standards of morality, be it in our private lives or in public.
- Be exemplary in our conduct by openly placing morality in its spiritual and secular sense at the centre of our daily lives.
- To help create a better world through preaching and practicing the Gospel (the “Good News”).
You and myself grew up together in the liberation movement. We were both members of the ANC and Umkhonto Wesizwe. We often regarded each other not only as comrades, but as brothers in a real sense of the word. It is critical to note that we were also both Christians who openly professed our faith at certain times under awkward conditions,. You were stanchly Anglican and I was and remain proudly Catholic. The main consequence of this relationship is that we both always strove to perform our revolutionary and armed activities within the context of the Gospel. Indeed such was strong spiritual roots and the desire to hold strong to the Christian tradions of most our cabers that the ANC under leadership of Oliver Tambo decided to establish the Religious Affairs Department.
Personal Faith Conclusion
Finally I want to encapsulate my own reflections by saying that nothing in this world materially speaking, could ever make up for the miracle of knowing that God is with me at all times, He is interested in every facet of my life, and without Him I would be spiritually poverty-stricken.
Jennifer Southwood
Elias Wanyama
All beliefs have a start point of a creator and daily helper, a handy companion to easily fall to in case of any problem/complication, whom we Christians call God.
Final Response
John Tregea
The phrase that repeats to me after reading the scripture is:
The only thing we can truly take is responsibility from my own life I know that even that is a gift our "response" "ability" is the innate gift to respond to love, to our author.
I once read that the Spirit of God comes to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable. Sometimes we need a dose of both.
A Franciscan Blessing
May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.
May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.
May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.
May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really CAN make a difference in this world, so that you are able, with God's grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.
And the blessing of God the Supreme Majesty and our Creator, Jesus Christ the Incarnate Word who is our brother and Saviour, and the Holy Spirit, our Advocate and Guide, be with you and remain with you, this day and forevermore.
AMEN
