Building Project

Last month we looked at the story of “The Rich Young Ruler.” Jesus Himself instructed him to sell everything he had and give to the poor and, “Come, follow Me.”  But he could not, because, scripture reports, he had great wealth.  “Wealth” is a sort of code word for money and all the things which accompany it.  With wealth comes influence, a favored place in society and a presumption of a sort of superiority.  We get what we want.  But the trap of prosperity is that riches often enlarge appetites rather than satisfy them.  No matter how much one has, the desire is always for more, so that which we desire actually owns us, after a manner of speaking.  To be an American today is to live in the most wealthy, powerful and influential nation which has ever existed.  Yet, how succinctly has one described the United States as “a fat kid with an ice cream cone in each hand, screaming for more.”  We are controlled by that which we desire.   Believers must learn that wealth is a cruel master but a great slave. The key is for believers to remember that our master is Christ.  Presbyterian Pastor John Bonnell said “It is an anomaly of modern life that many find giving to be a burden. Such persons have omitted a preliminary giving. If one first gives himself to the Lord, all other giving is easy.”  This reminds one of the New Testament believers in Macedonia.  Paul writes of them that “they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God.”   The fountain of Christian giving has its source in Christ himself.  When one belongs to Christ so do his possessions.  The Rich Young Ruler could not do this but the Macedonians could...and did!  In contrast to being rich, young and in charge, the Macedonians endured a “great deal of affliction” and “deep poverty.”  The Macedonians were nobodies.  Associated with the rabble-rouser Paul they were most likely the target of persecution; outcasts who would have found making a living difficult.  Yet Paul writes of their “abundance of joy” overflowing in “the wealth of their liberality.”  Later, Paul points out that “God loves a cheerful giver.”  The Rich, Young Ruler was asked to give what he had.  The Macedonians gave “according to their ability, and beyond their ability.” They didn’t have to be asked. “They gave of their own accord, begging us for the favor of participation in the support of the saints.”  What a joyous experience this must have been for Paul and what a testimony it is for us here in Burbank 20 centuries later.  These are unsettled times in the life of our nation, but those who trust that God meets their needs find a calm assurance in His provision and the ability to “overflow with the wealth of liberality.”  Please give to the building fund.