PENTECOST • 17

What is God’s heart towards the rich and the poor?

SONGS FOR PRAYER

SET PRAYER

Holy God,

you reach out in love through Jesus Christ to save us

so that we may live as faithful servants of you alone.

Unchain us from our desire for wealth and power

so that we may, in turn, release others

from the prisons of poverty, hunger, and oppression. 

Amen.

reading for: Tuesday Night, 20 September

Luke 16:19-31

  • READ

    Today’s lectionary passage takes us to another parable of Jesus. And in this parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, Jesus directly addresses the issue of wealth. No matter how we interpret this parable, it is a parable about money. 

    Let’s run through the story quickly. In this story, there are two characters: a rich man living in a Good Class Bungalow and enjoying atas food every single day (v19), and a poor man named Lazarus, hanging outside the gate of the rich man’s bungalow, waiting to pick up any leftover food from the home (v20-21). 

    This situation went on for years until both of them eventually faced death (v22). Upon their death, the rich man wakes up in Hell and looks around for a way out (v23). Upon seeing Abraham and the poor man Lazarus on the other side, he cries out for relief (v24). 

    And we know the rest of the story. A great reversal of fortune has happened. Abraham explains to the rich man that in life, he had everything while Lazarus had nothing, and now in death, Lazarus is comforted while he is tormented (v25). Furthermore, the chasm that stands between them is one that cannot be bridged (v26). There is no crossing over. 

    The rich man realizes that it is too late for him but it is not too late for his family. So he begs Abraham to warn his family, lest they end up in the same place as him (v27-28). And the story ends on a pretty heavy but simple point that people will not believe even if a dead man were to rise from the dead because disbelief has less to do with compelling evidence but more to do with a hardened heart (v29-31).

  • REFLECT

    How much of this parable is to be taken literally is not something we can fully ascertain. What we do know is that Jesus taught in parables primarily to reveal the nature of God’s Kingdom. And Jesus’ parables were intentionally puzzling so that those who truly desire the Kingdom will wrestle with his teachings until they find it and those who don’t will dismiss his teachings and walk away. 

    Therefore, for those of us who are truly seeking after Jesus and His Kingdom today, we must wrestle with this parable and what it says about earthly riches and the poor. As for those of us who doesn’t want to be confronted with what Jesus may have to say about our money and our hearts for the poor, we can choose to skip this parable and carry on with our lives.

    In this parable, Jesus clearly meant to communicate a reversal of fortunes. The rich man and Lazarus’ earthly and afterlife situation has been completely reversed. To add more context to this parable, we know that just a few verses before, Jesus had declared that no one can serve both God and money (v13).

    If we go further back, Jesus also pronounced woes on the rich (6:24) and spoke about the rich fool who stores up material wealth at the expense of his soul (12:13-21). If we go a little further to Luke 18:18-27, we read of Jesus’ encounter with a rich man where He comments on the difficulty of the rich entering the Kingdom of God. In short, Jesus has plenty to say about money and how it is to be used.

    Whatever else it is, this parable leads us to pointed questions about our earthly possessions, the condition of our hearts in relation to material wealth and our posture towards the less fortunate among us. The rich man demonstrated utter disregard for the poor man Lazarus who lived right outside his gate. He lived in blatant self-gratification while Lazarus barely had anything to eat. 

    This is a hard parable for many of us living in Singapore. It stands as a stinging indictment not only of the false confidence we have built in chasing financial security, but also of the inequalities between the rich and the poor that painfully exist in Singapore, that we know in our hearts that we have perpetuated either through our indifference or through our indulgence.  

    Jesus already told us a simple truth about ourselves – “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matt 6:21)”. If we want to know where our heart truly is, all we need to do is to follow our treasure. In other words, look at your bank account and see where your money is going. That’s where your heart is. 

    Will you take time today to ask God what he thinks about your money and how he would like you to spend it? 

reading for: Wednesday Night, 21 September

Amos 6:1a, 4-7 

  • READ

Our reading from Amos today is a little short and some of us may not be familiar with the prophet Amos. Hence, some backstory may help us to better appreciate the text we are meditating on. First of all, Amos was not a “professional” prophet but simply a “herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs” that the LORD had called to speak to his people (7:14-15).

Second, Amos prophesied during the reign of Uzziah king of Judah and Jeroboam II king of Israel (1:1). This is an important piece of information as it helps us to locate Amos in the history of Israel (between 760-750 BC) – a time where Israel has been divided into two kingdoms and a time of economic growth and prosperity for both Israel and Judah.

Therefore, as a nameless shepherd who was prophesying at a time where Israel was enjoying first-class living and took the peace and prosperity they are enjoying as unmistakable signs of God’s blessings, Israel had no ears to heed the warnings of Amos. They had interpreted their wealth and power as evidence of God’s favour and thought that God would soon destroy their enemies and make them the rulers of the world. 

They couldn’t have been more wrong. God was not pleased at all. Much of their wealth had been amassed at the expense of the poor. And the rich and powerful in Israel were oppressing the poor. That’s the backdrop to the judgment that Amos was pronouncing over Israel. Hence, Amos was trying to point out that Israel was living in false security (v1a) and their extravagant living with no regards to the poor will be their downfall (v4-7).

And true enough, from the history books, we know that Israel were eventually conquered by the Assyrians and the Babylonians. Israel ceased to be a nation altogether and the people of Israel had to live as slaves and subjects of foreign empires for hundreds of years. 

  • REFLECT

    Just to be clear, the judgment of God was against the rich and the powerful in Israel:

    “those who live in luxury and expect everyone else to serve them…those who live only for today, indifferent to the fate of others…the playboys, the playgirls, who think life is a party held just for them…those addicted to feeling good, life without pain…those obsessed with looking good…life without wrinkles…they could not care less about their country going to ruin (v4-7, MSG).”

    Israel was chosen and called by God to be a light and blessing to the nations but they completely failed in their task. They grew complacent and was comfortable due to their wealth and power. They oppressed the poor and paid no attention to the plight of the poor, living as though their lives were the only ones that mattered. 

    Now, most of us obviously don’t go around oppressing or exploiting the poor and the defenceless. But have we neglected them? Have we been so caught up with our own lives that we have ignored the plight of those who are vulnerable in Singapore? As believers, we believe that God is close to the poor, the widows, the orphans, the downtrodden and the broken-hearted. 

    And if God is indeed close to the lest of these, then could it be that one of the reasons why we often feel far away from God is because we are not close to the ones He is close to? Is there any wonder why God seems so distant when we have distanced ourselves from the very ones who are the closest to his heart? 

    Or perhaps we don’t feel all that rich and powerful. So maybe we feel that this passage doesn’t quite apply to us. Nonetheless, we have to admit that wealth does provide us with a sense of security (albeit a false one) and a self-sufficient life does nullify our need for God. 

    Has wealth become our security? Have we become so self-sufficient that we no longer need God? If we are feeling pretty secured and our lives are pretty comfortable, today’s reading is a warning that wealth and self-sufficiency will be our downfall. 

reading for: Thursday Night, 22 September

1 Timothy 6:6-19

  • READ

    Once again, we are confronted with the issue of wealth and riches. Fortunately, we don’t have to crack our heads over the meaning of a parable or try to understand the context of an ancient prophesy this time round. 

    As far as money is concerned, Paul makes it real plain and simple in 1 Tim 6:6-19. The world tells us that wealth and riches are great gains. With money, we will be able to buy all the things we want and we will finally gain the life, the happiness and the contentment that we have been searching so hard and so long for. Money = gaining life. 

    However, Paul disagrees. According to Paul, godliness with contentment, not money, is a great gain (v6). Why? Because all of us came into this world with nothing and we will leave this world with nothing (v7). This is a truth that resonates with all of us. We will exit this life the same way we entered – naked. There is no other way. Therefore, Paul concludes that in this life, if we have food to eat and clothes to wear, that would be sufficient (v8). Hence, godliness + contentment = gaining life.

    Paul then goes on to point out that “those who desire to be rich fall into temptations, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction (v9).” As if that was not gloomy enough, Paul proceeds to declare that the love of money is the source of all kinds of evil and it may even cause a person to walk away from God (v10).

    Hence, Paul challenges Timothy and us today, not to chase after wealth and riches but to pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness, to fight the good fight of faith and to take hold of the eternal life that we have received until we see Jesus again (v11-16). 

    With that, Paul ends by counselling those who are rich in this world not to be arrogant and preoccupied with earthly wealth that are unreliable but to set their eyes on God, to strive to be rich in good works and to be generous with their wealth (v17-18). If the rich were to do these things, their treasures would be secured and they would gain a life that is truly life.

  • REFLECT

    By now, it should be clear that this week’s lectionary passages are all about money and our relationship with it. So does God have something against money? Is it wrong for Christians to be rich? Absolutely not! God has nothing against money and there is nothing wrong with being rich. 

    If there is any doubt, Paul has made it crystal clear in today’s reading that money is never the problem. The love of money is the problem. Our desire to be rich and our love for money is what kills us and leads us away from God. We do need money but we have to be careful not to put our trust in it. 

    The reason why God left us with so many comments about money is because He knows money has the power to take His place in our lives. Money promises security, happiness, contentment, power, control and so much more. Money is not evil but it can leads us to all sorts of evil with its empty promises. 

    Thus, let us heed Paul’s counsel to be rich in good works and to be generous. Let us not chase after riches but seek to be rich towards God. This is a message we need to hear over and over and over again. When our time on earth is up, we can’t bring a single thing with us. If we spend our lives chasing after riches, we will gain nothing. But if we spend our lives pursuing God, we will gain everything. 

    Discuss with your LG what it means to be “rich towards God.” What does it look like for a Christian to be rich towards God today? How can we use our money in a way that will not rob us of our soul? What kind of practices will help loosen the grip earthly possession and material wealth has on us so that we may grab a hold of God?

    May we lay hold of the eternal life that we have received and finish our race well that we may be found faithful in the eyes of Christ when we see him again!

reading for: Friday Night, 23 September

Psalm 146

  • READ

    As we come to the last reading of this week, we are instructed to praise the Lord. In fact, the last five psalms (146-150) have one common theme – praise. Beginning in Psalm 146, each of these psalms begins and ends with the phrase “Praise the Lord!”. It is a fitting end to the book of Psalm and incidentally, it may also be a fitting end to this week’s readings.

    Psalm 146 begins with an invitation to praise the Lord and to praise him all the days of our lives (v1-2). This is not an easy invitation to respond to because if we are honest with ourselves, we know that it is easier said than done. How do we praise him in times of trouble and suffering? Is he truly worthy of our praise?

    The psalm then takes a sharp turn and calls upon God’s people not to put their trust in “princes” in whom there is no salvation because they will fail (v3-4). In other words, the “powerful” people we look to for help are actually weak. They are not as powerful as we think. They are merely mortals with a lifespan. They can’t help us. They will fail us.

    Thus, the psalmist proposes an alternative. A way out of our predicament. Instead of trusting in men, why don’t we try trusting in God? The psalmist declares that those who put their trust in the LORD are blessed because He is the one who made all there is in this world and He is faithful till the end (v5-6).  

    If the LORD is the one who made all there is in this world then he is powerful and able to save. If He is faithful to the end then he will never disappoint nor fail. Hence, it makes perfect sense to put our trust in such a God. Furthermore, this is a God who takes care of those who are vulnerable and helpless – the oppressed, the hungry, the captive, the blind, the downtrodden, the foreigner, the widow, the orphans (v7-9). 

    That’s the psalmist’s proposal – to put our trust in the LORD, the God who watches over the weak and powerless, the One who administers justice and the One who reigns forever, from generations to generations. That is a God worthy of our praise. That is the One we ought to put our trust it.

  • REFLECT

    As far as this world is concerned, wealth and power are deeply intertwined. Rich people are powerful and powerful people are rich. It is what it is. And our world is constantly lifting up those with wealth and power in an attempt to persuade us to put our trust in it. 

    Now that we have come to the end of this week’s lectionary passages, we are left with one final question. A heart question. Deep in the heart of our heart, who do we truly trust? What truly gives us confidence in life? Where does our help truly come from? 

    Let’s search our hearts for the answers and take some time tonight to praise the Lord. Listen to “O Praise The Name” or “I Sing Praises To Your Name”. May we not entrust our lives to wealth and power for they are inadequate saviours. May we seek not after the riches of this world but after the true treasures in heaven – God and His Kingdom. God help us!

Season of PentecostCNL