The Blessing of Wealth
God created a world brimming with abundance and delivered the Israelites out of slavery into a new land “flowing with milk and honey,” Jesus’ first miracle was to turn water into wine for a wedding feast and the book of Revelation promises a future in which poverty has been eradicated. The history of our faith shows us that our God delights in giving good gifts, including material ones.
Glenn’s sermon reminded me that God doesn’t condemn wealth or call us to pursue poverty. He does call us to see our material blessings as evidence of His parental faithfulness to us. And as we begin to understand God’s loving relationship with us, his generosity should motivate us to extend that same generosity to others. “The righteous person gives generously” (Psalm 37.21). Do my paycheck, my home, and my career opportunities remind me of God’s steadfast love to me? Do they make me eager to show that same love to others by giving?
In the Old Testament passages we read before the sermon (Deuteronomy 8.7-10, 17-20), God reminds the Israelites that the fertility and abundance of their new land are his gifts. God warns his people not to “go after other gods and serve them.” The warning underscores the temptation of wealth. It’s not wrong to enjoy our material blessings—it’s wrong to think we acquired them on our own! When we take this kind of pride in a promotion, a bonus, our possessions or our prestigious jobs, we are doing just what the Israelites did when they pursued idols. We are replacing God with ourselves.
The rich person soothes his insecurities by telling himself, I built that. Instead, “you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 8.10). The answer to our brokenness is God’s love, not anything we build for ourselves.
We are grateful for our material blessings as gifts that show God’s love to us. We are especially grateful for the greatest gift of that love: the liberating sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Gratitude can dissolve the entitled resentment that comes from believing we deserve abundance and happiness through our own efforts. This week it dissolved some of mine.