O God Beyond All Praising1

O God beyond all praising,
we worship you today
and sing the love amazing
that songs cannot repay;
for we can only wonder
at every gift you send,
at blessings without number
and mercies without end:
we lift our hearts before you
and wait upon your word,
we honor and adore you,
our great and mighty Lord.

Then hear, O gracious Savior,
accept the love we bring,
that we who know your favor
may serve you as our king;
and whether our tomorrows
be filled with good or ill,
we'II triumph through our sorrows
and rise to bless you still:
to marvel at your beauty
and glory in your ways,
and make a joyful duty
our sacrifice of praise.

---

Words: Michael Perry (1942-1996);
© by Jubilate Hymns, Ltd. (admin. by Hope Publishing Co., Carol Stream, IL 60188).

1 I think it might be naughty to reproduce this without approval, but I was thinking that because it's not actually being sung, it might be okay. Anyway I'm obviously not troubled enough to either find out or to refrain - but please do let me know if you think I shouldn't and I'll remove the post.

Money and Stuff: Don't be greedy

Don’t act as if money is everything. When you have enough, don’t be dissatisfied. Don’t cling onto your surplus (Luke 12:16-21). Don’t be so narrowminded and shortsighted. Don’t think only of yourself and only of now. You are not the most important person in the world. Humble yourself before God and he will lift you up. He is not a cruel, pennypinching God trying to deny you. Do not set your sights so short – there is an eternity of riches to look forward to. Don’t be like “an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea."1

If you are greedy or envious you will become an ugly person. You will walk over other people to serve yourself. You will take your eyes off God. You will fail to care for the poor. (1 Timothy 6:9-10)

If you are greedy or covertous you are playing a dangerous game. It is not possible to serve both God and money. You will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. (Matthew 6:24; Luke 16:13) If you continue in this path you will not inherit the kingdom (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). Of course you should be thankful if riches come your way, and you should enjoy them, for they are good. But do not let them be your master. Don’t pant and strive for them. Seek spiritual riches, long for heaven, be content with enough and be generous with what you have been given.


1 C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1965), 1-2 from J. Piper, Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist (Inter-Varsity Press, 2003), 20

Money and Stuff: Be generous with your surplus

First be honest. Recognise how much of your money and possessions are sufficient for you. Call what’s left over what it is – your surplus. Then sincerely thank God for giving you enough, and for blessing you with more than enough.

Try to think of all that you have as a gift. The Giver gave it to you because he loves you and loves to look after you and bring you happiness. It’s a gift, he doesn’t want it back, it’s yours. He was pleased to give it to you. Don’t feel awkward or ashamed about having it – it’s good. Enjoy it and praise God.

But remember: “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?” (1 John 3:17). Indeed you must give to those in need, especially when they are a Christian brother or sister (1 Timothy 6:17-18; see also 1 Corinthians 16:2 & 2 Corinthians 8:11b-12). You are no Christian if you fail in this. But don’t give just because you must. Be glad of the opportunity to extend the generosity you yourself have been shown (2 Corinthians 8:9; 9:7). It’s not about everyone reaching the same measure of wealth. There will always be relatively rich and relatively poor people and that’s okay. Just be generous. You will know if you are being generous or just pretending to be. Give at least a little more lavishly, at least a little more than is reasonable. Be very kind.

Money and Stuff: Be content with enough

With what should we be content? With barely enough food to survive and no roof over our head? With a mansion and a yacht? With what we need, with enough?

Enough is enough; it’s adequate, sufficient. We don’t need any more. We should be content with enough (Exodus 16:18; Proverbs 30:7-9; Mathew 6:11). “[G]odliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.” (1 Timothy 6:6-8).

Enough is what God has promised to give us (Luke 12:22-32). So we shouldn’t stress that we won’t have enough. Trust him who in telling us to “[k]eep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have”, assured us that “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5).

Yet it is true that God may have reason to let you, like his servant Paul before you, experience poverty – or wealth. Even in these situations, we should be content because we have something that eclipses our unhappy situation. We have spiritual riches, now and for all eternity. (Philippians 4:12-13) For “[w]ho shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? . . . No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:35, 37)

Money and Stuff: Money isn't everything

A little over a week ago 189 people died in terrible bushfires in Victoria. The people that survived the fires know all too well the true value of things. On TV I watched one resident exhorting an old lady whose house had burned to the ground – “This is nothing! This can be replaced!”. Another person talked about how relationships are the "real" and "essential" things in life. Similarly, Jesus said that “a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15).

What those people have learned remains true even when life is good and our possessions are intact. Money is Good and things are Good (1 Timothy 6:17), but they’re not everything. There are better things than physical riches. Relationships and spiritual riches are better by far.

Spiritual, eternal riches are also more secure than money. Money is unreliable and passing away (Ecclesiastes 5:13-14; Mathew 6:19; 1 Timothy 6:17). Anything can happen. Eternal riches are far more worthy of trust (Mathew 6:20).

And those eternal riches will include physical blessing. God has made us to be physical and to live in a physical world. Heaven will be a beautiful, abundant, peaceful, joyous, physical place and we will have physical bodies there (Revelation 21 & 22; 1 Corinthians 15). That’s what we have to look forward to.

But now is not the time for guaranteed physical riches. Being a Christian does not mean that you will have lots of money and stuff. It means you have something far better and more lasting (Matthew 13:44).

Think back to your life before you were a Christian. Were you happy? Did you feel secure? Did life make sense? Did you carry around regrets and guilt? Were you scared about dying? Did you screw up and disappoint yourself? Then think about what peace with God has meant for your life. Is this peace worth more than a house? More than sexy clothes? More than travel? The superiority of spiritual riches is not a trite platitude. It’s actually true: spiritual riches in real life, in lived experience, are actually better. They may not be visible but they are nonetheless real. “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:26) But Christian, all is well with your soul.

Money and Stuff: Introduction

I’ve been having big struggles with money and with my attitude towards money for the past year. The situation and my decision making is all a bit complicated, so I won’t go into it. Suffice to say that, whether for noble or foolish reasons, I haven’t had quite enough money to live on - to live in (middle class) Australian culture that is. If I lived the way I do in most places in the world, I’d be considered very rich.

I’m sorry to say that, while I have some understanding of what a godly response to this situation should be, I've not reacted that way. My reaction has been one of regular moments of awful fear and stress and acute bitterness, envy, covetousness and discontentment. But I thank God that he hasn’t just left me to wallow in ugliness, but has enabled me to keep desiring to be better and to keep fighting.

One thing that has really helped me has been to look at what God has to say in some depth, thanks to the book Neither Poverty Nor Riches: A Biblical Theology of Possessions by Craig L. Blomberg (Illinois: Intervarsity Press, 1999). I have learned four main things – money isn’t everything; be content with enough; be generous with your surplus and don’t be greedy. I’m going to spend one post addressing each.

I'd also really appreciate your prayers as I keep on battling with this stuff. When something is taken from you, you learn the true measure of your attachment to it. I think greed is a big problem for Christians in rich countries, but we don't always realise it. So please let me know if I can pray for you too.