The Sunday News
Rev Paul Batethe Damasane
TODAY is the first day of the 6th month and it marks the half-way mark of the year 2014. How far have you gone in achieving what you set out to do in 2014? It is not too late nor is there still a lot of time. Redeem the time because the days are evil. There is no one who will do it for you. When you cry it will be your eyes that will be closed and wet in tears while others will just talk at times and not give you anything else.
Do not blame them they are not your God! They do not owe you anything. If anything you owe the world what God assigned you to become and do. So stand up and be counted as you fulfil your mission.
Today we look at what many critics have termed the prosperity gospel or mere materialism that has gripped our sanctum sanctorum. What should always be at the back of our minds is that we should not think this is an import of some American televangelist. No, it is a reality that we need to face. No one wants to be poor no matter where they are from. God never meant for us to be poor. That is why even the poor hate being poor. The poor do not pray in as much as the filthy rich outside God do not pray. What is the use of me being in church and receiving the living word or the Good News if there is nothing good about or in my life? If it is the Living Word then I should also be alive and well not poor and dying! Is it not the Apostle Paul who said in his letter to the Corinthian believers, “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” (2 Cor. 8:9) Why would it mean otherwise in our context today?
Do we go to church for money? The answer is no, we do not. But before you take a breather ask yourself the question, “Does God meet my needs in His house?” If the answer to this question is in the affirmative then definately if money and well-being is not part of the gamut of your needs, it is time to think in a pragmatic manner as we interrogate the issue of the so- called prosperity gospel. My intention was not to bombard you with biblical references to support or refute the above. This is the earth that He, God, in His infinite wisdom and mercy, has placed us. I do not think He placed us here to wallow in poverty, sickness and lack — be it emotionally, spiritually and certainly materially!
Being the preacher that I am I would like to take you back to the scripture I referred to earlier and build up on that discourse. Christ became poor for us, that we might become rich IN HIM. The poverty and wealth spoken of in this verse could be taken spiritually as many critics would have it. But the context in which the verse appears indicates that the Holy Spirit is speaking of material poverty and material riches as well.
What does it mean “to be rich”? It does not mean having plenty of money and property, but rather having enough to meet our needs and some extra to help and bless others with. Being rich is described in Revelation 3:17 as “having need of nothing”. That is how God is rich. God does not have silver or gold or a bank account or even a wallet. But He has need of nothing. “Hhayi bo Mrevu kunzima lokhu!” I can hear you say but this is the truth.
Jesus was not poor when He was on earth, for He had “need of nothing”. He could even provide a meal once for about 10 000 people — 5 000 men, and a number of women and children (Matt 14:21). Only a rich man could do that! He had enough money to pay His taxes (Matt17:27).
He never had to borrow money from anyone at any time. And He even had enough money to give to the poor (John 13:29).
Jesus once said, “The poor you have with you always, but you do not always have Me” (Matt 26:11). There He contrasted Himself with the poor. On another occasion, when Jesus told a rich young ruler to give all his money to the poor, Jesus was certainly not including himself also among the poor to whom the money was to be given!! No. It is clear that Jesus was rich when he was on earth in this sense: He lacked nothing.
The early apostles too were not poor. When they told the believers “to remember the poor” (Gal 2:10), they were not asking the believers to remember them!! No. Those apostles may not have had silver and gold (Acts 3:6). But they had all that they needed. In this way they were rich like their Master before them. That is how God wants us to be rich too. These early apostles even went on to appoint deacons to look after the issues materially and monetary so they could look at the ministry of the spiritual. They had all they needed but were keen that everyone of their flock was also well taken of.
But we see that Jesus did become poor when he hung on the cross. A poor man is described in the New Testament as one who has “threadbare clothing” (Jas 2:2). The poorest beggar we have seen usually has at least a torn rag around his body. But Jesus did not have even that when he was crucified. He was stripped naked and crucified. He really became poor for our sakes, when he was crucified. He even felt forsaken even by his father when he cried, ‘‘Eli Eli lamasabactani!’’ Jesus became poor on the cross, so that we might become rich — or in other words, that we might have “need of nothing” in our lives. God has not promised to give us all that we want, but all that we need (Phil 4:19). Wise parents do not give their children all that they want or ask for, but only all that they need. So it is with God too.
The old covenant promised earthly wealth to those who obeyed the Law. But under the new covenant, God promises that if we seek His kingdom first and His righteousness, He will give us something even better: Everything that we need for life on this earth (Matt 6:33; see also 2 Pet 1:4).
The Bible clearly teaches that riches are both deceitful and uncertain (Matt 13:22; 1 Tim 6:17). So it is dangerous to desire riches or just to long to have more and more money (1 Tim 6:10). But God’s promise is something far more glorious: He will always give us “all that we need, according to his riches in glory IN Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:19).
Do you find you cannot make ends meet with the salary that you earn? Since God draws everyone’s financial boundaries, it is impossible for Him not to give His children enough for their earthly needs. Your lack must then be because the blessing of God is not on your life. Maybe you are lazy, or wasting money, or living in a selfish way, violating God’s laws. If you are rich towards God, God will be rich towards you as well.
Let me tell you the good news of the gospel: It is not God’s will that His children should live with constant financial lack in their earthly lives.
However high the cost of living may be, those who seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness first in their lives will always find that their earthly needs are met. If that does not happen, we would have to say that Jesus was a liar — for that is what he clearly promised.
Jesus became poor — so that we might be rich. So we need never live with a lack in our lives. We need have no fear about the future — either for ourselves or for our children. Jesus has purchased the provision of every earthly need for us and our family-members — on the cross.
Unfortunately, money-loving preachers (especially in the last 30 years or so) have exaggerated and misunderstood this truth and turned it into an excuse to preach a “prosperity-gospel” — teaching that Jesus came to make us wealthy millionaires. That is a falsehood and a misrepresentation of the truth. God has not promised us wealth per se in the new covenant, but something far better — all that we need.
So be free from all your fears, dear brother and sister. Jesus has already become poor for you on the cross. There is no need for you to live with constant financial lack in your lives any more. You can always have all that you need. Claim your birth right in the gospel. Shalom!
