Riches

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I once had a conversation with a young father, he had a two year old child and the second on the way. During the conversation he told me his strategies to prepare the two year old for the arrival of the baby, “I teach them that all their toys belong to them” the father told me, “that way they learn what is ‘mine’ and will be able to share”. I’m not sure what your thoughts are on hearing that story, but it struck me that one thing two year olds probably don’t need to be told very often is what belongs to them. “Mine, it’s MINE”, might be something we’ve heard from a two year old before, and the idea of sharing isn’t something they tend to lean into once they’ve established their own ownership.

How much we grow as we get older is debatable. Although we may become more articulate, have we learnt to share, or just to be more subtle about why we won’t share? Who amongst us has been disappointed when a book you’ve leant a friend has come back dog-eared? Or felt somewhat upset when our clothing has been loaned out, only to come back with a fresh stain? Perhaps it is a tool, a kitchen implement, a car, the list goes on. There are quite probably times we’ve shared, and regretted it afterwards.

How refreshing when we come to the scriptures and find the solution to our dilemma. The solution isn’t to stop sharing, or to communicate more clearly our expectations of how our possessions will be returned. The solution is to recognise that what we have isn’t actually ours! Psalm 24 tells us the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. In 1 Corinthians 6 we are reminded that this even includes us—you are not your own, you were bought at a price. If this is the case, then we are not owners of all that we have, rather we are managers of it. This frees us to recognise the joy of seeing God’s generosity to us in Jesus, and frees us to be generous so that others might also receive this generosity. It also releases us to experience the joy of a life unburdened by the accumulation game, and rather satisfied to sharing. Perhaps this is how Paul can talk of finding contentment despite his circumstances - whether he has much or has little not does not define him, rather it is God’s riches in Christ Jesus.

In Christ’s Love,

Craig Olliffe, Senior minister