Let's pray for the Lord's help.
Instead, he finds God's holy law, his joy and great delight.
Amen.
Well, I've chosen just to preach on two of those verses from Proverbs 3.
Let me read those verses again, verses 9 and 10, and then I'll explain why.
It says,
Now, to be honest, a number of quite mundane reasons I wanted to preach on this.
Partly, we're about to start a new series in our youth group this term on money in the book of Proverbs.
So I kind of wanted to refresh my own thinking on it.
Partly, it's much easier for me, with clearly no vested interest, for me to talk about giving to you than it is for others.
Perhaps your elders here are bolder than I would be, but you know what I mean.
But partly, this is just something which I've discovered in the Scriptures, to be a wonderful thing.
To be a surprising testimony to just how generous and gracious God is.
Honour the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce.
Then your barns will be filled with plenty.
And your vats will be bursting with wine.
A year or so ago, we kept hearing in the news about the cost of living crisis.
I think we hear about that less in the news now, because it's become our new baseline.
That prices are higher.
And petrol costs more.
And food seems to drain the bank account.
Now, if you're a child, you might not realise this, because your parents are the ones, rightly, who worry about it rather than you.
But children, your parents probably have, over the last few years, become armchair economists.
Worrying about money.
Worrying about the shopping.
Checking the smart meter.
I find smart meters a very alarming thing.
You know how it tells you how much you've spent today on energy?
Every time you look at it, you think, oh, can that really be the case?
But the good news from the book of Proverbs, the good news from God's word, is that God's economics are not our economics.
In fact, all economics, if you're studying that perhaps at A-level or something, or if you work in that field,
all economics are wrong if they bracket out God and his providence and his care and his power.
Now, at a time where people are feeling the pinch, we may feel it's a time where we look at the balances and think,
hang on, I need to tone down my giving to the Lord, giving to the church.
But I want to show us from Proverbs chapter 3, this is a time not to stop or reduce giving,
but a time to carry on giving to the Lord.
And here's why.
The book of Proverbs has lots of obvious lessons about money.
So just hear these things and think to yourself, does this sound like an obvious teaching?
Chapter 14, verse 23.
In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.
I don't think you need to be a Christian to know that that's true.
Chapter 10, verse 4.
A lazy hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.
Chapter 13, verse 11.
Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.
Even chapter 11, verse 25.
I think this is less obvious to the average person, but it still rings true.
A generous man will prosper.
He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.
You can see how, you know, if you're supporting somebody when you're doing well,
then you might be the kind of person who others support when you need to be refreshed.
But chapter 3, verse 9 to 10 is not obvious.
It's not intuitive at all.
If you were to say this to one of your neighbours or someone you know from school,
they would say,
that doesn't make sense at all.
Honour the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce.
Then your barns will be filled with plenty,
and your vats will be bursting with wine.
I think when we think about giving to the poor or to the work of the church,
we tend to be motivated by things like need.
We say, there's a building that needs to be built.
There's an appeal that needs to get that thing up to the very top of the thermometer on it.
Then we can build the building.
Or we need to employ this new post.
Or we've got to pay the bills to keep the lights on.
There's a need.
Or perhaps we feel motivated by guilt.
We think, well, somebody probably ought to do this,
because otherwise the minister's poor children will starve or something like that.
Or, just by bare duty.
We know that God's word says something about giving.
We don't really know why, but we're just going to go along with it anyway.
Proverbs chapter 3 gives us a far more appealing and far more true and far more gracious motivation than that.
Honouring the Lord by giving to him, giving to him, that is giving to his work, brings blessing.
The motivation is, I want to be blessed.
Both materially and spiritually.
Or to put it in the pithiest way, the one who tithes thrives.
Now, perhaps you're hearing that thinking, hang on a second.
Hold your horses.
The rest of the sermon, I'm just going to spend answering the many objections that you're probably already thinking of in your mind.
And I've thought of at least 14.
So, let's see how far we get.
They're quick.
Don't worry.
Here's the first one.
You're just tricking me.
This is just manipulation.
Both the verse itself and this sermon is just somebody self-interestedly saying, give me money.
Now, that is a cynical objection, but it is a real one.
It has to be addressed because it does happen.
One, incidentally, if you're somebody who's here, who's not a Christian, one, I'm glad, delighted that you're here.
And two, I just want to make it really clear that you should not be giving to the church to the work of Jesus Christ,
unless you consider that Jesus is your Lord and your great high priest.
Because I think that's what giving to the Lord is.
It's testifying, not with our lips, but with our bank statement, that Jesus is my Lord.
Proverbs is a book that's written by King Solomon.
In other words, it's not written by the people who benefit from the first fruits and the tithes.
Chapter 31 of 2 Chronicles, it's one of the kings, another king like King Solomon, King Hezekiah,
who leads the people in doing just this, in bringing in the full tithe and first fruits into the priests and the Levites.
Now, King Hezekiah, presumably, was the richest man in the entire country.
He didn't stand to benefit at all from giving money to the priests and Levites.
And yet he led the people in doing it.
Proverbs is not, these words are not the words of somebody self-interested.
Solomon himself stood to gain nothing by giving the first fruits of all his many lands and wealth.
Except that he did.
Because we all have a vested interest in these verses, if they're true.
All of us.
If it is true that the Lord fills the barns of those who honour the Lord with their wealth,
then we have a vested interest in this.
Second objection.
This is clearly not always true.
Now, Proverbs recognises this.
In fact, the very nature of a proverb is it's saying something general,
rather than something kind of ironclad, universal law.
Proverbs recognises it in places like chapter 28, verse 6,
where it says,
Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity,
than a rich man who is crooked in his ways.
Throughout the whole book of Proverbs,
it's plain that it's possible to be rich and wicked.
But it's possible, perhaps even common, to be poor and righteous.
So it's clearly not always true, yes.
And Proverbs recognises that.
Even in this very reading that we heard,
chapter 3, verse 11 and 12,
My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline,
or be weary of his reproof.
For the Lord reproves him whom he loves,
as a father the son in whom he delights.
Even in those verses, we see that God brings hardship,
as discipline,
on the children whom he loves.
Now, that hardship must include,
or at least possibly include,
some financial hardship and difficulty.
God brings those things,
as he brings all trials on us,
as an opportunity to learn to trust him,
to learn to rely on him,
and to walk in his ways.
So yes, this is clearly not always true.
It generally is true, though.
We tend to read Proverbs and say,
yeah, I recognise there are some exceptions to this,
and move to,
well, it's just all random.
Whether people end up happy or sad,
rich or poor,
righteous or foolish,
that's just random.
It's up to you.
You have to pull yourself up
by your bootstraps.
You have to be the one who gets lucky.
But those things deny
the lordship of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ,
who sits enthroned,
ruling over everything,
all of the powerful angels and authorities,
all of the powerful governments
and financial institutions,
and all of us,
he has not stepped back
from our individual financial affairs.
He knows what's going on
in your work
and in your bank account.
He not only knows,
but he cares.
He not only cares,
but to some significant
and important degree,
he controls it.
Third objection.
Isn't this just in the Old Testament?
Well, yes, Proverbs is in the Old Testament,
so on one sense,
yes, that's true.
And not just in that sense.
Not just that it's in this book
rather than in the book of Matthew
or in James.
Because in verse 9,
it refers specifically
to the first fruits
of all your produce.
Now, the law of Israel
stated that
before the people could eat
a single thing
from the lands
and fields that they had,
they first had to bring
the first and the best produce
from their lands
to God.
They brought not only
the first fruits,
but a tithe,
that is a tenth,
of all that their land produced
and brought it to the Levites
and the priests.
Now, at least to some extent,
that's therefore connected
with the promise of the land, right?
The reason they had those fields
in the first place
was because God had given them,
their specific tribe,
their specific family,
this specific field.
And yet,
this idea that there is
a cycle of blessing
is not one that's limited
to the Old Testament.
Proverbs, I think,
if you think about the whole book,
it's an instruction
from a father
to his son.
And in a way,
it's an expansion
of the fifth
of the Ten Commandments.
Honor your father and mother,
this is the first commandment
with a promise,
that it may go well with you
and that you may live long
in the land.
Proverbs is about that.
It's a father saying,
if you heed my instructions,
you will be wise
and you will be blessed.
You will have long life.
Length of days,
verse 2.
You will have blessings.
Honor the Lord
with your wealth.
But that quotation
of the fifth commandment
I just gave you
is not from the Old Testament.
I've quoted it
from Ephesians chapter 6,
verse 2 and 3.
Honor your father
and your mother.
This is the first commandment
with a promise,
that it may go well with you
and that you may live long
in the land.
The instructions of Proverbs
are not just for them,
they're for us.
They're for Christians
living in the New Testament too.
Besides that,
there's a clear parallel
given in 1 Corinthians 9
between giving to support
the Levites and the temple
and giving to support
the church
and its ministers.
You can see that
in 1 Corinthians 9, 13 and 14
where it says,
do you not know
that those who are employed
in the temple service
get their food
from the temple
and those who serve
at the altar
share in the sacrificial offerings.
In the same way,
the Lord commanded
that those who proclaim
the gospel
should get their living
by the gospel.
More than that,
there's clearly
some obligation
to continue to give
according to our means.
That's what 2 Corinthians 8 says.
Now here's the thing,
wouldn't it be strange,
wouldn't it be just unlike
the God that we know
if he'd left us
with the obligation
to give according
in proportion to your means
but taken away
the blessing?
The New Covenant
is not a downgrade
from the old.
It's an upgrade
in every way.
And that includes
in this way.
Objection number 4.
Doesn't Jesus warn
against riches?
Yes, he does.
In fact, Jesus has more
to say about riches
and the danger of riches
than almost anything else.
He speaks a great deal
as well about self-righteousness
but it seems that for Jesus
in his great wisdom
riches and self-righteousness
come hand in hand.
So yes, Jesus warns
against riches
but so does the book
of Proverbs.
Chapter 30 says,
Give me neither poverty
nor riches
but give me only
my daily bread.
Otherwise,
I may have too much
and disown you
and say,
Who is the Lord?
Or I may become poor
and steal
and so dishonour
the name of my God.
So great
is God's blessing
both in the Old Covenant
and the New.
So great is his blessing
that the chiefest temptation
for us
is that we turn around
having received the things
he's given us
and say,
I did this by my own hand.
I did this.
I worked hard.
I pulled myself up.
And the Lord says,
No,
I gave you everything.
I gave you the bootstraps
and the hands
to pull them up
and I gave you much more
besides.
So yes,
it is a great danger
and I don't want to
underplay that danger.
If you heard that verse,
Then your barns
will be filled with plenty
and your vats
will be bursting with wine.
Does that remind you
of any stories
that Jesus told?
For the children,
we have a book
of the man
who built the barns
and they got bigger
and bigger.
But in the end,
the man died
after he built
the biggest barn of all,
Luke chapter 12.
And what did God say
to him?
You fool.
You,
the opposite of Proverbs.
Not the wise man,
but the fool
building your barns
bigger and bigger.
That's why it says
in verse 9,
honour the Lord
with your wealth.
The man in the parable
honoured his wealth
with his wealth.
He wanted his wealth
to grow yet more and more.
He honoured his pleasure
with his wealth.
He wanted to eat
and drink
and be merry.
It's honour the Lord,
not honour yourself,
not honour your wealth,
not honour mammon,
but honour the Lord
with your wealth.
We are to seek wisdom first.
We are to seek understanding
for,
chapter 3, verse 14,
the gain from wisdom
is better than gain from silver
and her profit
is better than gold.
Get wisdom.
Seek wisdom.
Which is, of course,
the same thing as to say,
get Christ.
Christ.
Seek Christ.
Now again,
who else says that?
Seek something first.
Jesus himself,
in Matthew 6,
says,
seek first
the kingdom
and righteousness.
But that's not where
that verse finishes,
is it?
Jesus goes on,
seek first the kingdom
and righteousness
and all these
material things
will be added
to you.
So yes,
Jesus warns against riches,
just like Proverbs.
Number five.
We will get quicker,
don't worry.
Number five.
Isn't this the prosperity gospel?
Perhaps one night
you've been flicking
through the channels
and you get to
some late night
allegedly Christian channel
and you see somebody
saying,
donate to me,
donate now,
send in via this text message
and I will buy
a private jet
which will help me
to spread the gospel
and God will also
double your money
and you'll see that
I pledge to you.
That's what the prosperity gospel is.
People openly appealing
to greed
and desperation
saying that the gospel
is a means
to wealth.
But Proverbs 3
isn't the prosperity gospel
like that.
I hope that what I'm saying today
is not capable
of being heard
like that.
Proverbs 3 is true
so long as we don't make
God's generosity
a license
for loving money.
So long as we don't
neuter Jesus' teaching
that the good life,
the wise life,
the happy life
is
denying yourself,
taking up your cross
and following me.
That the good life
means losing your life.
That the good life
means
leaving behind
houses
and fields
and family.
So long as those things
are not neutered.
This is not the prosperity gospel.
It's just the way
that our generous God
has set up
his gracious,
grace-filled
world.
A sixth objection.
Isn't this just
works righteousness?
It sounds like you're saying
you've got to do
these good things,
give some money,
do some religious stuff
and then God will bless you.
Absolutely not.
Or at least
if you read it wrong
and misinterpret it,
it is.
But that's not how God
has ever operated.
Everything we have,
every breath,
is by God's grace
only.
The fact that we
profess Jesus Christ
and follow him
if you do,
the fact that we do that
is by God's grace only.
We've received his
gift of righteousness
by faith
only.
And yet that faith
which he's given to us
is not all
that he's given to us.
He's given us
his Holy Spirit
precisely so that we can
walk in his commands.
Precisely so that we can
live the happiest,
wisest way
which is
to walk in his commands.
the wisdom
which comes from the fear
of the Lord,
the good works
which come from faith
are done
by God's grace.
It's God's grace
which produces
in us
good works.
It's God's work
in your heart
which produces wisdom
and a wisdom
which is not just
in the head
but which works out
in every area
of your life.
Now again,
just step back from that.
That's how generous
God is.
He gives you the grace.
You receive
his gift of extraordinary
and perfect righteousness
by faith.
He gives you
his Holy Spirit
so that you can walk
in his commandments
and then he rewards you
for walking in his commandments.
Not just in this life
but in the life to come.
Let's not sell short
the generosity of God.
God is full of grace
at every step
in the chain
along that.
And the grace
which will
bear fruit
in eternity
is a grace
which we can
as yet
barely imagine.
So those are kind of
I suppose
theological objections.
The next few
are quicker
and they're more
practical objections.
So the seventh objection.
I'm worried
that if I do this
I'm just doing it
to get rich.
I'm worried about
my motivations.
Well I want to say
to that
that God has actually
set up this
precisely to prevent
that.
In other words
if you do
have a tendency
to love money
you don't have to be rich
to love money.
You can be
desperately poor
and still love money.
If you do
have a tendency
and a temptation
to love money
and you give
to the Lord
first
I don't think
you can do both
of those things
for long.
God has set up
honouring the Lord
with your wealth
precisely
to put to death
the sin
of covetousness.
It's designed
to purify
our motivations
because we have
to say
I love you
first.
I honour you
more than anything.
I need you
Lord
more than I need
anything.
It's anything.
Not even money
not even bread
not even my livelihood.
An eighth objection.
If I did this
I wouldn't have
enough to live on.
Now I want to be
really sensitive to this
because I do think
there are real
circumstances
where people might say
I wish I could honour
the Lord with my wealth
but I truly don't
have any wealth.
All my wealth
is someone else's wealth.
I don't have
a penny to live on.
Think of those
many slaves
in the New Testament
who were converted
to follow Jesus Christ.
But they didn't really
have any possessions.
They were slaves.
They didn't earn
any money
week to week
for the most part.
But
remember Jesus'
story
in Luke 21
well not a story
but something he saw
and pointed out
to his disciples
he saw a widow
going to the
temple treasury
and putting in
just two
small copper coins
and said
and these words
ought to echo
in our hearts
he said
having seen
people pouring in
their gold coins
he said
I tell you
she has put
in more
than all these.
God's economics
are not
our economics.
and he says
honour the Lord
with your wealth
and first
put that first.
My mum is involved
with Christians
against poverty
she helps out
with that a little bit
and she says
I was talking to her
about this a few months ago
she was surprised
that one of the first things
when they're trying
to get somebody out
of a horrendous
situation with debt
one of the first things
they do
to put into their budget
is giving.
It's a recognition
a pretty bold recognition
on the part
of an organisation
that's trying
to fight poverty
that God's economics
are not our economics
that God owns
the cattle
on a thousand hills
that God has
an infinite supply
of life
and money
he has enough
for himself
he has enough
to overflow
to every creature
in the world
he has enough
for you.
A ninth objection
I will do this
but I need to
pay off my debt
I need to pay off
my project first
again
I want to be sensitive
to that
that might be
the right thing
to do
and in some ways
Christians against poverty
is trying to sort
out people
in that situation
but notice what it says
in verse 9
honour the Lord
with your wealth
and with the first fruits
of all your produce
however we work out
our giving in practice
we ought to be trying
to say
in some way with it
Lord you're the first person
before I put a morsel
in my mouth
I'm honouring you with it
I'm testifying
that you gave it
I'm professing
that you
have provided for me
a great high priest Jesus
and I belong to him
that's the first thing
we do with our money
so I want to
if that's the case
of saying
I can't give now
because I'm still
paying off my student debt
or I need to pay
for this conservatory
or something
I want to gently ask
how or who
or what
is your highest
and first priority
in life
tenth objection
somebody who says
look I'm doing this
I am giving
but I'm just getting poorer
now
this may happen
over the long term
because the Lord
in his sovereign power
disciplines people
just how he wants to
but I want to say
that if Proverbs
is true
generally true
then it probably won't
that somebody who gives
generously to the Lord
who honours the Lord
with their wealth
probably won't
be getting poorer
and poorer
over the long term
because God's economics
are not our economics
perhaps you're someone
like me
who looks at graphs
and reads things
in the paper
and thinks
the economy is going
down the pan
and it seemingly
has no bottom
do you think
that that can outrun God
I don't
there are a lot of things
though
that are better
than wealth
in Proverbs
if you say
I'm giving
and I'm getting poorer
look at all the other
blessings God
may have poured
on you
Proverbs says
that peace
a peaceable house
a good wife
that wisdom itself
are better than wealth
if you're giving
and gaining those things
you are giving
and gaining
in blessing
an eleventh objection
sorry
we're getting through them
an eleventh objection
how do I actually
calculate this
and I don't think
this is a
just a theoretical objection
because I
from my own
personal experience
there is an extraordinary
barrier
from hearing something
about what God
says about giving
to going home
and having a conversation
about it
to actually firing up
the old bank app
and then you realise
you've lost that little
calculator thing you need
and then you forget
about it because of the children
and then six months later
you haven't actually done it
and then you think
well
I don't even know
how to calculate
what I should give
to the Lord
what does in proportion
to my wealth
actually mean
now our verses
don't address this directly
although
when they brought
the first fruits
in ancient Israel
they also brought
a tenth
of the year's
profit or increase
now again
they must have
some years
not been able
to bring very much
because the plague
of locusts
had eaten their
crops
or an extremely
strong
and heavy tax burden
had cut down
what that meant
but whatever else
first fruits
implies
it certainly implies
that we
review these things
regularly
that we honour
the Lord
with our wealth
by checking
our wealth
by checking
our giving
and saying
yep
I'm reviewing
this
to honour
the Lord
I'm reviewing
this
in gratitude
to him
I think
I'm increasingly
convinced
that the
tenth principle
the tenth
of all your
increase
applies
and is a
gracious
and freeing
thing for
Christians
as well
I'll happily
talk to anyone
about that
afterwards
but I think
here's the
real bottom
line
something that
Jesus said
with the
measure you
use
it will be
measured
to you
that you
reap
what you
sow
again
people do
not believe
these things
because they're
a deep
principle
hidden in
the world
which Jesus
has revealed
to us
Jesus himself
who gave
up everything
and then
received
eternal life
with the
measure you
use
it will be
measured
to you
so yes
you do
have to
calculate
and you
do have
to do
something
about it
and you
do have
to find
that little
calculator
don't sweat
it too
much
but yes
you should
I'm happy
to speak
about that
more
a twelfth
objection
some people
would say
look I'd
like to do
this but my
wife or my
husband or my
parents they
won't stand
for it
they just
don't think
we should be
doing this
perhaps you're
married to
someone who's
not a
Christian
perhaps your
parents have
different views
on this
to you
now again
I've got a
great deal of
sympathy for
that
not for
personal reasons
I should say
but I do
understand that
that's a
real burden
to bear
I would suggest
that if you're
in that situation
that would be a
great thing to
raise with one
of the elders
of this church
and to talk to
them about it
but here's what
I will say
about it
you may have
to go to
your husband
or wife
or parents
and apologise
I personally
would have to
apologise to
as Jenny and I
have spoken about
this in the past
to say look
I've been stingy
in the past
towards the Lord
because I've been
scared
and I thought
well I've got to
keep the money
back for myself
because I
dare not give it
away
we don't have
enough
I'm sorry
because I've
dishonoured the
Lord in doing
that
and here's what
I want to do
differently
13th
I'm not sure
who I should
give to
well Galatians
chapter 6
verse 6
says
let the one
who has taught
the word
share all good
things with the
one who teaches
I think if you
don't consider
your own church's
ministry
the kind of
obvious port of
call for giving
then that's
probably a bit
of a red flag
about something
but you are
genuinely free
to give
you're free
to give
not under
compulsion
God loves
a cheerful
giver
14th
do you know
this isn't
actually really
an objection
perhaps you're
somebody who
hears these
things
from Proverbs
chapter 3
and says
do you know
I've been doing
this for the
last 50 years
or 70 years
or 15 years
and now I
think about
my life
and realise
that I've
prospered
far more
than I can
really explain
that God
has given me
more than I
really deserved
I was never
that good at
my job
I never
really made
much progress
I didn't
really check
my pensions
and my savings
that carefully
and I never
realised there
was a
connection
if that is
you
can I
encourage you
to do
two things
first
give thanks
to the
Lord
praise him
recognise
that his
grace
is from
grace
to grace
that it's
overflowing
and abounding
but secondly
share your
story of
God's
kindness
with others
to encourage
them in the
walk
there will be
young people
here
young being a
kind of relative
term
who just
can't believe
this
they look at
the economy
they grumble
about boomers
they think I'm
never going to
own a house
because of
something to do
with fiat
currency or
something
encourage those
people and say
look God's
economics are
not our
economics
hear my
story
I was talking
to a guy
back in our
church about
this
who'd worked
in a low
level job in
the charitable
sector for all
of his life
was talking about
these verses
and said
do you know
I think that's
what God has
done to me
and now I
realise how
generous and
gracious God
has been to
me
and I said
to him
well look
tell other
people who
are here
too
that God
really
is
gracious
and kind
I read an
amazing stat
it's from
2012 but I
assume it's
even more
true now
that the
over 60s
are more
than six
times more
generous to
charity including
to churches
than the
under 30s
and ten years
prior to that
it was just
three times
more
six times
more the
over 60s
their proportional
generosity to
the young
young people
need to hear
your encouragement
in this
they need to
hear God's
encouragement
from chapter
3 verse 9
that to some
meaningful extent
giving to the
Lord
honouring him
with our
wealth
is a
no brainer
on every
level
promised not
just for this
life
but for the
life to
come
and more
fundamentally
they need
to hear
we need
to hear
every one
of us
needs to
hear
that God's
economics
are not
our
economics
God is
not stingy
if you're a
Christian
just shake
your head
and think
is God
stingy
he who
did not
spare up
his own
son but
gave him
for us
all
is he
stingy
God who
created
every single
atom in
the universe
is he
underfunded
is he
wanting
or lacking
for anything
it's
Satan
who wants
us
not to be
blessed
either spiritually
or materially
God
is infinitely
rich
and prodigally
generous
he did
not
spare
his
own
son
but
gave him
up
for us
all
now God
just wants
us to
prove that
we know
that
and he
wants the
proof
to be in
our bank
statement
and here's
the crazy
thing
sooner or
later it'll
be in your
bank statement
in both
columns
in and
out
now just
imagine that
multiplied
and compounded
across hundreds
of people
and across
the generations
I always think
there's a kind
of chicken and
egg thing
when we talk
about and pray
for revival
on the one
hand when
revival comes
people consecrate
themselves to
God and that
notably includes
their wallets
on the other
hand revival
comes when
people humble
themselves and
consecrate
themselves to
God including
their wallets
imagine that
is that not
what we long
for in this
area of
London across
our whole
land and
across the
whole world
well it
begins with
people among
other things
who honour
the Lord with
their wealth
and with the
first fruits of
all their
produce and
their barns are
filled with
plenty and
their vats
will be bursting
with wine
imagine that
well let's pray
that we won't
have to just
imagine it
let's pray
a