Father, we confess before you that money is a very personal issue to us.
We confess before you that we don't like to tell people what we make.
We don't like to tell people what our financial resources are.
We confess before you, Father, that we maybe hide if we're abusing credit cards.
We hide that from people. We don't want people to know.
We confess before you, Father, that many of us here are financially stretched and wish that we had more money.
And we also confess before you, Father, that in our secret hearts, we often don't believe your word.
We don't often, Father, believe that your word is wise in the realm of money.
So, Father, we ask that you help us not to believe lies and not to be confused.
And we ask that you would gently but deeply pour out your Holy Spirit upon us.
Pour out your Holy Spirit upon us and humble and quieten us so that we can listen to your word.
That your word with grace might come into our lives and bear much fruit to your great glory.
And all this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.
Please be seated.
I'm brief.
So, with my impeccable timing, I'm going to talk, try to open up what the book of Proverbs says about money in a week where,
is it John Oliver or Joe Oliver?
Who is it?
John Oliver?
John Oliver has done a TV personality.
Do I have that right?
John Oliver.
Okay, we're not going to have a debate. Afterwards, we can all have an arm or just Google it later.
Not now, during the sermon, okay? I don't want you all looking at it.
But whether it's John or Joe, Oliver, he's done a video clip which is trending in Facebook,
and he mocks televangelists, especially televangelists as they talk about money.
And the fact of the matter is, as we all know, that Christians make very, very, very, very foolish claims about money and God and the Bible.
And not only do Christians make very foolish claims about it,
for many people who aren't Christians and just sort of look at the whole debacle,
they look at us and they say, you know, it's pretty obvious that the Bible is filled with nonsense,
that it misleads the gullible, that it furthers greed, and there's a lot of hypocrisy.
And so for many people in our culture, the idea that the Bible would have anything wise to say about money,
well, in fact, probably their eyes would go like that, and they'd go like that, and think, oh boy, you know.
In fact, even the idea that maybe you brought a guest here this morning,
maybe, and they're not a follower of Jesus, if you're not a follower of Jesus,
right now you're sort of cringing, thinking, oh, good grief, he's talking about money and wealth.
Why on earth did I invite anybody to church today?
That was a really big mistake.
That's how we often tend to feel.
So actually, this is a really good opportunity for me to give my proviso.
I don't know if Andrew used to have R-rated things that he'd put up when I was going to talk about topics like this.
This is a really good opportunity for me to just say,
is that in a couple of minutes, or more than a couple of minutes,
later on when we have the offering,
I'd just like to make sure that everybody knows,
if you're not a follower of Jesus, we don't want you to put money in the plate.
You're here as our guest.
We're just so glad you're here.
And, you know, that's sort of for people who call this their church home and for followers of Jesus.
And we just want to be a blessing and generous to you.
So after the service, coffee, tea, lots of cookies, like just fill yourself up.
But I'd actually rather that you didn't put money on the plate,
because it's not about money, as you're going to see.
But anyway, so here we are.
We're going to talk about these proverbs about money and stuff like that.
And basically, many people in our culture think that the Bible says nonsense stuff.
And the fact of the matter is, is that when we're honest,
we believe that a lot of things in the Bible don't make any sense and are nonsense.
Ken Hivart, last week when he did the reading, he was a bit funny,
because he sort of did an editorial comment as he read the proverbs.
I don't agree with this.
I don't agree with that.
And the fact of the matter is, he was just giving voice to what goes on in a lot of our heads.
If you don't believe me, Andrew, could you put up the first proverb that we're going to read?
I think it's Proverbs, there we go, 10, 3 to 4.
Could you folks read this proverb with me out loud?
The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry, but he thwarts the craving of the wicked.
A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.
So here's the problem.
We all know that's not true, don't we?
I mean, we all know that's not true.
The fact of the matter is, is that in many places in Africa and India,
there's lots of righteous followers of Jesus,
and they're suffering terrible poverty and famine.
And, you know, one of the things I've noticed about my kids,
when I went through high school and elementary school like 100 million years ago,
before they'd invented group projects.
Believe it or not, there was a time when there weren't group projects at school.
But what I've noticed about group projects is that almost every group project involves one kid or more,
who does no work, no work, and gets the same mark as others.
In fact, it seems as if there's some kids in university who their special talent is to figure out who the smart kids are to get in their group,
so they can get no work and get the mark of the smart kids.
And many of us who've worked in the civil service and other places,
we all know that there's incompetent, lazy people whose expertise is kissing butt and flattering the boss so they get promotions.
Right?
We all know that's true.
So this proverb can't be possibly correct.
Now, let's look at another one that we all know that's not true.
And I'm going to tell you a funny thing about this.
This is a proverb.
I grew up in a Baptist church.
And the Baptist church that I grew up in was a church that believed that you should never drink alcohol.
And it also was a church that practiced tithing.
But they never showed me this proverb that says that if I tithe, God will give me lots of wine.
Like, you know, ever since I noticed it this week, I've been meaning to email it to all my Baptist and Pentecostal friends.
Could you put it up?
It's the next one.
Let's read it with me.
Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your produce.
Then your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will be bursting with wine.
Give us your money.
You'll be rich and have more wine than you can drink.
That would sell on Rideau Street.
Let me tell you.
There would be so many people coming to church to give their tithe.
Let's see, my welfare.
Just never mind.
Anyway.
So here's the thing is, okay.
Now, we, you know, we're all polite Christians.
And we know that we're not supposed to say that these things aren't true.
But one of the reasons that people don't like, one of the many reasons people don't like the book of Proverbs
is it seems to say things that aren't true.
So I'm going to go through these fairly quickly, hopefully.
But I want to just share with you.
And if you don't have time to write them down or you don't want to write them down, that's fine.
It'll all go on the webpage later on.
I want to share with you a couple of things about how to read and understand Proverbs.
Andrew, if you could put the first one up.
Read a proverb as a proverb and not as a law.
Now, lots of Christians violate this all the time.
Without a vision, the people will perish.
If you don't have a good vision for your church or your organization, it's all going to collapse.
That's not what that proverb means.
Good grief.
That's interpreted in a mechanistic way and it's using vision in a way that has nothing to do with it
as a business tool that's been developed over the last 20 years.
And how many health and wealth gospels, maybe some of the different evangelists that John Oliver or Joe Oliver,
whatever his name is, Mr. Oliver, has mocked this week.
How many of them interpret Proverbs 3, 9, and 10 in some type of mechanistic way?
Give your money to God through me and God will make you rich.
I mean, how many people understand that as a mechanistic law?
So here's the thing about this.
All of these, I'm going to give you these little things to how to read Proverbs and it's not special pleading.
It's just actually looking at the literary genre and the place of the book.
Because you know what?
What's the book called?
Proverbs, not laws.
That's what it's called.
So read every proverb as a proverb.
Not as a mechanistic law.
Do this and this will automatically happen.
Second one.
Could you put it up, Andrew?
Do not read one proverb as if it is the only proverb.
So, you know, don't read one proverb as if it's the only proverb.
You have to, I mean, Proverbs is, Proverbs is not designed for the Twitterverse that we live in today.
Where you want one little thing and you want it right now and you want it to be really clear
so you can get happy about it or mad about it or laugh about it or share it.
And you want it, no, Proverbs, I mean, somebody this week was talking to me about how, you know,
they found my sermon last week illogical.
And that was a fair comment because, you see, the book of Proverbs is not logical.
If I was to make Proverbs, I'm losing my mic, if I was to make Proverbs logical, I'd be turning it into something that it isn't.
And the book of Proverbs, as you'll see when I put, you know, out of the many, many Proverbs in the book of Proverbs
about money and wealth and work and poverty and all that stuff, I just, I pick some of them.
I pick the ones that I think are the most representative.
I don't try to dodge hard ones.
And I just put them in the order of this reading here in terms of how they come in the book.
But when I'm going to talk about them, I don't do them in order.
And the fact of the matter is, is that you have to balance these different Proverbs.
As you'll see in a moment when we talk about some Proverbs about wealth and stuff like that,
the book of Proverbs has, the book of Proverbs is very subtle and very wise.
So don't read one proverb as if it's the only proverb.
Search the scriptures.
Search the book of Proverbs and look for other Proverbs.
And then look at how they fit together.
This leads me to the third point.
Read each proverb in light of life now and eternity.
Read each proverb in light of life now and of eternity.
Many of the things in the book of Proverbs, if there is no God,
or if the God is sort of the God of deists,
which is he sort of set everything up, he designed the planet,
and then he's off on an extended holiday and he has nothing to do with the earth.
Or if it's sort of like a more Hindu or Buddhist God,
which is like sort of God is in everything or doesn't have a plan or purpose or design,
then a lot of the Proverbs make absolutely no sense.
A lot of the Proverbs take a long view of things.
I was going to put it in and I ended up not doing it.
You can do it later on.
I looked up like how much money would you have made if you had bought the first Apple shares in 1994.
Every one of us, if we put a couple of thousand bucks, we would be very well off.
Probably every one of us could be mortgage free if we had done that.
And that's only 21 years.
And the fact of the matter is that the Bible is not always talking about things.
It's taking a really long view.
It's taking not only life now but eternity.
It's taking the fact that there is a God that does exist
and that there's going to be a judgment.
And it's taking this long view into it.
And so if you just read the Proverbs as if it's talking about what's going to happen this week,
you're not reading the book of Proverbs as it's designed to be read.
If you could put up the fourth point, a proverb will be fulfilled fully, partly, or spiritually.
We're going to talk about this.
You'll see this more as we go through it.
But, I mean, here's one of the things.
You're going to see that, like, even this thing about the honor of the Lord, Proverbs 3, 9, and 10.
We're going to talk about that a little bit more later on.
I know people who tithe and more.
They give 10% of all their income.
And I think every person I've met who tithes, most of them haven't become rich, by the way,
but every person who tithes will tell you stories of God's remarkable provision.
Everyone.
Everyone will tell you some story where their barn was empty
and they didn't know what was going to happen and God provided.
Everyone.
So sometimes the Proverbs are fulfilled partly.
Sometimes it might be fulfilled quite dramatically in your life.
And all of them will be fulfilled eventually.
And sometimes they're to be understood within the basic hierarchy of how Proverbs understands things.
It'll be understood in terms of other types of riches.
And that's how we have to.
And the final, the fifth thing about how to read the Proverbs
is that Proverbs assumes that you will seek the living God for wisdom
as to which proverb applies in each situation.
Proverbs assumes that you will seek the living God for wisdom
as to which proverb applies in each situation.
See, here's one of the things, is that every culture has Proverbs.
It doesn't matter if it's a Buddhist culture, a Hindu culture, a New Age culture,
an atheist culture, a money-making secular culture, a Christian culture.
Every culture has Proverbs.
And the fact of the matter is that Proverbs always have to have some type of context.
Just take a very, very simple one.
A very, very simple proverb.
Too many cooks spoil the broth.
Okay?
Two heads are better than one.
One moment.
Those things actually...
So, George, is it all right to ask advice from one person,
but if I ask it from a third or fourth person, it's going to spoil the broth?
No.
I mean, if one of my kids or, you know, a young person came to me
and they're talking to me about a problem,
I might say to them,
you know what the problem is right here?
Too many cooks spoil the broth.
This is a situation where you've got to deal with this all by yourself.
You've just got to deal with it by yourself.
And then maybe they took that in a mechanistic law type of way
and they're always trying to solve everything by themselves
and they run into some type of problem
and they come to me and I said,
you know, your problem is two heads are better than one.
You need to talk and get advice.
They wouldn't say,
one moment, George, you're contradicting.
No.
That's how proverbs work.
In every culture.
And in fact, the book of proverbs is designed to drive you and me to our knees
and say, God, I really need your wisdom as to when this is applying
and when this is applying.
I'm in this situation.
I really need your wisdom.
And so one of the great things about learning the book of proverbs
and memorizing proverbs is that maybe as you pray,
God will make you realize that in this particular context,
this is the proverb that's really going to give you wisdom to move forward.
So, hopefully that's helped a little tiny bit in terms of whether or not, you know,
because it's really easy to make the Bible look ridiculous.
It's the easiest thing in the world to make the Bible look ridiculous.
Anyone with, you know, probably a grade five education, if they wanted to,
could make it look really, really ridiculous.
It doesn't have to be very clever.
But just reading proverbs, just using the normal way to read it,
you realize that these other things, you can see, well, you know,
there are many cases where the righteous, I mean, as you know,
many people will tell you that as they follow Jesus that he's met their needs,
that he's met their deepest needs.
And many people will tell you that, you know, laziness and stuff like that
is going to end up costing you in a whole type of ways.
And, you know, obviously there's some wisdom in this.
And honor the Lord, and that's obviously a good thing,
and we'll talk about it more in a second.
But some of you might say, well, George, okay, okay, George, you say this,
but doesn't the Bible tell everyone to be poor and give their money away?
Like, isn't that sort of what the new Pope seems to be talking about a little bit,
like dissing private enterprise and talking about being poor?
And, George, isn't that like sort of, isn't that like the church did all those years
in the province of Quebec?
And weren't the priests, like, living a pretty comfortable life
and amassing lots of property and telling all those good French Catholics
that they should just be poor and that they should thank God for being poor?
Like, isn't that what the Bible says?
Not at all.
Let's look at Proverbs 10, 15.
Proverbs 10, 15.
You want to read it with me?
A rich man's wealth is his strong city.
The poverty of the poor is their ruin.
We're going to go through these Proverbs a bit quicker now.
You want to, let's say it again because you got out of the rhythm.
A rich man's wealth is his strong city.
The poverty of the poor is their ruin.
Here's the thing about this particular parable,
is that the Bible, the book of Proverbs, does not romanticize the poor.
However, it does not romanticize poverty.
It doesn't.
And, you know, there's lots of things.
Religion often will do it.
Spirituality will do it.
Poets and others will do it.
Editorialists and newspapers can maybe talk
as if there's something very special and noteworthy
and laudable about poverty.
But the book of Proverbs never romanticizes poverty.
Poverty is hard.
It is ruinous.
It is just hard.
I mean, God might call some people to give away all to follow him,
but it, you know, that, and that's a special, unique, intimate type of thing,
you know, but it never romanticizes the problems.
You know, when I was in Africa, I've only been in Africa twice,
and both are very short things,
and gosh, there is unbelievable poverty in a place like that.
And gosh, compared to them, I have this unbelievable luxury
that even if my credit card, even if my plane ticket was stolen,
I have this wonderful thing called a credit card,
and I could have bought a plane ticket,
and I could have been out of there very quick.
And the people who were poor there, they had nowhere to go.
The Bible doesn't romanticize poverty.
Well, then some of you might say,
doesn't religion sometimes make it sound as if poverty is all your own fault?
And doesn't, like, George, like, you know, think of India,
and think of, you know, think of China,
and think of a lot of those, you know, countries, you know,
and it's all karma, and it's like where you are,
you somehow deserve where you are.
And so isn't that just sort of what religion does all the time?
It sort of makes it look like if you're poor, it's always your fault?
And doesn't it sort of dehumanize it?
Because, you know, obviously it's really easy to sort of pour contempt
and not even view people as being fully human
if it's somehow some type of religious principle
that they're poor and you're better off.
Isn't that what religious people talk about?
It might be what lots of religion and spiritualities and ideologies talk about,
but it's not what the book of Proverbs talks about at all.
Far from it.
If you could put up the next proverb, 22.2,
could you read this with me?
The rich and the poor meet together.
The Lord is the maker of them all.
Isn't that amazing?
Full humanity.
Bill Gates is made by God.
The poorest of the poor in the poorest country in the world,
equally made by God.
In fact, Genesis 1 tells us that every human being is made in the image of God.
It's not that rich people are more in the image of God than poor people.
There is only, we might think, a rich person might think that they're a self-made man or woman.
Nobody's a self-made man or woman.
Every human being has a maker.
The Bible levels it and in a sense humbles the rich
to make them realize that they have a maker
and exalts the poor to full humanity.
They have a maker.
Let's look at another one that talks about the same thing, 29.13.
29.13.
Can you read this with me, please?
The poor man and the oppressor meet together.
The Lord gives light to the eyes of both.
See, once again, it's even really interesting in this particular text.
It talks about the oppressor.
Like, what do oppressors do?
They practice injustice.
They practice evil.
They treat certain types.
You know, in the Russian Revolution,
people who had certain...
And in the Cambodian Revolution,
you know, the people who had property
or the people who were educated,
they're completely and utterly dehumanized.
So you can do whatever you want to them.
You can kill them.
You can throw them in the gulag.
You can just take away their property.
It's very common for oppressors
to dehumanize and delegitimize people
that they are over.
And here the Bible says,
even the oppressors and even the oppressed,
God gives light to their eyes equally.
And it's an analogy.
Light to the eyes is an analogy for life.
God...
There is a radical, radical affirmation
of the humanity of the poor
in the book of Proverbs
without at all romanticizing the poor.
So, well, some of you might say,
okay, George, but...
Okay, but, you know,
okay, George, you know that last...
The new pope and all.
Wouldn't some of his advice
just lead to poverty?
And like, you know,
I'm a little bit confused, actually, George,
because, you know, on one hand,
you seem to have some people
who are religious and Christian
and they use the Bible to make it sound
and they give you advice
that's just going to make you poor.
And yet, you know, George,
there's other people
who seem to use the Bible
to say as if it's going to make you all rich.
And I'm...
You know, what...
What's going on?
Let's look at another proverb.
Proverbs 24, 3 to 4.
Can you read this one with me, please?
By wisdom, a house is built,
and by understanding, it is established.
By knowledge, the rooms are filled
with all precious and pleasant riches.
Notice that.
See, one of the things
that the book of Proverbs
is very realistic about
is that if you end up listening
to the Proverbs
and putting them into practice,
it's quite possible
you will become better off
than you were before.
Like, it's...
There's many, many Proverbs,
but the Proverbs which call you
to avoid laziness
and to embrace working
in a diligent, thoughtful,
reasoned, wise,
you know, consistent, hard manner,
I mean, generally speaking,
when that happens,
you're far more likely
to end up with more financial resources
if you do those things
than if you're lazy.
The warnings about drunkenness,
once again,
if you're avoiding drunkenness
and all of the tragedies
that come along with drunkenness,
you're far more likely
to be better off
than if you, you know,
ignore these Proverbs.
You know, the Pro...
So the book of Proverbs
is very conscious of the fact
that if you follow it,
one of the consequences
might be that you are better off.
And it doesn't say
that's a bad thing.
It doesn't say good grief.
You know, if you're a young man
or you're a young woman
and you've worked really hard
and you got your degrees
and, you know,
you've gotten a job
in the federal service,
civil service,
or you've gotten a position,
you know,
in some other company
or you've started
your own company
and you work hard
and you make some money
and it's not a world...
The book of Proverbs,
the Bible,
is not world-denying.
It doesn't say,
well, okay,
now you have all this money
but we want you
to really feel miserable
all the time
and never feel happy.
Like, pleasure comes from God.
He created us
to experience pleasure
and to experience joy.
And so the book of Proverbs
is frankly realistic
about the fact
that for some people,
following this
will make you better off.
But at the same time,
it's also realistic
about the nature of wealth.
If you could put up
the next proverb, please.
Proverbs 23, verses 4 and 5.
And you want to read this
with me as well, please.
Do not toil to acquire wealth.
Be discerning enough to desist.
When your eyes light on it,
it is gone.
For suddenly it sprouts wings,
flying like an eagle toward heaven.
You see, actually,
even that pre...
So you see how I mean
that earlier thing about
don't read one proverb
as if it's the only proverb.
Like, put them together.
Like, the fact of the matter
is that regularly
one of the things
that happens to us
is that even though
maybe we've been
very hardworking
and we've been
very diligent,
some mistake made
by stockbrokers
or a CEO
can do something
and we go down the toilet
with everybody else
and it's not...
It's just...
We go down the toilet
like everybody else.
And the fact of the matter
is that wealth
is very impermanent,
isn't it?
I mean, I was talking
to somebody just the other day
who worked for Nortel
in the glory days.
And I remember,
you know,
in the late 1990s
and people were investing
in Nortel,
investing in high tech.
It would be
a constant conversation.
People would almost
go online every day
to see how much
their stocks were going up
and how richer
they were going.
And I think in 2000,
2001,
the highest share
for Nortel
was $120 a share
and within a very short
time after that
it was down to
it's garbage.
In 2008,
there was a...
I guess we'll call it now
a market readjustment.
And share values
declined 30 to 40%.
If you had
half a million dollars
in there,
that means within
a very, very short
period of time,
you,
by doing nothing,
you lost,
you maybe lost
$200,000.
And there's probably
people here in this room
that can tell you
how much they lost.
Probably wasn't easy
as well.
Riches, in fact,
are impermanent.
They really are.
And so,
you see,
when you put these
different proverbs together,
you also sort of notice
that it's saying here
in this particular proverb,
the problem
is toiling to acquire wealth.
The problem is toiling
to acquire wealth per se.
You see,
it's really trying to say
that, you know,
it's a very, very different thing
if you really want
to master sociology,
you want to master statistics,
or you want to master
playing the viola,
or you want to master
being able to help people
manage money
in a different way,
or you really want
to be able to master
classical literature,
or you really want
to be able to master
writing oil-style country music,
or whatever it is,
and you really work hard
at this,
and at the same time,
you want to provide
for yourself,
and you want to provide
for your loved ones,
and you maybe want to provide
for children and grandchildren,
and you work really hard
at these things,
and sometimes one of the
byproducts that come from that
is that you start
to make lots of money.
But the heart of the work
with your knowledge
and your wisdom
and understanding
isn't just to try to say,
what am I going to do
to make lots and lots
and lots of money?
It doesn't matter what it is.
Should I rob a bank?
Should I start a bank?
Should I work for a bank?
Like, it's trying
to pursue that
as opposed to pursuing
those other types of goods,
and that's part,
that's a big human trap.
And so you see
that the Bible
is very, very frank
and realistic
and very, very wise.
In fact, Andrew,
if you could put up
my first point,
you know, my real point,
so if you remember
the Proverbs,
that's the best thing,
but I want to try
to summarize
some of the teaching
of the book of Proverbs
in this very simple point.
Wealth is a great good,
but a terrible God.
That's tattooable, okay?
You know?
I'm not encouraging tattoos, okay?
But it sure beats
some meaningless
little Chinese thing
that you can't even
remember afterwards,
you know,
what it's supposed to mean,
you know?
Wealth is a great good,
but a terrible God.
If you get your identity
from wealth,
if you serve wealth,
if you hope in wealth,
it's a terrible God.
But gosh,
it's a great good.
It can be a great good.
We're going to talk more
about in a second
about how it can be
a great good.
I mean, you know,
when I was in Nairobi,
I wasn't complaining
about the fact
that I had this magic.
I mean, I've lived
paycheck to paycheck
my whole life.
But, you know,
there's no question
that in a country like Kenya,
I would have been
very wealthy.
But I've always lived
paycheck to paycheck.
Still do.
You know,
someday maybe
that will stop.
I mean,
hopefully eventually
I'll retire,
so I won't be able
to live paycheck to paycheck.
But, you know,
it's a great benefit
that God,
for whatever reason,
I have this credit card
I could have got out of there
at any time
if there's something happening
and as a Canadian,
if there was some other problem,
the government would even
come in and try to help.
It's a good,
it's a good.
And we should be thankful for it.
We should be grateful for it.
We should rejoice in it.
We should enjoy it.
But it's a terrible God.
It's a terrible God.
In fact,
here's another proverb
which really wonderfully expresses it.
If you could put it up,
it's Proverbs 18.11.
Proverbs 18.11.
Say it with me.
A rich man's wealth
is his strong city
and like a high wall
in his imagination.
In his imagination.
It's,
obviously there's benefits
to money
that aren't imaginary,
but when you make it a God,
it's imaginary.
It's imaginary.
There you go.
So some of,
so George,
okay,
some of you are saying,
George,
okay,
this is actually pretty interesting.
So are you telling me
that I should become more religious
or more spiritual
or something like that?
Like,
is that the way to go forward?
If I'm sort of more religious
with my money,
I'll be better off?
Or if I'm more spiritual
with my money,
I'm better off?
In fact,
actually the Bible
never tells you
to become more religious
or spiritual,
at least not in the way
that the world
understands spiritual.
In fact,
out of all of the literature
and all of the ideologies,
there is no book
that critiques religion
more than the Bible.
There's no book
that could critique
spiritual,
not religious
more than the Bible.
Could put up
the next proverb,
Proverbs 17.1.
Want to say it with me,
please?
Better is a dry morsel
with quiet
than a house full
of feasting
with strife.
So here's the thing.
It's part of this,
this background knowledge
being able to read
the book of Proverbs.
In the ancient world
and in the world
of the book of Proverbs,
feasting was connected
with,
first you'd have
a sacrifice
and then you'd feast.
And the book of,
so what it's really saying
is,
you know what,
you can be so well off
that you can afford
to go to all these
religious ceremonies
and you can be
sacrificing things
like crazy
and then feasting
like crazy,
but you know,
often it's just,
there's still a lot
of strife.
In fact,
the matter is,
is that rather than
all these religious
ceremonies
that don't necessarily
do anything at all
about strife,
you're probably better off
with just a dry morsel
of bread sitting
by yourself
in the quiet.
Like,
religion doesn't help you.
Spiritual,
not religious,
doesn't help you.
You know,
I've been involved
in that.
You know,
I'm part of the
Anglican Church of Canada
for a long time.
I'm not picking on them,
but I made a comment
about Baptists,
so I have to say
something about Anglicans.
And let me tell you,
you know,
behind sometimes
all of this great,
wonderful ceremony
that Anglicans can do
really,
really well,
and you know,
we all walk down
all in robes,
and all,
you know,
we know the right way
to stand.
But you know what?
In the pews,
people are saying,
look at that,
he's always like this,
it should be like this,
it should be like this.
You know,
he's doing his hands
like this for the celebration,
it should be like this,
or he's doing this,
or he's doing that,
or it's so finicky,
and all it's doing
is there's just so much
bitching and complaining
and one-upmanship
going on behind the scene
in all of this
fantastic ceremony.
But it used to sometimes
be a huge bother
to sit with the clergy
in one of these ceremonies
because they're all
gossiping and commenting
and talking
while the ceremony's going on.
I hope I didn't
make some of you
lose your,
I'm not saying,
there's nothing bad
with things,
okay?
But what the text
is saying is
religious ceremonies
and sacrifices
isn't going to solve
the problem.
That's what it's saying.
It's not going to solve
the problem.
It's not pointing
to this.
So,
in fact,
actually,
one of the things
that might surprise people
is that the Bible
actually says something
that probably
many people
on the street,
if you're after the service,
go up and just down,
go to the pride
parade later on
and ask people
or go on Rito Street
and ask people
and you ask them,
do you think
that if you have to,
if there is a God
that does exist
and you have to appear
before the judgment throne,
do you think that God
cares about how much
was in your bank
before you died?
And probably everybody
who said,
no,
no God worthy
of being God
is going to care
about what's in the bank
account before you died.
That's in the Bible.
Look at the next proverb,
Proverb 11.4.
Proverbs 11.4.
Say it with me.
Riches do not profit
in the day of wrath,
but righteousness
delivers from death.
You know,
God doesn't say,
okay,
yeah,
okay,
yeah,
I know you oppressed
your workers
and I know you went bankrupt
in such a way
that you could sort of
screw all of your suppliers
and your employers
and employees
and actually be able
to walk away
with a really tidy amount
of money in your pocket
and,
you know,
wow,
am I ever impressed
by your dollars.
So you're going to have
a good place.
No,
it's not how,
no,
everybody,
it's not only is that
a common view,
actually it's probably
a view that ultimately
comes,
it's an echo of an echo
of an echo
of the Bible
and it's also just
an echo
and a sense of how
if there is a God
who does exist,
how he must be just.
But this particular proverb
has,
there's a riddle
within it.
Riches do not profit
in the day of wrath
but righteousness
delivers from death.
We think we understand it
but it actually,
it poses a question
but who is righteous?
I'm spiritual,
not religious
and I do all these things
but I'm a good person.
I know how to do
these fancy Anglican
or Roman Catholic ceremonies
and I'm a good person.
I give money to the church,
I'm a good person.
When I go through
Loblaws
and I,
they say,
do you want to give
two dollars
on your bill
for cancer or whatever
and you say,
yeah, yeah,
go ahead.
No,
yeah,
why not?
I'm a good person.
You think
the book of Proverbs
was written for us
to think that we were
good persons.
There's a riddle here.
It's one of those things
that we can say,
yes,
God's not going to give
Bill Gates
a better place in heaven
or the Queen of England
just because they're rich.
Yes,
it's not just written
for other people,
this is written for you.
Are you righteous?
Am I righteous?
No,
I'm not.
And there's another bit
of a riddle here
in the text as well
and to understand this
you have to understand
something about
how the overarching
story of the Bible.
So,
I have to look at it
from your point of view.
So,
the overarching story
of the Bible
and we'll imagine
it starts over here
is that God creates
everything.
He is the maker
of all things,
the sustainer
of all things
and he makes
all things good.
That's Genesis chapter 1
and 2.
And then in Genesis chapter 3
as time moves on
there comes this point
in time
where our spiritual ancestors
Adam and Eve
they choose to reject God
and to be like God
themselves.
And they,
that ends up
in a sense
bending or twisting
human nature.
And it's very,
very interesting.
Genesis 3
isn't finished
before God
not only sees
that this has happened
that human beings
have wrecked themselves
by trying to be like God.
And they can try
to be like God
by being a hero
of drink,
by being a hero
of making money,
by being a military hero,
by being a religious hero,
by being a spiritual hero.
But there's this
fundamental self-centeredness,
this bentness
to human beings
that can bend and twist.
Even goods like wealth
can be bent and twist
and turned into idols
and we can't be
our own gods.
We end up making
other gods of wealth
or power
or prestige
or tribe
or nation
or war
or ideology
or philosophers
or individuals
or a particular person
or a family
and we can all twist them
and turn them into gods
and all in every case
we're still rejecting
the real God
and the ink
is hardly dry
and out of God's perception
and humans' perception
it's hardly dry
in that
that God immediately
starts making promises.
promises.
He immediately
start making promises
because
and not only promises
but promises
and other riddles
for people
to come to the point
where they say
only God can fix this.
Only God can fix this.
And so you have creation,
you have fall,
and then you have
this period of promise
and riddles
and preparation
and all of it
is designed
for us to come to the point
and say
only God.
And then you have
the cross
which is God
keeping his promise.
That God
will do something
that only he can do
to fix
who we are,
begin that process
in terms of being able
to experience it
on this side of the grave
but ultimately
it's all God
and we know that
in its fullness
when Jesus comes
or when we die
and meet him face to face.
And the time period
that we live now
is after the cross
in what's often
I call it
the already not yet
the fruits of the spirit
and the first fruits
of the spirit
but not the fullness
and there's still this time
not the screen
sorry
which is when Jesus comes
and it's on one hand
the end
and the other hand
it's the beginning.
But when we're standing now
on this side of the cross
and when we're reading
the scripture text
we read everything
in the Old Testament
we have to realize
that it's here
on this side
and it's setting riddles
for us
and connected to promises
and it's designed
to have us come to the point
where we say
only God
and God
does
this wonderful thing
and so when we read
this thing again here
riches do not profit
in the day of wrath
that's God's judgment
but righteousness delivers
from death
we have to
everywhere in the Bible
that you see the word
righteousness
you have to understand
that it's more than
just another way
to understand what's good
that it's a relational term
a place term
and I'll give you
an illustration
of what it is
let's say I don't know
who the richest person
is in the congregation
let's just call him Bob
and Bob and Sally
they end up having
this gathering
and they go to a restaurant
and they call together
a lot of people
and you know
they've invited people
their neighbors
and stuff
to this restaurant
and then Sally
whispers to Bob
and says
you know Bob
you know look
who's over there
you know there's
you know Prudence
is over there
and Phil is over there
and you know what
they probably didn't realize
this was going to be
such a steep restaurant
and they're not going to be
they're going to be
looking at that menu
they're just going to have
an appetizer
because they won't be able
to eat here
they can't afford it
they might not even be able
to afford the appetizer
and so Sally says
to her husband Bob
make it right
make it righteous
fix it
and she's hoping then
that Bob would
come up alongside somebody
or maybe come up
beside the waiter
and say
for these people here
the bill doesn't go to them
the bill comes to me
they can't pay
I'm going to pay
I'm going to make it right
I'm going to make it righteous
and maybe he goes up
to some of them
and says
you know I can't tell you who
but it's all being dealt with
and the person
somebody's going to deal with this
and they want you
just to really have a good meal
and it's going to be right
they're going to make it right
it's going to be righteous
and Andrew
could you put up
our second point
and I'm not smart enough
to think of a second point
so I picked a Bible passage
it's a Bible passage
that just about
every Christian
should memorize
for you know
the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ
that though he was rich
yet for your sake
he became poor
so that you
by his poverty
might become rich
it's not a wonderful way
to understand
what Jesus does
for instance on the cross
see on the cross
the father says
to the son
you see George
and you see Don
and you see Joe
and you see Elizabeth
and you see Brian
and you see Andrea
they can't pay for this
make it right
and one way to understand
the mystery of the cross
is the cross
is God
making things
right
through his son
that in the cross
a power of God
for salvation
is revealed
to make us
righteous
and it emerges
out of God's
faithfulness
for human beings
and all he asks
of us
is faith
we can't say
God here's a 50
to help
here's $500
to help
no
and in fact
this wonderful text
this wonderful point
for you know the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ
that though he was rich
yet for your sake
he became poor
so that you
through his poverty
might become rich
like
part of the wonder
of the cross
the wonder of salvation
isn't just
that in a sense
you know
using that analogy
that
that Jesus
picks up my bill
but that Jesus
gives his all
out of generosity
to us
and it's as if
it's as if
the rich person
in this congregation
not only do they
pay for the meal
so that the person
can eat
but he also
slips them
his bank card
connected to his
50 million dollar
bank account
and says
this is yours
that's what Jesus
does for us
it's not that he
just pays the price
and then we gotta
earn our own way
from then on in
he pays the price
and gives us
his bank card
and the father
has
unlimited
resources
and that's given
to us
by faith
that's what
Jesus does
for us
on the cross
that is God
hoping that we
read texts
like Proverbs 11
4
and realize
only God
and nobody
imagined
the unbelievable
generosity
of grace
that we can
receive
for what Jesus
did for us
in the cross
so just a couple
of things
to bring this
to a close
let's look at
Proverbs 11
24
can you put
that up
on the screen
Andrew
can you read
this with me
one gives
freely
yet grows
all the richer
another withholds
what he should
give
and only
suffers want
this doesn't
make any sense
in a world
where there is
no God
but it makes
all the sense
in the world
if there is
a world
created by God
sustained by God
a world
where God
is sovereign
where he has
sent his son
as to deliver
us
to be salvation
for us
to pay
and to enrich
us
and will bring
all things
to completion
and as we
are gripped
by what Jesus
does for us
on the cross
the unbelievable
barely believable
hard to grasp
never ending
something that we
can meditate upon
as the mystery
of the cross
grips us
it should lead us
to generosity
it should lead
us to be
generous
it will lead
us to be
generous
as the cross
grips us
just before
I put up
these last
two
could Andrew
could you
put up
my final
point
summarizing
a wide
range
of biblical
teaching
this is how
I put it
the grammar
is not
very good
I apologize
I was doing
it yesterday
late
and you know
maybe some
of you can
send me an email
later as to
how to make
it better
grammar
and I
appreciate it
but here it
is
with gratitude
to the Lord
wealth is a
blessing to be
enjoyed
and is also
to be used
generously to
bring glory
to God
and help
people in need
remember earlier
on I said
wealth is a
great good
but a terrible
God
and the Bible
teaches us
that with
gratitude to
the Lord
for whatever
amount of
wealth you
have
wealth is a
blessing to
be enjoyed
and is also
to be used
generously to
bring glory
to God
and to
help people
in need
that's
tattooable
as well
folks
it's a
long tattoo
but it's
tattooable
with gratitude
you know
and it's as if
this
and here's the
thing
just a couple
of things
to take
this
the biblical
tithe
is a rule
of thumb
to guide
generosity
that's what
the biblical
tithe is
if you go
back and read
the book
of Proverbs
at the beginning
it assumes
that you're
reading the
book of
the Old
Testament
law
and all
the other
things
and you know
if you're
saying well
George
what does
generosity
look like
the bible
consistently
gives you
this figure
start with
10%
try to
work towards
that
and that's
a good
sort of
rule of
thumb
for being
generous
and you know
what
in some ways
in some of
those you
have a few
money
you know
like a very
wise way to
live would be
give 10%
away
you know
give it
to the
church
and other
missionaries
and other
and relief
agencies
to bring glory
to God
and to
help people
in need
and save
some money
and you know
if there's
money left
over
guess what
enjoy it
don't have a
long face
because you
have a
Ford F-150
truck
the bible
doesn't say
feel guilty
all the time
because of your
money
enjoy it
if he's
blessed you
with the
ability to
sing
or with
strength
or with
a great
mind
or ability
to dance
or organize
and give
of your
best
honor the
Lord
with it
you know
give
and honor
the Lord
and enjoy
it
and all
with gratitude
and here's
a second
thing
generosity
can be
practiced
at every
income
level
the first
time I
was
I've only
been in
Africa
twice
the first
time I
was in
Africa
I met
this
Tanzanian
bishop
and we
were out
walking
was in
a rural
area
of Kenya
and he
knows I'm
this shy
terrified
white
guy
and he's
this wonderful
godly little
guy
and we're
for a walk
along this
sort of
country road
and he
sees the
house
and he
says let's
go knock
on the
door of the
house and
visit them
and he
could just
he did it
on purpose
he could just
feel my
anxiety level
going way
up
and he
put his
hand on me
and he
said we're
not in
North America
we are in
Africa
and in
Africa
they practice
hospitality
and generosity
they will
welcome us
and they
did
and they
had very
little money
you know what
generosity
can be for
somebody with
very little
money and
lots of
money and
the big trap
we get into
is we think
that we can
be generous
when we've
achieved
something
but generosity
begins now
here's a
final thing
before we
just have
our two
final proverbs
to wrap
up and
that is
for some
of us
we are
in huge
debt
problems
right now
and we
say gosh
George
this has
been
challenging
but if
you knew
how bad
of debt
that I
was in
right now
here's the
thing
you know
it's a
very different
thing to
take out a
business loan
to build a
business
but many
many people
what we need
to do is
flee debt
flee credit
card debt
flee car debt
we need to
see debt
and imagine
every time we
see an offer
to loan us
money
we should
have a
picture in
our head
of a
gazelle
by a
watering hole
watched by
a hungry
lion
that's
tattooable
as well
this is
going to
be the
tattoo
sermon
you know
before you
buy that
expensive
car
gazelle
hungry
lion
maybe
I'll
buy
fourth hand
and not
go into
debt
and if
you are
right now
really
struggling
with debt
seek help
there's a
man in our
congregation
probably more
than one
but there's
a man in
our
congregation
he'd be
willing to
meet with
you privately
and confidentially
to help
you
give us a
call
but if not
us
seek help
okay
seek help
just the
final two
proverbs
we want to
read them
proverbs 3
9 and 10
again
let's say it
together
honor the
lord with
your wealth
and with the
first fruits
of all you
produce
then your
barns will
be filled
with plenty
and your
vats will
be bursting
with wine
and then the
final one
and this is the
only prayer in
the book of
proverbs
only prayer in
the book of
proverbs
and in your
growing in
grace
you'll see that
I've turned it
into a prayer
that you can
pray
and let's say
it together
some of us
can say this
some of it
might be one of
those things
you want to
go home later
on and
memorize it
and make it
part of your
prayer life
it's a
profound
prayer
let's say
it together
two things
I ask of
you
deny them
not to me
before I
die
remove far
from me
falsehood
and lying
give me
neither poverty
nor riches
feed me
with the food
that is needful
for me
lest I be
full and
deny you
and say
who is the
lord
or lest I
be poor
and steal
and profane
the name
of my
god
that's a
prayer for
the rest
of your
life
let's
stand
and pray
father
first of
all you
know that
many of
us
probably the
majority
of us
are living
paycheck
to paycheck
and so
father we
thank you
for your
provision
for us
we thank
you for
your
faithfulness
to us
we thank
you father
that we
can be
in a
country
like
canada
which
is so
prosperous
and has
such a
strong
safety net
and father
we thank
you for
it
we confess
before you
that we
take it
for granted
and we
ask father
that you
grant us
gratitude
and father
you know
those of
us here
today
who are
really
struggling
financially
who are
maybe
laboring
under
credit card
debt
or some
unwise
car purchases
or other
things
as
compulsive
you know
father you
just know
there's
some people
here
we ask
that you
would be
the savior
and lord
of the
finances
of that
person
that you
would help
them to
find wise
advice
wise advice
from counselors
who aren't
seeking to
enrich themselves
but really
seeking the
good of the
person in
trouble
and father
for all
of us
make us
disciples of
Jesus
gripped by
the gospel
gripped by
the gospel
so that we
will live
generous lives
that bring
you glory
father
thank you
that your
son has
made us
rich
riches
that will
go into
eternity
with you
and so
father
help us
to be
gripped
with the
gospel
so that
we are
grounded
in the
gospel
and find
our
identity
in the
gospel
and relate
to money
from the
perspective
of the
gospel
father
please do
that in
our lives
and all
this we
ask in
the name
of Jesus
your son
and our
savior
amen