Huey Lewis and the News once recorded a song that opens by saying “If money is the root of all evil, I’d like to be a bad, bad man.” The title of that song is Time Aint Money, because, as Huey sings, if time were money, ah-ha, “I’d already be rich.” Of course, that opening line is a misquote 1 Timothy, which actually says that it is the love of money, which is the root of all kinds of evil. In its entirety, scripture has a conflicted message about money. In some places wealth is seen as being a blessing from God, and indeed as we heard in last week’s message from proverbs, being rich is seen as being a direct result of both hard work and God’s bounty. But, scripture also sometimes implies exactly the opposite of that. Jesus’ view on money is that while it’s not necessarily a sin, it is potentially a significant problem. And, contrary to what is often said, Jesus actually does say give all your money away, although it is not a universal rule, because there is context to the situation in which he says that. The book of Provers tends to have a fairly positive view of money and of wealth, as long as that wealth was not gained in illicit ways, such as lying, cheating, stealing or unjustly, to name just a few. and, just as Jesus has a lot to say about money, and we ignore that
Now a few weeks ago, Wanda Wanczyk, won $758 million in the Powerball, which was the largest jackpot ever won by just one ticket. I heard from lots of people who said they had bought a ticket and, I’ll be honest I bought one too, and while there is something to be said about dreaming about what we’d do with that, but winning it is actually something entirely different. And winning is not all it’s cracked up to be, as columnist Gregg Easterbrook said, $1 million will change your life, $100 million will ruin it. And I know most of us have probably said something to God like, “The money won’t change me, just let me win and I’ll prove it,” but it will change us, and not for the better, and it’s not a gift from God. Proverbs says, “The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it….” Did you know that 70% of those who win large jackpots declare bankruptcy within 5 years? Just five years. That doesn’t sound like a blessing, that sounds like sorrow. Now this proverb doesn’t mean that if you are blessed that bad things won’t happen to you, although there are some proverbs that do want to say that, but we know that’s not true. But, the difference is in whether the sorrow comes as a direct result.
Financial advisor Dave Ramsey talks about people he will talk to who have car payments, or house payments, they cannot afford but will tell him that the car or the house was a gift from God, because it was a miracle they got approved for the loan. His response, often quoting this proverb, is that it wasn’t a gift from God, it was a gift of stupidity. If a financial decision is bringing sorrow, more than likely it’s not from God. In addition, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, which is the second proverb that pertains to lotteries and all other get rich quick schemes: “Wealth hastily gained will dwindle, but those who gather little by little will increase it.” This builds upon the theme already discussed in past weeks ago hard work leading to wealth, as well as that “the plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to want.” This is true because if you don’t know how to handle money, especially lots of it, getting it all at once won’t teach you that skill, but accumulating over time, you’ll either learn that skill, or you’ll continue to waste it and never accumulate, as we say, “a fool and his money are soon parted,” which sounds like a proverb although it isn’t. But slow and steady ultimately wins the race every time.
The other piece that Wanda will quickly find out with her lottery win, and what ultimate brings down many winners is the hangers on who suddenly show up seeking a little help. Proverbs says it this way, “Wealth brings many friends, but the poor are left friendless.” Now is it saying that poor people don’t have any friends? No, it’s merely saying that if you have wealth that all your friends will come out of the woodwork seeking help, claiming to be your friend. So, the question becomes, what are they truly after? Now I’ve known several truly wealthy people, that is on the Forbes 500 list wealthy, and one of the things they will talk about, when they are really opening up, is the fact that it’s hard to know who your friends truly are, so if you dream of being or getting rich, remember that while there are some nice perks that come with it, that there are also lots of downsides to having wealth, and now I know you’re all going to have a pity party for them.
But, one important thing to keep in mind is that just because someone appears to be rich, it does not mean they are rich. Proverbs says, “some pretend to be rich, yet have nothing; others pretend to be poor, yet have great wealth.” A more modern proverb for this is “big hat, no cattle.” That is people want to have the appearance of having wealth, of being conspicuous consumers, but they are extended, or in debt, up to the hilt. They can’t afford to do, but they also think they can’t afford to. Their identity, and their need to have others think good things of them, is tied up in their possessions and the outward displays of wealth. On the other hand, in his book The Millionaire Next Door, by Thomas Stanley, what he found was that a huge number of America’s millionaires lived normal, ordinary lives. They did not drive expensive cars or live in expensive houses, and the reason they were able to acquire wealth, and keep it, was because they didn’t do those things. People who need to put forth ostentatious displays of wealth are trying to prove something to others, and themselves, and it doesn’t have anything to do with actually being wealthy. It’s a sign about the need for validation from others, rather than simply needing God’s validation, or understanding the purposes of wealth, and what it can and should be used for.
Even worse, those who need to show off their wealth, and yet don’t have it, are often in major debt, and Proverbs definitely has something to say about that, with what I think is one of the strongest worded statements, which tells us “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.” Not just that it’s not good to be in debt, but that you will be ruled by others; you will be a slave to whomever you owe money, because, the thing is, lenders are not as forgiving when it comes to money owed to them as we might wish. They want their money. Now as most of us know only too well, once you’re in debt it’s much harder to get out of it, and it seems like everything we are doing is simply to manage our debt. So, we become slaves to that debt. Our work is not for us, it becomes for someone else, someone else who is then gaining wealth from the sweat of our labor. Good deal for them, not so much for us. God knows the dangers of this so much that the year of jubilee was instituted in which all debts would be wiped out and everyone would return back to zero in order to stop intergenerational poverty.
But it’s not just about your debt, it’s also about other people using you to secure their debt. This is known as surety, and there are several injunctions against this in proverbs, including the one we heard today which says “Do not be one of those who give pledges, who become surety for debts. If you have nothing with which to pay, why should your bed be taken from under you?” So, the modern rule is, don’t cosign a loan for someone else. If they don’t have the money, or the credit, to make it happen then they probably shouldn’t do it. Now this is not talking about a child just starting out, because there wasn’t really such a thing in the ancient world, but those who should be able to achieve their own credit. If a bank or a credit card company will not trust them to pay it back, as harsh as this sounds, you shouldn’t trust them either. There is a large level of personal accountability in finances, so why should you lose your bed because of what someone else has done?
But that leads into, what I think is one of the most important pieces of information when it comes to finances, just as true for Solomon 3000 years ago, as it is today, and that is “Know well the condition of your flocks and give attention to your herds, for riches do not last forever, nor a crown for all generations.” I am always amazed at how many people don’t have any idea where their money goes. They get paid, and then they get paid again, and somewhere in the middle all of it goes away. That’s not paying attention to the condition of your flocks. That’s what is being said here, as there wasn’t money as we understand it, or at least that we know about as the earliest coin we have comes from the year 600 BCE. So, think about your money as your flocks and your herds. Are you paying attention to it or is it wandering off to other people’s pastures to be lost forever? Is your flock producing more animals for your flock, or is it only increasing someone else’s flock? If you want financial security, stability and growth, these are the questions that have to be answered, because if you don’t pay attention to your flocks they will wander away, and you’ll be left holding nothing but a shepherd’s crook, which won’t do you any good without something to round up. And ignoring it because you hope it will just go away, or you’re afraid of what you might find, doesn’t solve the problem. You need to know the condition of your flocks.
And this is for everyone. Even if you are in a relationship your partner handles the finances, if you don’t know what’s going on, you don’t know the condition of your flock, and even worse you are not in a position to take over management of that flock if something should happen to the other person. This is incredibly important because all too often after a death I’ll hear that the spouse, and not always the man, was the one who took care of the finances and they don’t know what to do or where to even begin. That means it takes both parties to participate; it’s about knowledge and education, although I’d also say it’s about more than just your partner. Proverbs says, “the good leave an inheritance to their children’s children.” The way I hear that it’s about more than just money, but about the passing on of wisdom, especially when it comes to financial wisdom. Make sure the wisdom you have gained doesn’t die with you, but is passed on for generations to come. That’s a pretty strong inheritance.
But, I’d like to close with two final proverbs. The first is that “the rich and poor have this in common: the lord is the maker of them all.” I think that’s incredibly important to remember, because we are all too often to claim that God is with us, but certainly can’t like those people, and who those people are is dependent upon who is saying it. But we should always remember, especially in these times, that God is the God of all, even if they don’t believe in God, because God believes in them.
In Chapter 30, Agur, who is responsible for this series of Proverbs, although we know nothing about who he is, he prays to God asking God to grant him two things. The first is to take away from him falsehood and lying, presumably both from those he might be inclined to tell, but also from those who might be inclined to tell them to him. And then he says, and I think this should be the prayer for all of us, “give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that I need or I shall be full, and deny you, and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ or I shall be poor, and steal, and profane the name of my God.” I think there is some incredible wisdom in this prayer, and it is the only prayer found in Proverbs. First, he doesn’t ask for riches, but instead enough to get him through, because, he realizes, if he has too much, he may deny God, thinking that he has done everything himself, that God has not only not played a role in his life, but that he doesn’t even need God because he has everything he needs to get by. This is a common feature of modern America. Jesus tells a story about a man like this who has more than enough, and after he builds bigger barns to hold it all, tells himself to eat, drink and be merry, but God calls him a fool, the only time in the gospels this happens, and appropriate for proverbs which is about wisdom versus foolishness, and then God takes his life. So, don’t get so much, or don’t seek so much that you may deny God.
Secondly, he asks that he won’t be so poor that he will feel the need to steal, and thus profane God’s name. This is about trusting that God will provide, but it’s about more than that as well. It’s about remembering that everything we do is a reflection not only on ourselves, but also on our faith, and therefore a reflection on God. If we claim to be faithful and are told not to steal, but then go out and do so, what does that say to others, especially non-believers? May everything we do honor God and bring glory to God’s name, everything we do in poverty and in prosperity. May we never have so little that we must break our faith and may we never have so much that we forget where it came from and deny God, and if you are in that second position where you have too much, I would be glad to help you make a donation to the church in order to return you to the proper place of gratitude in your life. I pray that it will be so my brothers and sisters. Amen.
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