Wealth and Poverty I ...

Tuesday, Sept 1, 2009. Who is doing well? How do we get back to a path of economic growth? Should our government lower taxes? Who gets how much from the state as part of our social system (do we have one)? The wealth of nations is one of the key topics for our general and our political agenda.

How do we get more salary? What can we afford? How much do we earn, how much do we spend? What status symbols do we call our own? Do we have a big house, a nice car, a boat on the River Thames or the Bodensee? Where do we spend our holiday? Can we afford the newest dresses from our most fashionable top designer? There are various small and large signs which can indicate our wealth. We are, with respect to many things, a very wealthy society.

The Bible has a very special view onto weath and poverty. Its views are linked to its understanding of value, to the values of God, the creator. It is interesting that wealth in terms of posessions in contrast to true wealth is one of the big themes of Jesus teaching. When we talk about wealth and poverty, we need to understand what he values and why!

“You look very rich, but you are very poor.” This is one of the sentences you find in the revelation, the last book of the bible. It is said by the Lord to one of the early Christian churches. It seems that it was a wealthy church with a lot of activities. But the wealth of this church was not much in the eyes of God.

How can we come closer to God and understand how he sees wealth and poverty? This week we want to trace the sense of value which God has. We want to understand his view onto poverty - not the poverty in terms of monthly income, but the spiritual poverty, a poverty of our whole being, of our existence, our life, our thoughts, feelings, words and actions.

I must say that I am extremely exited by the stimulation the bible gives. For example, think about the wealth of faith, of thoughts, of words. How much more valuable than 1000 Pounds or Dollars is a word of encouragement which fully reaches the person it is spoken to. There are empty words, even encouraging words can be so empty. But there are also these rare moments when we are touched deeply, when we realize that some words go into the very core of our life and provide sincere encouragement. What a value is this, how much more is it worth than what we call wealth!

And there are more values to discover. When we listen to Jesus, we find an abundance of great things which establish a better kind of wealth than we are used to. There is much to gain! Let us go and explore it … ... more texts