「箴言に聴く、お金の使い方」 十月第二主日礼拝 宣教 2024年10月13日
箴言 Proverbs11章24〜26節（マタイMatthew6章19〜21節） 牧師 河野信一郎
Good morning. I thank the Lord God for the blessing of being able to praise and worship with you this morning. The mornings and evenings have become much cooler, and the days are now clear and cloudless. Kindergartens and elementary schools are holding Undoh-kai yesterday and today. Tomorrow is “Sports Day”. At my age, I don’t get to do sports very often, but I would like to take a walk and enjoy my favorite autumn weather. I pray that everyone’s health will be protected.
Now, this October, we are about to hear how to use the life, body, health, abilities, wealth, etc. that God has entrusted to each of us to do His will. Yes, we do. Our lives, bodies, health, abilities, and wealth are all entrusted to us by God, and there will come a time when we will return them to Him. That “someday” is when the journey of life, the journey of life that we are allowed to take on this earth, comes to an end. That day will come, but until then, we must take good care of what God has entrusted to us and use it to the fullest.
It is not for our own personal bliss that we use our lives, bodies, health, abilities, and wealth. As people who were created by God, are alive, loved, and forgiven for their sins, it is God’s will that we first use them for God’s sake and for His glory. Next, it is God’s will that we be used for the happiness of our neighbors around us. Finally, it is God’s will that we give and use our gifts for the work of the church. Loving God, loving our neighbors, and loving one another are the fruits of Jesus Christ, and through these three loves, there is true happiness.
Last week, we heard from Matthew 25 about three servants who were entrusted with great wealth by their master on a long journey, how they handled the money entrusted to them, and how they pleased their master when he returned from his journey. This morning’s message will be an extension of that story, but titled “Listening to Proverbs, How to Use Money”. This morning, I would like to talk briefly about the wrong way to handle money and wealth from the letter of James, and in the second half of the message, I would like to listen to the right way to use money and wealth from Proverbs, that is, how to use money and wealth according to God’s will.
From April to September of this year, I returned to seminary student for the first time in 30 years and took an online class at Tokyo Baptist Theological Seminary. I took 15 lectures on “Preaching from Proverbs,” taught by Old Testament scholar Yoichi Kobayashi. Proverbs are words of God’s wisdom compiled from many proverbs. Proverbs are meant to encourage us to do God’s will by pointing to this wisdom. The content of the proverbs is diverse, and proverbs with the same content are scattered throughout Proverbs. They tell us what we should and should not think about in our daily lives, what we should and should not do on a daily basis, and so on. This Proverb also describes the proper way to handle money and wealth, and I hope that we will listen to it together this morning and be people who show God’s glory.
To sidetrack for a moment, in Matthew 6:21, Jesus says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” This means, “You love riches so much that your hearts go only to riches. But your heart should not be toward riches, but toward the Lord God, toward heaven where He is.” Jesus shows us the basic mistakes we are prone to make and points us to the right path, the attitude of heart that should be ours.
Let me begin with a short discussion of the wrong way to handle money/wealth. I will briefly explain the wrong way to use wealth in the New Testament in James 5:1-6. Please open your Bibles. It is page 426 of the New Testament, and in verse 1 it says, “Listen, you who are rich”. If you continue to live with the wrong use of wealth/money, verses 2 and 3 say that “Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded.” It is saying, you will lose everything, everything will be wasted, and ultimately you will be unhappy.
What is wrong, then, with the suggestion in verse 3 that “You have laid up treasure.” In New Testament times, people were interested in accumulating lots of clothing and precious metal ornaments. It is only for their own glory, for self-gratification, to be noticed, respected, and esteemed by others. Verse 4 says, “Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.” This is a despicable act of not paying wages to the laborers and keeping them for oneself, i.e., stealing and amassing wealth.
Verse 5 says, “You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts.” This means that you are wasting your wealth. But is it only wealth? You are living a life of luxury, using your body, time, health, and wealth only for your own pleasure. Children stay at their parents’ house all the time, spending the money they earn from their jobs for themselves, and their parents pay for their food and utilities. In other words, they have fattened their own hearts and emaciated the hearts of their parents and others. Using the grace entrusted to us by God for ourselves alone is misuse, abuse, and misapplication of grace. Verse 6 points out that this leads to someone suffering and dying.
So, what is the right way to use, utilize, and invest money and wealth according to God’s will? There are four things I would like to share with you from Proverbs. The first is to keep and accumulate the wealth and money that God has entrusted to you. Simply put, this means not to waste money. It may sound like the “store up treasures” of the letter of James mentioned earlier, but in that case, it was to store up only for one’s own bliss, only for one’s own glory. Many Japanese are good at saving without wasting money, but if they use it only for themselves and their families, they may end up running out of life on earth before they use it all up.
However, “store up” in Proverbs means to save for the work of God. Proverbs 21:20 says it this way, “Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man’s dwelling, but a foolish man devours it.” This is a gift from God and given to us. This means that we should be good stewards of what God has entrusted to us and given to us and not squander it. Proverbs 30:25 says, “the ants are a people not strong, yet they provide their food in the summer.” The words are also found in the following verse. They work together to store up strength to survive the cold winter. It is a wonderful wisdom of ants.
There was a millionaire in America named John D. Rockefeller who had a law for living happily. It was the 10-10-80 rule. He would give 10% of his monthly income to God, save 10%, and spend the remaining 80% on the necessities of life. We are to give a portion of our income to God first with thanksgiving. This means putting God first and living in trust with Him.
Philippians 4:19 says, “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” We have already received many blessings from God, but God will bless you even more for putting Him first.
Proverbs 21:5 says, “The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.” And Proverbs 27:24 says, “for riches do not last forever; and does a crown endure to all generations?” We are not to give back to God until he gives back to us. We must use the wealth God has entrusted to us with great care until we return it to Him. For this purpose, trust in God, receiving wisdom from God, diligence, and sincerity are indispensable.
Now, Proverbs 13:11 says, “Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.” This means that we should manage our wealth and property entrusted to us by God with wisdom and make good use of it. The first half of Proverbs 23:4 says, “Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist.”
This is connected to the earlier statement in Matthew 6:21, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” If you spend a lot of time only for your own happiness, your heart will only grow weary and feel empty. I have experienced this myself. But as we change our minds, turn our hearts to God and Jesus, and seek His will, the Lord will direct our eyes to our neighbors around us who are being reduced to insignificance.
Finally, I would like to focus on Proverbs 11:24-25, which we read this morning, but before I do, I would like to briefly comment on the words of chapter 11:26, “The people curse him who holds back grain, but a blessing is on the head of him who sells it.” I would like to make a short comment on the words, “Blessed is the man who does not look out for the weak. People hate those who have no regard for the weak, who are greedy, and who are not kind. God will be saddened. But a generous person who has a heart of compassion will be loved by people and receive many blessings from God.
Now, in Proverbs 11:24-25, ” One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.”
God has given us abundance, but if we are stingy with it, we are not doing God’s will. Let us not dig a hole in the ground and hide the wealth we receive from God, who loves us daily with mercy and truth and meets our needs. Let us also choose with faith and thanksgiving to give and use it not only for ourselves and our close family and acquaintances, but also for those who have not yet received God’s love, those who are hurting, grieving, and at a loss.
I will end by reading Matthew 6:19-20. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Amen.