RISKY INVESTMENT ADVICE?
Ecclesiastes 11:1-6
Luke 21:1-4
Bread -- sustenance; nourishment; the source of life, if you asked the widow of Zarephath; God's provision for us.
Bread baking -- the warmth of home; the aroma of welcome and hospitality; the memories of meals with friends and family.
Bread slang -- money; cash in the pocket; security; assets; property; investments.
Money; cash in the pocket; security; assets; property; investments. So when the Bible tells us to send out our bread upon the waters, are we getting risky investment advice, or is there more to it?
Benjamin Franklin said there are only two things for certain in this life -- death and taxes. I happen to think there are a few more, like the sun rising every morning in the east and setting in the east, the earth makes its yearly journey around the sun, and Murphy's law.
Murphy's law - if anything can possibly go wrong, it will. That lovely sunny weather may go on longer than was expected and turn into a drought. The storms that bring needed rain may come with gale force winds that topple your neighbor's tree onto your garage. And you can count on it, that during the record cold snap of the winter, your furnace will quit working, and Dave Lennox has come down with the flu.
So we save for that rainy day and the flooded basement it may bring, and we invest wisely and conservatively, having a long-term strategy for the future.
At first glance, King Solomon, son of David, and author of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, seems to be telling us the same thing. Life is short and anything can happen, but he advices us to take some risks. With open hands, release your resources out into the world. Send your grain across the seas to foreign markets where it will get the quickest and best prices. Diversify your investments, because you never know which will pay out big dividends.
Actually, Solomon is advising us about another kind of investing, not in ourselves but in the lives and needs of others.
Sending out bread upon the waters is to send out our resources with open hands, withholding nothing, with no strings attached, out into the world to be used according to God's will and for the needs of others. Like bread cast upon the water of a stream, we relinquish control, allowing the current to take it where it wills, nourishing whatever creatures the water bring it to.
Risky, scary stuff, right. We want to hold tight onto what we have, and if we do let go of a few crumbs, we want a say in how and where it will be spent. Are we afraid of being diminished by our giving?
Giving is an issue of faith.
During the week before Jesus died, he spent time in the Temple court in Jerusalem teaching his disciples and other people who sought him out. In the back ground was the clinking and clanking of coins.
He looked up and saw the rich people dropping offerings in the offering boxes. Then he saw a poor widow put in two pennies. He said, "This widow has given by far the largest offering today. All these others were tight-fisted, only letting go a small portion of what they could afford to give. She took the risk to give extravagantly of all he had."
The rich threw handfuls of coins into the boxes, making a big noise about all the money they had. They weren't investing their resources in God's mission of love and in the needs of others. They were using their money to stockpile themselves.
The widow, with an open hand, chose to invest what resources she had in making a difference in her world and in the lives of her neighbors. Only one who has put her trust in God can make such a faithful response.
Solomon wrote, "... after many days you will get it back." (Ecclesiastes 11:1) She knew God replaces what we give away.
"When we cast our bread upon the waters, we can presume that someone downstream whose face we will never know will benefit from our action, as we who are downstream from another will profit from the grantor's gift." (Maya Angelou)
And the one who grants all good gifts is God.
Now, I'm not saying that we shouldn't save and invest our money, planning for rainy days and our future. What I feel God saying to us is that we are blessed when we open our hands and send out our resources and service into the world. When we give unselfishly, unconditionally and with no expectations, God takes our offering and transforms it into new life, hope, peace and justice.
Giving is an issue of faith. It can seem like a risky investment, but it's guaranteed by the One in whom we put our faith.
'
Luke 21:1-4
Bread -- sustenance; nourishment; the source of life, if you asked the widow of Zarephath; God's provision for us.
Bread baking -- the warmth of home; the aroma of welcome and hospitality; the memories of meals with friends and family.
Bread slang -- money; cash in the pocket; security; assets; property; investments.
Money; cash in the pocket; security; assets; property; investments. So when the Bible tells us to send out our bread upon the waters, are we getting risky investment advice, or is there more to it?
Benjamin Franklin said there are only two things for certain in this life -- death and taxes. I happen to think there are a few more, like the sun rising every morning in the east and setting in the east, the earth makes its yearly journey around the sun, and Murphy's law.
Murphy's law - if anything can possibly go wrong, it will. That lovely sunny weather may go on longer than was expected and turn into a drought. The storms that bring needed rain may come with gale force winds that topple your neighbor's tree onto your garage. And you can count on it, that during the record cold snap of the winter, your furnace will quit working, and Dave Lennox has come down with the flu.
So we save for that rainy day and the flooded basement it may bring, and we invest wisely and conservatively, having a long-term strategy for the future.
At first glance, King Solomon, son of David, and author of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, seems to be telling us the same thing. Life is short and anything can happen, but he advices us to take some risks. With open hands, release your resources out into the world. Send your grain across the seas to foreign markets where it will get the quickest and best prices. Diversify your investments, because you never know which will pay out big dividends.
Actually, Solomon is advising us about another kind of investing, not in ourselves but in the lives and needs of others.
Sending out bread upon the waters is to send out our resources with open hands, withholding nothing, with no strings attached, out into the world to be used according to God's will and for the needs of others. Like bread cast upon the water of a stream, we relinquish control, allowing the current to take it where it wills, nourishing whatever creatures the water bring it to.
Risky, scary stuff, right. We want to hold tight onto what we have, and if we do let go of a few crumbs, we want a say in how and where it will be spent. Are we afraid of being diminished by our giving?
Giving is an issue of faith.
During the week before Jesus died, he spent time in the Temple court in Jerusalem teaching his disciples and other people who sought him out. In the back ground was the clinking and clanking of coins.
He looked up and saw the rich people dropping offerings in the offering boxes. Then he saw a poor widow put in two pennies. He said, "This widow has given by far the largest offering today. All these others were tight-fisted, only letting go a small portion of what they could afford to give. She took the risk to give extravagantly of all he had."
The rich threw handfuls of coins into the boxes, making a big noise about all the money they had. They weren't investing their resources in God's mission of love and in the needs of others. They were using their money to stockpile themselves.
The widow, with an open hand, chose to invest what resources she had in making a difference in her world and in the lives of her neighbors. Only one who has put her trust in God can make such a faithful response.
Solomon wrote, "... after many days you will get it back." (Ecclesiastes 11:1) She knew God replaces what we give away.
"When we cast our bread upon the waters, we can presume that someone downstream whose face we will never know will benefit from our action, as we who are downstream from another will profit from the grantor's gift." (Maya Angelou)
And the one who grants all good gifts is God.
Now, I'm not saying that we shouldn't save and invest our money, planning for rainy days and our future. What I feel God saying to us is that we are blessed when we open our hands and send out our resources and service into the world. When we give unselfishly, unconditionally and with no expectations, God takes our offering and transforms it into new life, hope, peace and justice.
Giving is an issue of faith. It can seem like a risky investment, but it's guaranteed by the One in whom we put our faith.
'
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