I.Theme – Man’s relationship with God and the Benefits
The Rich Fool -Rembrandt (1627)
The lectionary readings are here
Creation Week 3 continues to be involved in our relationship to the Creator God. In Deuteronomy is about the benefits of faithfulness in terms of blessings. In the Psalm it’s in term of prayers being answered sins being forgiven , and the blessedness of dwelling with God in terms of bountiful harvests and the beauty of nature and God’s control. The Epistle is about our relationship to God in terms of giving. Why should we give. For those who give cheerfully and willingly, the promise is that God will provide all that they need to continue doing good The Gospel looks at our relationship to God in terms of 3 questions- Where is your treasure ? How is your vision ?Who are you serving ?
II. Summary
Old Testament – Deuteronomy 28:1-14
Deuteronomy 28 is the chapter where God explicitly told the Israelites what faithfulness and unfaithfulness to their covenant with Him will bring upon them. From Deuteronomy 5 when God gave the Ten Commandments, Moses taught, exhorted, encouraged, and beseeched the Israelites to be faithful to the covenant they made with God at Mount Sinai. Deuteronomy 28 is a long and exhaustive chapter that covers God’s blessings and curses for the Israelites for their faithfulness or unfaithfulness to their covenant with Him
When God blesses a person, it affects the whole life of the person. The word “blessed” comes from the Hebrew word “barak” and means to kneel, praise, or salute. To be blessed means kneeling before the one who blesses. That act acknowledges the giver of the blessing as greater than the recipient.
Healing brings the ability to work and provide for one’s family. It affects the mental, emotional, and spiritual parts of a person, not just the physical. When Jesus provided more wine at a wedding, His first miracle, it brought goodwill and a good reputation to the father of the bride. That could affect he father’s standing in the community and then his income level. It could contribute to the father providing for his family. These could affect the family’s worship of God and their mental and emotional well-being. When we consider this, we know then that blessings given in one part of life can affect many or everyother areas of life.
Regarding Deuteronomy 28, we read the blessings God would give the faithful Israelites and note He covers every aspect of human life from farming and herding to trade, from bodily to proprietary, from large scale (produce) to daily provision (food for meals), and from national to international life. Added to this, the first fourteen verses answer the main six questions people ask – what, where, when, who, why, and how. Finally, this section of chapter 28 begins by telling us what the blessings shall be to reminding us who will give them
First, the blessings of God are contingent upon our obedience. Notice the "if" of verses 1, 2, 9, 13, and 14.
Second, the blessings of obeying the covenant are many (28:3-6). Moses elaborated on those blessings in Deuteronomy 28:7-14. They include: military might (28:7), agricultural success (28:8, 11, 12), a great reputation among the nations (28:9-10), multiplying of family (28:11), and financial success (28:12).
Notice the comprehensive nature of the blessings that would result from living in obedience to God’s word:
Blessed shall you be in the city; Blessed shall you be in the country. Blessed shall be the offspring of your body, produce of your ground, offspring of your beasts, increase of your herd. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in; Blessed shall you be when you go out.
Psalm – Psalm 65
Psalm 65 expresses remains at the heart of our relationship with God. Its poet describes God, God’s works and their benefits to us. What’s more, it’s as if the poet has the kind of intimate relationship with the Lord for which we long. He writes Psalm 65 as if he were somehow standing in God’s living room, talking directly to God about God.
Psalm 65 thus depicts a world alive with the bounty and glory of God. While many scholars believe that its original use was for thanksgiving celebrations at harvest time, its possible applications today are many.
It begins with praise to God in Zion (verse 1), a setting which continues through verse 4. Even here the topics of praise are varied, including prayer being answered (verse 2), sins being forgiven (verse 3), and the blessedness of dwelling with God (verse 4).
Verse 5 turns briefly to God’s mighty acts of deliverance but then quickly moves to "the ends of the earth" and "the farthest seas." This global setting stays in view through verse 8, asserting God’s might with references to the mountains (verse 6), the seas and the "tumult of peoples" (verse 7), and the farthest points east and west (verse 8). God’s presence is shown as powerful, gracious, and life-giving in the psalm. The dangerous features of nature are pacified, and the rest of nature comes to life with joyful exuberance.
Verses 9-13 maintain the focus on the earth, but the emphasis moves from God’s might to God’s bounty in the harvest, which is described in lavishly descriptive language. This lavishness might well be said to be the unifying force throughout the psalm. Verses 9-10 celebrate the gift of water, which provides people with grain, shapes the earth, and causes life to grow
The descriptions of the earth are almost mythical sounding throughout. This mythical quality, combined with the exclusively beneficent description of God’s dealings with humankind that pervade the psalm, gives the attentive reader or hearer an overwhelming sense of the life-giving presence of God.
Verses 12-13 close the psalm with a series of further personifications: The pastures, hills, meadows, and valleys all clothe themselves with appropriate bounty, and they all "shout and sing together for joy."
This psalm is connected thematically to the water words of Isaiah. Water appears in both texts as instrumental in producing a rich harvest. Indeed, to understand the intent of the psalmist we need to go back to verse 8, which is not a part of our response to the word this morning: “Who quiets the roar of the seas, the roar of their waves and the tumult of nations.” Here the psalmist reminds us of a recurring theme in the Ancient Near East – the power of the gods over the chaos of the primordial waters. The first creation account shares in this understanding as God divides the land from the waters. Now the waters are free to have some other use and facility. The psalmist sees a fecund and fruitful earth watered with the once-threatening waters. Now all is life and praise.
Epistle -2 Corinthians 9:6-15
Paul points out the benefits the Corinthians will reap as a result of generous giving.
Each generation takes delight in putting its practical wisdom in memorable form. In like fashion Paul sums up the benefits of liberality by means of a maxim: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. From all appearances Paul is quoting a popular saying. It is one that he finds useful, since it reappears in slightly truncated form in Galatians 6:7 ("A man reaps what he sows").
3 guidelines
First, giving is to be an individual matter that is settled in the privacy of one’s own heart. . Each, Paul says, should give what he has decided in his heart to give. Eac his placed first for emphasis. "How much?" is a question that each person must answer for herself. And it is never to be determined by how much "the Joneses" are contributing.
Second, giving requires resolve. The text reads what he has decided (literally, "as each has purposed"). Paul says that giving is to be based on a calculated decision. It is not a matter to be settled lightly or impulsively.
Third, giving is to be a private, not a public, decision. It is to be decided in the heart. The real reason to give is because one cannot help but give–or, as William Barclay puts it, because the "need wakens a desire that cannot be stilled" (1954:233). This desire is in fact to give the way God gave; it was because he so loved the world that he gave his only Son.
Paul identifies four beneficiaries of charitable giving in verses 8-14: the giver (vv. 8-11), the recipients (v. 12), God (vv. 11-12) and the church (vv. 13-14). In the first place, the giver benefits and that is through Grace- and it refers to the giver’s unmerited favor from God.. It is not because of personal merit
God’s abounding grace extends beyond the mere replenishment of resources. He is powerful not only to replace resources spent in Christian service but also to multiply them to the point that we have what we need.and that we can share.
To illustrate this point Paul quotes the psalmist’s praise of those who give freely to the poor: He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever The person who dares to be generous toward those in need is compared to the farmer who scatters his seed while sowing. To sow by scattering is the opposite of sowing sparingly. The farmer who scatters seed is generous with it.
The general principle is thus that the more we give, the more we will get from God
He does not say that wealth or surplus income is a sign of God’s blessing. Nor is it giving per se that is applauded. It is, rather, a lifestyle of generosity that Paul commends. For those who give cheerfully and willingly, the promise is that God will provide all that they need to continue doing good.
Not only does the giver benefit from generosity, but the recipients benefit as well. The aid Paul has in mind is the Corinthians’ contribution to the Jerusalem collection. The specific help rendered by the offering is that of supplying the needs of the Judean Christians denotes a shortage or deficiency of basic necessities. In the first century this amounted to food, clothing and shelter (2 Cor 11:27
God is the third beneficiary of generous giving. God is also the recipient of praise. Paul’s point is that the church at large recognizes the collection for what it is: God’s grace at work in the lives of the contributors. Paul’s point is that to be vital and living, profession of faith must issue in works. The Corinthians’ willing contribution to the Jerusalem collection shows that they possess a faith that accepts the claims of the gospel and obeys its dictates as well. The Judean recipients will praise God, second, for the Corinthians’ generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else
Fourth and finally, the church as a whole benefits from generous giving. Here is the key to the urgency of Paul’s appeal. For the most part, the recipients were conservative Jewish Christians who still regarded the Gentiles with a certain amount of fear and suspicion. For them the collection proves the Gentiles’ profession of faith
Paul anticipates that the offering will impact the church in too additional ways: prayers for the Corinthians will be offered, and a closer relationship between the Jewish recipients and the Gentile donors will be forged
Gospel – Matthew 6:19-24
In Matthew 6, one of the main points, is our relationship as Christians to our world an also to God. The Gospel is a set of three sayings and can be expressed around 3 questions – Where is your treasure ? How is your vision ?Who are you serving ?
Where is your treasure ?
Storing up treasure is best illustrated by examples. One of the most prominent is the The Rich Young Ruler (Matthew 19:16-22). In this story, a rich young ruler comes to ask Jesus a question. The question he asks is how he might have eternal life. Jesus answers the man by telling him that he needs to obey the commandments, and the rich young ruler responds, “Which ones?” Jesus responds, “‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” The young ruler responds that he has kept all these things and asks, “What do I still lack?” This is where Jesus drops the bomb on the rich young ruler. He says, “Go, sell what you have and give to the poor” and “follow Me.” Where was this young man’s heart? You can tell by his reaction. His heart is controlled by his wealth and riches. This young ruler is wealthy and supposedly has a lot going for him, but he is not willing to let those things go in order to follow Jesus. He is willing to love his neighbor and do the commands that pertain to his fellow man, but when it comes down to loving the Father and having no other gods before Him, he is not willing to let go of the wealth he obtained here on earth in order to gain eternal life.
We have seen a couple of examples of people who laid up their treasures on the earth, and the end result for both of these situations was death. Their hearts were set upon the things of this earth, and they were willing to disobey God for the sake of temporal riches that do not last. The things we gather here on earth are only temporal; they do not last for eternity.
How is your vision ?
The risk of storing up treasure relates to the second saying dealing with our vision. Gathering up riches here on the earth blurs our vision. It causes us not to see the truth, the will of God, correctly. It distorts our vision, causing us to not see God as clearly as maybe we once did.
When our eyes are focused on the things of this world, our eyes are bad, our bodies are full of darkness, and we have a very difficult time seeing the truth. If the eyes of our heart and mind are focused on the Father, then we will be in right standing with Him and see Him clearly to know what He is asking of us at that point in time. “If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light” (Matthew 6:22b).
Who are you serving
This verse is the climax of the Sermon on the Mount. People often think they can have the best of both worlds – both here on earth serving themselves with riches and living it up, and later down the road in the future, which would be heaven. In this passage, Jesus states: “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). Jesus tells us here that we cannot serve two masters. We cannot serve money and God; we cannot serve popularity and God; we cannot serve ourselves and God; we cannot serve our families and God. We can have only one master. Jesus is once again challenging us to look at the whole Sermon on the Mount, challenging us to repent, to change our minds about earthly treasures, about the things that we formerly served, and to serve Him only. You cannot do it no matter how hard you try. One or the other will lose out, and in most cases, it will be God