Money Money... Law and Gospel:
By Rev. Ge orge Borg hardt
Money, Money, and More
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“For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is Mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine” (Psalm 50:10–-12 ESV).
oney. Stuff. Mammon. It's all His, His, His. From the cattle on a thousand hills to the bird on the mountain, it’s all His. Everything belongs to the Lord—all of it.
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And unlike us, He doesn't horde it all to Himself. He doesn't sit at the poker table guarding all His chips. He tosses them out, gives them away to all men. He gives His gifts to good people. He gives them to evil people, even to you and me. Everything you have in your wallet is His. The lint in your wallet is His too. Even the wallet is His. Hey, isn't that wallet yours too? I mean, after all, it is your wallet, right? Of course it is. But it comes to you as gift from above from your Father who excels at giving everything from wallets to, as the Small Catechism says, “clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life.” You are probably going to be earning and getting more in the coming years. As you get this stuff called mammon, don't forget that it's all His. You'll have it for a while, use it, probably abuse it, and He will give you more anyway. That's the way your Father is. He gives without asking anything in return.
Consider God demanding something in return from you. Now that's scary. If He wants something from you, then it's everything. It’s all you have and are and all you acquire. Everything. Not only would He want it all, but He'd want it given with a cheerful heart too. That's the opposite of how we normally give. Usually, we give Him what we can spare or whatever is leftover after we get and use what we want. Christ paid all that is due to God for us, all that we deserve for our mismanagement, for desiring more than we have been given, for not trusting that He's going to provide for us. The Father has already paid what God demanded of you in the giving up of His Son. Receive His gifts without fear, and then cheerfully give Him what's due. Be certain and sure that He'll give and provide more. He hasn't failed you yet, has He? That's how you face the tough decisions that are coming up in life, such as when the credit cards arrive. My eight-year-old son already gets them in the mail. Watch out for those credit cards. They are a good tool for developing credit, but they must be paid off. The only thing free in this world is salvation; everything else probably needs to be paid for. Not only will you have to pay that credit card back, but you’ll have to pay it back with interest.
