Reflections on God and Money: February 2013

Saturday, 23 February 2013

Was Jesus Poor? (2)

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go’. And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head’.

Luke 9:57-58

Yesterday, I finished with a minister’s concern that I had described Jesus as being middle class. At the time, I regret to confess that I was slow on the uptake and thought that the minister was making a humorous comment; I therefore smiled and moved on in my presentation. It only later dawned on me that it had been a serious concern.

Although Jesus was not middle class by any modern definition, it is nevertheless the case that a carpenter was a skilled worker and as the eldest son he probably ran the family business and may have employed people other than his brothers.

For the last three years before his crucifixion, Jesus lived as an itinerant teacher. He usually travelled in the company of others and it seems that the group were usually well supported. Some wealthy women supported the ministry and the appointment of Judas Iscariot as ‘treasurer’, to look after the groups’ funds, indicates that they were not living hand-to-mouth. Moreover, as Judas was able to pilfer their money undetected implies they must have had more than enough to meet their immediate needs. At least, for most of the time.

Although Jesus was at times tired, hungry and thirsty, and had ‘no place to lay his head’, this is not uncommon for an itinerant preacher, musician or trader in any land in any age. Given the number of people who welcomed Jesus into their homes, it is unlikely that he slept in the open every night, whatever the weather. There is a clear distinction between an itinerant and a homeless person: I do not think that Jesus experience can be compared with the homeless poor sleeping rough in London, New York or anywhere else in the world.

When the soldiers who crucified Jesus stripped off his clothes, they found his robe to be of such good quality that they decided not to tear it to share, as they did the clothes of most of the men they executed, but to gamble for it. It was a seamless robe, artfully woven, and not the attire of a poor man.

If Jesus did go without the possessions that were common to many of his contemporaries, it was because he had no need of them. When we think of his ‘poverty’, we are probably thinking of his lack of ‘middle class’ security: he had no fixed income, nothing saved up for a rainy day and no pension plan. This, however, does not amount to poverty. But if this lack of financial security frightens us, perhaps it shows just where our ultimate trust lies.

I realise that this weekend’s Reflections have involved some speculation but I hope they serve as a thought-provoking introduction to a series about giving and fundraising that I plan, God willing, to begin next weekend.

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Friday, 22 February 2013

Was Jesus Poor? (1)

On the Sabbath [Jesus] began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, ‘Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?’

Mark 6:2-3

Some years ago, a Christian who was already working fulltime for a church mentioned to me, in passing, that he was attracted to the sort of work done by a particular missionary organisation. When I asked why he did not look into joining the organisation, he replied that it did not pay its workers but expected them to fund their own activities from a network of supporters and he could not ask his wife to live in poverty.

The answer stumped me. I was at a complete loss for words and the conversation ceased abruptly. Did he really believe that God, when left to himself to supply our needs, will give us only the essentials? Actually, I am sure that he did have a better view of God than that. But the comment provoked me to look afresh at the assumption many Christians hold that poverty is the ‘natural’ or ‘normal’ situation for Christians and that Jesus was himself poor. While God can and does, from time to time, expect his people to live one day at a time, expecting their ‘daily bread’ and no more, there is nothing in the Bible to suggest that this is normal, usual or common.

At the start, I am sure that Jesus’ family were poor at the time of his birth. They had travelled to Bethlehem for the Roman census and so Joseph was cut off from his usual means of earning a living; they were cut off from their extended family and their network of friends. When they attended the Temple for the traditional purification ceremony for Jesus, eight days after his birth, they therefore took the offering allowed for a poor family – a pair of doves or young pigeons – not the more usual offering of a lamb.

I think it most likely that the Magi arrived in Bethlehem sometime after this ceremony – perhaps as much as two years later. This would also explain why King Herod ordered the slaughter of all the children there aged two years and younger. Their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh would have sustained the family during their exile in Egypt and may have helped establish the family business when later they returned to Nazareth.

Before Jesus began his public ministry, he worked as a carpenter and, if it were also correct to assume that Joseph had died by this time, then Jesus would have run the family business, aided by his younger brothers. A carpenter in First Century Israel was a skilled tradesman who would build anything up to an entire house and Jesus may therefore have employed people to help from outside his immediate family. It follows that Jesus’ family would probably have been relatively well off and financially stable, at least by comparison with many of his neighbours in a poor district like Nazareth.

When I explained this at a church seminar a few years ago, the minister was appalled by my depiction of a ‘middle class Jesus’! How do you feel about it?

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Sunday, 17 February 2013

Creating a Budget (9)

Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labour in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he [the Lord] gives to his beloved sleep.

Psalm 127:1-2

Here is a simple ‘model’ for banking that many people have found helpful – but be free to adapt it to meet your own needs. Have three accounts, as follows.

Account A. Your salary or other income is paid into this current account. Set up direct debits and standing orders to pay all your regular bills automatically – your rent or mortgage and your council or other housing tax; your water, electricity, gas and other utilities; your insurance and any important subscriptions.

Also set up a standing order to transfer some money – it need not be much! – into a savings account. This is a good habit to get into, so that you get used to doing without some money now to create a store for the future – like the farmer storing crops and other produce.

If you receive a regular income that is more-or-less the same amount each month, if you can afford to, set up a standing order to give to your church or a charity: again, this need not be a large amount but it helps establish a habit of selflessness.

Account B. This is another current account for your spending money. Each month, calculate how much you can transfer from Account A to use to buy the things you pay for using cash or a debit card – your food, clothes, transport and anything else that is either a survival cost or an important lifestyle choice.

Account C. This is a savings account. The UK has Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) that allow you to save up to a certain limit each year without having to pay income tax on the interest. This is the best type of saving account to open and, if you exceed the limit you are allowed to deposit in a year, open another – non-ISA – savings account. Set yourself the target of saving enough money that you could, if necessary, live on it for three months.

Beware of getting a savings account that requires you to give notice before you can withdraw money or that charges you a penalty if you do. These usually give a higher rate of interest but, to begin with at least, it is better to have instant access to your money in case of an emergency.

When making enquiries about different types of account, do not believe everything you are told. Like all businesses, banks and building societies want to sell their services and sometimes their staff try too hard and fail to tell you everything you need to know. So do not take everything on offer or at face value.

While we have an obligation to handle wisely the money and other resources we have, we should never remember that we do it in God’s world. The Psalm at the top of the page is attributed to King Solomon, who knew only too well that his enormous wealth was a gift from God.

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