Pope Francis: The danger of making our material well-being the most important thing in our lives.

“Whenever material things, money, worldliness, become the centre of our lives, they take hold of us, they possess us; we lose our very identity as human beings. The rich man in [Luke 16:19-31] has no name, he is simply “a rich man”. Material things, his possessions, are his face; he has nothing else.

Let’s try to think: How does something like this happen? How do some people, perhaps ourselves included, end up becoming self-absorbed and finding security in material things which ultimately rob us of our face, our human face?

This is what happens when we no longer remember God. If we don’t think about God, everything ends up being about “me” and my own comfort. Life, the world, other people, all of these become unreal, they no longer matter, everything boils down to one thing: having. When we no longer remember God, we too become unreal, we too become empty; like the rich man in the Gospel, we no longer have a face! Those who run after nothing become nothing.”

Pope Francis, excerpt from the English translation of his homily on 28 September 2013. For the full homily visit Vatican Radio.

“Within the economy of salvation, the material goods with which God gifts us are given for the sake of meeting our needs — our needs and the needs of our near and distant neighbors. Specifically, the purpose of material goods within the divine economy is that of nurturing communion. What God has given us is not intended solely for our private good.”

Daniel M. Bell, Jr., The Economy of Desire: Christianity and Capitalism in a Postmodern World (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012) 158.

“In 1737 Handel’s opera company went bankrupt, and he suffered what seems to be a mild stroke…Once the composer for royalty, he was now threaten with debtor’s prison. Deeply depressed, Handel was visited by his friend Charles Jennens. The wealthy, devout Anglican had written a libretto about the life of Christ and the work of redemption, with the text completely taken from the Bible. A fussy perfectionist, Jennens had written it to challenge the deists who denied the divinity of Jesus.

Would Handel compose the music for it? he asked. Handel answered that he would and estimated completion in a year. Soon thereafter, a group of Dublin charities approached Handel to compose a work for a benefit performance. The money raised would help free men from debtor’s prison…Now with a text and a motivation, Handel began composing Messiah on August 22, 1741. Within six days, Part One was finished. In nine more, Part Two. Six more and Part Three was done. It took him only an additional two days to finish the orchestration…He rarely left his room and rarely touched his meals. But in 24 days he had composed 260 pages…

When he finished writing what would become known as the Hallelujah Chorus, he said “I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God himself.” …The premiere on April 13, 1742 at Fishamble Street Musick Hall was a sensation. An overcapacity crowd of 700 people attended, raising 400 pounds to release 142 men from prison.”

George Frederick Handel (1685-1759) as recounted in 131 Christians Everyone Should Know (Nashville: Christianity Today, 2000) 113-114.

Last night, Jenni and I attended Handel’s Messiah in downtown Denver. It was performed by the Colorado Bach Ensemble and directed by James Kim. It is likely that we will look back on the Christmas season 2014 and say this was the most sacred and precious memory for few experiences exalt Scripture’s Messiah with such magnificence.

Of course we just love that Handel performed this oratorio not for personal gain for the purpose of setting people free from financial slavery. Though originally performed at Easter, it has also become a Christmas tradition because the three movements proclaim the prophecies, the passion, and the promise of Messiah, our the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you live anywhere near Boulder or Fort Collins, CO, we urge you to attend one of their final two performances on December 21 or 22, 2013. Should this be too far to travel, for about the price of a ticket, we commend to you our personal favorite three CD set: John Eliot Gardiner, English Baroque Soloists, Philips 1982. Check it out on Amazon.

“For what profit is there in acquiring anything temporal or transitory in this world–whether it be money, or gorging oneself on food, or achieving hight honors from your fellow human beings. Are not all things smoke and wind? Do not all things pass on in a moment? And woe to those who want to hang on to passing things, for they pass with them!…My brothers, those who seek such things sell them.”

Augustine (354-430) Bishop of Hippo, Tractates on the Gospel of John 10.6.1-3. ACCS IVa 101. FC 78:216-217.

“To give generously is not to lose wealth but to build wealth, establishing a firm basis on which to start life in heaven.”

Samuel M. Ngewa, on 1 Timothy 6:17-19 in “1 & 2 Timothy and Titus” in (ABCS; Nairobi: Hippo, 2009) 164.

“The principles is stated twice in Acts: they gave to anyone as he had need (2:45), and there were no needy persons among them…the money…was distributed to anyone as he had need (4:34-35)…Christian fellowship is Christian caring, and Christian caring is Christian sharing…So we must not evade the challenge of these verses. That we have hundreds of thousands of destitute brothers and sisters is a standing rebuke to us who are more affluent. It is part of the responsibility of Spirit-filled believers to alleviate and abolish destitution in the new community of Jesus.”

John Stott (1921-2011), The Message of Acts (Downers’ Grove: IVP, 1990) 84.

“Real trust in God will lead to doing His will even if it appears to bring financial disadvantage. In today’s consumer society the goddess ‘economy security’ has so captured even Christians’ affection that we are often blind to what God really wants in our lives.”

Mervin Breneman, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (NAC: 1993) 273.

“When it comes to materialism, it is increasingly difficult to tell where the world ends and where the Church begins.”

Randy Alcorn in Money, Possessions and Eternity revised and updated (Tyndale: Wheaton, 2003) 59.

“That many languish in misery today because they lack access to things like adequate food, shelter, employment, and sundry forms of care is not due to nature or a perverse God but to the distortions of human desire that first shaped and now is shaped by an economic order that fails to use the gifts of God properly.”

Daniel M. Bell, Jr., The Economy of Desire: Christianity and Capitalism in a Postmodern World (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012) 80.

“Affluenza’s costs and consequences are immense, though often concealed. Untreated, the disease can cause permanent discontent. Were you to find it in the Oxford English Dictionary, the definition might be something like the following: affluenza, n. a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety, and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more…

In our view, the affluenza epidemic is rooted in the obsessive, almost religious quest for economic expansion that has become the core principle of what is called the American dream. It is rooted in the fact that the supreme measure of national progress is that quarterly ring of the cash register called the gross domestic product. It’s rooted in the idea that every generation will be materially wealthier than its predecessor and that, somehow, each of us can pursue that single-minded end without damaging the countless other things we hold dear.

It doesn’t work that way…If we don’t begin to reject our culture’s incessant demands to “buy now” we will “lay later” in ways we can scarcely imagine.”

John de Graaf, David Wann, Thomas Naylor and David Horsey, Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2005) 2-3.