LUKE: YEAR OF OUR LORD - (WEEK 24) - EAT, DRINK, AND BE WARY

We’re talking about money today. And yes, I get it. Churches throughout history have at times shot themselves in the foot due to corruption or greed or what not. People are wary when a preacher starts preaching about money because we know of high profile preachers who have abused the trust of their congregation, and have manipulated people to get more money out of them.

This isn’t new, by the way. The story you’ve heard from the Gospels about the widow who put her last two copper coins into the treasury — when Jesus commented about her actions, he was not so much commending HER for her generosity as much as he was condemning as system that SHOULD HAVE been taking CARE of this widow, but instead charged her with a temple tax as she came to worship the Lord.

So there has been abuse for millennia!

And yet, you cannot avoid the fact that the Bible SPEAKS a LOT about finances and stewardship of resources. But instead of finding the Bible just saying GIVE US ALL YOUR MONEY, it actually speaks a lot of WISDOM about finances — yes, including the generous way to give, but also about the proper use, the wise perspective on what God has entrusted us with, and the best way to invest what we have.