SUNDAY READING

Taranaki Daily News, 2 September 1933, Page 14 (Supplement)

SUNDAY READING

the late

REV. A. H. COLLINS

"The rich man's wealth is his strong city: Tire destruction of the poor is their poverty.” —Proverbs, 10, 15. "He that trusteth in his riches shall fall: but the righteous shall flourish as a branch.” —Proverbs, 11, 28. The Bible says more about money than about salvation. I put the truth bluntly, not in order to startle or shock you, but in order to arrest your mind on a subject that needs 9 little clear thinking. There is obviously some confusion between our theory and our practice in regard to wealth. Our creed and our conduct do not agree, and that is about the worst thing that can happen about religion; for if we once allow ourselves to believe that religion teaches a view of everyday life that cannot be translated into practice, then religion becomes at best a Sunday twang, and it were better we should disavow it altogether, and try to frame a code of rules which we can keep. To profess that poverty is desirable, and then to spend one’s life in striving to avoid it; to profess great eagerness to enter our heavenly home, and desperately cling to our earthly habitation, stamps religion as a thing out of touch with reality. I repeat, then, that the Bible says more about the Bible and its equivalents than about salvation and its conditions. If you question that you can verify my statement by spending an hour with your Bible and a concordance. Turn to the Old Testament and you will find that the subject looms fairly large; turn to the Wisdom literature, and you will discover that almost every page has some acute passage on the subject; turn to the recorded sayings of Christ, and you will discover that he spoke with frequency and gravity on th-; use and abuse of wealth. “Woe to you rich,” "Blessed are the poor,” is the sum of His Divine philosophy on the subject. The reason for this prominence is obvious. WEALTH AND MORALITY. No moral system can be complete . which omits to treat of wealth. The . material possessions of a man, and of a nation, affect moral life. Until a ; human being has food to eat he cannot be virtuous, for he cannot even live; until he has clothes he cannot be civilised; and unless he has a margin of leisure he cannot live well, in the full sense of that term. So with a nation. r It must have command of the means of c subsistence before it can advance in the c ' noblest aspects of nationhood; and it must have leisure to pursue the arts a and sciences, and make sure that it has a a national sale. Hence if the production and distribution of wealth is not t exactly a moral question, it presses very c closely on the heels of all moral ques- -y tions, and the Book which professes to teach men how to live is bound to sup- y ply some clear, shining word on the n question of wealth. Besides, our getting 0 and spending react so surely and so t] deeply on the soul that salvation is not w possible apart from the moralisation of w

money. "Christians have made their religion incredible, and even ridiculous in the eyes of the most earnest spirits of our time, by the way they treat wealth,” says Dr. Horton. They make it the aim of life to become rich, though Christ said it was the most serious obstacle to entrance into the kingdom of God. They hear Christ say .“Sell all thou hast,” and then explain it away by saying that He does not require, such sacrifice of them; but simply asks them* to belieye in the atonement. But the principles of Christ which concern money are binding upon us just because we believe in Christ THE TEACHING . OF THE BIBLE. Now what are the teachings of the Book,bn this subject? The first thing I want to say is this: The teaching is" very sober. There is no extravagance. There is no glorification of poverty, and there is no wholesale condemnation of possessions. Our Lord’s' first beatitude, as recorded by St. Luke, “Blessed are ye poor,” is changed by St. Matthew to “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”- The earlier' version probably represents what Christ actually said, whilst the later version tells us what He meant. He was using a technical term which had reference to a certain religious disposition, rather than a certain social status. He did not mean that it was a blessed thing to live “below the poverty line,” and be unable to afford the common necessities of life. It is true He never

possessed a five-pound note, or a second garment, or a cottage of His own ,and that finally he rested in a borrowed grave; but that was part of His amazing grace; and he did not lay that experience on all His followers.

His words, which so sorely puzzle our generation, would not puzzle His own age. They knew He spoke of the spirit ' of trust, and calm, and gratitude, which ' more often flourish in humble homes than in Lordly halls. He knew the dazzling, numbing, devitalising power of wealth; how it smothers and impedes the higher faculties; how it hangs a dead weight from the soul, and prevents il from rising up to God, but he nowhere condemned ownership as such. COMMON-SENSE OF THE GOSPEL. I say this to remove the misconception of Christ’s teaching, which lies heavily on some tender consciences, as though He condemned the ownership of money, and the things for which money stands. It is never a question of choosing between common-sense and the Gospel. On the contrary, the Gospel is the highest and purest common-sense. There is no reproach in wishing to rise out of the ranks of ill-paid or slenderly paid labour and providing, and keeping, a comfortable home, with a margin for books and wholesome pleasure, and the ability to help religious causes. So long as life must be construed in money terms; so long as money means opportunity of health and culture, it must be right to seek to raise our earning capacity, and do our best for those dependent upon us. I Charles Lamb saw in money the equivalent of "health, liberty and strength’” while Plato affirmed that “the possession of wealth contributes greatly to truth and honesty.” No, the Bible treats this subject with entire frankness, insight and sobriety, but this restraint cannot conceal the deep seriousness of the tone it adopts in relation to wealth, for the Bible does sound a very deep note on the subject. It insists on the fundamental distinction between ownership and trusteeship. It declares that we are accountable to God for the way we get and use money. It is a sacred thing, and that fact once fairly recognised would stop unjust exaction, unwise expenditure, and vulgar display.

THINGS MONEY CANNOT BUY. Two things ax-e seen clear: Money cannot buy the best things in life. It cannot buy health or virtue, happiness or peace. One of the saddest sights is to see the man who has made his pile, and goes on steadily adding to it, and all the while has no idea how to spend it. Art is a bore to him; he knows nothing of the best books; music is a closed kingdom; religion is a nuisance. With his vast income, his enjoyment is less than that of many a labourer. No, if you will run over the finest achievements of the race, you will find they owe their existence to other motives than that of money; they have been wrought in response to some Divine call, which they who heard dared not disobey, the greatest motive of all—religion. The religion of the Cross especially could never have originated in the atmosphere of money, or was its victories by those whose eyes were not fixed on a brighter radiancy than that of gold.

THE BEST THINGS. But if it cannot buy the best things it can purchase the worst. It has tarnished many a fair name, though it is powerless to cleanse a name that is stained; it has inflamed men’s hearts to lowest deeds, though it never stirred them to the heroic; it has instigated men to treason though never to loyalty. All the gold in the world, cannot purchase a heart at peace with itself and its Maker. All the money in the bank cannot create a fine thought or kindle a high ambition or add to the treasure house of song or music or painting; but it can let slip the dogs of passion, blind the eye to truth, tilt the scales of justice and turn the heart from God. It cannot buy the best things, but it can bargain for the worst. Maybe you think the preacher has missed his way and mistaken his audience. It would be all right to speak thus to a company of rich men, but we are not rich. I have not missed my way or mistaken my audience. It is not the wealthy, alone, whose money needs moralising. “Give me neither poverty nor riches.” “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.”