Joshua 7: 1-26
Theme: Holiness and Money
Series: Sanctification and Christian Living
HOLINESS AND MONEY
One of the great adventure movies was the 1989 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The setting is 1938 as Hitler rises to power. Hitler is interested in any ancient artifact that may enhance his power. In the movie, the interest is the holy Grail, the cup from which Jesus drank the Last Supper. Not only was it a priceless find, it was supposed to hold great power.
Anyone who has ever read the Arthurian stories knows that the search for the Holy Grail is not about power and wealth but about virtue. Usually the lesson comes too late.
The mysterious Dr. Elsa Schneider joins Indiana Jones in the search. They ultimately find the grail in an ancient Castle guarded by a thousand-year-old knight. It is a simple wooden cup. A misstep causes the castle to self destruct and the cup falls into a crevasse as the floor cracks and the walls collapse. Elsa, overcome by the power of greed, dives in after the cup. She is hanging on by her finger tips as she tries to reach the cup. Indy tries to persuade her to let it go, to grab his hand and be saved. But, she is too greedy. She strains one more time for the elusive cup and loses her grip and falls into the abyss, disappearing into the smoke and dust.
But, the cup is still there! And Indy hangs over the edge trying to grab it. It’s right there, just at the end of his finger tips! A look of greed comes over his face as he tries to reach without falling, as if he had forgotten what he had just witnessed. His father holds on to him. Indiana was about to experience the same fate as Elsa. Henry Jones called his son by name, "Indiana, Indiana, let it go." He heard his father’s voice and the look of greed left his face and he grabbed his hand and escaped. But, the grail was gone forever.
Money can have a destructive hold on our lives. Often, we are fooled into thinking that money can make us happy. Worse, we think we can cheat God out of what belongs to him. Misuse of money can be one of the greatest obstacles to our walk with Christ and our growth in holiness.
The young nation of Israel learned a hard lesson about greed. It all began with the capture and destruction of Jericho. Israel had escaped Egypt some 40 years earlier. Now they were taking the land God promised to them. This was a wealthy city. It was a resort town, an Oasis. But, God demanded that everything be destroyed and the valuables be put in the treasury of the tabernacle. I think that God did not want the people to become enamored with the wealth that you could capture in taking the land. He wanted them to remember that they were dependant on him. So, Jericho was like a first fruit offering.
A few days after the fall of Jericho, Joshua sent out spies to Ai. The spies came back and said it’s a piece of cake, not much to it. All we need is about 2000 or 3000 men, not the whole army. So Joshua, based on their intelligence report, sent about 3000 men and the men of Ai whipped them and killed 36. The mighty army of Joshua fled from the presence of this backwoods little town.
Joshua thought God had failed him. He tore his clothes and fell on his face before the Ark and he cried out to God "Alas, O Lord GOD, why did You ever bring this people over the Jordan, only to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? If only we had been willing to dwell beyond the Jordan!" Joshua was coming dangerously close to the statements made by the former unbelieving generation who whined why did you bring us out here to die? But, the problem was not unbelief, he was embarrassed. What would the Canaanites think?
God explained that he had not abandoned them, Israel had sinned. God had put everything under the ban. Everything was devoted for destruction. Nothing was to be taken as spoils of war. But, someone did. The warning in chapter six was that not heeding this command could bring destruction upon the whole nation. Someone had violated God's command, and the whole nation suffered for it.
The next morning, the people were brought before God by tribe and drew lots and then by family and then by households and then by man. It was discovered that Achan was the man. Joshua told him to confess. Achan said, "I saw, I coveted, and I took." I saw a beautiful mantle and 200 shekels of silver and 50 shekels weight of gold. I coveted and I took. Apparently his sons and daughters were in on it too and helped him bury the goods under his tent. The penalty of death was brought to the whole family.
I don't understand these extremes. Perhaps the stakes were so high that such extremes were necessary. Maybe things were too critical to let it go lightly. But, I do know this, individuals can do great harm to the family and to themselves because of greed.
I have noticed that during the Thanksgiving season, much of society tries to trivialize the act of thanksgiving. It is often call Turkey Day. We would rather not be reminded that all we have is a gift from God. We don’t want God to have any right to the things that we have. We make our own money and our own way. Let God stand to the side and give us his free gifts of salvation. But, don’t let God make any claims on my life!
If God is God at all, then he is sovereign over us and can make any claims over us that he wants. But, to us who have been redeemed, we need to understand that we literally belong to God. Our religious language should betray this to us. The word "redeem" means to have purchased, to have paid a price. God owns us, we belong to him. God has a right to tell us what to do with our money
Money gives us the illusion that we are in control. The more money we have, the more in control we think we are. With this control we think we can be happy, wealthy and wise and live happily ever after. It is an illusion. If your happiness is based on your wealth, it can very easily be taken away. Lawsuits, bad markets, over spending, bad management, a streak of bad luck, just to name a few, can take away your money and leave you empty. We don’t want to hear that of course. Greed speaks to us and tells us it will never let us down. But, greed knows no end, it always wants just one dollar more.
In almost every case when people argue with me over tithing, it is because they don’t want to give God his due. Why should God have my money? God becomes the enemy. And people caricature the church as the place that passes the plate and hounds you for money.
I don’t think that God wants us to be particularly poor. But, God does demand that he be first in our lives, even over money. God wants us to use our money for our benefit. There is nothing wrong with enjoying God’s blessing. But, he also demands that a portion of it be given back to him for his work. Israel was about to become a wealthy nation and it was important for them to know where their wealth came from. It came from God’s blessing. God made claim to the first part of their income, just as he does to ours. It was when they violated that principle that judgement came.
God wants to bless us, but his blessings have an order. It must begin with him being preeminent in all things. Jesus said, "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you." What makes us think that we can mistreat God and then expect his blessing? That treasure becomes so tempting that we risk our souls for wealth. I suppose that is when God calls us by our names and tells us to let it go.
You can’t be holy if money distracts you from the things of God. The obligation of wealth, no matter how large or how small, is that God demands from us his tithe and offerings as the recognition that he is the source of all things. Our giving should be a response of joy, an expression of our gratitude. Our giving becomes a reflection of our holiness.
Holiness and money are not that difficult when we have the proper perspective. But, you have to get your answers straight. Who is the Boss, the dollar bill or Jesus Christ?