BEING RICH

Sometimes when we read the Gospels, we can easily get the impression – and perhaps secretly want to get that impression – that Jesus thinks being rich is bad and that rich people are inherently selfish because that is how they became rich in the first place: they made their fortunes on the backs of others. But we would be misreading the Gospels and Jesus’ belief as well.

There is nothing inherently wrong, sinful, in being rich with material blessings, for that is what riches are: a blessing. At least that is what they are supposed to be. They can also become a curse. Just read the stories of those who has won big bucks in a lottery and ask if they thought that a blessing ensued after they hit the jackpot. When they purchased the ticket, they had dreams of all that their winnings would bring/buy. And it did buy much. It also brought many, many headaches and perhaps even some heartaches as well. Riches, an abundance of them, can be a curse.

Riches can also be a blessing and they are meant to be a blessing not only for the one who is rich but also for others who are not so blessed. Riches, material wealth and all that it brings, are a real blessing from God, the giver of all blessings. How we come about our riches may or may not matter as long as we come about them honestly. We may inherit our wealth. We may obtain it through sheer luck. We may work very hard for it. We are, in a word, rich.

Riches are deceptive. We often do not realize just how blessed we are. They are also delusional in that they somehow seduce us into believing that we somehow deserve to be so blessed, especially if we came by our material wealth by the sweat of our brow and not through family ties or lucky bounces of the lottery ball. We worked for it. We earned it. We deserve it. So we say. What we forget is that if it were not for God having first blessed us with whatever talent and ability it would take to accumulate so much, we would never have what we have.

Now what? First of all, we must be thankful to God whose gift of our life has given us the opportunity to be so materially blessed. Second, we must be aware that the main reason why we have been so blessed is that we have been chosen to share some of our blessings with those who are less blessed. It is in doing so, it is in sharing, that we are able to fulfill the requirements of the first part. We give thanks by giving, giving of our abundant blessings to those who are not so blessed.

Realizing all that, we must pause regularly to examine how well or how poorly we are using our material resources. Are we using them to help build up God’s kingdom here on earth or are we hoarding them for ourselves, forgetting why we are so blessed and, even more, forgetting that we can’t take them with us? What, indeed, are we doing with all that God has graciously and lovingly given us?

We need to constantly be thankful for our many, many blessings and to share them more and more with others so that they and we can serve God more fully and faithfully.