Possessing all things

“… giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed: but in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, …by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. ”

How much stuff do you want? How much money in the bank, how big a house, how many cars, yachts, planes, jewels, rugs, furs, chests of gold… how big a treasure would be enough for you, if you could have it all? What would be the measure of such a legacy? What would you do if you could have anything you wanted? Is it okay to dream like this?

It is, in fact, the lost dream of our first parents. When God created them and set them in this world, He told them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:28 To rule over the sea and sky and earth, and all its creatures was pretty much to have the entire world. Now it was God's world, but man was to have stewardship of it; it would be ours to rule over and possess. We lost all that by the end of the 3 rd chapter of Genesis and the riches of this world would not so easily yield to us thereafter. But the dream remains.

Today someone who thinks he should rule the world creates a lot of trouble. From Alexander to Attila to Genghis Khan to Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin, the empires of Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, the Goths, Mongolians, Spain, England, and the Communist Eastern Bloc; men have sought to rule the world by force and have failed, causing endless wars and cruelty in their wake. To rule the world is to oppress millions. It's insane.

There are other ways to rule, and certainly America has sought to be the premier economic power, creating and possessing many riches, and it's been fairly successful. Of the ten richest billionaires in the world, Americans Bill Gates, Warren Buffett are #1 and #2. The next eight out of ten, in fact the next 23 of 25, you've probably never heard of. There are some 800 billionaires in all. And yet they don't possess all things. The curse of such wealth is that when one seeks to be rich, nothing is ever enough. Every beautiful masterpiece painting, handmade automobile, classic sailing ship, country estate, prizewinning racehorse, and even trophy wife is bought, shown around, and then loses its luster when something else is out there and might be acquired. The poverty of a rich person—in having so much and being discontented with it—is the world's most pitiable irony.

One may gain great possessions in only a few ways. You may earn them, working hard and inventing something the world wants, as Bill Gates did with the Microsoft disk operating system of computer software: a brilliant coup, a better mousetrap, and the world beat a path to his door. You may also inherit it, having rich parents or relatives who die and leave a fortune to you. You may steal it, like some modern Aladdin in a treasure cave. You might even find it, as the Count of Monte Cristo was led to the greatest treasure on earth. You may also marry into it, or be given it for some great deed. But that's about it.

The inheritance of a great estate is only for those who have a rich relative. But we, in the Body of Christ, have become the kids of God, our new Father, who owns everything. And who gets His estate? Jesus says “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” Matthew 5:5 Meek means obedient and humble to God. Jesus also said, in a parable, to the good stewards who have kept God's things in prosperous order, “Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Matthew 25:34 It would appear that the godly way to great possessions is not a direct path , straight on to the treasure itself. But rather through a humble obedient path to God, who then rewards us richly.

We are specifically invoked not to seek other men's riches. The 10 th Commandment says, “You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” Exodus 20:17 Solomon, a man of incredible wealth, warned those who envy the rich: “When you sit down to dine with a ruler, Consider carefully what is before you; And put a knife to your throat, If you are a man of great appetite. Do not desire his delicacies, For it is deceptive food. Do not weary yourself to gain wealth, Cease from your consideration of it. When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. For wealth certainly makes itself wings, Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.” Proverbs 23:1-5

Jesus said the strangest thing, and daunting to those who may wish to be Christians: “So therefore, no one of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.” Luke 14:33 Is that possible? St. Francis managed it, owning nothing but the road before his feet; he turned the world upside down. But we are not all St. Francis. A world of beggars would not glorify God for where would the beggar's food come from?

Again, St. Paul wrote Timothy: “But godliness actually is a means of great gain, when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. And if we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith, and pierced themselves with many a pang.” 1 Tim. 6:6-10 Jesus wrote the Laodicean church in Revelation: “Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,' and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich, and white garments, that you may clothe yourself… Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; …He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” Rev. 3:17-21 To sit in Jesus' throne with Him is to rule the universe. There are riches for us, but they don't come the way of acquisition.

Jesus was offered the direct way to His objective by the devil on the wilderness. First, the obvious for a hungry man—just turn stones to bread. Use your godly authority and power for your own hunger: why not? Shouldn't you eat after forty days? Just jump down from this tower: it'll get all Israel to follow you and show your relation to the Father by defying gravity. See the kingdoms of the world and all their glory and riches? They're yours if you just bow down to worship me. Each treasure a good deal higher, and its corresponding price and fall, deeper by far. Christ rightly rejected them all, and thank God He did. You don't get to the real treasure so directly.

St. Paul observed this irony in today's Epistle. He warned the church at Corinth that nothing they do should cause offense with anyone, so that the ministry of Christ's Body not be discredited. “But in everything commending ourselves as servants of God [and here he lists many sufferings, and then virtues, and then things of God, then:] by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true; as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things.” 2 Cor. 6:3-10 Paul's list here takes a few turns. Suffering he knew in many ways, resulting in virtue which is borne out when you are purified by opposition. The powers that only come by God are then set free in you. Once there, you will know that glory and dishonor may both come to a saint, lies as well as praise, fame as well as obscurity, life and death, sorrow and joy, and finally having nothing, yet possessing all things. Possessing all things: how is that? “ Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Mat 4:4

What of wealth then? It's okay. Some people are blessed to make or inherit fortunes. The problem is that riches are a snare. That rich young ruler who came to Jesus earnestly seeking the way to heaven was told to sell everything and give it away. He was crushed, for his possessions possessed him. “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God,” Jesus observed. Luke 18:25 That was not a curse on riches, nor did Jesus deny it was possible. Just that it's so much harder, the rich man's riches causing him to think he needs nothing more. We all need more. More than gold, fine things, treasures. The things are not the problem. But they're just things. We come naked into the world, and we'll go out that way.

The indirect way, if you will, is to “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.” Matthew 6:33 Its simple to say, but what does it mean? Learn the true meaning of life by looking beyond it. Don't be blinded by the goodies on the tray, the ads on TV, the glamour displayed in movies, the lives of celebrities. I've known some of them, and many were quite miserable. The secret to contentment is to love God and follow Him, and let Him decide what your treasures will be. When you come to the final conclusion that your true and lasting treasure is God, His Son Jesus Christ, His Word, His Presence and indwelling of your life by His Holy Spirit, and nothing else, then He has already rewarded you and is able to trust you with the stewardship of his treasury.

The great irony is that those who do best with great possessions are those who have no real desire for them at all, but use them wisely and know they can't keep them at all. “All things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.” 1 Chron. 29:14 That's our orientation toward material things. They belong to God, as we do. Thus, whatever He gives us is still His. And if we are His also, we possess what He does. Having nothing of our own, but being His, seated with Jesus on His throne, we truly shall forever possess all things.

PFH+