The Redemption of Scrooge
Probably many of you have heard this famous story especially in this time
of the year as we move towards Thanksgiving and Christmas: Charles Dickens’
classic story A Christmas Carol. It tells the story of a bitter old
miser named Ebenezer Scrooge and his transformation. At first, he was described
as a wealthy and miserable man. He was caustic, complaining, and horrendously
greedy. But then through supernatural intervention, Scrooge was allowed to see
his past, present, and still-changeable future by the visitations of the ghost
of his former friend Jacob Marley and the other ghosts. After encounters with
those three spirits on Christmas Day, he was given a second chance at life.
Dickens describes the transformation of Scrooge in this way: “Some people
laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded
them.… His own heart laughed, and that was quite enough for him. And it was
always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive
possessed the knowledge.”[1] So what
was the source of Scrooge’s transformation? The answer is “gaining an eternal
perspective.” By God’s grace Scrooge was allowed to see his past, present,
and future through the eyes of eternity.
Eyes on Eternity
In today’s passage Jesus invites us to clearly see treasures in heaven.
There are two kinds of treasures – treasures on earth and treasures in heaven.
What is the difference between the two? One is temporary, and the other
is eternal. Jesus says, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on
earth” (Matt 6:19 ) not because they are bad, but because they won’t
last. Sooner of later they will disappear. We know King Solomon’s famous
statement in Ecclesiastes 1:2: “Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless!” On the surface what Solomon says sounds quite
pessimistic. But the word lb,h (hebel) can
be translated as finitude as well as vanity. Here Solomon is saying, “Temporary!
Temporary! Utterly temporary! Everything on earth is temporary!” The beginning
of wisdom is to know that everything under the sun is temporary. Moses, man of
God, prayed this prayer in Psalm 90:11, “Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” We all need this prayer, “Lord, open our
eyes to see what we have today will quickly disappear.” We need God’s grace to
truly know this.
But at the same time, the Bible also says that we need to do our part in
order to gain an eternal perspective. Jesus says, “Treasure things above,
and your heart will follow” (cf. Matt 6:21 ). When I was taking
a business law class in college, many of the students including myself found it
very difficult. One day a professor suggested that we might save some money and
buy stocks. Some of us bought shares of electric company such as Samsung. It
worked. Samsung became our treasure. We suddenly developed interest in Samsung.
We checked the financial pages. We saw a magazine article about Samsung and
read every word. Treasure leads; hearts follow. Few years ago God gave
Joyce and me a burden for North Korea . So we have been
helping two mission organizations for North Korea . When we see an
article on North Korea , we’re hooked. When
we hear the news of famine and starvation in North Korea , we pray. Treasure
leads; hearts follow. Many Christians say, “I want more of a heart for
missions.” Jesus tells us exactly how to get it. He says, “Put your money in
missions and your heart will follow” (cf. 6:20 -21). What is
your treasure? Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
All-in
By God’s grace now we know what treasure is temporary and what treasure is
eternal. And the Bible clearly says that our eternal and ultimate treasure
is Jesus Christ himself (ex. Phil 3:8). When we find the ultimate treasure,
Jesus Christ, what is the next step? The next step is to sell all we have
and have Jesus instead. It is about all or nothing. There is no
in-between. When we encounter Jesus, we cannot be the same. Either we need
to be all-in for Jesus or walk away sad. There is no way around it. The word “all-in”
is the terminology used during a poker game when a player is so convinced and has
moved all of their chips into the pot. Then, what does it look like to be
all-in for Jesus? How do we know we are truly “all-in”? One of the most
accurate ways to know is to see how we handle money. Why does money matter?
Martin Luther said, “There are three conversions a person needs to
experience: The conversion of the head, the conversion of the heart, and the
conversion of the pocketbook.” It is worth noting that money is the main subject of
nearly half of the parables Jesus told in the Bible. 15 percent of
everything Jesus ever taught was on the topic of money and possessions — more
than His teachings on heaven and hell combined.[2] The Bible
offers 500 verses on prayer, fewer than 500 verses on
faith, and more than 2,000 verses on money.
Why does money matter? It is because there is a fundamental connection
between our spiritual lives and our finances. They are inseparable. In Luke
3 different groups ask John the Baptist what they should do to bear the fruit
of repentance. “What should we do?” they ask. John gives three answers. All of
them relate to money and possessions. In Luke 19 Zacchaeus met Jesus and was transformed.
The first thing he said after his heart had been transformed is this: “Look,
Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have
cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount” (v. 8).
Jesus said, “Today salvation has come to this house!” (v. 9). Our approach
to money and possessions is so central to our spiritual lives.
“In His Joy”
In particular, giving is an indispensable part of Christian discipleship.
We define our priorities, values, and what we love through our giving.
We say, “I love you Lord” through our giving. We say, “Thank you Lord” through
our giving. For me personally, there are many things I am thankful for to my
parents. The one thing I’m most thankful for is that they taught me the joy
of giving. When I was five, my parents planted a new church. At that time
there was no parsonage. My family and I had to live in the church building for
the time being. We lived below the subsistence level. But my parents always set
aside the firstfruits of all they receive, starting with at least 10 percent. They
made generous mission offerings and special offerings even beyond their ability
on New Year, Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, family birthdays, anniversaries,
and so on. They didn’t do it out of guilt or a sense of duty, but out of joy.
Not just that, they trained my sister and me to be regular, joyful, and
generous givers. Because of that, I was and am now able to experience the joy
of giving. I am thankful for that to my parents. In today’s passage when Jesus
tells us about how to get hidden treasure, he doesn’t push us to give up what
we have out of guilt. The Bible says, “When a man found hidden treasure, he hid
it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that
field.” Please don’t miss these three words: IN HIS JOY. Our giving is not
about paying membership dues. The purpose of our giving is not to keep the church
going. God does not need our help (Ps 50:10-12). The purpose of our giving
is for us to share the joy of our master (cf. Matt 25:21).
How can we share the joy of the Lord? Where do we start? A good place to
start is “tithing.” Both the Old and New Testaments, early church fathers, and
church history tell us that tithing is the minimum giving requirement for
Christians. It’s not the finish line of giving; it’s just the training
wheels to launch us into habits of more generous grace giving. We may start
tithing with a sense of duty, but more and more we get to know the joy of giving
as we taste and see God’s goodness in our lives. When it comes to our giving, the
real issue is not whether we will give 10%, but what we will do with the entire
100%. So the question we need to ask ourselves is not, “How much should I give?” but rather, “How
much dare I keep?” We own nothing; Jesus owns everything.
5 Minutes After…
Missionary Jim Elliot said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to
gain what he cannot lose.” Jim and four other missionaries attempted to
evangelize Waodani people in Ecuador in 1956. But all
five of them were speared by a group of the Waodani tribe. At that time, they
had guns but they didn’t use them. After this, even more amazing thing happened.
The wives and children of the missionaries decided to go and live with the
Waodani people. And the tribe people asked them, “Why didn’t your husbands use
guns?” The wives answered, “Because they wanted to tell you the story of Jesus. He was abused,
but he did not retaliate. He suffered, but he did not threaten, because he
wanted to show you that there is a new way of life.” Jesus gave his life to give us life. Jesus gave it
all. How does our giving reflect His grace? Missionary C.T. Studd said, “Only
one life, ‘twill soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last.” Five
minutes after we die, we’ll know exactly how we should have lived. So let us
ask ourselves, “Five minutes after I die, what will I wish I would have given
away while I still had the chance?” Like Scrooge, today we are given a second
chance at life by God’s grace. Let us not store up for ourselves temporary
treasures. Instead, let us store up for ourselves eternal, heavenly treasures. Let
us give humbly, generously, and joyfully to God’s work. When you give, you will
experience the joy of giving. Amen.
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