HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2017-10-19, Page 12PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2017.
From the Minister's Study
Jesus speaks about greed: He taught us a lot
By Rev. Mark Royall
Huron Chapel Evangelical
Missionary Church, Auburn
When you read the Gospels, you
soon come to realize that Jesus talks
a lot about money and greed. Out of
the 38 parables He taught, 16 of
them were concerned with how to
handle money and possessions. In
the four Gospels, an amazing one
out of 10 verses deal directly with
the subject of money. Why did Jesus
focus so much on money and
possessions? Probably because we
focus so much on money and
possessions.
Jesus taught us how we are not to
store up treasures here on earth
where they are subject to decay and
theft. Rather, He teaches us to invest
and store up our treasures in heaven
because these investments don't
disappear. Instead these heavenly
treasures have eternal value.
Then having said this Jesus adds
on this little tidbit of insight saying,
"Your eye is like a lamp that
provides light for your body. When
your eye is healthy, your whole body
is filled with light. But when your
eye is unhealthy, your whole body is
filled with darkness. And if the light
you think you have is actually
darkness, how deep that darkness
is!" (Matthew 6:22-23)
What Jesus is saying is simple.
When there's light in a room, your
eye will take in that light allowing
you to see. You will see by the light.
You will see where objects are and
be able to move yourself about a
room without stumbling or falling.
But if your eye is blinded - if your
eye isn't working - then, even
though there's light all around you,
your whole body is, in a sense, in the
dark. When your eye is not working,
then, for all intents and purposes,
your whole body is in darkness,
whether or not the whole room is
flooded with light.
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October 22: Eph.4:22ff
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Jesus attaches this illustration to
warn us about storing up treasure
here on earth because He knows how
our greed for material things blinds
us. In fact, we can be blinded to the
point where we don't even realize
when greed is a problem. We see
greed in others, but not in ourselves.
We think we are seeing clearly, but
we are often blinded to our own
greed to the point that we stumble
and fall.
Back in 1635, a member of the
First Congregational Church of
Boston named Robert Cain was
disciplined by the elders of the
church for the sin of greed. The story
was that a Robert Cain was doing
very well as a business man. There
was nothing wrong with that except,
he was selling his product for a six
per cent profit. The church had
decided together a few years earlier
that members of their church would
only be allowed to sell their product
at a four per cent profit.
At first I thought this was being
silly and legalistic for the church to
make such a rule for their members.
I mean, where in the Bible does it
say four per cent? However, when
you understand the context in which
they made their decision and really,
the heart behind the decision of
these church members, you realize it
isn't silly at all. In fact you respect
what they were trying to do.
The fact is Jesus has to say to us,
`watch out you might be greedy'.
Greed hides itself. It blinds you in a
way that other sins may not. So these
Christians of the First
Congregational Church of Boston
sat down and said, look, Jesus talks
about money a lot. He is constantly
cautioning us about greed. But how
do we know when we are being
greedy? We know when we commit
adultery or steal from someone,
these sins are obvious, but how do
we know when we have crossed the
line to becoming greedy?
ANGLICAN PARISH OF NEW BEGINNINGS
BLYTH
,Trinity
(J� 9:15 am
Church Office
519-357-4883
BRUSSELS
St. John's
11:15 am
Church Office
519-887-6862
Everyone Welcome!
COME WORSHIP WITH US!
BRUSSELS
United Church
Welcome to Sunday morning worship
& Sunday School
at 11:00 am
Hillary MacDonald (905) 246-7386
Macdonald.hillary@gmail.com
Everyone welcome
emide€4 eommIA Vac eitaftel
You're Znvitec(
to come worsh p
with us.
Sunday, October 22
at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.
650 Alexander St. (former Blyth Public School)
Sunday School for children
4 to 12 years of age at 9:30 a.m.
Childcare provided for infants and preschoolers
during the sermon.
Coffee & cookies after the morning service.
For additional details please contact Pastor Andrew Versteeg 519.887.8621
Steve Klumpenhower 519.292.0965 Rick Packer 519.527.0173
SAME HURON CHAPEL SERVICE
TWO TI
ISI
ES
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Every Sunday in Auburn - huronchapel.com
So, as a Christian community, they
said, let's sit down together and say
for our time, for our place and
context... let's decide together what
is a greedy lifestyle. And by
consensus, they decided on four per
cent. Then they said, now let's us
hold each other accountable to this
lest we become greedy'.
So it wasn't a silly decision. It
was a mutual one. It was consensual,
and together they made this
decision for their time and place
because they wanted to protect
themselves from greed. Robert Cain
would have known about the
standard. He would have been part
of the decision of four per cent
and would have voluntarily agreed
to be accountable to it as a member
of the church. However, he
chose to ignore it and therefore the
First Congregational Church of
Continued on page 22
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SUNDAYS
Morning Service
Evening Service
10:00 am
7:30 pm
BLYTH CHRISTIAN
REFORMED CHURCH
Minister: Pastor Gary van Leeuwen
Hwy. 4, Blyth www.blythcrc.ca 519-523-4743
MELVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
BRUSSELS
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 15
We invite you to join our church family in:
Worship & Sunday School - 11 am
Coffee & Snacks following the service
Come out and meet our new minister, Rev. Charmila Ireland
Fridays 11:30 am - 1:00 pm - Soup & More 2
- a free community meal held in Melville's basement, and
made possible by the Brussels churches working together.
Nursery care available
519-887-6687
64,
Blyth United Church
Est. 1875
Worship Service
at 9:30 a.m.
Sunday, October 22
The doors are open
and so is Christ's table.
Join us this Sunday
for Holy Communion.
All are welcome.
WELCOME
TO THE TABLE
Hillary MacDonald
OFFICE: 519-523-4224
THE CATHOLIC PARISHES OF NORTH HURON AND NORTH PERTH
CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO ATTEND HOLY MASS.
OUR SUNDAY LITURGIES ARE AS FOLLOWS:
Brussels:
St. Ambrose
Saturday
6:00 p.m.
17 Flora Street
Wingham:
Sacred Heart
Sunday
9:00 a.m.
220 Carling Terrace
Listowel:
St. Joseph's
Sunday
11:00 a.m.
1025 Wallace Avenue N.