ŇPriceless!Ó So goes the punch line on a series of
commercials for MasterCard. Buying decisions are just some of the choices each
of us make everyday. A few of our decisions are priceless, most simply cost us
some money, some cause us pain and suffering, some may cost us our lives.
Priceless, was the opportunity I had last Friday night as
I set next to the top row of the center field bleachers, as the Seattle
Mariners broke the American league record of 115 wins, surpassing the previous
record of 114 set in 1998 by the New York Yankees. Who would have thought that
a cheap seat ticket for the September 14th game with the Seattle Mariners vs
the Texas Rangers would turn into such a priceless memory. The second of four
games with the cellar dwelling Rangers, whose only claim to fame this year is
Alex Rodriquez, the $25 million per year former Mariner shortstop. We
speculated up there in the thin air at the top of the stadium, how much of that
he would give back to have the opportunity to be playing this season from his
former dugout.
Only the events in New York City on September 11th with
the cancellation of that weekŐ s major league baseball, the Navy reserve
training of a friend during that week, combined with the fact that I was unable
to retrieve the other ticket from another friend leaving early the next morning
for Nepal, allowed me to be present, at what I have deemed this priceless
opportunity
As I watched the game on television the next night where
the Mariners were going for their 116th win, to tie the major league record for
the most wins in a season, I had some time to do some channel surfing. Breaking
a record is one thing, especially when that same evening a new home run record
was set down in San Francisco by Barry Bonds, it is another to tie a record set
almost a century ago by a bunch of dead Chicago Cubs. This was the night to
stay home and watch the game on broadcast TV.
During the gameŐs commercials I pretty much settled on
watching a financial teaching on a Christian channel by one of what I consider the good TV preachers. In
fact, I watched more of this than just the games commercials would allow. As a
matter of fact I mused that this teaching was probably better than I could have
done myself. At the end of the broadcast was a matter of fact presentation of
what the ministry spent on television time each month. Wow, I guess when you
lump money into an annual budget, certain costs seem to get buried in the mass
of figures. But if you break it out into one month, that surely was a lot of
money, well into the higher five figures.
Put another way, just about
what A-Rod made for two of his 0-8 batting appearances during both of those
games.
I also know of missionaries in which that one month cost of ministry television time
would pay for their whole missionary budget for a lifetime. But then again,
that missionary serving in China, or wherever, while not rich in monetary
terms, daily has the great opportunity to live a simple life with just the
comfort of GodŐs Holy Spirit and the word of God written in the Bible.
As the relief workers in Afghanistan have learned, at
anytime your limited freedoms may be taken away, to be thrown into prison,
tortured or perhaps executed for the gospel of Jesus Christ, in these
situations what is eternally priceless is really what matters. Would those same
missionaries be willing to give that up, to make the choice to live in a nice
home in Connecticut and commute each day to the World Trade Center, to make in
a year what Alex made in those two games. Priceless, or for what price are we
willing to pay, for the consequence of the choices we make?
Now if you live in a nice house in a Connecticut suburb
and take the train into the city each day to work in New YorkŐs financial
district, before September 11th, closeness with the creator God of the universe
is not something that probably crossed your mind very often. But since that
day, perhaps the comfort of financial security and attending a evangelical
Christian cathedral that feeds your desires for the good life here and now,
seems to have come up lacking.
The greatest fear to those with this type of financial
security, is not a difference in Christian doctrine, which may or may not be
considerable with other segments of the church. The greatest fear to those who sit
in those well padded pews, is that all the world that seemed so secure, can in
less than an hour be completely burned up, and destroyed by a couple of
handfuls of religious zealots.
Of what price do these choices of temporal security come?
That missionary could tell them the real good news, in the Good News, but
without some access to capital, those two shall never meet. The great division
with in Evangelical America is the difference between the gospel where material
wealth is your God, and one in which God makes you a steward of all types
of His wealth and you handle all
your assets as a sacred and holy trust. In the latter, God keeps money in its
proper perspective. What is the price of your choice, or what is priceless to
you?
A couple of years ago, I was in a nice suburban church in
the Seattle area, perhaps like one of the Connecticut congregations. One of the
speakers, at that time an Orthodox Jew, was traveling around America hawking
books from the trunk of his car straining to make ends meet, and trying to drum
up support within the church for Israel. As a former officer in Israeli
intelligence he had come to the conclusion, that the only hope for his nation
lay with the other half of the Islamic Ňpeople of the book,Ó namely praying
American Evangelicals. Those of you following the recent events on the
internet, will have no problem obtaining some of his understanding on these
recent events.
Consider for a moment, our prayers for Israel have now
given us the opportunity to understand terrorism in a way that every citizen of
Israel understands it. I have heard no where in all the garbage being pushed in
the media, that the Islamic terrorists want to eliminate not only the nation of
Israel and the American state, but also Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and
Yassar Arafat and their followers want to exterminate deeply religious Jews and
Christians. It would not be politically correct to say such things, especially
if all paths lead to the same god. In such a demonic attack, if there is
collateral damage that destroys the infidel pagan infrastructure it is no big
deal.
The greatest heresy promoted within American churches in
this era is that once you Ňcome to Christ,ÓÓget saved,Ó Ňask Jesus into your
heartÓ or other such glib slogan, all your troubles will cease. Then suddenly,
you will get a good job working in a brokerage house in the city and buy a
house in the suburbs. Your kids will go to private Christian schools and you can
attend a good church where the pastor will promote your slothful consumption as
Ňjust another of GodŐs blessingsÓ
On September 11th over 5000 people became religious
martyrs, for their particular religion. Since that time there has been a
financial outpouring trying to placate the guilt of thousands, maybe millions,
living shallow, hollow, prosperous lives. Hopefully, the greatest blessing to
come out of this turmoil is that the war on terrorism, will truly be long and
costly, and the country and the world will have to perform some sacrifice, to
rid the world of these evil persons.
I believe it was that former Israeli intelligence officer
that told me that he believed that the Koran was written by a captured Jewish
rabbi, quite familiar with both Jewish and Christian doctrine. He believed that
it was written in such a way that all persons (both Christian and Jew) who
truly were people of the book, would understand the KoranŐs misinformation and
understand it as a lie fabricated in the mind of man and not from the God of
the Bible. Here again is a choice to make, it may have some temporal, as well
as definite eternal consequences.
Materialism and Islam are both religions of the world and
ultimately serve what scripture
calls the god of this world, the devil. Both are unified in their fear of the
people of the book. While hate has its place in the hearts of a few in both
sects, most are only blinded by the darkness of their own heart. Before the end
of time their will be war between these twin towers of world dominance.
Essential elements of this battle are written in the book, by God for His
people. Because of that wisdom, both Christian and Jew are called to replace
the darkness with the light of GodŐs love and freedom. To do that the church
(both Jew and gentile) must show, leadership, compassion, faith, and discipline
as well as other gifts appropriate with the circumstances.
Many years ago, shortly after the Lord took me out of
corporate America, I was given the opportunity to develop a process for the mining
and refining of precious metals. As I was taught , all good Christians give ten
percent of their income to the LordŐs work. As I worked on the process, I
realized that this was more money than I could ever want or hope to utilize
wisely. As I learned more about its potential application, that amount was
reversed, ninety percent to the Lord, ten percent for me. Over time as my own
wealth disappeared, I was forced to give it all to the Lord, to use and
develop, when, and if, He saw fit.
From that time until today, I have learned and
experienced many things, many of which are priceless. Last Friday nightŐs
baseball game, was just one of those priceless gifts from the Lord. It was
essentially a material gift and would be completely impossible to develop on
your own. But as a similar example, a couple of weeks ago, when I went to a
company to pick up some galvanized rods, to finish the deck railing for the
brother who gave me the baseball tickets, in what looked as the garbage
pile,was the solution to the problem for the precious metals concentrating
table I had searched in vain for many years. God, it was so simple. As a
process, this is the only advance, other than economies of scale, in mining
since the days of Solomon.
I do not know of any pastor or ministry leader, perhaps
there are some, somewhere, who likes to ask for money to do GodŐs work. I think
I could see the anguish and questions, on the face of that pastor Saturday
night as he reported just how much his television time cost. Why should the work
of God be financed by handouts? Perhaps in other Christian circles, it is why
so much manipulation is performed to receive funds. We do not understand how
all we have worked so hard for so long could fail, so we take over and do it
for God. In the process we substitute our own material blessings for GodŐs
priceless ones. We make the wrong choice.
In the same manner, if those who truly considered
themselves Christians would choose only to tithe, which by my New Testament
reading, is only the minimum opportunity for stewardship, there would be no
ministry shortfalls, or poor and needy for that matter. But for some reason it
doesnŐt work as we would like.
As I sit here writing this I am reminded of some of my
thoughts from that mining adventure many years ago. This source of funds is
completely from God, mother lode or dry hole. Here faith and works both quickly
fall to the bottom line. There is no way to fleece the sheep. The true
consequences of the synergism of both faith and works are truly frightening. A
banker once said a gold mine is a hole in the ground in which you pour money.
But that leaves out the direct intervention of He who made the gold and makes
the rules. This signifies a direct ministry bridge from the Godhead to ministry
without the possibility of intervening lukewarm religion.
With that piece of junk in the garbage pile, I think I
may have been given that opportunity again. If that concept of GodŐs wealth
directly from His creation seems to be of interest to you or your ministry, I
would like to hear from you. In times such as this it can pay for the
television time or your lifeŐs work. In this day, chances of waiting for the
gift of Alex and his friends may be a long time in coming.
In times as these perhaps, it is wise to truly understand,
the wisdom of the people in the Bible. The three wise men brought the young
Jesus, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. As I thought again on this Sunday, I
realized I always equated the three wise men with the three gifts. One for
each. But that is not all the Bible really says.
In Matthew Chapter 2, we have the facts right. These
gifts where only tokens of perhaps a two year journey, if not in time and
distance at least in wisdom. In that regard, the three gifts must be all part
of the wise who seek Jesus after this time. The gifts were not something
purchased at the mall on a short trip from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. The wise men
truly gave gifts of sacrifice, that cost them much more than their material
price. To follow Jesus Christ we are called to give of our gold, our worldly wealth, our frankincense,
to burn our self and self-righteous incense as a sweet
aroma to the Lord, and to anoint our bodies with the myrrh of burial, as we are
crucified with Christ.
We are exhorted in the scriptures through the choices we
make, to give of our expensive
temporal, to more fully receive in this life the first fruits of the priceless
eternal. That exhortation of the wise menŐs gifts, is the opportunity God has
given at this present time to his Evangelical church in America and abroad. It
is time we look anew at our priceless gift, and welcome the sacrifice that we
may soon be called upon to offer. A choice we can make willingly and be blessed
with priceless gifts. Or we can choose to wait for luck and chance and end up
with nothing but heartache and a dry hole with no gold, or any other gift to
bring..
Amen
As enclosed above.