A Christmas Sermon

For those of you new to Free Money Finance, I post on The Bible and Money every Sunday. Here's why. Today's piece is a guest post from Marotta Asset Management.

Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day. But for too many of us, it's the season that unravels the careful financial planning of the previous 11 months. So this year, instead of trading your financial goals for a mountain of gifts and debt, take a moment to contemplate how a spiritual perspective can help you put your wealth in perspective.

In Christianity, my religious tradition, we are only stewards of our wealth. We are entrusted to use it wisely to meet the responsibilities we've been given. Thus our money belongs to God, and we must first ask ourselves, "What does God want us to do with his money?"

You may find a spiritual perspective on wealth either strange or presumptuous. But for all of us, money is an unconscious placeholder for what we value. The way each family uses money expresses their beliefs. Even when someone uses money hedonistically, it reveals their worldview. More commonly, our use of money negotiates a plethora of competing values such as education and recreation, security and travel, or children's needs and parents' needs.

Every spiritual tradition promotes certain actions and ideals as beautiful, virtuous and true and discourages others as ugly, sinful and false. Having a spiritual view of wealth management, whether based on the Judeo-Christian, Buddhist, Baha'i, or any other faith, helps us purposefully apply our values and use money to meet our goals.

The wisdom we gain from our spiritual traditions challenges us to consider our wealth from a new perspective. In the Christian tradition, the words directly attributed to Jesus, often marked in red in the Bible, have the highest authority. But whatever your religious faith, consider the words of Jesus as a prophet and spiritual leader. In the gospel of Matthew (23:23), Jesus says, "You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness."

Giving a tenth of your income each year, or tithing, is a noble endeavor. Many people use this percentage as a benchmark of their generosity, but Jesus offers us a greater challenge and an important warning. He cites three values that are particularly germane when dealing with our perspectives toward wealth management: justice, mercy and faithfulness.

Justice, the first virtue, is acting fairly. The notion of justice seems to be instilled universally in the human mind and heart. We all recognize injustice, especially against ourselves! But the truth of justice is that all people, regardless of their wealth, have equal value in the eyes of God. Although most believe this to be true in the abstract, wealth can make people act otherwise.

We tend to treat those with power and wealth with more respect and deference than those without. And if we have acquired wealth, we may think ourselves better than others for having done so. But being more productive does not make us more valuable. True justice values every person. And its opposite is pride, believing ourselves better than others because we have wealth, status and power.

In the Christmas story, the wise men come bearing gifts for the baby Jesus. They bring him gold because he is a king. Some have cynically mocked the golden rule, misquoting, "He who has the gold makes the rules." The gift from the magi reminds us that Jesus has the gold, and with him as king, justice rules. Wealth need not make us prideful, and we can treat others with equity and humility.

Mercy, the second virtue that Jesus mentions, translates as kindness toward those in need. Mercy is also a universal virtue. Few would argue against being tenderhearted and compassionate. Although the goodness of mercy is universal, unfortunately the practice is not. Statistics show that the more money people possess, the smaller percentage they give to charity.

If mercy is the virtue, greed is the vice. Making progress toward our financial goals need not blind us to those struggling behind us. Part of our careful planning and budgeting should include cheerfully helping those charities and individuals in need. Jesus emphasizes that becoming generous and merciful is even more important than giving a fixed percentage of our income.

Frankincense, the second gift of the wise men, was used to offer prayers to God. It reminds us to have faith that a power greater than ourselves cares for us. Every person among us needs mercy.

The third virtue, faithfulness, involves a covenant relationship with God to trust ultimately in the spiritual, not the material. If we are not vigilant, the many things we buy with money can become the center of our lives. We can find ourselves literally worshipping material goods.

In his book "Mere Christianity," C.S. Lewis warns, "One of the dangers of having a lot of money is that you may be quite satisfied with the kinds of happiness money can give and so fail to realize your need for God. If everything seems to come simply by signing checks, you may forget that you are at every moment totally dependent on God."

The Old Testament law in Deuteronomy 8:11-18 makes this temptation even clearer: "Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you may say to yourself, 'My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.' But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant."

The opposite of faithfulness is fear. We fear that God has forsaken us or is indifferent to our struggles. But fear can paralyze us. And if we do not take risks, we are unable to live and enjoy fully the life God has given us.

The final gift of the magi was myrrh, a bitter gum used in death and burial. In the Christian tradition, it reminds us that even at Jesus' birth, his death on our behalf is foreshadowed. As the apostle Paul writes in the letter to the Romans (8:32-34), "If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? God is the one who justifies; Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, He intercedes for us."

If God is for us, we can trust him, and take courage no matter how dark the future may appear. Look to integrate finances with your spiritual traditions to reflect the best of your values and live life holistically.

Seek to avoid pride, greed and fear is a common mantra in investment management. Jesus substitutes the positive virtues: justice, mercy and faithfulness. Don't think more highly of yourself if you have money. Be generous to those in need and trust that God cares for you. Remember these principles this Christmas season, and you will remember the one whose birth we celebrate.

Comments

[Carol @ Ca Loan]

Lovely piece. It is all a spiritual thing in the end and in the beginning. We are not our money, we are not our jobs, we are not our status, or any other "thing" we let our egos judge us by.

We are all pure love and energy and birth and perfect in every way as we are pieces of God.

I believe Christianity is just another form of faith that is reaching for the same thing as any other religion or faith. All of these faiths are reaching for the same thing - love, beauty, kindness, forgiveness, and appreciation.

[Claire at Choyster Cash]

Thanks for this...generosity of spirit (and wallet) simply needs to be a more fundamental aspect of our daily lives...

Thx

"Seek ye the first the Kingdom of God... "

Jesus clearly says that Lord will provide us with everything that is good for us if we have correct priorities i.e. if we care first about what is God's.

[Daniel]

Am I the only one who saw no good finance information in that? It seems more on morals...

Reminds me of when i went to church...

[Scott]

Thank you for this post. I'd love to see more like it.

[Santos]

Yea Daniel, I think you are the only one, but don't feel special ;-)

Great piece!

[Carol @ Ca Loan]

Hmmmm.....Daniel - I didn't see it as a moral piece. I truly believe that when we clean and polish up our rusty connection with spirit and focus our real purpose here abundance naturally flows our way.

And when abundance does flow our way we only have one thing we can do - GIVE IT AWAY...

Carol

[Daniel]

Carol, regarding what you said, I couldn't agree with you more.

In my opinion tho, It is just that this post tends to try way too hard to relate wealth with spirituality when in fact spirituality and money have nothing in common whatsoever. Spirituality is a core personal belief, but if that dictates how you use or spend your money, then you should check yourself...

I won't go into detail of dissecting this specific post again, but there are a few key points that really stood out to me:

"Some have cynically mocked the golden rule, misquoting, 'He who has the gold makes the rules.' The gift from the magi reminds us that Jesus has the gold, and with him as king, justice rules."

Is it right to use a mocked golden rule to prove Jesus has the gold, therefore makes the rules?

"Statistics show that the more money people possess, the smaller percentage they give to charity. "

Normally, I would actually ask for the statistical data. But true while they give a smaller percentage, those who have wealth are more likely to give to charity, either for kindness or tax advantages, they just do. Me personally, I would rather live in a town where 1,000 people give $1000 to charity each than just 1 person giving $1,000,000.

I won't keep going, just some things that struck my fancy. What I meant to say is that the whole topic was based around:

"He cites three values that are particularly germane when dealing with our perspectives toward wealth management: justice, mercy and faithfulness."

That isn't just about wealth, it is about life...

/rant

p.s. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

[Graham]

For what it's worth...Carol, your first comment about Christianity being a form of faith that is reaching the same thing as other religions or beliefs isn't accurate at all, and I only point this out to defend what God has told us in the Bible.

Christianity is not the same as any other religion, not by a long shot. And unlike the article we're commenting Jesus is not just a prophet or a great teacher, no matter what faith you hold to. Jesus claims to be the one and only God (John 14:6). He claims that only HE can forgive people of the things we've done wrong and connect us with God in heaven (Mark 2:5-10). That would mean that other religions can't do this.

And finally Daniel...in regards to your last comment about finances not being related to spirituality, I can understand your point. If you're not a Christian then vague spirituality really is irrelevant to your money situation. But IF one is a follower of Jesus Christ, THEN money is TOTALLY a spiritual issue since Jesus tells us it is.

End of rant. Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

-Graham-

[Daniel]

Graham, Your right that Christianity isn't "the same" as other religions, as with most religions and faith, it is usually dictated that their religion is the one and only true faith.

What Carol was saying, regardless of what faith you are, they all tend to reach a similar goal: love, beauty, kindness, forgiveness, and appreciation. Which I do agree on. So because Jesus states that his way is the only way, doesn't mean that other faiths don't teach similar concepts.

If you ever take a look at the 'core' values of different religions around the world, you can see that it all is the same, they just take different paths.

I do ask though Graham, that you don't dictate about how your faith is the only way, because faith is a personal thing, and when you start telling others that your faith is the right faith, and other faiths are wrong, then you show off bigotry which not only degrades an individuals image, but also anything the individual believes.

Respect, love, & tolerance is the only way to harmony and happiness

[Graham]

Daniel (and Carol if you're reading this)...forgive me if my comments seem frustrating to you. I don't pretend to be any better than anyone because of what I believe. And it's not bigotry to proclaim truth.

The goal that you speak of isn't just peace, harmony, and love. The goal is to be connected with God, our creator. We all do things wrong, every day. The bible calls this sin. The Greek word for sin literally means to miss the mark. I admit that I have missed the mark a lot in my life. We all have. But because of this missing the mark we are separated from God. So the GOAL is to get re-connected with God. And according to Jesus the ONLY way to be connected from God and cleared of our crimes against Him is to repent (feel sorry for what we've done wrong and desire to change) and believe in Jesus as God and make Him our lord (or boss).

Faith is personal, yes. You have to choose to believe something and then act on that faith. But there are certain truths in the world that are true regardless if you believe in them or not. God is real, whether you believe it or not. Jesus is God, whether you acknowledge him as such or not. He loves you, and me, and everyone. But he wants us to be reconciled to him...and for that to happen we have to follow Jesus and only Jesus.

If you have any other questions feel free to email me directly (silversunpro@gmail.com)as I know that this blog is intended to be a personal finance one. Sorry FMF if we've got off track. It's just a very important topic.

Merry Christmas.

[Daniel]

Graham, your comments are not at all frustrating to me, as this I feel is a mature discussion because we are two people talking about our personal opinions and how it conflicts with each other. It is when people resort to name calling and 3 worded answers that frustrate me, so much respects to you.

You state that it is not bigotry to proclaim truth, yet truth itself can be biased. For a long time in the past individuals in the United States read and written "scientific" books of how African-Americans were inferior to Caucasians, where it would give details and proclaim how primitive African-Americans were and how Superior Caucasians were. This for some time was considered a truth, and people felt no wrong by it.

When it comes down to faith, faith defines our own truth. Where you view Jesus as God, that is your truth, and anyone who tells you that you are wrong is a bigot, because that is your faith and belief. For me, I believe that God is everything that exists and everything that doesn't exist, God is all and nothing. This is be faith and my belief, and anyone who tells me that I am wrong is a bigot.

The difference is not about who is right and who is wrong, the difference is just in faith, and you might not agree with mine, doesn't mean that you would pity me for believing in the wrong thing.

When it comes down to it, truth is an over used word much like love, and truth is something that will always be a mystery to us as individuals, but because of faith, we can define our own truths.

I see that you have found your way to connect with God, and I give respects to that, as I have too, although a different way (with a different name) have found my way to connect..

Cheers :D

[Edwin]

Thank you very much for precious sermon. Merry Christmas...