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Of Credit Crunch And Kings
Intro
We are living through momentous times. One banker I heard on Radio 4 described events as apocalyptic. For some people this is a time to fear.
I suspect that if I searched the internet I would find some predictions that we are now witnessing the end of the world and that this will usher in the long awaited return of Christ. I will not make any wild predictions but I do think this, that at momentous times believers should keep their brains plugged in, with an eye on the news and on scriptures.
“The time has come,” the Walrus said, “To talk of many things: Of shoes and ships and sealing-wax, Of cabbages and kings.. (Lewis Carroll)I will start by speaking to you, not of cabbages, but of kings - the Book of Kings.
I am not really covering 2 Corinthians 10. I simply start there to see if we can learn anything from Paul about his character. And then, from that, if I can learn anything about my character.
1) National character matters
Proverbs 14:34 Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.
If there’s one thing we learn from history it’s that we learn nothing from history.
I don’t know how long it would take to read, in one sitting, the history known in the Bible as the Second Book of Kings. It would certainly not take a whole lifetime to read. Yet for anyone who does read it they can see an account of God’s dealing with generations of people. There can be found the experience and wisdom of many lifetimes for all who care to learn from it.
In 2 Kings (as it is known) we can read that when those ancient people turned to God they experienced great blessing. When they turned away from God, lawlessness and social injustice increased, national prosperity eroded and eventually the nation cried out to God for forgiveness and mercy - and received it.
Our culture has worshipped money and possessions for a long time. The point in the cycle we are at now can be seen in the first Book of Kings. Read it for yourself and see where you think we fit.
If the Book of Kings offers us hope it is that we can see the mercy of God if we turn to him again. I wonder how bad it would get before our society would do so. In that ancient account it got very bad indeed in some of the turns of the cycle, with extremes of desperation and cruelty.
Why should God care about what people believe or do? Because he cares about the eternal. He cares about the eternity of the people who belong to him. God cares for people more than “stuff”. Character lasts for all eternity and money does not. Moral failure damages the individual, damage that lasts - only complete forgiveness can release us from the damage it causes.
2) The God who shakes
They called it a “credit crunch” and now they tell us we are in a recession. Some say we are on the verge of a depression.
Some commentators say we are seeing the end of Capitalism, as momentous a time as when we once watched the fall of communism. The “West” will never be the same again.
God once said he would shake the heavens and the earth and the nations.
Haggai 2:5-7 Do not fear.’ This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the LORD Almighty.
This prediction came true when, after the Assyrian empire, Alexander the Great conquered the known world. He scraped the earth from the ground and cast it into the sea fulfilling the ancient prophecy of Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 26:3-5 “..therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, O Tyre, and I will bring many nations against you, like the sea casting up its waves. They will destroy the walls of Tyre and pull down her towers; I will scrape away her rubble and make her a bare rock.
Out in the sea she will become a place to spread fishing nets, for I have spoken, declares the Sovereign LORD. She will become plunder for the nations..”
The first fulfilment was the invasion by Nebuchadnezzar, but he did not finish the job. The prophecy referred to “many nations”, and one of those nations that came later was Greece. Alexander scraped away the rubble and cast it into the sea.
When God decides to shake the nations nothing can stand in his way. He shakes the nations, and the lives, so that what can not be shaken (that which is eternally valuable) might remain.
3) Personal character matters
Do you/I have faith to welcome each and every time that God chooses to come into my affairs to shake out the worthless stuff?
But what of those who, in these special times, go to bed in fear and find no refuge in sleep before rising to more fear? I could say Jesus is the answer, but suspect that some would think that I mean that to turn to him means he will see all our bills are paid and all our wants satisfied. I do not suggest that, nor do I think did he. But I do believe he is the answer and to turn to him is the best course of action.
When Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.” He was promising quality of life to all who would hand over their lives to him. Quality of life that would not depend upon whether I am rich or poor, sick or well. And once a person belongs to him they have the privilege of prayer too.
Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
The writer of Hebrews quoted the prediction of Haggai.
Hebrews 12:18-29 You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, because they could not bear what was commanded: If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned. The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, I am trembling with fear.
But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the first-born, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens. The words once more indicate the removing of what can be shaken- that is, created things- so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.
This time the prophecy is linked to to the return of Jesus Christ.
At this time perhaps there are many who wished they had taken the advice of Jesus (in the Gospel of Matthew) and had used their lives for better purposes and pursued better goals. Jesus said,
Matthew 6:19-21 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
So whatever lies ahead for you and I, let us keep close to Jesus and:
- trust him for our tomorrows
- make your requests known to him
- let us all walk in faith together
