Title: Rice and Words
Matthew 4:4, 1 Timothy 6:7-10
Jesus answered. “It is written in the Bible, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4)
Since we brought nothing into the world, we cannot take anything with us. If we have food and clothing, we will have to be content with them. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful lusts. These things plunge people into ruin and destruction. The love of money is the root of all evil. There are some people who, while pursuing money, have lost the faith and have gone through a lot of suffering. (1 Timothy 6:7-10)
“Good luck” and “Get rich”
A few years ago, the phrase "get rich" became popular as a New Year's greeting. "Best wishes for a Happy New Year." The meaning of our traditional greeting of sharing blessings is that it would be good to earn a lot of money, but live healthy, meet good virgin bachelors, get married and go to the military, and the golden children who went to the military should finish their military service without any problems and be discharged safely. , which broadly conveys the meaning of living a happy and prosperous life throughout. By the way, I remember thinking that “becoming rich” by tying it all together, on the one hand, felt repulsive, but on the other hand, it must be an honest and realistic expression of blessing for modern people living in a capitalist society. It's a distant possibility, but if I can be really rich, I'd like to receive that blessing too.
I read two Bible verses today. Among them, Matthew 4:4, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” This is a phrase I like very much. It is very different to say that man will not live by ‘bread alone’ and that he will not live ‘by bread alone’. If it is written, “Man shall not live by bread,” it means that there is no need for bread. However, the saying “we do not live on bread alone” means that bread is absolutely necessary. So, “a person needs bread to live, but that alone is not enough to live like a human being. Isn’t it possible to live a human life only with the Word?” This would mean I think it is a statement that cannot be used to undermine the power of bread and furthermore, the power of money. (By the way, when translating the Bible next time, I think it would be good to replace the word ‘bread’ with ‘rice.’ To Westerners, it may be ‘bread,’ but to us, ‘rice’ makes the meaning clearer.)
Money as a means, not an end
Today, I would like to share the Word with the bread problem, the rice problem, and furthermore the money problem. This is one of Tolstoy's short stories. (Maybe you have introduced this illustration before. If you have heard it, please consider it as a review and listen again.)
One day, the king called and said to the poor farmer that it was his wish to own his land. “When the sun rises tomorrow morning, draw a line on the land you want to own and mark it as the area. Then I will give you all the land. However, if the area is not properly marked before the sun goes down, it will be invalid.”
It was the next morning. As soon as the sun came up, the farmer picked up a stick and started running, lining the ground. If you suffer for only one day, the vast wilderness becomes your own land. How excited are you? (I wish someone would suggest something like this to me too...^^;;) The farmer skips meals and runs for a long time before saying to himself. “It’s impossible to go any further. Now I have to go back.” But there seemed to be another voice in my heart. “When will this opportunity come again? Let's go a little bit more, a little bit more..." Then the farmer stopped working too hard. In the end, I fell down as I watched the sun set over Mt. Seo without reaching the place where I started. And again... I never got up. (Probably, this is a story that many of you are familiar with.)
What did Tolstoy want to tell his readers through this novel? Tolstoy, like this farmer, may have wanted to remind him that there are too many people who live on their own money, unaware that their lives are dying.
Some of Tolstoy's quotes include: “Wealth is like excrement; when it is piled up, it smells, and when it is sprinkled, it fertilizes the earth.” Once upon a time in the countryside, there was a common sight. Those of you of some age will remember. Excrement was piled up in one place to be used as manure. Sometimes a child fell out... (When I was a kid, I fell out once.)
Stacking excrement is stinky, dirty and dangerous. But when sprinkled on the ground, it becomes a natural fertilizer. It makes crops and vegetables grow well without damaging the soil. Tolstoy seems to have been trying to tell us that money is like that after all, that it has to be sprinkled, that when you pile it up it stinks. Tolstoy seems to have thought that money can be an excellent means to one's happiness, but it should not be the end.
Work hard, don't be tied down
These words are found in 1 Timothy 6:10, which we read together today. “The love of money is the root of all evil. There are some people who, while pursuing money, have wandered from the faith and have suffered a lot.” It seems that there were ‘some’ people 2,000 years ago who suffered after losing their faith and suffering while pursuing money. Now, there are 'a lot'.
However, there is a point in this verse that we need to take deep into. The text does not say that ‘money itself’ is the root of evil. It is said that “the love of money” is the root of evil. Love has tremendous power in itself. There is power in love that makes you willing to die for the one you love. When a child falls into the water, the parent jumps into the water even if they cannot swim. If you love money, you risk your life for the money you love.
Occasionally you watch a movie and you see someone willing to risk their one and only life in search of gold. Some people see it and say it's cool. That's not cool, is it crazy? No matter how good money is, I risk my life for it... It's hard for me to understand. Don't you need money to eat well and live happily? Then, in the end, money should be treated as a means to our happiness, not something to be loved.
There is a song called “Love is one for everyone”. I believe that love should be something anyone can do. I believe that everyone should love and should be loved. Because they believe that no one can live properly without love. But why not love “anything”? You must love what is worth loving.
If you love your country, you can even lay down your life for it. That righteous death also saves the country. If you love justice, you can even lay down your life for it. That death also brightens society. However, if you love money more than your wife or husband, you may become a heartless wife or a heartless husband who kills your life insurance wife or husband. Doesn't it sometimes appear in the newspaper? Therefore, we must learn not to love money, not to be bound by it, and to be satisfied in a certain way.
These words are found in today's text, 1 Timothy 6:7-8. “We brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything with us. If we have food and clothing, we will have to be content with them.” Hebrews 13:5 says, “You must live without the love of money, and be content with what you have.” Matthew 6:24 says, “You cannot serve both God and money.”
We are the managers, the ownership belongs to God...
There is a premise that we Christians must have when it comes to money. “The ultimate ownership of everything I have belongs to God. I am just a manager.” According to our Christian faith, the source of everything is in God. Our life, everything we have, and everything that exists in the world comes from God. All things come from God and return to God. God is the cause and the ultimate in everything. Therefore, everything we have belongs to God, and we are only managing it ‘here and now’ for a while. When we have that belief, we will be freed from our reckless obsession with money.
Is there anyone in the alumni who wants to make a lot of money? If you can admit that the ultimate ownership of that money is with God, I hope you work hard to earn a lot and become rich. I believe that the money managed by people with such faith will be used not only for the happiness of themselves and their families, but also for the glory of God, and for the beauty of neighbors and the world. However, it seems that there are many cases where making money does not work no matter how hard you try. Anyone can love, but money doesn't seem like everyone can make money. There are laws that make the world go around. It is the rule that “everyone has an abundance of what they need, and there is not much that they do not need.”
Air and water are essential. That's why I believe that God has given us a lot in many places. However, if there is something that I really want to have, but there aren't many, so I don't get it no matter how hard I try, it's not really necessary. So, isn't today's text telling us to be content if we have food and clothing?
I think there is a formidable task given to us who want to believe and follow Jesus today. Jesus followers, who live in a capitalist society, ask, “How can I live a life managing money well without being tied to it? How can we live happily together with our neighbors and all the living beings living together in the earth village without losing the value of humanity as a child of heaven who calls God “Father”? It seems to me that this is a formidable task that we will have to solve over the course of our lifetime.
The Lord said. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by the word of God.” I pray that the Lord will lead us to live a “happy life together” in harmony between bread and the Word, between rice and the Word, and between money and the Word.