others pretend to be poor, yet have great wealth. NRSV
All of us are prejudiced. Even those of us who pride ourselves on our open-mindedness are prejudice. That is to say, there are people we’d rather not be around. And we usually label them somehow so as to make them different than us and then we separate ourselves. Even if the ones we choose to ignore are the people we consider to be closed-minded and biased. (That’s always amazed me, that the people who consider themselves to be tolerant are usually not tolerant of people who they think are not tolerant.)
Proverbs talks about those who are rich yet pretend to be poor and those who are poor and pretend to be rich. For me, the idea is the pretense. Why do we pretend? (And we all do at one time or another.) We pretend in order to align ourselves with a certain group with whom we feel we can’t claim true membership. “Oh, I’m really that way!” And yet, we feel that we might be rejected. So we fudge (a soft way of describing a lie.)
In America, many of us are pretenders to wealth because we live in so much debt. To be honest, perhaps our very country is the same way. We live outside our means and we justify it by saying, “Well, my kids really need those things” or “My family can’t do without that.” But it’s a pretense because we really can’t pay for it.
On the other hand, there are those of us who have money and yet refuse to share it. We are saving for our retirement or for that big purchase or for a rainy day . . . while down the street another Christian family is living in dire need. And we ignore them.
Matthew Henry has a wonderful take on this verse:
“The world is a great cheat, not only the things of the world, but the men of the world. All men are liars. Here is an instance in two sore evils under the sun:- 1. Some that are really poor would be thought to be rich and are thought to be so; they trade and spend as if they were rich, make a great bustle and a great show as if they had hidden treasures, when perhaps, if all their debts were paid, they are not worth a groat. . . . Those that thus live above what they have choose to be subject to their own pride rather than to God’s providence, and it will end accordingly. 2. Some that are really rich would be thought to be poor, and are thought to be so, because they sordidly and meanly live below what God has given them, and choose rather to bury it than to use it, Eccl. 6:1, 2. In this there is an ingratitude to God, injustice to the family and neighbourhood, and uncharitableness to the poor.”
The heart of the true believer is generous because at the heart of generosity is the belief that God will always provide for us. Do we believe that? Paul talks about the Macedonian churches who lived in great poverty and yet begged to be allowed to give to the believers in Jerusalem:
“We want you to know, brothers and sisters,about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia; for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means” (2 Corinthians 8:1 NRSV).
And if we are truly generous with our money, then we will also be generous with our friendship. We will not longer restrict it to people whom we think deserve it. We will welcome both the poor and the rich into our churches, into our homes, and into our lives. We won’t choose with whom we will be friends (and with whom we will not be friends), but rather will see every opportunity as one to share the love of God and this good news of salvation with that person. After all, isn’t that what being a Christian is really all about?
© 2008 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. International copyright reserved. This study may be copied for nonprofit and/or church purposes only without permission when copied in its entirety (including this notice).
1 comment:
Hello! I found your website. My name is Anders Branderud, I am 23 years and I am from Sweden.
By practising Torah non-selectively we make the world a better place to live in!
Proverbs talks alot about Torah - which you will see if you read the text in Hebrew.
To realize that one can follow two polar-opposite masters — the authentic, historical, PRO-Torah 1st-century Ribi from Nazareth – the Messiah - and the 4th-century (post-135 C.E.), arch-antithesis ANTI-Torah apostasy developed by the Hellenists (namely the Sadducees and Roman pagans who conspired to kill Ribi YÓ™hoshua, displaced his original followers (the Netzarim) and redacted the NT); is a step in that direction!
So who then was the historical Jesus? His name was Ribi Yehoshua.
The research of world-recognized authorities (for example Barrie Wilson; www.barriewilson.com) in this area implies that Ribi Yehoshua was a Pharisee (a Torah-practising Jewish group - who according to 4Q MMT (a Scroll found in the Qumran-caves) practised both written and oral Torah (oral Torah in an unbroken chain since Mosheh (Moses); commanded by Mosheh in Torah; oral Torah is recorded Beit-Din (Jewish Court)-decisions of how Torah shall be applied).. As the earliest church historians, most eminent modern university historians, our web site (www.netzarim.co.il) and our Khavruta (Distance Learning) texts confirm, the original teachings of Ribi Yehoshua were not only accepted by most of the Pharisaic Jewish community, he had hoards of Jewish students.
For words that you don’t understand; se www.netzarim.co.il ; the link to Glossaries at the first page.
Ribi Yehoshua warned for false prophets who don’t produce good fruit = defined as don’t practise the commandments in Torah according to Halakhah (oral Torah; see the above definition). See Devarim (Deuteronomy) 13:1-6.
The research of Scholars in leading universities which implies that Ribi Yehoshua was a Pharisee necessarily implies that if you want to follow him you need to practise his Torah-teachings.
So you need to start follow the historical Ribi Yehoshua – the Messiah – by practising Torah (including oral Torah)!
Finding the historical Jew, who was a Pharisee Ribi and following him brings you into Torah, which gives you a rich and meaningful life here on earth and great rewards in life after death (“heaven”)!
From Anders Branderud
Geir Toshav, Netzarim in Ra’anana in Israel (www.netzarim.co.il) who is followers of Ribi Yehoshua – the Messiah – in Orthodox Judaism
Post a Comment