just been reading matthew 19 and 20 about true riches and finding it really hard!
matthew 19 is talking about how difficult it is for rich people to get into heaven, and to store up true riches in heaven. now i understand all this, and it even makes sense to me, but it’s really hard to reconcile with living in “the west”. i really enjoy having nice things, and i try to be sensible and only buy what i need. but this is hard at present as we’ve just bought a new house and need some stuff to put in it. to be honest, we don’t need to buy a dual-fuel oven, we could get a cheaper one. and do we need a coffee table when we’ve already got a cardboard box? could i spend my money on the kingdom instead?
part of the answer is that it depends how we view our home. we want it to be an open home where people can come and stay, where we can open it up to people that have greater needs than us. that’s partly why we went for two bedrooms. another part is good stewardship—if we buy a crappy fridge at half the price of a good fridge, it’ll break down much quicker and use much more electricity, so we’l end up spending more money! reference the vimes “boots” theory of social unfairness…
so viewing and using our home unselfishly, sharing with other christians and non-christians all seems to be what jesus is getting at, and the gist of writings throughout the new testament. and serving in this way builds up treasure in heaven. which sounds good, if we actually do it! so, although we are saved by grace through faith, we can build up treasure in heaven and earn our “well done, good and faithful servant!” which would be very cool. then matthew 20 hits you. jesus tells a story about people working in the vineyard, and those that have turned up at the end of the day and picked three grapes get the same pay as those who have worked so hard all day that they can no longer stand up straight. and this is what the kingdom is like. so i’ll get the same reward as mother teresa, which is hideously unfair. how does this match up with what comes before?
i’ll think about it… let me know if anyone has any answers!