Good morning and happy Saturday. I hope that you had a safe and productive week. It is amazing how the Lord continues to bless and guide our ministry. These certainly are exciting times. If you haven’t listened to the message from last Sunday, I would encourage you to do so. No, this is not an example of shameless self-promotion. Rather, I gave updates on the church as we celebrated our third anniversary.
As I was reading through the news the other day, an article really caught my attention. It was about a young lady from Slovenia that intentionally cut off her hand with a circular saw. Seriously, I can’t imagine how painful that would be. I wonder if it would be better to use a finish blade or a rip blade for a project like that? Anyway, having had a multitude of comparatively minor cuts from tools, bike wrecks, fights, etc., the thought of cutting off my hand doesn’t have much appeal to me. I did read a story about a climber that got his hand caught when a boulder shifted. After trying everything that he could think of to dislodge his arm from the rock, he realized he had no choice. He took out his pocket knife and severed his arm. However, in his case it was to save his life. The young lady had a far different reason for becoming an amateur surgeon. It was for the money. Her boyfriend and her came up with a wonderful plan. One of them would cut off their hand and collect insurance money. I wonder if you choose who gets to lose a limb by playing rock, paper, scissors? However it was decided, she was the lab rat that would get to experience the joyous sensation of the teeth on a whirring metal blade ripping through flesh and bone. Not only that, she was prepared to live with an artificial hand the rest of her life. Why? So her and her boyfriend could collect on the five or six different insurance policies they signed up for. According to the story, they even left the severed hand behind when they went to the hospital so that the disability would be permanent. However, authorities raced to the scene, retrieved the hand, and doctors successfully reattached it. Her and her boyfriend were both sentenced to jail for their attempted insurance fraud (and general stupidity).
I would assume that everyone reading this (by that, I mean all ten or twelve of you) are in agreement that what the woman did was incredibly dumb. I am confident that none of you would even consider something of this nature simply to get some cash. This is an extreme example of what the love of money will do to one’s mind. Of course, insurance and workman’s comp fraud is nothing new. There are people that work full time seeking to eliminate as much of that as possible. Having owned a construction company, I have experienced firsthand liars and con artists that used the system to get “free” money for themselves. It doesn’t stop with just insurance. If there is a system that provides benefits or pays out money in any manner, there are people that are trying to get their hands on it. In fact, it is hard to stay ahead of some of the bogus and sometimes creative ways people will strive to get more cha-ching.
As you are aware, the Bible has a lot to say about money and material possessions. A lot of it is negative and serves as a warning. Why is that? Because, human nature is to want more and more. Greed is a real thing. And, it doesn’t matter if you are poor or rich. For whatever reason, we have a hard time being satisfied. Left unchecked, the desire for a little more can grow and grow. Will it lead to you cutting your hand off to claim insurance money? Probably not. But maybe it will lead to cutting corners, fudging a bit on tax returns, rounding up on expense reports, lying and cheating, gambling, being a workaholic, not giving or sharing as much as you know you should, etc.
Here are just a couple of the myriad of passages that are found in the Bible that deal with money and possessions:
9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness (1 Timothy 6:9-11).
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own (Matthew 6:19-34).
Hope to see you tomorrow. We will be celebrating with brother Jacques as he prepares to go back to Haiti to oversee the orphanage and the three churches he helped to start. We will also be taking up an offering and seeking to get additional sponsors for the children. If you have discovered that you love money too much, don’t cut off your hand. Simply cut a check and help out the kids!
Love God. Love others. Impact our community. Change the world.
Pastor Larry
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