650
THE K I N G ’ S BUS I NE S S
to what is worthiest. God’s altar was to the Jew the central focus of all gifts; it was associated with His worship, and the whole calendar of fasts and feasts moved round it. The gift laid upon it acquired a new dignity by so being de posited upon it. Some objects which appeal for gifts we are at liberty to set aside because they are not sacred. We may give or not as we judge best, for they depend on man’s enterprises and schemes, which we may not altogether approve. But some causes have Divine sanction, and that hallows them; giving becomes an act of worship when it has to do with the altar. IX. Transmutation Another law of true giving is that of transmutation. “ Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteous ness; that, when ye fail, they may re ceive you into everlasting habitations” (Luke 16:9). This, though considered by many an obscure parable, contains one of the greatest hints on money gifts that our Lord ever dropped. Mammon here stands as the equival ent for money, practically worshipped. It reminds us of the golden calf that was made out of the ear-rings and jewels of the crowd. Now our Lord refers to a second transmutation. The golden calf may in turn be melted down and coined into Bibles, churches, books, tracts, and even souls of men. Thus what was material and temporal be comes immaterial and spiritual, and eternal. Here is a man who has a hun dred dollars. He may spend it all on a banquet, or an evening party, in which case the next day there is nothing to show for it. It has secured a temporary gratification of appetite— that is all. On the other hand, he invests in Bibles at ten cents each, and it buys a thousand copies of the Word of God. These he judiciously sows as seed of the King dom, and that seed springs up a har vest, not of Bibles, but of souls. Out of the unrighteous mammon he has made
immortal friends, who, when he fails, receive him into everlasting habitations. May this not be what is meant by the true riches— the treasure laid up in heaven in imperishable good? What revelations await us in that day of transmutation! Then, whatever has been given up to God as an offering of the heart, “ in righteousness,” will be seen as transfigured. Not only the magi’s gold, frankincense and myrrh, and the alabaster box of ointment of spikenard, very precious, and the houses and lands of such as Barnabas, but fish ermen’s boats and nets, the abandoned “ seat of custom,” the widow’s mites, and the cup of cold water— yes, when we had nothing else to give, the word of counsel, the tear of pity, the prayer of intercession. Then shall be seen both the limitless possibilities and the “ tran scendent riches” of consecrated poverty. Never will the work of missions, or any other form of service to God and man, receive the help it ought until there is a new conscience and a new consecra tion in the matter of money. The influ ence of the world and the worldly spirit is deadening to unselfish giving. It ex alts self-indulgence, whether in gross or refined form. It leads to covetous hoard ing or wasteful spending. It blinds us to the fact of obligation, and devises flimsy pretexts for diverting the Lord’s money to carnal ends. The few who learn to give on Scriptural principles learn also to love to give. These gifts become abundant and systematic and self-denying. The stream of beneficence flows perpetually— there is no period of drought. Once it was necessary to proclaim to the people of God that what they had brought “ was more than enough,” and to “ restrain them from bringing” (Ex. 36:6). So far as known this is, the one and only historic instance of such excess of generosity. But should not that al ways be the case? Is it not a shame and disgrace that there ever should be
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker