Matthew 7.24 (NIV)
Lending and Borrowing - The statistics
speak for themselves.
At the end of last month, the
amount of personal borrowing;
the bank
loans that people take out; the amount owed on credit cards and so on; the
amount of personal borrowing has reached for the first time
1 1/4 trillion pounds………. the
highest ever…..
the
average owed by every man and woman in the
Most people are able to pay
off what they owe, of course,
but
every now and then you read in the papers of debts spiralling out of control. Recently,
there was a story in the papers of one woman who owed just under
two thousand pounds on her credit card, after a couple of months she couldn’t
keep up with the repayment, and ended up owing £72000…
But lending and borrowing…..is
not new.
In fact, it’s the topic of the
first half of Deuteronomy 15
lending
and borrowing…., an extraordinary law in Deuteronomy Chapter 15. Unlike anything found in the the
Basically – there was a
seventh year, a seven year cycle, in
written
off !
This was the year of jubilee….
Of course, we remember that
A loan given by a richer, more
prosperous man to a poorer man in the same village this year might be cancelled
within a year or two when the year of jubilee came round. Over the years this
meant that the poor in the land would not be weighed down by back breaking
debt, which simply went on increasing year after year.
Recently there has been a
great deal of interest in the jubilee year,
Gordon Brown has spoken of it occasionally in
speeches, and its from the jubilee year in Deuteronomy, when all debts were
cancelled, that the idea of cancelling the debts of developing countries has
come………
Now, normally when people have looked at Deuteronomy 15, the focus has normally all been on the poor man, the one who owes the money. The debtor, on cancelling his debt, sets him free……..
But in fact when you look at
Deuteronomy 15, there is also another focus –
on the lender – the wealthy man who
lends the money …..
The law of the Lord also
addresses the one who is lending the money.
The law of the Lord speaks directly to the one who loans the money,
“Do not be hard hearted, or tight fisted towards your poor brother… be
open handed, and freely lend to him what he needs…. give generously to him and
do so without a grudging heart…. then because of this the Lord your God will
bless you in all your work, and in everything you put your hand to….. I command
you to be open handed towards your brother and towards the poor and needy in
your land.”
What the Lord is asking from the rich, those who were able to lend – is sacrifice, self sacrifice. The Lord invites the one who lends to be generous in heart, to be open in hand, to be loving in spirit when the debt was cancelled in the seventh year. And those who were rich were to consider the cancelled debt as an offering, a sacrifice. So, as we listen carefully here, we discover that Deuteronomy 15 fits wonderfully into that great and constant theme of the Bible, that call to us to be a neighbour, to show kindness and love to those in need.
This is a call to a life in which we offer ourselves for others, put others first, offer our own lives as a sacrifice, as an offering to God acceptable and pleasing to Him……
This morning we are gathered here in worship. And we come not only giving thanks for the wonderful harvest of life, but to hear the law of the Lord, to hear the call of the Lord to us to be open hearted, to be open handed to those who are poor, who can never pay us back. To give of what we have with a generous heart and spirit,
And so to offer to God a sacrifice, an offering acceptable and pleasing to Him……
AMEN