detestable day 1

"He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts.  What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight.""  Luke: 16:15

I don't know about you, but this is a highly frightening, or powerful verse.  There are so many things we highly value, and take for granted, and don't think much about that we put high value on, and God detests them.  WOE.  Woe is us.  And we will certainly try to justify the goodness of whatever we are onto or into, but God knows the truth.  He sees past our justifications. 
I don't think Jesus is saying that anything we find value in is wrong, but what men in general together find of high value, without their creator, God detests.

So I think we will start looking at some of these 1 day at a time.  What is something highly valued among men, that they value apart from their creator?

We will start with something obvious.  Greed and the love of money.  Oh yes, mankind values this above almost all things.  We believe in America we should have as much of this as possible, in the form of cars, and extravagant houses, and bigger, and more, to no end.  We generally believe what Gordon Gecko said in the movie Wall Street, that "Greed is good."  We view the rich as blessed, and the poor as cursed.  We believe that to solve problems you must have money.  And the more money you have, your problems are solved. 

Jesus said, "A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions, "  and "What does it profit a man to gain the world and forfeit his soul?" 

The particular context for the passage we started with is Jesus telling a parable related to earthly wealth and then ending with, "No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and money."  The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus.  He said to them, "You are the one who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts.  What is highly values among men is detestable in God's sight.""  Luke 16:13-15

I think it will be particularly hard for American Christians reading this to be honest about our love of money. 

Do we think we CAN serve God and money?  Not in theory perhaps, or we wouldn't say that, but in practice we try to.  Our lives are generally oriented around money and what it buys and does for us.  We do not view money as simply a tool that serves the way of living we choose for the Kingdom of God.  We let money dictate the way of living we choose, and then try to throw God's kingdom on top of that.  This passage from 1 Timothy 6:9-10 NIV is us: "People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that  plunge men into ruin and destruction.  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."   THAT is God's perspective on the love of money and what it does to people.  Remember Jesus parable of the soils in Mark 4?  Mark 4:18-19 NIV: "Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful."  The deceitfulness of wealth.  It deceives us.

The love of money has become for many the guiding factor in their lives.  It tells them what to want and desire.  It guides them.  Wealth deceives them.  Hmmmm.  Sounds like a god to me.  And that is what Colossians says about greed: "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry."  Col. 3:5 NIV  So this whole thing has to do with idols and serving a false god, which is probably what Jesus was getting at.  God will have NO rivals, including money.  Because it seems clear from scripture that God does NOT condemn money itself, or even riches.  "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.  Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share."  1 Timothy 6:17-18 NIV 

So if our stance is we love wealth, we long for wealth and riches, we want to get rich, and we hope in wealth to solve our problems, we are the one with the problem.  It is called idolatry, and the living God is against us and will bring judgement upon us. 

But if we trust in God, and put our hope in God to solve our problems, and see God who provides for us (and not money), then we are in a good place.  1 Timothy 6:19 goes on to say: "In this way they will  lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life."  Just as Jesus said: "A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

So this is something God detests: the love of money, and greed. 

Are we seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and allowing money to fall out where God provides along with all these things we need?  Or are we seeking all these things we need and hoping it happens that somehow we can seek God's kingdom along the way, too?  Or perhaps you are in a place where you don't even care about God's kingdom.  What will it profit you if you lose your soul while seeking riches?