Recession: Part 3

I am continuing my multi-part posts on God's purposes in recession. This is purpose #3 of 5 from John Piper's sermon. It is about finding our joy in God's Grace, not in the things we own. This is definitely a hard thing for me to do. My joy does tend to get caught up in the things I own. I spend time brainstorming ways I can make extra money one day when I stay home with kids. As if money is life's aim. Why should I be less happy with less money? Should my happiness really be tied to money? If I bought all my clothes at Neiman Marcus would that really make me a happier person than if I bought all my clothes from Walmart? That seems silly when I think about it like that. I am comfortable with the amount of money God has given us at this time, but what if God took away some of it? Or a lot of it? Have I said to God - "This is my minimum comfort level, and I expect to stay at this level or go up"? Honestly, sometimes I think I have. Other times I think, oh I would be ok with less. But if that is really true, then why don't I give away more money now? Anyway, Piper of course says it way better. Below is taken directly out of his sermon (some things left out in order to condense).

3) To relocate the roots of our joy in His Grace rather than our goods

God sends recessions to his people to pull up the roots of our joy from the pleasures of the world and sink those roots into the pleasures of the glory of his grace. Here’s he clearest recessionary text about this in the Bible—2 Corinthians 8:1-2. It describes the roots of the joy of the Macedonian believers in their “recession.”

"We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part."

We want to be a generous people. Generous in every way. Where does it come from? From prosperity? No. Extreme poverty. “Their extreme poverty overflowed in a wealth of liberality.” This is why I call this a recessionary text. Here are people overflowing in generosity when the economic times are very bad.

Where then did this wealth of generosity come form? Paul says it came from joy, abundance of joy. Verse 2: “Their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity.”

Their joy was not rooted in prosperity or popularity. But it was very great. Paul calls it “abundance of joy” in the middle of verse 2. Where did that joy come from?

Our joy is not rooted in circumstances. God has relocated our joy in his grace, not our goods—in his mercy, not our money, in his worth, not our wealth.

If the recession can assist that relocation, it will have done the most important thing possible. Because God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.




Next post will be #4 and #5 since they are pretty short.