Posts Tagged "living"
The Miser Of Marseille
I remember hearing about “The Miser of Marseilles.” Many years ago, he was a figure on the streets of that town. He lived for nothing but money. He gripped, and he grabbed, and he kept. A miser, a money grub, and very wealthy he was known to be. He was the object of derision throughout the whole of Marseilles, and the South of France. When he appeared in the streets, the boys hooted at him. When he was mentioned among his business associates, they jeered at him, the old skinflint, the miserable old wretch, heaping up money, storing it up. Ah, he was contented thus to live, and thus to die; and his body was carried to the grave without a single attendant. There was not a soul in Marseilles but gave a kind of sneer, and a kind of curse, as he passed the body of the miser on the way to the grave.
Ah, yes, but when his will was read, what is this that brings mourning and lamentation to the whole city: It is this: “From my infancy, I noticed that the poor of Marseilles had great difficulty in getting water. I noticed that water, the gift of God, was very dear, and very difficult to obtain in this city, pure and sweet: and I vowed before God that I would live but for one purpose, for one end. I would save money, money, money; and now I give it to the city, on one condition, that an aqueduct be made from yonder lake on the hills to Marseilles.”
As they drink the sweet, luscious, fresh water of that city, I believe the poor say, “Ah, when he lived we misunderstood him, but he did it for us.” The bubbling fountain in Marseilles was the gift of the man who was misunderstood and jeered at.
Do you catch it? Jesus was there on the Cross, and the folks said:
“And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, Save thyself, and come down from the cross.” (Mark 15:29-30 KJV)
They all mocked Him, and jeered at Him. Yet, it is from this despised One, this Christ, that the souls, needy and thirsty and despairing, are drinking today the water of life.
Read MoreMustard Seed Living
“And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.“ (Luke 17:5-6 KJV)
One of Jesus’ favorite ways of illustrating faith was with the mustard seed. He used this tiny seed to show how a big thing can come from a small beginning. The size of our faith is not the critical ingredient in Discipleship. Our tiny amount of faith in God is all that is needed from us. Our relationship with God is what the Old Testament called a “Suzerainty” Covenant; or, a partnership between a weak partner and a very strong partner. It is a legal term in today’s world, as when a person with a few thousand dollars enters into a business partnership with a partner who puts tens of thousands of dollars into the new business. Often, the weak party has some experience that will be of practical use in operating the new company. For example, a person who has years of experience operating a gas station, but little money, joins with a rich man who has no practical experience but a lot of capitol. Our weakness is made strong through God Almighty’s infusion of grace and power. Our contribution to the New Covenant, relationship with Christ is just a tiny, mustard seed sized, amount of faith. Indeed, our willingness is all that is necessary to enter into friendship with God.
In fact, our faith is so small that it is often described as “nothing.” There is no-thing that we can do to enter into partnership with God but present ourselves to Him. We are valuable to God because He loves us. God is our spiritual Father, and as a Father loves His child, so the child inherits a place at the table simply because we are a daughter or son. Thus, Jesus minimized our ticket price by comparing it to the tiniest of seeds.
A tiny amount of simple childlike faith is all it takes to get started, but as with a seed that is planted, it take sunshine, rain and most of all time for the seed to germinate and grow up to become a 35 foot tall mustard tree. Do we really want Jesus to increase our faith or, do we think that such notions are the signs of weakness? If we start taking this religious think really seriously, we might end up giving chunks of our money away, or volunteering our time, or forgiving folks whom we have judged as unforgivable. Christ likeness might remold the tough character that we have been trying to portray. Our secular foundations might begin to crumble. Faith might unveil a new you!
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