Jesus Christ, Not Wealth, Our Strength

Saturday of the 31st Week in Course

St. Paul founded most of the churches in Macedonia during his many months serving in that area, but the one at Philippi was perhaps his favorite. In the letter we have been hearing proclaimed these days, we see proof of his fondness for those good Christians. He tells them that he has learned to live for Christ in whatever physical circumstances he finds himself, well-fed or hungry, rich or poor. That sounds like two other phrases we are all familiar with. The first is a link to marriage, in which husband and wife promise to love and honor each other “in riches or poor, good times and bad.” That’s a statement on the covenant of marriage. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus declares, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” St. Paul has a covenant with His Lord, as we all should have done a long time ago when we begin walking with Christ in His Church. So wealth does not matter to him, but he is thankful for the Philippians supporting him in his mission.

Please notice, though, the most important thing Paul said in the reading: “I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me.” In whatever situation any of us may find ourselves, that should be our motto. Jesus Christ is our strength. And we should add in these years of the Eucharist that our communion with Him frequently is the physical manifestation of His strengthening us.

Jesus helps us understand our situation with money even better. Luke comments that “the Pharisees. . .loved money” and they scorned Jesus. The Greek word is ekmukteizo, which even sounds scornful. It literally means they held up their noses to Christ as a sign of their scorn. Remember, to them, looking holy was most important. That’s why they were careful to keep all 613 parts of the Law, but not so careful about sharing with the poor or conducting business in strictly ethical ways. How one looks to others is not important. How we treat others, and the intention of our hearts in everything we do–that is what God sees. Anything less is way less than we or God deserve.