THE WAY TO WEALTH

If you then, though you are evil,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your Father in heaven
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!

Luke 11:13 (read 11:1-13) NIV

Those who use this passage to support the concept that God wants prosperity for his people distort the words of Jesus. Jesus was not a fan of the theology of prosperity. He never promised "riches and glory" for his followers. Rather, His was the way of simplicity, not grandeur.

The Lord’s Prayer asks for nothing beyond "daily bread". In the parable that followed this prayer, the person who knocked on the neighbor's door at midnight asking for bread was not asking it for himself but to serve to another who had just arrived from a journey. The promises at the end of the story must be interpreted in light of The Lord’s Prayer and the parable of the importunate friend.

The “good gifts” that are not denied are those that are essential for our daily life and for the purpose of helping others. Accumulated goods are poison, not blessing! Good gifts are not assets that can spoil or be stolen. They are qualities that no one can take from us. When we die, we leave behind our material possessions, but qualities are ours forever.

The Holy Spirit represents the good gifts: love of neighbor, solidarity with humanity and care for all of creation.

We do not have to be wealthy in material goods and occupy prestigious places in society in order to have love for others, to show solidarity with those who suffer and to care for the environment. These "good gifts" are available to all who desire and seek them. It is sufficient to just want them and to open to them.

When we ask for things that are only for ourselves, we are really asking for "snakes" and "scorpions" that can bite and poison us. Prosperity can be a sign of doom, not of grace. It can be the result of materialism and greed. The quest for material wealth separates, not unites, us from our fellow humans and from our environment. The rich need to lift barriers to defend themselves and their wealth from any sharing with others. Poor people and immigrants are treated as enemies, not fellow human beings. Those who are better off than the less fortunate demonize them as lazy and moochers as an excuse to deny them solidarity.

Jesus was free to circulate in the crowd without the danger of being robbed of His most precious treasure. His riches were beyond the reach of thieves. They could be freely shared without suffering injury. Love for God, neighbor and environment are the good gifts that we can ask from the Father without being denied. By grace, God refuses to give us the poisonous "snakes" and "scorpions" of materialism. God desires true riches for us. The purpose of prayer is to open the doors of our hearts to receive the good gifts of life. The more these good gifts are shared the more they are multiplied and come back to us. The good gifts are those that money cannot buy. True wealth is ours for the asking and the willingness to share.

LUKE 11:1-13 – NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV)

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.

Give us each day our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.

And lead us not into temptation.”

Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.

“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!