My dear friends,
You’ll doubtless have read, seen, or heard about the lottery couple who
won £101 million this month (or last month as you read this). And
which of you didn’t have just the fleetingest of fleeting daydreams as to
what you’d do in their place. Would you go public? Would you try and
keep it secret? Would it make you a better person or a worse one for it
surely wouldn’t leave you exactly the same.
I have a strange mind which works in ways I know not – but truthfully,
the first thing I thought when I heard about their win was: ‘I’d really
hate to win £101 million.’ Possibly not for any of the reasons you might
think, but purely because as soon as I’d spent over a million of it I’d
feel sad at having less than 100 left. I’m sure I’d get over the sadness
soon enough . . . but I’d be thinking ‘I used to have over 100 million
and already it’s dipped below! I’ve only got 99 point something now.’
No, you can keep your 101. I’d far rather win a far more derisory 80 or
85.
(Million, that is.)
But the problems, the problems, the problems. How much do you give
away – how much do you keep? How much is enough to live on? What
if you give a million to a family member and it turns out to be the ruin
of them? The begging letters and the weight of responsibility. Or if you
just decided to blow it all would it really matter? Or if you gave it all
away? Our lives begin and end in perfect balance: we bring nothing in
to this world – we take nothing out. So what is the Christian response to
what we do in between?
Anyway – you can stop day dreaming now. You probably haven’t got
101 million. (If you DO have it and you don’t join the Friends of
Astbury Church – see the article later in the magazine – I shall be jolly
peeved).
But then, in all seriousness, how content are you to know that if you
call Christ your Lord and follow his will in your life then you have
God’s promise that you have more than silver or gold – you have an
inheritance that cannot spoil or fade, that will not be taken from you:
you have something beyond price.
For you cannot buy eternal life, but you can receive it as a gift from
God.
We’re looking at our giving in the church at the moment. (Typical
vicar: banging on about money.) But it’s not primarily about money:
have a look at the article in this month’s magazine on giving to see
why. Also have a look at the news of the launch of the Friends of
Astbury Church: I’m more excited by this than I have the verbal ability
to portray with anything approaching justice. We also have a new
website (worth buying a computer just so you can see it.) There’s also a
new Thursday mums group started and a new Midweek Communion
service in the Village Hall starting on 9th November. It’s all go. You’ll
probably need a cup of tea and a biscuit before you delve any further in.
Jonathan
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