He was uncompromising in his denunciation of the rich. Luke 6:24: "But woe unto you that are rich, for ye have received your consolation." He showed the danger of riches in the parable of the sower. Matt. 13:22: "He also that received seed among thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful."
Where grace is to be cultivated and flourish, the "greed of gain" must not enter. The young man who came to him, whom he loved for his sweet disposition and excellent character, he turned away by the answer that his wealth was incompatible with his salvation. He must part from his riches. When the disciples were surprised, he made it more emphatic, Matt. 19:24: "And again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of G.o.d." And when they felt that this made salvation impossible, he declared it could only be possible by the exercise of omnipotent, divine grace.
Zaccheus, the one rich man whose conversion is recorded, surrendered his ill-gotten gain fourfold and gave away half of the remainder before salvation came to his house. The temptation to trust and lean upon riches is irresistible.
Our Lord did not make wealth more dangerous than under the Mosaic dispensation by removing the restraint that was there put upon it. As a friend to the poor he did not give wealth an advantage it did not have before.
5. The whole drift of his teachings limited and restrained acc.u.mulation of wealth. The parable of the rich fool is a forcible presentation of its human folly on the earthly side.
"Whose shall these things be?"
"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
The result is irresistible; when engaged in storing earthly treasure, the heart will be earthly; or if laying up treasures in heaven, the heart will reach heavenward. He who labors for a heavenly reward, will be heavenly minded.
Treasures are stored for eternity, when used for the bringing out of that which shall survive the grave; for the bringing out the highest divine type of manhood and womanhood, in ourselves, in our children, and in all the children of men.
Treasures expended in the development of immortals shall be found when the earthly and temporal scenes have pa.s.sed away. That which is expended in the uplifting of the race shall be our eternal reward.
Giving, giving, not h.o.a.rding is commended. Productive industry he enforced by his example, the carpenter that wrought for his daily bread. He chose workmen to be his followers. He taught economy in the command to take up the fragments of the food miraculously created "that nothing be lost," yet unreserved giving was the lesson he inculcated and ill.u.s.trated in his life. To follow his example, we must produce and produce much, yet what we gain is to be expended, so as to promote the highest welfare of all mankind. We must not store the fruits of our labor, but expend, not as a spendthrift who wastes, but judiciously and wisely for G.o.d and man. Our giving is only limited by the ability and facility to produce. Our Lord did not greatly add to the temptation to h.o.a.rd by delivering the earthly treasures from the decay by "moth and rust" and instead permitting their increase. Our h.o.a.rding of earthly treasures must be limited, because of our disposition to trust in them. We must always be so dependent that we shall pray truly with the spirit of dependence, "Give us this day our daily bread." "Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me."
Thrift does not require that we shall h.o.a.rd an amount that will support us through life, much less that we shall lay up a fortune, that shall free our children from the necessity of productive labor.
The spirit of the Master"s teachings is, that each age shall produce and spend its product for its own advancement, then each succeeding age shall be better fitted to produce and care for itself and so advance the coming generations. "Go work today in my vineyard." Now is the time to give and do for the generation yet unborn.
CHAPTER VIII.
PARABLES OF THE TALENTS AND THE POUNDS.
Our Lord mentions usury by name only in the parables of the talents and pounds. Matt. 25:14-30; Luke 19:12-27. Usury is mentioned in these pa.s.sages incidentally to meet the excuses of worthless servants, but in both as the unjust and oppressive act of a hard and dishonest man.
These references to usury are in entire harmony with the expressions of David and Solomon, and of Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
These servants in the parables were slaves, who owed their service to their master and for whom he was responsible.
The lesson in both parables is the necessity of faithfulness. The faithful servants are rewarded and the unfaithful punished in both.
Yet there is a special lesson in each.
The parable of the talents shows that an equal reward shall be given all who are equally faithful, though the means and opportunities afforded one may far exceed those granted another. One was given five talents and another but two; one gained five and the other two, yet both equally faithful, are directed to enter into the joy of their lord.
The unfaithful servant brings his talent with an excuse, which is a charge against the character of his master, "I knew thee that thou art an hard man reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strewed," "so there thou hast which is thine."
The master in reply showed the inconsistency of the excuse by a.s.suming that he bore the hard character charged upon him by his slave, "Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strewed: Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury." It is "interest" in the Revised Version.
This interview may be paraphrased as follows:
The unfaithful servant said: "I know the kind of a man you are. You are dishonest. You take what does not belong to you. You reap what other people sow, and you take up what others earn. I was afraid of you: Here is all that you gave me and all that belongs to you."
The master said: "You are merely excusing yourself. You are a lazy faithless slave. If I am the hard man you say I am, taking what does not belong to me and gathering the sowings and earnings of others, you could have met that condition without trouble to yourself, by giving my money to the usurers and then at my coming I could have received my unjust gain. Your excuse is inconsistent, you condemn yourself. You are an indolent and worthless slave. Begone to your punishment."
It is clearly implied that unearned increase, reaping and gathering without sowing, could be gained through the exchangers. If this was what was demanded, the servant could have secured this with no effort on his part. His charge against the master was a mere pretence to excuse his own want of personal faithfulness, and the master"s reply was fitted to this pretense.
This is in entire harmony with the opinion our Lord expressed of the exchangers when he called them thieves and drove them out of the temple. It would be wholly inconsistent for him to advise an honest and faithful servant to place any portion of the property in their hands. His advice can only come from the standpoint of a dishonest master such as his servant called him.
The parable of the pounds shows the degrees of faithfulness in those who have equal opportunities. With the same opportunities one may far surpa.s.s another, because more faithful to his trust, his reward is proportionately greater.
In this parable each servant received the same, but the gains and rewards differ. By diligence one gained ten pounds and is commended and given authority over ten cities. Another gained five pounds. He is also commended and given authority over five cities.
Another, who had given no service, came with his pound but without increase. This was a proof of his unfaithfulness. He endeavors to shield himself like the servant with the talent, by charging injustice and oppression on his master. "I feared thee because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layest not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow."
His master turned on him because his own reason was inconsistent with his conduct and a mere shield for his indolence and worthlessness.
"Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knowest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow. Wherefore gavest thou not my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury."
This interview may also be paraphrased.
The unfaithful slave came and said: "Lord I have carefully kept all that thou gavest me. I knew that thou wast an exacting master, taking what did not belong to you and gathering what others sow."
The master says: "Now stop right there and I will judge you by your own excuse out of your own mouth. You say you knew me to be exacting and dishonest, taking more than belonged to me. Now, knowing this, why did you not serve me by giving my money to the bank, and then at my coming you could have brought me my money with my unjust gain and that would have pleased a hard man like me, without effort on your part.
You are only giving this as an excuse for your own unfaithfulness. You are a wicked slave."
The master admits that he would be a hard man, if he reaped what another sowed, or took up what belonged to another, but a.s.suming that this was his character, even this could have been met without trouble to the slave through the bank. This is a clear recognition of usury as unjust gain.
Exchangers were little more than the p.a.w.n-brokers of today and a bank was a p.a.w.n-shop where pledges were stored. The money loaned upon any p.a.w.n was much less than its full value. The increase of the loan soon made it more than the value of the pledge which was then forfeited, and the p.a.w.n was sold by the broker.
These parables are here dwelt upon, for they are so frequently misunderstood and misapplied. In a large volume on "Banking," the writer found the words of the master quoted, "Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required my own with usury." And they were quoted as a solemn direction of the divine Master to deposit money in the bank.
To quote from these parables in the defense of usury is as flagrant a perversion of the truth as the famous quotation to prove that Paul encouraged theft. "Let him that stole, steal."
The lessons of these parables are in entire harmony with the law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets and Nehemiah. In these parables the usurer is presented as a hard man, exacting that which he has not earned and to which he has no right.
The teachings of the Master did not permit what had been forbidden in all the ages.
CHAPTER IX.
PRACTICE OF THE DISCIPLES.
The conditions in the very early church were not such as to make prominent the sin of usury. Many of the disciples were very poor and from the humblest walks of life. I Cor. 1:27-28: "But G.o.d hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and G.o.d hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty; and the base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath G.o.d chosen, yea, and the things which are not, to bring to nought things that are."
The practice of the disciples was, however, in entire harmony with the teachings of Moses and the Master, and in accord with the prohibition of usury. Later, in the time of the apostolic fathers when the church came face to face with this sin, there was but one voice and that in the denunciation, for the fathers were unanimous in its condemnation.
(1) The first disciples did not loan, but gave to their needy brethren. The early converts held their property so subject to a general call that some have thought they had a community of goods.