The world markets were reeling yesterday, and everyone on European television this morning is talking about the fact that we didn't really have a complete view of the situation since the US markets were closed in honor of Martin Luther King's birthday. Commentators have been declaring that they expect the West (or the United States at least) could have a major depression like that of the 1930s. People are unsettled, and, no doubt, most of our lives will become unsettled as well. The prosperity to which we have become so accustomed seems poised to evaporate. (Why we as Christian believers get lulled into financial complacency is beyond me, since Jesus warned us that all material things are ephemeral. But we are all too easily acculturated!)
I'm starting a study of the Gospel of Matthew, a book I haven't examined in a while. It's kind of interesting to look at Matthew, who probably was the most financially secure of all the disciples Jesus called. Although looked down upon by the religious hierarchy and his Jewish compatriots, Matthew surely was economically secure. He obviously had enough funds to host a dinner party where he introduced some of his "riff-raff" friends to Jesus. (Matthew 9:9-10; Mark 2:13-17; Luke 5:27-32)
Matthew impresses me in two ways particularly. He didn't hesitate to leave his job and follow Jesus. He didn't dither about, trying to figure out if he could afford to make this step of faith. He just left. We don't have the details on how he subsisted from this point, but he obviously had the faith that God would take care of those details. The other disciples similarly left all they had to follow. Jesus' call on their lives was such that they moved out in faith regardless of the economic consequences.
Matthew also impresses me by his immediate desire to introduce his friends to Jesus. Jesus had so impacted his life (even in these early stages of their relationship) that he didn't waste any time in holding a dinner party and inviting his friends to meet his new master--a far different master from the Roman government.
Future economic uncertainty did not cause Matthew to blanch in fear or spurn the call of Jesus on his life. As we know Matthew lived at least until 50 A.D. (when he possibly wrote his Gospel), we know that God provided for his needs and sustained him.
So in the face of possible terrorism, falling economies, stressed-out governments, I can have faith that God's call to me is to follow. He will work out the details of my sustenance and my future. My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him. (Ps. 62:1)
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