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Highways to Zion

PATINA

    We have one real silver serving spoon in our silverware drawer. It belonged to my grandparents and then my parents, who all used it frequently, as we do. It has a lovely shine to it, called a patina. When we cleaned out our barn some years ago, we discovered a box containing a few pieces of silver carefully wrapped in flannel bags. I’m not sure who they ever belonged to, but they were stored there long ago and then left. The silver in the flannel bags was terribly tarnished, almost black. It might have been beautiful at one time, but had deteriorated badly.

    I was reminded of the silver from the barn when I read the fifth chapter of James, where he condemns the misuse of riches. "Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you . . . " (James 5:2-3).

    Things that are meant to be used must be used. Food that is perishable and meant to be consumed spoils if it is not used in time. It is not the clothing we wear every day that gets moth holes in it, but the garments that are left in the back of the closet and forgotten. And just like our spoon demonstrates, silver that is used regularly develops a lustrous patina, while silver that is stored away tarnishes. Its condition is evidence enough that it has not been used.

    God gives us good things to enjoy (1 Tim. 6:17). It’s nice that my freezer is full, but I don’t enjoy that food until I cook it and eat it. My closet has more clothes in it than I really need, and the truth of the matter is that I can only enjoy what I am wearing right now. I have a few pieces of beautiful jewelry, and I wear them almost daily because I enjoy doing so. Any joy that comes from just knowing you have an abundance of stuff socked away somewhere seems a bit perverse.

    Wealth can be a severe test. Jesus spoke of the deceitfulness of riches (in the parable of the sower) as something that can choke our growth and fruitfulness (Matt. 13:22). The passage in 1 Timothy continues, "Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed" (1 Tim. 6:18-19). The other reason God gives us material wealth is so that we can use it to love and serve others, and glorify Him in the process.

    The wise King Solomon penned these words: "There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, and there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want. The generous man will be prosperous, and he who waters will himself be watered" (Prov. 11:24-25). The judgment in James is not so much against being rich as it is about what one does or doesn’t do with his riches. I have good friends who always said they wanted to "use it all up for the Lord," and both their possessions and their ministry shine with the patina of God’s blessing.

© J.H.Nichols 2012