The Accountant Part Two

Acts 2

Here I am again, the “accountant.” I put that label in quotes because, as I have previously written, we had no such term in what you call the first century. And, as you remember from my earlier message, my employer is none other than Herod. Yes, the infamous Herod the Tetrarch!

You may also remember that I am a follower of Jesus, but admittedly, in secret. Why? Because, my employer was not a friend of Jesus. Not an admirer either. In fact, I would say that Herod was opposed to Jesus in virtually every way possible.

Why? Why would Herod oppose Jesus? Clearly, because Jesus represented all that Herod was not. Herod was rich and powerful. Jesus was poor and humble. Herod accumulated great wealth (I should know, since I kept his financial records). And, Herod was always hungry for more. His ambition knew no limits, and he worked hard to hold on to and even increase his wealth.

Jesus, on the other hand, celebrated people who gave generously, like the widow who gave her last pennies to the Treasury in Jerusalem (Mark 12). Jesus owned nothing and he urged people to avoid placing their trust in things that can depreciate. Right, depreciate. That’s an accounting term, one that accountants in your time use every day. Yes, an accounting term, and even if Jesus didn’t actually use that word, it still shows that he understood good accounting!

How am I so certain that Jesus knew about depreciation? Here’s one of Jesus’ most famous quotes:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  (Matthew 6)

See, Jesus is describing depreciation. Treasures in heaven, he tells us, do not depreciate! Everything else does!

All of this makes me think about my former life, my life before becoming a follower of Jesus. I was, like most of my peers, trying to make my way in our Jewish culture, keeping from the Roman occupiers as best I could, while following the ways and traditions of our faith.

My father was a tradesman, following in his father’s footsteps; and he also owned a small plot of land on which he cultivated a vegetable garden. Though he wasn’t rich, neither was he poor. In your time, you’d call him middle class. The local community respected him, and he had a home and a family of several generations to support him. As his son, my education was little more than basic, but above average for the day. I can read and write. And so, I broke with my father’s tradition and went to work for Herod. Why? Because it paid better!

As the oldest son, I inherited all that my father owned. In short, I had resources, assets you might say. And even non-accountants know what assets are, right?

A good future awaited me and my family, as long as we stayed in the mainstream of our Jewish faith and out of trouble with the Roman occupiers. I paid my taxes.

There was much for me to trust: first, my family, and my reputation as an honest, capable worker. I could trust the religious culture, based on centuries of tradition, that surrounded me as I grew up, including friends who would stand by me in times of need. I could trust my home as a place of safety and even comfort, and I could trust my land and my position in Herod’s court to produce an income for me and my family. All of those things would, I believed, carry me through a tough time, adverse conditions, or the unexpected emergency. So, you can see why I would feel a sense of trust in my assets. They would not, in my way of thinking, ever fail me.

But then, I thought of Jesus. Yes, Jesus. What could he trust? What resources did he have to fall back on in times of need? Who would stand by him? Did he have a reputation that promised a bright future? The financial means to get through a tough time? A supportive family?

I remember his response when asked by a would-be follower about his home: He replied, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

He gave up following in Joseph’s footsteps to be a carpenter in Nazareth. And aside from his mother, the family of Jesus did not support him.

And what about his friends? Well, if you read the Gospels, you can’t help but feel that they were a mixed bunch. They followed Jesus, to be sure. But one of them would betray him, while another, at a critical time, would deny even knowing him. When Jesus asked his closest friends to pray with him on the eve of his arrest, they dozed off. And when he was hanging in agony on the cross, only one was willing to stand with him. The others? In hiding. In fact, the crucified Jesus was surrounded by more enemies than friends!

Jesus owned nothing more than the clothes on his back. And as you remember, the Roman soldiers took them (ok, stole them) while he was dying. He had no place for a burial, and was given no funeral.

Was Jesus a king? A king without a kingdom? He told Pilate that his kingdom was “not of this world.”

It wasn’t obvious to most, but for some of us, we have come to believe that actually, Jesus had immense resources, more than any of us could imagine.

He did? So, exactly what resources did Jesus actually have? What assets could he trust as he experienced such terrific persecution? It’s not obvious, at least not on the surface.

But yes, Jesus did have reason to trust. You see, he had the Father: his Father and our Father. And the Father, in his amazing generosity, gave it all to Jesus.

Here is another quote from Jesus:

“All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”  (John 16)

Jesus had nothing to trust except the love of the Father. He trusted the Father, the Father who loved him. The very same Father who created the universe in love. In fact, Jesus trusted the love of the Father all the way to the cross. Despite appearances to the contrary, Jesus was never alone. Despite his lack of the resources that I had, and despite the desertion of his friends, he remained faithful to the love of the Father.

Here’s another quote from Jesus:

“The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. I have said this to you so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution, but take courage: I have conquered the world!” (John 16)

And his message to us? Just as Jesus trusted in the love of the Father, so too, could we. And thanks to the gift of the Holy Spirit, we did. We could give up those resources and assets that we’d formerly placed our trust in, and we could come to trust as Jesus did, in the love of the Father. And we did so in the face of the very persecution that Jesus had predicted.

That wasn’t easy, at least, not for me. I had worked hard to build up my assets. I trusted them. Yes, I trusted them perhaps more than I trusted God. I confess that I was protective of them, maybe even a little like Herod.

But then, there was a seismic shift for those of us who followed Jesus. First, and most important, he was raised from the dead. Yes, raised from the dead! By whom? Who raised Jesus from the dead? Yes, you have guessed correctly, because it was the very same Father in whom Jesus had placed his trust. The very same Father who was, in fact, the only asset, the only resource that Jesus could call on and trust. And so it happened, just as Jesus had promised, and despite our disbelief, he was raised and he appeared alive to many of us.

And then, there was a second part to the seismic shift. You can read about it in your Book of Acts. On the festival of Pentecost, God’s Holy Spirit arrived in a fierce wind with tongues of flame. As a result, the followers of Jesus were so energized that the whole city of Jerusalem took notice. Even Herod heard about it, and he wondered.

Pentecost

Duccio Di Buoninsenga, 13th century

This newfound energy served to bring the followers of Jesus together, to see a new life ahead of us. Yes, us, because I was one of them. Even accountants can become followers of Jesus!

So, what happened next? Here is what your book of Acts says about the impact of the Holy Spirit:

“Awe came upon everyone because many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.” (Acts 2)

So, it happened, even to an accountant like me. I was no longer a secret follower of Jesus. And I began, like the others, to discard the assets that I had thought would keep me safe. Mostly, I sold them or gave them to others in need. And I brought the money to the apostles, who helped to distribute the proceeds to the needy.

It felt good, very good. And like the other followers of Jesus, I joined in breaking bread together. We felt like we were at the beginning of something really important, something that would last down the centuries.

When I look back, it gives me great satisfaction to remember that we finally took to heart the words of Jesus:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?  And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.  But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?  Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the gentiles who seek all these things, and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”  (Matthew 6)

And finally, what about you? What resources and assets do you cling to? Can you accept the love of the Father as your primary resource in life? Well, speaking as an accountant who understands depreciation, I pray that you will!