Ecclesiastes 5

The Futility of Wealth

8 Don’t be surprised if you see a poor person being oppressed by the powerful and if justice is being miscarried throughout the land. For every official is under orders from higher up, and matters of justice get lost in red tape and bureaucracy. 9 Even the king milks the land for his own profit!

10 Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness! 11 The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what good is wealth—except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers!

12 People who work hard sleep well, whether they eat little or much. But the rich seldom get a good night’s sleep.

13 There is another serious problem I have seen under the sun. Hoarding riches harms the saver. 14 Money is put into risky investments that turn sour, and everything is lost. In the end, there is nothing left to pass on to one’s children. 15 We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us.

16 And this, too, is a very serious problem. People leave this world no better off than when they came. All their hard work is for nothing—like working for the wind. 17 Throughout their lives, they live under a cloud—frustrated, discouraged, and angry.

Deuteronomy 15

7 “But if there are any poor Israelites in your towns when you arrive in the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tightfisted toward them. 8 Instead, be generous and lend them whatever they need. 9 Do not be mean-spirited and refuse someone a loan because the year for canceling debts is close at hand. If you refuse to make the loan and the needy person cries out to the Lord, you will be considered guilty of sin. 10 Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do. 11 There will always be some in the land who are poor. That is why I am commanding you to share freely with the poor and with other Israelites in need.

1 John 3

17If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?

18Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. 

A Litany for Open-Handed Living

Leader: God has poured blessings into our hands.

People: Let us give with open hearts.

Leader: God calls us to see the needs around us.

People: May our eyes be awake to care.

Leader: God has shaped us to love without measure.

People: May our hearts be full of mercy.

Leader: God invites us to share without fear.

People: May our hands be generous and free.

Leader: God promises that acts of love are never lost.

People: With Christ in us we go, grateful and ready to serve.

All: Let us be a blessing as we have been blessed. Amen.