Last Sunday’s 5:17 church sermon was on Luke 16:1-13 (“the parable of the dishonest manager”). At the beginning of the sermon, I asked the following question: why has God allowed this recession to occur? After working through Luke 16:1-13, I quoted John Piper, who gave 5 really helpful reasons. They are:

1.    God intends for this recession to expose hidden sin and so bring us to repentance and cleansing.

2.    He intends to wake us up to the constant and desperate condition of the developing world where there is always and only recession of the worst kind.

3.    He intends to relocate the roots of our joy in his grace rather than in our goods, in his mercy rather than our money, in his worth rather than our wealth.

4.    He intends to advance his saving mission in the world – the spread of the gospel and the growth of his church – precisely at a time when human resources are least able to support it. This is how he guards his glory.

5.    He intends for the church to care for its hurting members and to grow in the gift of love.

I really appreciate these 5 reasons because they take us out of our tendency to focus on self and instead they help us to focus on (a) those who desperately need our help (the helpless and the hopeless); and (b) God, who gives us certain hope and joy which even recessions cannot take away.