Long ago they said, “The Holy Bible is the crown of books, and the Sermon on the Mount is the jewel of this crown.” The Sermon on the Mount is the one delivered by the Lord Jesus Christ and recorded by St. Matthew the Evangelist in chapters five, six, and seven of his Gospel. I have often read this sermon in its entirety, and I find beauty upon beauty and great spiritual and human dimensions. It is suitable for every age, guiding every person, and revealing the truth of the life he or she lives on this earth. The Church has taught us that we pray with the first part of this sermon in the Gospel reading of the Sixth Hour Agpeya prayer every day. We also read chapter six divided into two parts in the gospels of the Preparation Sunday Liturgy and the first Sunday Liturgy of Great Lent, in addition to other occasions throughout the ecclesiastical calendar when portions of this sermon are read.

I have often paused at the Lord Jesus Christ’s words about “money”: “No one can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24 NKJV). Of course, in the time of the Lord Jesus Christ there were no banks or financial institutions in the form we are accustomed to today. There were no savings or investment instruments in any form. There were no currencies that change value every day. There was no paper money, certificates of deposits (CDs), or electronic currencies. There were no stock exchanges or specialized exchanges in fields such as cotton or poultry, and so on. None of this existed when the Lord Jesus Christ spoke of money as a god or an idol.

His words were spoken two thousand years ago, yet it is as though He was describing the condition of today’s human being who lives in a society dominated by materialism at both the individual and national levels, and money has indeed become the controller of the world’s direction. All the conflicts, wars, and disputes that we see in news reports morning and evening revolve around money as master—or more precisely, are directed by money whether we like it or not.

It is noticeable that there is an increase in colleges and universities that teach economics, commerce, business, money management, currencies, and wealth such as oil (petroleum), gold, and precious metals. Economics has become a common factor in all educational, medical, social, and life projects in every form.

Truly, many people worship money, spending their entire lives collecting and hoarding it, only to die and leave it behind. Their desire for money and for what it can purchase far exceeds their commitment to God and to spiritual matters. Money occupies them intensely, and they think about it at all times, as it steals their energies and they fall into the trap of materialism. It is written, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10).

Certainly, money is a blessing from God, but attachment to it makes us enslaved to it and separated from the worship of God. One cannot combine the two loves; either you love God or you love the world and its possessions of money, food, clothing, and any material thing.

In our churches and monasteries/convents money is used only as a means of service and nothing else. This comes from donors and supporters for the needy and the modest, and it must be characterized by full honesty, integrity, and transparency.

True richness from money is not in what we possess but in what we give, because giving pours down the generosity of God, and true happiness is in giving rather than in receiving (Acts 20:35).

What is striking in human life is that a person fully realizes that he came into the world naked and will also leave the world naked (Job 1:21), taking nothing with them no matter how small or great. As they say, “The shroud has no pockets.” Here appears a great illusion in the human being, that he “owns” and possesses something. But in reality, he only benefits from that thing for a period—the days of his life—then leaves everything. Therefore, we call this a right of benefit, because even if one possesses something for a short or long time, he ultimately leaves it all. Thus, this is not eternal ownership but temporary; they merely benefit from it. If this concept becomes clear to a person, it protects him from allowing money to become his master and idol.

From here came the idea of fasting and worship, in which a person spends time not occupied with material matters but with lofty spiritual matters. Fasts are like periods of protection so that a person does not become a slave to money, possessions, and the love of possessions and property. Likewise, the emergence of monastic life, with its ascetic practices and voluntary poverty, is a living testimony that money is merely a servant under the feet of those who walk in the Spirit on the human journey toward heaven, where there is no money or possessions.

My friend, beware of the dominance of money, by which a person becomes enslaved. Truly, no one can serve two masters—God or money. We hear in the world about cases of corruption that are like worms in wood. Nations, companies, and various groups in any society suffer from the emergence of corrupt and greedy individuals, whatever their positions or ranks. We also hear about illicit trades such as drugs, prostitution, antiquities, human organs, and others. This is the image of today’s world.

So beware, my friend, whatever your status in this life and whatever your responsibilities. Know with certainty that you are merely a human being with a right of benefit, and that you will leave everything when you depart from this world to stand before the righteous Judge and give an account of your stewardship (Luke 16:2).

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