The Future in Past Tense

To kick off our Advent series, Erik preached on the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55). Mary’s song reminds us that God has made promises that He has not yet kept. When we have faith in these promises (in other words, hope), we can see them fulfilled in the present. To show how what we believe about the future changes how we live in the present, Erik offered this illustration:

You may have noticed the irony that enormous companies like General Motors sometimes have a lower value in the stock market than upstart companies like Tesla. Some of the most valuable companies aren’t even profitable. That’s because buying a stock is a way of betting on a company’s future: you buy stock in Tesla rather than GM because you think the future of cars is electric. What you believe about the future dictates how you behave in the present.

Returning to Advent: what do you think would happen to the stock market if we learned that Christ was returning in a couple years? The stock market would crash today. Not in couple of years, but right now. Why? Because stocks are bets on the future, and you don’t want to be caught with all your money tied up in investments if thy guy taking over preached “woe to the rich,” turned over the moneychangers’ tables, and warned against storing up wealth. A few might try to invest in bibles, but the wisest would start giving money away as fast as they could, because that’s how you “use unrighteous mammon to make friends” and “store up treasure in the kingdom of heaven.”