Other People's Money
Pt. 1 - Sacrifice & Trust
I. Introduction
I have learned there are certain things that just don't go well together. Some of this I learned in school and others just by observation. Oil and water. 26 inch rims on a $500 car. Vegetables and fruit on my plate. Skinny jeans on 99.9% of Americans. Bondage on a believer who is supposed to be free. Anger and prejudice on one who is supposed to be known and identifiable by love. And at least in the modern version, the church talking about money.
The odd thing about that fact is that we arrive at church wanting life direction, supernatural response in every important area of life like relationships, direction and about success but we just don't want anyone to talk about the money side of things. Tell me how to live, how to overcome, how to win, but we seem to get nervous and in some cases we even become angry when the topic of money comes up or is addressed from a pulpit. The other odd fact is that money issues are the number one reason couples get divorced and if the truth was told it is the number one reason most of you are struggling, afraid, and stressed out in your life right now! I understand that the church has brought some of this on itself due to the crazy and outlandish things preachers have said in order to line their own pockets. However, I think we also have used that craziness as an excuse to keep the church from addressing this crucial topic because most of us struggle mightily to allow God to speak to this area of our life. Isn't it crazy that we allow pride to rise up in the area where we are losing? Too proud to listen and learn. Too proud to allow the God who owns everything and has all provision to teach us how to handle what we keep messing up on our own! It would be one thing if we were great with money but most of us aren't even close. Now the truth is that if you make $44K to $45K a year, then you are rich. You fall into the top 1% of earners in the world. And yet we struggle. Most of us are in debt up to our eyeballs. Determined to buy things to impress people we don't even know or in many cases even like. But still we don't want Jesus to say anything about our cash.
So, since I know that this topic makes people nervous and I also know that Jesus addresses finances more than any other topic (twice as much as heaven and hell combined), I am going to help you today. You can thank me later. I am titling this series "Other People's Money", which by the way really has nothing to do what I am going to talk to you about other than the fact that every cent that ever crosses your palm is really someone else's, so that as we talk about this topic you can relax because I am not talking about your money. I am talking about your neighbor's money. Touch your neighbor right now and tell them, "Hey you should really listen because he is talking about your money not mine!" OK, now that you are off the hook maybe you can relax and listen. In fact, make sure you take good notes so that your neighbor doesn't miss anything that they might have needed to hear.
Randy Alcorn made a statement that has stuck in my spirit. I believe he nails it when he said, "Our hymnbooks say a lot about following Jesus. Our pocketbooks say even more. What does it mean when God has entrusted Christians with greater wealth than in all of human history, yet many are giving less to kingdom purposes than ever before? Surely it means we are following our culture, not our Christ."
If I want my neighbor to follow Christ not culture and to truly be a disciple, then they have to be willing to follow Him in every area of their life . . . including money. So, if we your neighbor is going to make this change and adjust their approach to money and find freedom in every area of life we/they must learn some things about money.
II. Text
Mark 12:41-44
Sitting across from the offering box, he was observing how the crowd tossed money in for the collection. Many of the rich were making large contributions. One poor widow came up and put in two small coins—a measly two cents. Jesus called his disciples over and said, “The truth is that this poor widow gave more to the collection than all the others put together. All the others gave what they’ll never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn’t afford—she gave her all.”
Jesus talks about other people's money and teaches some valuable lessons about sacrifice and trust.
III. Sacrifice & Trust
a. The widow establishes a different scale of measurement.
Jesus was taken by the widow's willingness to sacrifice. She gave extravagantly. Jesus, with the example of the widow, adjusts the scale of measurement. Her offering was so small that she would have probably never received a contribution statement from the church at the end of the year. She would have never been invited to a special function for top givers. However, Jesus reveals that the truth is that in His kingdom that it really isn't about the amount. It is about the cost associated with the amount. She gives so sacrificially that she feels it but more importantly God Himself pays attention. I know you have given until you have felt it. You may given until others around you have noticed. And some do that on purpose (giving change). However, when was the last time you gave/sacrificed to the degree that Jesus literally sets up, notices and points it out?
I believe that for most of our neighbors pain in giving is a foreign concept and sacrifice is avoided. David had the heart of the widow long before she showed up in church to give. He recognizes that you can't call something a sacrifice if it isn't accompanied by pain/cost. If what you give isn't missed, if it is just duty, if is just a line item that you budget for then you can call it tithe or offering but you can't call it sacrifice. David refuses to call something a sacrifice when it really wasn't. I wonder how many of our neighbors act like what they give is a sacrifice when the truth is it really caused them no pain, it wasn't missed, felt and there was no true impact. It was just a poor tip.
Let's be honest there are some of your neighbors who give incredible amounts of money and they never feel it. There are some of your other neighbors who give very little in comparison but the level of sacrifice is so great that Jesus is amazed at their giving level!
Touch your neighbor and encourage them to give until Jesus notices! Jesus wasn't impressed/applauding the amount He was dumbfounded by the percentage.
b. The widow was wealthy in trust.
When the widow walks in Jesus reveals that she gave everything she had. I think it is interesting that the text says that Jesus sat and watched HOW the people gave rather than how much they gave. Although attention is given to the amount it was really about the "how" they gave rather than the "how much" they gave! This widow shines because of her how! To me that is the crux of the matter. Your neighbor's issue isn't how much . . . it is how. How do they give? Willingly? Reluctantly? Grudgingly? Money reveals our attitude, motivation, and heart. Some of your neighbors who are giving the most in dollar amounts are giving the least in the eyes of Jesus because of how they give.
Tell your neighbor to take notice. She gave all she had. Nothing left in reserve. Means when the rent comes due she is empty handed. Means when the kids get home after school and want to eat she has nothing left to buy food. Means she has no retirement to fall back on. No 401K as a safety net. No uncashed checks to replenish the supply. She gave all. May I submit to you at it wasn't the amount that got Jesus' attention it was the incredible level of trust she exhibited when she gave. She is literally giving to the point that unless God is who He says He is she will die. She literally left the temple penniless but she she was filthy rich when it came to trust in God. What this little lady gave was directly proportional to her trust level!
I am telling you today that an unwillingness to give is a trust gap―not a financial gap. Your neighbor may say they can't afford to give but it really isn't about what they can afford financially. It is really about their level of trust. When we refuse to give it isn't about money it is about trust. Most people exhibit some degree of generosity toward those institutions and causes they trust. So if we are unwilling to contribute to God's Kingdom, then it reveals that we don't trust the owner of that Kingdom! Some of you are sitting next to people who based on external indications know, love and trust God to high levels but the way they give reveals differently. There are people in here that are here every week who really don't trust God at all. In fact, they have really made money their God.
The one area of your neighbor's life that reveals their trust level with God more than relationships, work, destiny is how they handle money.
Some of our neighbors never really have to trust God because they never place themselves in a situation where trust is even necessary. Some of your neighbors claim they trust God but the way they handle their money reveals they really trust their job, their savings account, their sugar daddy/momma, their own logic and intelligence more than they actually trust God.
We sing "I surrender all" and never do. We sing "All I am" but refuse to trust Him with all.
Here is the truth when your neighbor refuses to tithe (which is kindergarten) and give offerings they are literally making a statement about how much they really believe God because apparently they don't believe His Word, His promises, or His ability to provide. If you want God to help you with your money, then give until you have to trust Him to actually be your provider.
Jesus' response drives down into the heart of His disciples to the point that they record this incident. It stands today as lesson on how we are to handle what God has given us to handle. More blessing will never come until we learn to sacrifice and trust.
I think we need to pray for our neighbor today and ask God to help them give more sacrificially and that God will give them a new found level of trust!
