In the last several months I have learned more about bookkeeping than I ever wanted to know. Because the church is converting from bookkeeping by hand to an accounting software, and because our financial leadership does not yet have access to all of that, I began to record transactions on the computer. The more I got into it, the more I learned about accounting. In fact, I have learned, through that process, more than I ever wanted to know.
I have learned, for example, that there are different methods of accounting. There is something called the cash method and there is something else called the accrual method. Now the cash method I think I can understand. It’s something like the system I used when I was a teenager and earned my first money. I was paid the princely sum of 55 cents an hour as a drugstore delivery boy. I had a box with holes in the top and with little cans underneath those holes. Each hole was labeled with something I was going to spend my money on. So when I got paid, I would drop into each of these holes the amount I was going to spend on that item. If I worked twenty hours and earned about $10.00 after taxes, into the hole marked “tithe” I would drop $1.00 (hint, hint), and then into the hole marked “hobbies” (I had to feed my stamp collecting habit), I would drop another $1.00, and into the hole for clothes went maybe $2.00, and something over here for insurance, since I was learning to drive, and so on. That’s cash accounting. Put it in the coffee can and spend it. Pretty simple.
But now they talk about the accrual method. The accrual method is about keeping track of expenses when they are obligated, not when they are paid out. In other words, if I have already agreed to buy a new jacket and have put the charge on my credit card, I’d better add that in now and not wait until the bill comes, because if I spend the money elsewhere, then when the bill comes there will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. That’s the accrual method. Or better said, the “cruel” method of bookkeeping.
Oh, I have learned something about how to keep books! I’ve come a long way from when the chairman of our Stewardship Committee asked me about our chart of accounts and our general ledger, and my answer was, “Huh?” Have you heard about the fellow who responded indignantly when his bank said he was overdrawn. “Overdrawn? How can I be overdrawn? I still have eight blank checks in my checkbook!” I’ve come a very long way, learning bookkeeping methods.
But something else I’m learning. I’m learning that God’s bookkeeping method is different. The way God keeps accounts is not the same as the way we keep accounts. A whole lot of us have not yet learned God’s bookkeeping method.
I
For example, we think that the books have to balance and show a profit. We want to know that what we receive is more than what we pay out. Unless you are a member of Congress, where deficit spending doesn’t matter, because they just call up Mr. Bush and ask him to print more money! Oh, not that Mr. Bush; I mean THIS Mr. Bush! Unless you are just reckless and spend without worrying about tomorrow, you want your bookkeeping to show you that what you receive is more than what you pay out. You want a profit.
We even have a little saying about this. We say that “if your outgo exceeds your income, then your upkeep will be your downfall.” A simple mathematical reality. You have to gain more than you spend.
Nothing new about that. That’s what people said back in Malachi’s day. Malachi the prophet went out among the people, and they were saying, “It is vain to serve God. What do we profit by keeping his command ...?” Isn’t that our bookkeeping method? What do we profit by serving God? We think it is vain, empty, profitless. My little coffee cans have nothing in them because I serve God. I want something to show for all my hard work for the Lord. We want to know that what we receive is more than what we pay out.
But let me clue you in to God’s bookkeeping method. With God, the more you give, the more you receive. With God, the books don’t balance. The books are tipped way over to one side. The profit-loss statement is all out of line. Because with God, the more you give, the more you receive – not in coffee cans, not in bank accounts, not in the balance sheets. But you do receive something else much more valuable. You receive spiritual satisfaction. You receive a sense of well-being. You receive a joy that noone can ever value with dollars.
You see, I’m talking about the God who said, through Jesus, that a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things which he possesses. I’m talking about the God who teaches us, through Christ, that whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever will lose his life for the sake of the gospel will save it. When we choose to give, we gain something far more fundamental, far more satisfying, than any bank account.
One of the key purposes which drives the church of Jesus Christ is ministry. Ministry, service. Ministry is giving. And ministry does not make profits. Ministry is about giving and seldom about receiving things. But if you let God’s bookkeeping methods operate, you will discover that your satisfaction level will go through the roof!
I believe that the future of this church is bound up with how much we are willing to be servants. There is legitimate concern about whether we are growing or shrinking. But if we are true to those things that helped shape us in the past, we will continue to be a servant church. We will be a church in ministry. We will be more concerned with what we can do for others than what they can do for us.
Our task is not profit-making. Our goal is not the building up of property. We are not here to be bigger and make a splash. We are here to attend to the needs of people so that they can reach their potential. The purpose of the church is service. A few moments ago, we said that in our value system, we are here to serve others without regard to race, gender, age, or economic circumstance. Over the years we have invested a fair amount of money in ministry and in missions. We have given away enough money that, if we still had it in our accounts, we could rebuild this decaying structure and pave the parking lot and do lots of glitzy things. If we had used worldly bookkeeping methods, we would have made “profits” and would have had lots of things to use.
But I tell you, it would have been empty. It would have been useless. All over town there are lovely church buildings occupied on Sunday by nice, neat, upright people – I almost said uptight people. But too many church folks have become like the people of Malachi’s day, griping because serving God doesn’t seem all that profitable, doesn’t pay off like we want it to. Because, you know, don’t you, that when you are going for the profit motive, there’s never enough? It’s never adequate. We always want more.
The second richest man in America is Warren Buffett, the investor. He has something like $42 billion dollars. One of my friends, a Methodist minister, knows him; they grew up in the same Sunday School class as teenagers. But when my friend called on Warren Buffett for a donation to repair the organ at his church, Buffett told him he never, never gives to churches, and does not give much to anything else, for that matter. There’s never enough if you are operating on the world’s bookkeeping methods. Malachi’s people complained, “What does it profit to serve God?” We ask the same thing.
But in this church today there are people who have found tremendous joy in knowing that the dollars they have given and the energies they have expended are serving people, some of them in this community and some of them around the world. I pray God today that this church will always remember that one of the key purposes of the church is ministry. Service does not pay dollar dividends; but with God’s bookkeeping method, the more you give, the more you gain, in spiritual satisfaction.
II
There is another principle in bookkeeping. There is something else we believe when we are out there shopping. We believe that you get what you pay for. We believe that if you try to go cheap, you will ultimately be dissatisfied, but that if you pay a premium, you will get premium goods. In the world’s bookkeeping method, you get what you pay for, no more, no less.
I’d guess that is pretty close to what the people of Malachi’s day believed, too, because they grumbled about all those evil folks out there doing so well, and God didn’t seem to notice. Why, they said, just look at it: “We count the arrogant happy; evildoers not only prosper, but when they put God to the test they escape.” Have you ever felt that way? Those aggressive, self-serving, keep-it-all-for-yourself types, they are happy. And God doesn’t do a blessed thing about it? Don’t we get jealous?
But I will tell you that in God’s bookkeeping method, you do not get what you pay for. You do not get what you pay for, but you get what you could never pay for! In God’s bookkeeping method, you get grace. You get unconditional love. You get salvation. You get life. In fact, you get more – you get eternal life.
God’s bookkeeping method does not go for short-term gains. God’s bookkeeping method goes for eternal gains. God’s bookkeeping method is not “you get what you pay for” but “you get more than you could ever buy.” You get grace, amazing grace, abundant, marvelous grace, grace that is greater than all our sins!
Years ago, when my father-in-law was visiting us, he looked down and saw that I needed a new pair of shoes. So he offered to take me to Hecht’s to buy some. We saw a pair on sale for $15.00 (that will tell you how old this story is!). So he asked the clerk, “These shoes are on sale for $15.00. How much were they before they were on sale?” The clerk answered, “$15.00". We thought maybe he had misunderstood, so we tried again. I spoke up and said, “No, that’s the price now, the sale price. What was the price before they were put on sale?” Well, you have to give the guy credit for not lying. He said, “$15.00. Fifteen before they were on sale, and fifteen now when they are on sale.”
So what is the lesson? That you do not always get what you think you are paying for! Sometimes you get far less, because the things this world has to offer are not as good as they look, and happiness is not grounded in having them. I tell you, when you look at folks with all that stuff, and say, “It ain’t fair. They are happy with all their loot,“ you just haven’t looked closely enough. You haven’t seen how in the scramble to acquire, they have made themselves anxious. You may think the arrogant are happy, you may suppose that evildoers prosper, but that is all a facade. That is only on the surface. The truth is something very much different.
You do NOT get what you pay for. God’s bookkeeping method involves grace. God’s bookkeeping says that you get much more. You get life. You don’t get giddy happiness here and now, but you do get joy. And joy is much deeper than happiness. Happiness is fun and games for the moment, but when everybody goes home, the good feelings disappear. But joy ... joy come from grace. Joy is not for now or tomorrow or even tomorrow’s tomorrow. Joy is for a lifetime. Joy is for eternity. And joy comes from serving.
Incidentally, we didn’t buy those shoes! And to this day, whenever my wife and I suspect that some item we are looking at has a phony price on it, we just look at each other and say, “Hecht’s shoes!” Some things are phony. But praise God, some things are genuine. And the grace of God, given to those who serve, is genuine. You get more than you could ever pay for. You get grace with God’s bookkeeping method.
III
So we as a people of God are driven to minister. We are compelled to serve. The Bible says that the love of Christ constrains us. If you have an ounce of gratitude in your heart for the infinite grace of God, you cannot look on your brother in need and write him off. You cannot hear the plight of your sister and dismiss her.
For, brothers and sisters, the prophet Malachi tells us that when God heard the complaints of His people, He took note, and He wrote in the book of remembrance those who revered Him and thought on His name. God said, “They shall be mine ... my special possession on the day when I act, ... [Y]ou shall see the difference between ... one who serves God and the one who does not serve Him.”
They shall be mine, my special possession ... those who serve. The world says, in its bookkeeping, that there is no such thing as a free lunch. The world says, in its bookkeeping, that you want to make sure you have your own stuff safe and secure. But I tell you today, God uses a different bookkeeping method, and writes in His book of remembrance according to a different rule.
When we keep books, we say, “How much can I keep?” When God writes in His book of remembrance, He records how much you have given. Margaret and I saw one of those financial planners on television the other night. He said our aim ought to be that while we work, we save enough to take care of us until we die; and to hope to die on the same day the last dollar is gone! Yes! Use it up! Give it away. “Only one life, ‘twill soon be past; only what you do for Christ will last.” God’s bookkeeping method.
When we keep books, we say, “First I have to take care of Number One.” If there’s anything I don’t need, you can have it. But when God writes in His book of remembrance, He records whether we have given Him first place in our hearts. First place, not leftovers.
When we keep books, we say, “Will my church be a nice comfortable place for me? Will my church remind me that I am somebody?” When God writes in His book of remembrance, He records whether His church has served the poor, healed the sick, made the lame walk, and helped the blind to see. His bookkeeping method is different.
When some churches keep books, they say, “Let’s keep our people entertained. Bread and circuses, dinner on the grounds and gospel music, fun and frolic. Did the preacher whoop today? Did anybody shout? Did we have a good time?” But, oh, my brothers and sisters, when God writes in His book of remembrance, He records whether this church tended those who were sick, embraced those who were lonely, empowered those who were in prison. He keeps books on whether we healed families in crisis, walked with young people floundering, and supported seniors struggling. God’s bookkeeping method is different.
When some of us keep books, we want to know, “Am I okay? Do I have my salvation? Do I have my one-way ticket to heaven?” But when the God of all grace writes in His book of remembrance, instead of a set of numbers, He records one thing and one thing only. In the grand book of history, where the saga of men and nations is written; in the Lamb’s book of life, where the story of the church is stored; on that page where your name is lodged and the Lord’s dream is laid out for Takoma Park Baptist Church – on that page one thing is written. Over the shape of a cross, where hung one who had everything to lose and nothing to gain for Himself, I see it written, “Bought by the blood of Jesus; Jesus paid it all.”
The purpose of the church is and must always be ministry. Service to the last, the least, the lost, and the lonely. We are not about profit and loss. We are not about our own happiness. We are about God’s bookkeeping method.
“For drops of grief could ne’er repay the debt of love I owe. Here Lord, I give myself away, ‘Tis all that I can do. At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away, it was there by faith I received my sight, and now I am happy” – no, not quite, not happy, joyful – “[Now I am joyful] all the day.” No, wait, better than that – not all the day. All eternity. Now I am joyful for eternity.
You want the bottom line? With God’s bookkeeping method, to give is to save; to serve is to rejoice; and to die is to live.
