God and Your Stuff
Hope for the Financially Challenged - Part 4
Two men crashed in their private plane on a South Pacific island. Both survived. One of the men brushed himself off and then proceeded to run all over the island to see if they had any chance of survival. When he returned, he rushed up to the other man and screamed, "This island is uninhabited, there is no food, there is no water. We are going to die!"
The other man leaned back against the fuselage of the wrecked plane, folded his arms and responded, "No we’re not. I make over $250,000 week."
The first man grabbed his friend and shook him. "Listen, did you just hear what I said? We are going to die!"
The other man, unruffled, again responded. "No, I make over $250,000 week."
"So what... , I’m telling you we ARE doomed. We are going to die a slow death."
Still unfazed, the first man looked the other in the eyes and said, "Do not make me say this again. I make over $250,000 per week -- and I tithe. MY PASTOR WILL FIND US."
Some of you may feel like the typical church and pastor is like the one mentioned in this shipwreck story—all they are interested in is your money. That might be the typical church, but WE aren’t the typical church!
Throughout this series, I have been acutely aware of the fact that there are a number of people here at Cornerstone because of something in your past, you avoided church because you felt like the church was only after your wallet. Nothing within me wants to ad to that perception whatsoever.
At the same time, I always realize that when I am preparing a series like this that regardless of what I say, regardless of how well I am able to say it, that there will be people that will take offense at the things that I say. There are people that will sometimes be irrationally offended, because it really doesn’t have to do so much with what the Bible teaches, or what I say, or how I say it—there’s just some real wounds and fears there that will be surfaced.
It’s like a letter I came across in a book by Randy Alcorn entitled Money, Possessions, and Eternity. Randy is a pastor, and he was talking about doing a giving series one time, and somebody in the congregation decided to write him an anonymous letter to tell them what they thought about his message. This is what they wrote:
I was never so disappointed in a service as I was on Sunday. I had an unbelieving friend come with me, and what were you preaching about? Money. I can assure you, she was not impressed. And why ‘money’, when there is so many other beautiful things to talk about? You had better reconsider such messages in the future. Leave money to God, and He will handle everything. Believe me. I love this
church, and usually like the sermons, but that one was terrible.
The writer then signed off with a typical knife-turning flair that is so common in anonymous letters: “A Christian who loves to go to church to hear the Word.”
I don’t know what Bible they read from, but the Word that I read talks more about giving and money than it does love, faith, belief, hope, heaven, or hell. Jesus had more to say about money and our relationship to it, than any other topic that He talked about, with the exception of the Kingdom of God.
Wesley Wilmer wrote a book entitled God and Your Stuff-The vital Link Between Your Possessions and Your Soul. In it, He pointed out that 17 of Jesus’ 38 parables was about possessions. Possessions and money are mentioned 2,172 in scripture. That is 3 times more often than love; 7 times more frequently than prayer; 8 times more common than beliefs.
About 15% of the teaching of the Bible is devoted to the topic of money, our possessions, and our relationship to it. So this is a very important topic to God. And it is in the Word, if you had any doubts.
If I would decide not to teach about it, based on people’s fears, or prejudices, or suspicions, then I would be guilty of pastoral malpractice. I would have no right to stand before you today. If I stand up here and tell people what they want to hear, instead of what the Bible says and what they need to hear.
This is a key developmental issue in our relationship to God. Whether we like it or not, or whether we agree with it or not.
Why is that? It’s not because God thinks that our stuff is the most important thing about us, but because how we handle our stuff—particular our money—is a diagnostic tool that reveals where our heart is with God, and what He can trust us with both now and for eternity.
Let me tell you a story. In fact, this story was originally told by Jesus, and it is called a parable.
1. Talents on Loan from God (Matthew 25:14-30)
“At that time the Kingdom of heaven will be like this. Once there was a man who was about to leave home on a trip; he called his servants and put them in charge of his property. He gave to each one according to his ability: to one he gave five thousand gold coins, to another he gave two thousand, and to another he gave one thousand. Then he left on his trip. The servant who had received five thousand coins went at once and invested his money and earned another five thousand. In the same way the servant who had received two thousand coins earned another two thousand. But the servant who had received one thousand coins went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.
“After a long time the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them.
Matthew 25:20 The servant who had received five thousand coins came in and handed over the other five thousand. ‘You gave me five thousand coins, sir,’ he said. ‘Look! Here are another five thousand that I have earned.’ ‘Well done, you good and faithful servant!’ said his master. ‘You have been faithful in managing small amounts, so I will put you in charge of large amounts. Come on in and share my happiness!’ Then the servant who had been given two thousand coins came in and said, ‘You gave me two thousand coins, sir. Look! Here are another two thousand that I have earned.’ ‘Well done, you good and faithful servant!’ said his master. ‘You have been faithful in managing small amounts, so I will put you in charge of large amounts. Come on in and share my happiness!’ Then the servant who had received one thousand coins came in and said, ‘Sir, I know you are a hard man; you reap harvests where you did not plant, and you gather crops where you did not scatter seed. I was afraid, so I went off and hid your money in the ground. Look! Here is what belongs to you.’ ‘You bad and lazy servant!’ his master said. ‘You knew, did you, that I reap harvests where I did not plant, and gather crops where I did not scatter seed? Well, then, you should have deposited my money in the bank, and I would have received it all back with interest when I returned. Now, take the money away from him and give it to the one who has ten thousand coins. For to every person who has something, even more will be given, and he will have more than enough; but the person who has nothing, even the little that he has will be taken away from him.
Matthew 25:14-29
Notice that first verse:
Once there was a man who was about to leave home on a trip; he called his servants and put them in charge of his property.
Matthew 25:14
God is the Master. We are the stewards. We manage someone else’s property. Because God has all the rights, the reality is that all of us possess much but own nothing. God owns it all.
We talked about this earlier. Deuteronomy 18 talks about this:
“You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.”
Deuteronomy 8:17-18
Your abilities, strength, and power to produce money comes from God, too. We are managing His affairs. We are custodians to His estate. You own nothing. The proof is that you have never seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul. You came into this world crying with nothing, and you will leave this world with nothing and other people crying. You can’t take it with you. You are just managing his estate for a period of time.
To be a steward is to be a manager of someone else’s property. God not only wants to be owner, but He wants first lean on the property.
So here’s a question: If you earned $400 last week, how much of it belongs to God? $40 dollars, right? No! He owns it all—He just asks for $40.
Do you know that you never give anything to God? You know why? Because it wasn’t yours to begin with! When the Bible talks about tithing, it doesn’t say that we give a tithe to God, but we return a tithe to God. I don’t give God anything that didn’t already belong to Him.
He has given you health to work. He has given you talents that you use on your job. He has given you breath in your lungs. He has given you life on Monday morning to wake up and go to a job. He sustains you. It is all about Him. He can keep things around you running smoothly, or He can allow them to break.
Let me just say something about our friend who spoke last Sunday evening. The speaker mentioned that after you get your finances in order, about 5 years later you can start tithing. Hear me—if you wait until your finances are in order to start tithing, you will forever be in debt. Your finances will always be in shambles. Why? Because when you honor Him, He will honor you. When you give to God and make Him a #1 priority, He can keep vehicles running longer. He can control your water heater from going out. He can keep your Isuzu Amigo, that is held together with spit, duct tape, and prayer, from falling apart. He owns it all. When the truck breaks down, it is His problem, not mine.
Somebody came running up to John Wesley and said, "Your house just burned down!" The great preacher replied, "I don’t have a house. I manage a house for the Lord, His house just burned down. Since I’m His son, and He wants me covered, I guess He’ll find me another place to live."
That is how we are to live. As stewards, not owners. As renters, not home-owners.
Have any of you ever rented a house? When a pie breaks, whose problem is it? The Landlords. You don’t have to spend a dime of your money to fix it, because you are only renting this property—it is owned by someone else. What about if you own a house and a pipe breaks? Whose problem is it? Yours! Because the deed is in your name—you own it.
What God is wanting you to do with your life, your house, your car, your children, is to sign over the
deed to Him. If you let Him call the shots with your possessions, then when they break, it is His problem.
After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money.
Matthew 25:19
2. Life Lessons About Your Stuff
• The Purpose of Giving
“I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.”
Luke 16:9
Jesus is encouraging us to use our wealth to win friends and influence people. Not only that, He is telling you to use your wealth in such a way, that when you die, you will be welcomed into heavenly homes.
Now what in the world does that mean? All of us will loose our life here on earth. But the question is this—will we be welcomed into heaven by our new friends?
Before you label me as a heretic, let me explain and be very clear of what Jesus is not saying. Jesus is not saying that we buy our way into heaven. He is not saying that by the check book we earn a relationship with God. The Bible teaches that we are saved by grace through faith—faith alone. It cannot be purchased, it cannot be earned.
But what He is saying, is that how we manage our money can make an eternal difference. The greatest use of your money is to help people make it into heaven.
For example, when you give to a church, you are helping people get into heaven. You are making friends not only on this earth, but you are making friends for eternity. Eternal friends and eternal rewards.
What Jesus is saying is this. This whole giving thing is about using worldly wealth in such a way that it gains friends who will welcome you into their homes in eternity. We are to give to those causes that help people find Christ. We are to invest in Kingdom work where people are being saved.
The word picture that Jesus paints is of heaven being full of people who, when you walk through the doors, they cheer. Not because they are surprised that you made it. They cheer because they have been expecting you and they want to thank you.
Imagine this. You die. You close your eyes and you open them into heaven. As you walk through the gates of heaven. People are coming up to you right and left, extending their hands, hugging you, and saying, “Thank God for you! I am here because of you!” You look at these people, and many of them you don’t recognize. You have never had a conversation with them. In your puzzlement you say, “But how? I have never met many of you”, They say, “We are here because you gave. You gave to your church, and I found Christ at that church. You gave to that missionary, and I was on the other side of the world and found Jesus, because you invested in that work. I am here today because of you”
Every time that you give to ministry and help people find Christ, then you have gained new friends who will one day welcome you home. Our church is getting ready to make an investment in eternity by hiring two Student Ministers to do work with our youth in Chariton. Our church is on the verge of bringing hundreds of teens to Christ, and it will all happen by your support of this church.
Cornerstone Community Church could not exists without the time, sacrifice, and the generous giving of it’s people. That’s what this is all about. It is not about money, it is about using money to make an eternal difference in people’s lives. My hope and my prayer is that for all of us, including myself, one day that there will be hundreds of people who will walk up to us and say, “Thank you for giving to the Lord. I am a life that
was changed.”
“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where they can be eaten by moths and get rusty, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where they will never become moth-eaten or rusty and where they will be safe from thieves.”
Matthew 6:19-20 (NLT)
What’s the point? Things don’t last—people do. There are only 2 things that are going to survive this world—people, and God’s Word. Those are the only things that last forever. If we’re not making a consistent investment of our lives in God’s people and God’s Word, then we are investing it poorly, like investing in Martha Stewart’s stock.
Do you want to know who the highest paid dead person is in the world? Elvis Presley. He still makes 38 million dollars a year. Isn’t that amazing? But you know what—it doesn’t make a difference to him. Not right now. Wherever he happens to be, the only treasure the Bible makes very clear, the only treasure we get to keep is what we send on to heaven. You can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead. The way you send it on ahead is by investing in people who will go there. We leverage our money to what matters by putting it in people and organizations that are going to have a large impact in eternity.
Let me ask you a question: If you died tomorrow, what are the things that you would be glad that
you spent your money on? What are the things you would be thankful that you spent your money on?
• The Pattern For Living
“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.”
Luke 16:10
Jesus is teaching that if we are faithful in the little things today, especially little things like money—then He can entrust us with more tomorrow. This principle, by the way, applies to every area of our life: gifts, abilities, authority, relationships, opportunities, and money.
In God’s mathematics, faithfulness in the little things equals greater blessing and opportunity for tomorrow and in eternity. Jesus says that there are true riches out there, but true riches only flow toward those who have learned to handle worldly wealth.
Jesus is saying that every spending decision we make is a spiritual decision. Whether we are buying a home, buying a new CD, DVD, motorcycle, paying off debt, or purchasing a boat—every decision is a spiritual
decision. Notice what He says in Matthew 6:
“Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
Matthew 6:21
Notice what He didn’t say, because we reverse it. We say this the opposite of what Jesus said all the time. We say, “Wherever your heart is, that’s where your treasure will go.” That is not what Jesus said. Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, your heart will follow.”
Your heart follows your treasure, and not the other way around. If you want your heart to be near to the heart of God, then give your treasure to God. Because every time I give to God, it is an act of worship. It is an expression of my desire to be as close to His heart as I possibly can.
Ken Stafford is an excellent writer. He recently wrote an article in Christianity Today that said this:
Charitable giving is as close as we get to truly free financial behavior. You’re not obligated to give, and lots of people don’t. You aren’t buying anything you need. You get nothing out of giving except
satisfaction in your soul. Giving shows us something about a person’s soul.
You probably recognize the name Sam Houston. He was a Texas and an American hero. Originally he was a native of Virginia. He became a congressman and a governor of the state of Tennessee. He eventually moved to Texas where he joined the fight for independence and became commander of the Texas army.
When Texas became a republic back in 1836, Sam Houston was elected it’s first president. Texas is the only state in the union that is allowed to fly it’s state flag at the same level as the U.S. American flag. The reason is that Texas was a republic before it ever became s state.
When Texas joined the Union in 1836, Houston became Texas’ first Senator. In 1959, he was elected Governor. He was a very tough man. But you know what his nickname was? The Big Drunk. That’s what people called him. But Sam Houston married a devout Christian woman who prayed constantly for Sam that he would come to know Jesus. One day He did. When he came to Christ, he came to Him lock, stock, and barrel.
It happened that Dr. Rufus Burleson, pastor of a small church in Independence, Texas was preaching on the text, “Better he who rules his own spirit than one who rules a city.” Houston had taken many cities, but he had no rule whatsoever over his own spirit. And he came under the conviction of God and walked up front of the church during the invitation. He extended his hand to Dr. Burleson and said, “I give you my hand, but with it, I give my heart to Jesus Christ.”
Houston was then baptized on November 19th, 1854 in Brushy Creek. Dr. Burleson, right before he was to be baptized, noticed that he had a watch and chain on his vest. He said, “Mr. Houston, you probably want to take that off before your baptized, because it will get ruined.” So he takes it off and hands it to a friend. Then Dr. Burleson adds, “You may want to take your wallet out, too, and hand it to your friend.” Sam Houston replied, “No, my wallet needs baptizing, too.”
I love that.
Back in the Crusades in the Middle ages, many soldiers were baptized. As the soldier was about to be put under the water, they would take their swords from their sheath, and they would hold it above the water as they went under. The reason for that is that it was a statement. “God, you are Lord of all of my life but this. This is under my control, not yours.”
I wonder as we acknowledge Jesus’ Lordship, are there things that we remove from our life and hold above the water and say, “God, you are Lord of all my life but this.” When we do that, you have to realize that He is either Lord over all of our life or He’s not Lord at all.
Sam Houston baptized billfold made a difference in his life. From that day forward he paid the salaries of his pastor for the rest of his life, and contributed significantly to every ministerial student who attended Baylor University.
His baptized billfold, his wet wallet, was a witness to his new-found dedication to God It was a testimony that when God got a hold of his heart, he also got a hold of his wallet.
That leads me to these Three purposes that possessions serve in our lives:
? Tools - God wants us to use possessions and money to reach other people for Jesus Christ.
? Tests
Life on earth is just the preface; its not the book. The book is yet to be written. God is watching our lives to determine how much He can trust us with both now and in eternity. How faithful we are with the things He puts in our hands today, in large measure, determines how much He can trust us with tomorrow. God is watching to see whose kingdom we are really committed to.
Look at this verse:
“So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?”
Luke 16:11
If we take Jesus’ words at face value, He is saying that when we’re not faithful with how we use material things, then we put an obstacle and a barrier in our own life to receiving things that are better than worldly wealth. We put up a barrier to going deeper with God. The handling of worldly wealth is a test to handling spiritual riches.
Randy Alcorn said it like this:
God makes it apparent that it is His business to watch us with intense interest to see what we do with
money. We are being tested. And what we do with our money will influence the course of eternity.
There will be a group of people in heaven that will be in charge over much for eternity because they were faithful with the resources God gave them for this life—a split second breath of air. Not only does it speak of eternity, but it also speaks for the here and now—how you handle your money determines how much God can bless your life.
But you say, “I thought God’s love for me is unconditional!” You’re absolutely right. There are no strings attached. He will love you regardless of what you do with your stuff and your money. I am not talking about how much God loves you. I am talking about how much God can trust you with things that are really valuable. Those things are earned. Those things are not just gifts. God is saying, “If I can’t trust you with really small things like money and wealth, how can I trust you with things like people’s lives.” He wants to make sure you mean business in His kingdom. There is too much at stake.
There is a direct relationship between what I do with my money and the spiritual depth and condition of my life. If you’re feeling stuck spiritually; if you feel like you are at a dead end with your walk with God; if you feel like the fountain of blessings is drying up, maybe the problem is not with your quiet time or with your church—maybe you ought to look at your checkbook.
Because…
Inconsistent giving = inconsistent living
Money is a test. And many times it becomes a trap of our own making.
It is interesting how natives in Southeast Asia used to catch monkeys to sell. They would drill two or three holes in a coconut, emptying out all the contents. They would make sure that the holes were just big enough for a monkey to put his hand through, but not big enough for him to pull out if he had a clinched fist. Then they put sweet smelling pieces of fruit in the coconut and set it in a clearing on the edge of the forest. As they watched from a hiding place not far away, the natives would wait until an inquisitive monkey had his hand in the coconut, grasping one of the pieces of fruit. They would then rush at the monkey (who could not get free from the heavy coconut except by releasing the fruit!) and capture him. All the monkey had to do was let go, but greed often lead
to his downfall.
? Trademarks
It is a trademark that indicates ownership. It shows us who is really the Lord over our life.
Wesley Wilmer in his book God and Your Stuff said a very direct statement:
Our checkbooks are better indication of where we are at spiritually than the underlining in our Bibles.
The reason why Jesus Christ had more to say about money and possessions than any other subject except the Kingdom of God is because when it comes to a person’s true character, money for most people is the first importance.
Studies of found that the average American spends 50% of their waking hours thinking about money. Half of our time. When something like that occupies that much of our mental and emotional energy, it has to be under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
The final principle…
• Priority of Loving
“No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
Luke 16:13
Ultimately, what Jesus is saying is that this is about worship. Why? Because He is contrasting God (capital ‘G’) and Money (capital ‘M’) The word He uses in Luke isn’t really the word money; it is the word mammon. Mammon refers not just to money but to money and all that money can buy. It is all the wealth and material stuff
in your life. Jesus says, “You have to choose which one you love. You can’t serve them both.” The Bible says…
“You shall have no other gods before me.”
Exodus 20:3
The Bible says that money has many uses, but being god isn’t one of them. If you live for money, it becomes your master. But if you give your money, it becomes my servant.
Here’s some questions I want you to ask yourself…
1. Does God really have first place in my life? Is He Lord of all?
2. Can God trust me with spiritual blessings—things that are more important than money?
3. Will there be people in eternity who will be there to welcome me because I chose to leverage money in this
life to the things that really matter—bringing people to God?
4. What are the spending decisions that, when I die, I will be very glad that I made?
Do you want to know the ultimate irony? Everyone in here who has a dollar bill, take it out. What does it say? In God we trust. How many people in here is that really true of? If we really trusted in God, we would turn loose of that dollar. Many people trust in the dollar more than they trust in God.
This is the end of our financial series. I have not said these things because I believe that these truths will make me popular. I have not said these things because I believe that people will like me more. I don’t say these things because there is financial needs in the church.
Friends, this church will go on regardless of whether or not any of us in this room change our financial behavior. This church will go on, because Jesus made a promise that “He will build His church, and the gates of Hell will not stand against it.” No amount of giving is going to stop that.
What doesn’t matter to me is how much we bring in a year. Or how much our budget is. What matters to me is your spiritual life. He wants to be Lord over you.
