Continuing series… entitled Spiritual Insight for Insecure Times.
I imagine each of us can sense something of the uncertainty in the air.
• As I watch the now global drama of economic news, I see our sense of security being shaken loose..
• As I watch the value of homes and savings drop dramatically, I see myself staring into the true uncertainty of wealth.
• As I watched fires engulf hundreds of homes in the Southland this weekend, I’m reminded of the temporary nature of our possessions.
It is a time of very real loss for many… but also a time of reflective looking… of looking afresh at the values that shape our lives.
As we saw last week… Jesus didn’t speak about money as much as our relationship to money and material possessions.
• When money and possessions become our primary source of security and significance… we will end up serving them as our god.
• There is a reason that terrorists attacked the Twin Towers… and the World Trade Center before it. They believed that they were striking at our symbolic source of security.
And as such, while our nation fights a war on terror… and our leaders seek to navigate the practical means to manage an economic crisis…. we do well to consider the spiritual principles and practices that establish a right relationship with money.
Today I want us to engage the most central spiritual dynamic that relates to managing money… that of TRUST in God.
I can imagine that some here might be a bit put off by what you perceive of as a religious leader talking about money… and especially about giving. I probably can’t take away all the discomfort… I’m not even sure I want to. But I do want you to know that I understand this is sensitive….filled the potential for manipulation. So let me just tale a moment to express that I have sincerely sought to be faithful to the teachings of the Scriptures and Jesus… and I’m more than open to discussing this further as any may wrestle with that intent. I also want to note that I am a fellow follower of Jesus’ way of life… and as such… I have sought to bring my own life into the reality he teaches…including that of money and giving…. whether when I painted houses for a living… or worked in social services… or served as a pastor. The following principles are as personal as they are pastoral.
As a culture we deem money a material affair… separate from spiritual matters. But nothing could be more misguided.
In Proverbs 3 we read… (Proverbs 3:5-6, 9-10 (NIV))
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight….. Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.”
Later God says through the prophet Malachi….
Malachi 3:7-10 (NIV)
“Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty. "But you ask, ’How are we to return?’ 8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, ’How do we rob you?’ "In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse--the whole nation of you--because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”
There is an intensity… a passion… in these words.
They reveal a significant dimension of life with God… of what God understands to be the type of relationship we are to have with him…people who live in a dynamic and living trust with Him.
These words may not be new to anyone who has considered the relationship between how we relate to money and how we relate to God….but may be striking to those who consider them for the first time. They bear a challenge for us all.
The central issue in our relationship with God … and money… is TRUST.
The intensity of these words comes not from a God who seeks his pay… but who seeks the trust that maintains His role in our lives… and liberates us from the false source of security that money can become… the very fears of uncertainty and insecurity that beckon us even now during the current economic crisis.
God is God… sovereign over all. There is nothing insecure in Him. That’s what He wants to bring us into… the ultimate security that exists in Himself and His eternal realm.
The issue at hand is who He is going to be to us. How we handle our money determines who owns our lives more than any other factor.
Trust establishes the nature of a relationship…who one really is to us.
When people feel that someone doesn’t trust them to fulfill the role they are to have in their life… they naturally may come to that point where they stop and say…”Do you trust me?” One is recognizing that despite what we may claim someone is in our life… they really can’t be that if we don’t trust them.
• A coach… I need to know if you trust me or I can’t really be your coach.
• A dentist might say…” You won’t open your mouth… if you don’t trust me then I really can’t be your dentist.”
> God’s central desire is simply to be to us who He actually is… and what only He can actually be for us… God.
This is a vital opportunity for us to be honest with God… and ourselves.
We probably all recognize that words can be easier than reality.
• “Faith” is a nice word… positive… popular… but meaningless until it is given the weight of actual material reality.
• The same is true with “God”… we can claim him to be God… but what does that mean if not actually given that place in our lives.
• I know that our money says “In God We Trust”… but I wonder if that says more about my ability to accept slogans too easily.
Many of us may want to describe where our hearts lie, and assume we give to that; but Jesus turns it around,
Luke 12:34 (NIV)
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
‘Where our treasure is (what we’re most invested in) is where our heart lies.’
Biographer Philip Guedella often lectured on the art of writing biography. He used to say that a biographer’s most difficult task is finding out what kind of person his subject really was. And then he would describe what he had done when preparing his biography of the Duke of Wellington. In order to find really hard evidence of Wellington’s true character, he delved into the Duke’s old checkbooks. He said that in the process of going through the check stubs and the canceled checks, he was able to discover the man’s deepest concerns. (Preacher’s Illustration Service, Vol 9, Jan/Feb 1996)
This is what Jesus was getting at with the rich young ruler who came to him… asking how could live right with God. Jesus saw what truly was ordering his life… ruling his life… so he told him to go sell all he had… and to join him.
We may think that Jesus asked him to do too much…but I wonder
> How little would God have to ask me to surrender in order to settle the issue of whether I trust Him as God?
As we consider how we might develop the dynamic of trust that helps us relate to money well… I want to consider some…
I. Foundations for a Life of Trust
1. Trust begins with recognizing we have has been entrusted as managers.
You may wonder why God told the Israelites that they were ‘robbing’ Him. What He’s reminding them of is that whatever they have has come from His creation. It’s His to begin with and they are stewards… or managers… who had a covenant relationship with Him… to see that certain portions were used in certain ways.
Jesus keeps declaring the same as he describes life through stories of mangers of estates.
We have been entrusted to manage what is from and for God’s purposes.
2. Trust releases a more dynamic partnership with God.
Notice what each text says trust leads to…
• “….then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.”
• Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”
I know these words look like a great way to get rich… ‘give to God and get back even more.’
Many have used them to support the idea of God promising to make everyone rich.
But Jesus helps redefine the nature of blessings to transcend monetary and material wealth. He was both poor and yet rich.
Jesus declares that if you live in trust of God… serving His purposes first… He will provide what is needed.
Matthew 6:25-33 (NIV)
25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ….31 So do not worry, saying, ’What shall we eat?’ or ’What shall we drink?’ or ’What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
The Message translation captures the heart of Jesus words this way…
Matthew 6:25-33 (MSG)
25 "If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. ….31 What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. 32 People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. 33 Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
I can’t tell you that if you give to the work of God’s house and heart that you will have barns overflowing. What I can tell you is that every person I know who has seriously chosen to trust God in giving to the point in which they had to trust Him.. has always found a dynamic sense of being blessed and provided for.
I am confident that Jesus is inviting us all into an adventure of faith.
3. Trust is not passive… but rather involves thoughtfulness and choice.
Many who struggle with trusting God tend to be more comfortable controlling their life… but many can confuse trust with simply letting go… becoming passive. But God is speaking to those who have first fruits… fields from their labor…. and who are making very thoughtful decisions.
While there is a special place for spontaneous generosity and giving… choosing a life of trust will involve thoughtful choices.
2 Corinthians 9:7 (NLT)
“You must each decide in your heart how much to give.”
4. Trust of God in financial management is a life pattern.
A life pattern is the way a person structures his or her life. A pattern is built or drawn from the values that a person develops over time. These values come from many different sources including family, friends, culture, and God.
A new life pattern which fully reflects the reality of God does not fully develop at the moment an individual first begins a relationship with Christ. Our old values have created certain habits and ways of thinking. When a person becomes a follower of Jesus they are discovering and entering a whole new understanding of reality.
Maturity involves a process of confronting old attitudes and actions that are deeply ingrained in us.
Certainly for all of us, one of the basic values that is confronted when we become a follower of Christ concerns our view of giving. Very simply, most of the world treats giving as a social obligation which can easily be resented or relegated as a luxury for the rich. Yet when we come to God’s Word we see something very different.
Leah and I established a ‘Living Trust’… a binding agreement that designates our intents… that directs all our assets to be given according to what we believe they were purposed for.
> For us… it flows out a trust that God has extended to us… and we want to live in that trust… a living trust with God.
II. Practical Principles for establishing and experiencing a life of trust in God…
1. Trust begins with a personal decision towards God
In 2 Corinthians 8:3-5 Paul talks about how the Church in Macedonia took an offering...
“For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. …. they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will.”
Notice what excites Paul… “they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will.”
This reflects two dimensions involved in giving…
First we give ourselves to the Lord… we entrust ourselves to Him… and then to the community… as responsible participants in the communal calling and needs.
Both are healthy… but trust begins in relationship to God. Trust cannot simply flow from outward coercion.
2. Trust is also a shared communal process
I believe this is something of the secondary dimension… the lower half of the equation. That is to say, I believe that there are two dimension… the vertical dimension of trust in God that is central… and the horizontal dimension which is to be faithful to the communal calling and good.
This began with Israel as a nation… and now is defined by the church as the new Israel.
We can see this in the words spoken to Israel…
“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple.” Malachi 3:10
The giving which God calls forth is highly communal, that is, it is offered as part of a community. Regular giving was to provide for those set apart to serve the Lord’s ministry-at-large among and through the people (priests in Old Testament times and later pastor-shepherds), and those in need among the people (widows, orphans, etc.), as well as to maintain the means of worship and ministry (i.e. temple).
The first local church community is noted as having shared their resources in common… BUT they did so voluntarily. In other words…
The new entity known as ‘the church’ didn’t give as a means of being obedient to some law that was imposed… but out of understanding their responsibility to the communal calling and needs of Christ’s community.
Let me summarize my heart regarding the giving of this community. We have expenses… significant expenses to bring ministry to so many facets of life. This past week our Board of Governing Elders met into late hours to make the most prudent of decisions as we plan for the year ahead. But a community meeting it’s expenses is secondary to a community of lives entering a dynamic of trust with God. If our giving reflects a dynamic trust in God… I trust we will be able to fulfill all He is calling us to.
3. Trust is reflected in giving from the ‘first fruits’… as a ‘sacred portion’ originally defined by the “tithe” (first tenth) of what one received in life resources.
“Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops…” - Proverbs 3:9
As I’ve shared in the past… there is a dynamic here that really captures the life of trust. As an agrarian culture…they planted crops and waited to see whether they would come up… whether the weather and other variables would sustain what was sown. The ‘first fruits’ refers to both the first and best of what came up. The first portion that comes up would be that which one would naturally place the greatest sense of security in. There was no guarantee of the rest of the crops… yet that is what they gave back to the communal house of God.
The significance of the first fruits… or first tenth… is captured in these words..
“ ‘…and now I bring the first fruits of the soil that you, O Lord, have given me.’ When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce,… Then say to the Lord your God: "I have removed from my house the sacred portion…..” You have declared this day that the Lord is your God…. And the Lord has declared this day that you are his people, his treasured possession as he promised…” Duet. 26:10,12-13,17-18
The first tenth was considered a “sacred portion”… that which represented one’s most fundamental commitment to honor God as their Provider. One’s tithe declares who He is to us… and who we are to Him.
In an affluent society, we need some guidance for our thinking about giving. In Old Testament times the tithe was the king’s portion. After a king conquered and subjugated the people, the people would render to him a tithe (a tenth of the produce of their land). Because Israel was conquered by God’s love and care, Israel became obligated to render to the Lord a tithe. Tithes were used for several purposes: the maintenance and support for the priesthood (Num. 18:21-24); tithes were paid to the poor (Deut. 14:28-29); and a sacred tithe was given that would be associated with a fellowship meal (Deut. 14:22-27).
Is our trust of God still to be reflected in returning the first tenth (‘tithe’) to the communal house of God?
If asked if I believe in tithing… I would want to say that in terms of fulfilling the old covenant through the laws… absolutely not. We never fulfilled the Law… that’s why Christ came. We live in a new covenant with God through Christ … which includes following Christ in fulfilling the spirit of the Law. Giving back the first tenth of the resources I am blessed with to God is no longer a matter of righteousness in relationship to the law… but I do believe that it is a life pattern which can reflect the trust it was always to represent. It’s expression of trusting and honoring God as our Provider remains.
In considering the transition from the old covenant to the new, I have found it helpful to consider…
• The appropriateness of a tenth of one’s resources as declaration of God as one’s new sovereign allegiance was recognized before the law existed. (Abraham made a tithe to God before there even was a stated command or ‘law’ given. Abram (Gen. 14:20) and Jacob (28:22)
• Jesus clearly reaffirmed all the principles that the tithe represented
• God as the only true provider who desires us to trust Him alone for our needs.
• God has absolute ownership of all we are and have.
• We are those who bear a responsibility as stewards who must give account for how we invested our lives.
• The appropriate support of those set apart in ministry as “worthy of wages.”
• Our high calling to participate in the Lord’s ministry.
• The commitment Christ called for was always greater, not lesser, than that of the Law.
(Matt. 5-7, esp. 5:17-20; Heb. 10:29, 11:4)
•
• Jesus raised the challenge of ultimate trust ….by lifting up those who gave everything.
(Matt. 19:21; Mark 12:41-44)
• Jesus appears to commend the religious leaders for tithing…. while calling for underlying hearts of compassion and justice.
“You should tithe, yes, but you should not leave undone the more important things.” Matthew 23:23
• The early church, in their freedom, gave far more.
“They sold their possessions and shared the proceeds with those in need.” Acts 2:45
I have sought to maintain that level of giving for a few reasons. If I were to consider what has guided my choice most… I can think of three things.
First, I simply wonder… if we are now free to choose what percentage of the resources we have been given that we will give back to recognize God’s faithfulness… and invest in His shared calling…it would only seem natural to consider the previous standard as a good starting place.
Someone shared this analogy… If my wife and I after having our first child… began a relationship with a young babysitter…. Who when asked what she charged… wanted just $5 an hour… and we soon discovered was remarkably in providing great care. well suppose that we had more kids and returned to her in a later season… and asked what she wanted in terms of payment…. And instead of stating a higher charge… she simply told us we could pay her whatever we felt she was worth… that we could decide. What do you think would be appropriate? I think we’d all say that to pay he less would obviously be wrong… even offensive. We’d naturally think towards more… less would not even come to mind… EXCEPT for one little temptation… we could save money. But I’d hope to turn away from that temptation and express the appreciation and respect due to her. I suppose that is the type of process I consider.
Second, First, we realize that we would not be the man and woman we are today had it not been for the church ... it’s news of God’s love, it’s teaching that shaped our hearts and minds, and it’s community to help us grow. If not for faithful and generous lives who gave before us there would be no community now.
Finally, we give not because we love money less ... we give because we love it so much. And it’s because God knows we love money so much, that God commands us to give away a goodly portion of what we’ve been blessed with. We give, in part, out of obedience ... as a discipline ... because it helps us keep straight, among all the competing claims in our lives, just who we are and whose we are.
Let me sum up what I believe and would want to guide us in…
Our giving is a vital part of defining and declaring our relationship of trust with God. This is established and experienced in our personal commitments to give freely, thoughtfully, and sacrificially back to God at a level that reflects our trust.
One closing story…
GIVING TO GOD
The Watchman Crusader once carried the true story of a well-known preacher who was making an appeal for funds before a large congregation. He asked the people to bring their gifts to the front of the church as an act of willing and cheerful liberality. Many came forward to present their offerings; among them was a little lame girl who hobbled along at the rear of the procession. Pulling a ring from her finger, she placed it on the table at the foot of the platform and then made her way back up the aisle.
After the service an usher was sent to bring her into a side room where the preacher met her and said, "My dear, I saw what you did tonight. It was beautiful. But the response of the people has been so generous that we have more than enough to take care of our needs. We don’t feel right about keeping your treasured ring, so we’ve decided to give it back to you." To his surprise the little girl shook her head in refusal. With a look of rebuke in her eyes, she said, "Pastor, you don’t understand. I didn’t give my ring to you; I gave it to the Lord."
