Sermon for 11/12/06

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Sermon for 11/12/06
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The Giving Christian - A MATTER OF THE HEART: The Gift of Treasure

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, AMEN

Main Theme: This stewardship series concerns itself with the motivation behind our “living to give” Christian lifestyle. It’s a matter of the heart! When you are in love with Jesus, when God is number one, when His Spirit lives in your heart… you will recognize that your time, talents, and treasures are gifts that are to be used for HIS glory! Today we look at the precious gift of treasure! Almost everything “runs into money” today – and Jesus is aware that finances and material possessions can become more than just tools – they can become the main stumbling block to true faith. Why is that? Today we explore why “belief” in God and “trust” in Him may be two different things. If there are no “have to’s” (only “want to’s”) in a loving relationship – then why are we reluctant to turn our money matters over to Him? And what’s with “tithing”? Isn’t that a “have to”? We’ll explore why money is a trust issue and why our finances are a matter of the heart!

1) ALWAYS RUNS INTO MONEY! It was a warm summer day, and Dad and Mr. Operman were letting us kids row the boat to our favorite fishing hole. Half way there we began to tire and loose our fascination with rowing. That’s when we suggested buying a motor for the boat. My dad suggested we kids start saving our money if we wanted a motor. Turning to Mr. Operman, he said, “Every time my family has a suggestion – it has dollar signs attached to it.” Operman nodded and said one of the strangest things I’d ever heard, “Yep,” he said, “It’s just like a monkey peeing in a cash register! …always runs into money!”

2) MONEY! That was almost 40 years ago, but I’ve never forgotten that expression. And ironically, the older I got – the more I realized that almost everything DOES run into money – that is the need for money. Food, clothing, hobbies… everything required some need for cash. Even though the Beatles sang, “Money can’t buy me love” – my experience in “dating” revealed that taking a girl out to a movie, or dinner, or to a concert – always ran into money! And heaven forbid the price tag for going to the prom! The engagement ring and the wedding …ran into money! Having babies, raising them, and sending them to college… always run into money! Now that Charlotte and I have an “empty nest”, everything we want to do – still runs into money. In fact, try to imagine having everything in your life (that once had a price tag attached to it) being taken away: what’s left? See… how easy for us to conclude that money is not just nice to have, but essential to exist in our world! Would it be wrong to apply Operman’s wisdom to LIFE? “Yep,” he said, “It’s just like a monkey peeing in a cash register! Always runs into money!”

3) SALVATION IS FREE, BUT… Now some of us in church might want to argue that assumption. After all, we declare: “Salvation is free. God’s love doesn’t cost us a dime! It’s unconditional and carries no price tag! The Spiritual gifts of hope, faith, inner peace, and the power of the Holy Spirit living within us… these are blessings that come from heaven without a financial price tag!” True! Absolutely true! Thank God! But once we move away from the topic of “salvation” and onto “discipleship”, can we still claim the same thing? If I am to love my neighbor, how do I feed the hungry locally or around the world without it “running into money”? How do we build churches for worship, or hospitals for the sick, or provide clean water for primitive 3^rd world villages without our love “running into money”? Can we provide shelters for the homeless, or dental clinics for the poor, or find the cure for cancer without it “running into money?” Fact is, almost every ministry Christians are involved with is directly or indirectly connected to the distribution of what some call wealth! Treasures! Money! Yep, Salvation is free, but “loving our neighbors” typically …runs into money!

4) AFTER MY MONEY! Seems logical then, that growing Christians would be eager to discover Biblical wisdom when it comes to the parts of our lives that “run into money”! It would seem logical that people who want to increasingly be more “Christ-like” would hang on every Word that came from His lips concerning material possessions. Yeh, right. That certainly hasn’t been my personal experience! When I was in my 20’s and just getting to know Jesus, the last topic I wanted anyone talking to me about in the church was my money! Talk to me about salvation, heaven, healing, forgiveness… bring up what Jesus did for me on the cross… teach me about the blessings of following Christ, but DON’T talk to me about what to do with my money! Talk to me of matters of the heart – but leave finances out of the conversation. My assumption was that the church and the pastor were “after my money” – what else could be their motivation for discussing it? Obviously they needed my money for the annual budget? Right? But come on – if Jesus cared about money or material possessions He would have focused on it all the time!

5) ASSUMPTIONS! It is amazing how many assumptions I made about the church, the bible, and Christian stewardship before I had ever read Jesus’ actual words in the scriptures! I had advanced in my faith walk to the point where I knew I wanted Jesus in my life, but who He fully was and what He longed for me to become were based on cliché’s, slogans, quick summaries, and… as I would find out – wrong assumptions. For example – having not been a bible reader, I was unaware that in the first three gospels, Jesus addressed money and material possessions in 1 out of every 6 stories He told. “Why?” I began to wonder. “Jesus is supposed to be about spiritual things - not financial things!” I was shocked to discover that Jesus knew (well before Mr. Operman did) – that much of what we deal with in life “runs into money”. And He knew that it absorbed much of our time, attention, and worry, …and that it could become so important to us that we might come to trust in it - rather than in our Father above! And as a stumbling block to faith, He knew only too well that money and material possessions WERE a spiritual matter! …a matter of the heart! Believe me, I know – my non-biblical assumptions caused me to fail to see that with Christ, finances and spirituality are inseparable.

6) ME/MINE! Looking back, I realize that the first stumbling block was the pronoun I had used to describe the treasures I possessed – “my” treasures. I had called it “my hard earned money!” Well, wasn’t it? Hadn’t it been ME laboring at my job… me earning the cash, …me rightly receiving what belonged to me? Now true, God made the world, and the solar system… OK – He made the Universe and everything beyond! But I earned this money! And I deserve to make the decisions as to how it would be spent! Right? Jesus looked at me and smiled – “Where did you get the strength to work?” Smugly I answered, “From exercising!” He smiled, “And where did you get the arms and legs to exercise?” I could only answer… “From you!”

7) GET YOUR OWN DIRT! For a while I had sounded like that scientist who had a contest with God. He thought he’d earned a God-like place because he could restructure and make anything in the laboratory. So he challenged God to a creation making contest. God agreed and the contest began. God reached down and formed a living human being from a hand full of dirt. The scientist said he impressed but that he could do the same thing! So he reached down for a hand full of dirt when God abruptly stopped him …and said, “Get your own dirt!”

8) HE/HIM/GOD! Isaiah 40:26 tells us “Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.” Hebrews 11:3 assures us, “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” And not just the universe, but everything and every one in it. Colossians 1:16 tells us, “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.” Psalm 139:13 reminds us, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.” And the Apostle Paul confirms this in Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” There are so many scripture readings that declare that God made the universe, all the things in it, including us… and our money! The fact is, as we discovered last week: We and everything in the universe were made BY God and FOR God – to bring Him glory!

9) LOVING IS GIVING! The closer I get to Jesus, the more the big picture begins to make sense. I started with Jesus hanging from the cross, and then being resurrected to set me free from sin, Satan, and death. I bowed with a thankful heart to the God whose unconditional love poured itself out even unto death! The conclusion was simple: loving is giving! Jesus gave Himself up for me! So because “loving is giving” – only a giving heart reflects Jesus’ loving heart!

10) HAVE TO? WANT TO! Do we “have to” give? Hardly! Last week we saw how there are no “have to’s” in love: what we do and say in a loving relationship is based on “want to’s” …or it isn’t real love as God defined it! Therefore there aren’t any “have to’s” when it comes to giving money either – since loving is giving – it should be based on “want to’s!”

11) TRUST! The wealth and material blessings we have been given belong to Him! They were designed BY God and FOR God; to bring Him glory! Fact is, God loves people and uses things to bless us. And if we’re to be more Christ-like: then we too need to learn to “Love people and use things, and not love things and use people!” But to give away our blessings… we have to “trust” in God! See, money isn’t the real issue – trust is! Anyone can believe God exists – but not everyone trusts that God will take care for them! Philippians 4:19 says “And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” Did I believe that? See, if “giving is love” and God calls us to love, …if our heart is in the right place, …if we truly trust in God – then we give generously and joyfully of our treasures because we believe that God has plenty and He promised to take care of our needs! So… does our giving show we trust God?

12) HOW MUCH? Simple, right? Yeh, right! If my money isn’t mine, and God wants me to pass some of it on – how much? How much do I have to give up? Oops, there’s that word “have to” again – and we concluded that in a loving relationship there are no “have to’s” only “want to’s” – so how much I “want to” give away to bless others depends on how much I trust God! The Apostle Paul told us, (2^nd Cor. 9:7) “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

13) TEST TRUST? But trust is hard for us; at least it was for me! The world had taught me to trust myself. Because humans are “selfish”, I became suspicious of everyone else’s motive. But what of God? “Does God need my money?” Well, that sounded silly as soon as I said it! God could create the universe out of platinum if desired! No, God seeks a relationship - one based on love and trust! And yet, as much as I want to say I love and trust God – how can I be sure? How do I know I’m not deceiving myself and claiming to trust God, but selfishly living with a heart that is not pure? Is there a litmus test? …a way to measure whether my heart possesses a mature trust in God’s ability to provide? The answer is yes.

14) CARDIAC TESTS! Begin first, by thinking of your physical heart. What an amazing muscle; tirelessly pumping blood throughout our system 24/7! If it fails – we die. Anyone lost or nearly lost a loved one or good friend to heart failure? Statistics say heart failure kills more than half the people in the US each year! My dad was one of those statistics. I take preventative medication hoping not to become one of those statistics. Obviously, learning how to maintain a healthy heart is wise! And there are medical tests available, Cardiac Catheterization Tests, that determine if our coronary arteries are blocked or restricted in any way. The test tells if blood flow is restricted, which can cause pain and damage to the heart.

15) THE TITHE! Now let’s talk about our spiritual hearts! Let’s walk into the Spiritual Cardiac Catheterization Lab and test if our heart is functioning in a Christ-like way.This test checks to see if the flow of love is pumping properly. And since “loving is giving” according to Christ, the check revealing “giving blockages” or “restrictions” is called “the tithe.” I had no idea what that meant when I joined the church – though I was to find out it had something to do with 10%. Leviticus 27:30 told the people of God "'A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD.” I can still feel the hair going up on the back of my neck as I postured myself to defend “my money”. Again I assumed the tithe was some sort of church membership dues, or a way to fund a religious institution. It never occurred to me that it was an act of trusting love. And… “the tithe” checks the flow of Christ-like love in our hearts!

16) NEW! See, it had never occurred to me that the ability to tithe was proof that a new level of trust had occurred in my relationship with God! What had Paul told us, (2^nd Cor. 5:17) “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” Hmmm… was I a new creation? Has the old gone? Has the ability to trust in God to provide for all my needs gone from “theory” to reality? The Spiritual Cardiac Catheterization Test, that is, “the tithe”, stood there before me and called me to demonstrate the new Creation within me by trusting God and giving back 10% as a reflection of Christ’s loving and giving heart.

17) WANTING! Could I? Did I want to? Well, yes – but “wanting to”, and “doing it” are two different things. A quick check with a calculator proved there were some serious giving restrictions or blockages to my spiritual heart. We were only giving back about 2% of what God had given us. Jesus told us (Matthew 6:19-21) "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” The guide post called “tithing” clearly measured where my “treasure” lie – and it wasn’t fully in Christ. Wanting to be Christ-like – I was found wanting!

18) TEST ME! Still, I didn’t know if I could absorb that much change. What I meant was, “Now that Christ is calling me to let Him change me – I’m not so sure I trust Him enough yet to surrender my money to Him.” Thankfully, I discovered that God is patient! Lovingly patient! He would allow me to take baby steps – to test Him in His promise to provide. Malachi 3:10 “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.” I did

19) TEST HIM! I cannot tell you how many amazing stories I have heard from growing Christians who dared test Him like Charlotte and I did. We began small with a 1% increase. Expecting financial distress, we were surprised to see no change in our ability to function in a world where everything seems to “run into money.” The next year we tried giving 4% and instead of financial hardships, job advancements provided even more income. At either 6 or 7%, we began to “get it”: God provides! And we took the leap of faith to tithing! Christ convinced us that there was great joy in giving when all the fear of “not having enough” is removed from the formula. And despite the fact that everything seems to run into money – Christ replaced our fear with faith in Him! “Test me in this” says God, “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.” Will you test Him?

20) GIVING! Rick Warren, (“The Purpose Driven Life”) says that giving benefited his life in at least 7 different ways. He said “1) Giving makes me more like God, 2) Giving draws me closer to God, 3) Giving breaks the grip of materialism, 4) Giving strengthens my faith, 5) Giving is an investment for eternity, 6) Giving blesses me in return, 7) and Giving makes me happy!” I wish we had time to explore each of these in detail, but for now it’s enough to say that these blessings are truly from heaven! What do you think, are these worth while blessings?

21) BLESSED! Christ is here today to remind us that we are called to love as He loved us! And if that’s what we want, (to be more Christ-like), He will empower us to love through giving. The scriptures claim that our financial blessings were created BY God and FOR God – and good stewards use them to bring Him glory! Christ wants to set you free from the fear of “not having enough”, and provide you with a strong spiritual heart that pumps faithfully and finds joy in giving; releasing God’s blessings to be a blessing to others! Christ knows that almost everything around you eventually runs into money. But is “money” your treasure? …or is the One who provides you with all you need your treasure? Christ says “Loving is giving.” And not a “have to”, but a “want to”. Do you think that the money, treasures, and material possessions you have received are yours, or His? Be careful – if you say “His” - your answer will change your life! See, financial giving and growing spirituality are inseparable! They are matters of the heart! And should you ask Christ to help you take such a leap of faith – you will be blessed!

Praise God!

AMEN!

Sermon/Confessional Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, we confess that trust comes hard for us. We so much want to say that all we are and have belongs to you, but we know we fall well short of this ideal. Forgive us for trusting in money and things for security and happiness. Too often we have loved things and used people rather than loving people and using things. Help us to see that our spiritual growth and financial giving go hand in hand. Enter in and change our hearts that we may experience the spiritual blessings that come to joyful givers.

Lord, we forget that all things, all treasures, all wealth belongs to you and that we are but stewards of it. We have not lived our lives reflecting your giving nature. We have worried about financial matters rather than taking it all to you! Our spiritual hearts have giving blockages and selfish restrictions that prevent your love from fully flowing through our lives! Forgive us for not fearlessly believing that you will provide for our every need, and bring us into a closer and more trusting level in our relationship with you.

And now Lord, although you know us better than we know ourselves, listen as we share in a moment of silence, those other parts of our lives that need to be forgiven, washed clean, healed, and recommitted to you! (made anew.)

(Silence)

Lord, you give us financial blessings that we might be a blessing to others! So help us to make you, and not our money, our most precious treasure. Free us from the bondage to materialism, and help us to see that financial giving and spiritual growth are inseparable! In Jesus Name We Pray. AMEN

Assurance of Forgiveness:

Friends, listen to the good news: The Lord, the creator of all wealth and material treasure, …that Lord has mercifully heard your confession and eagerly forgives you all your sins. Go now, and remember: Loving is giving. It’s fearlessly trusting in Christ to provide, and it’s experiencing a spiritual joy that only financial giving can release within us. Remember, financial giving is not a “have to”, but it is a matter of the heart! Praise God! AMEN

Opening prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, we spent another busy week in a world that claims security and happiness come from money, things, and success. We’d like to say we did not get caught up in any this worldly thinking, but you know our hearts and the things we are struggling with and worried about. Because we strayed from staying focused on spiritual things, it is so good that we can come into your Holy Presence now and lay open our hearts and await your loving touch. Cleanse us, heal us, strengthen us, and renew our lives. Help us to become more spiritually aware of your life-giving will for our lives, and bring the rhythm of our hearts into alignment with yours. Fill us with your love that we may in turn pour it back into the relationships you have blessed us to encounter every day. As this Sabbath day belongs to you, help us make it so with every day. Empower us to take everything we are and have and use these blessings to bring you the glory you deserve. Embrace us now and increasingly shine within us that we may reflect your light to all we meet. In Jesus Name We Pray! AMEN!

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