Being Rich in a Poor Economy:
Rich Givers

Pastor Burcham’s Sermon

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

For the last several weeks, we have been trying to discover how to be rich. Not how to become rich because I believe we have seen that we already are rich. If we look at it from a worldly point of view, as we look at it from God’s point of view, we are rich.

Now I know most of you probably say, “But I don’t feel rich.” There’s probably even a small element of you who are saying, “Yeah, he’s just putting a spin on things to get his point across.” That’s really not what I’m talking about. We really are rich. In the eyes of the world, we are rich. Remember, if you make over $37,000 a year, you’re in the top 4% of wage earners on the globe. Over $45,000 a year, you’re in the top 1% in the world. I’m rich. Most of you, if not all of you, are rich. We live like rich people. We drive cars. Most people in the world don’t drive cars, don’t own cars. We not only own cars, we have little houses that we put our cars into. We call them garages. In fact, we are so rich that after service this morning, if you want to, you have a plethora of places out there where you can go and you are rich enough that you can pay them to make you breakfast. And they will not only make you breakfast, they’ll clean up the dishes afterwards.

My friends, we are rich. Now there is nothing wrong with being rich. What we have been trying to learn is how can we be rich in a godly way. How can be rich so that we honor God, so we do this in a God-pleasing way? This weekend, what we want to answer the question is why has God made me rich? Think about that for a minute. Why did God make you rich? You could have been born anywhere on the planet? You could have been born in a third world country where you have to scavenge for your food every day, where you have to live in mud huts, where you have to eke out a living and you’re not expected to live past 40. But you weren’t. God created you here in this land of wealth and He’s made you rich. So why? Why did God make us rich?

Remember, when we go to scripture now, whenever God is talking to rich people, He’s talking to me and He’s talking to you. I never thought of it that way before but it’s true. So this is what God says because He answers the question. We read it a moment ago in 2 Corinthians, “You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion and, through us, your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.” You will be made rich in every way so that, on every occasion, you can be generous so that results in a thanksgiving and a praise and an honor to God. We have been made rich. We have been blessed so we can be a blessing to others, so we can be rich givers to others.

Now the only flaw I see in that is I don’t believe most of us know how to be rich givers. I don’t think that we completely understand how it is that God wants us to give. And so, this morning, I want us to explore in God’s Word how is it that we can be rich givers. Now to help us out a little bit, I brought a couple of pumpkin pies. You’ve been staring at them since the beginning of the service wondering, “Gee whiz, do I get a piece of pumpkin pie?” Possibly after service, talk to me. No, it’s not a fund raiser. As I was thinking about this, we have Thanksgiving coming up, right, and I don’t know about you but one of the things I look forward to on Thanksgiving is pumpkin pie. I can’t wait for pumpkin pie and, at least in my family, it’s my mother-in-law who bakes the pumpkin pie and brings it to us. Okay? So Grandma brings the pumpkin pie. So what happens then? When Grandma brings the pumpkin pie, well, it’s time to divvy up the pumpkin pie, right? So maybe this is how it goes, you say, “Well, here’s the pumpkin pie. It’s time for us to divvy it up. Grandma brought it and so maybe the first thing we do is we’re going to cut a nice, healthy piece here for Grandpa because he kind of has a sweet tooth and so he likes a big piece, so there’s a piece for Grandpa.” Alrighty. He has his piece of pumpkin pie. But that’s not everybody, right? Everybody wants a piece of the pie, pardon the pun. Okay, so, well, “Let’s see, I have my brother-in-law. He probably wants a piece of pumpkin pie. So we’ll get him a piece of pumpkin pie. And then, now let’s see, my daughter, Emily, she likes pumpkin pie so we’ll get her a piece of the pumpkin pie. And I’m pretty sure that my niece likes pumpkin pie so we’ll give  her a piece and then one of the little ones likes pumpkin pie so we’ll give them a piece. I almost forgot myself. I like pumpkin pie, too, but, oh goodness, I couldn’t eat that much pie. No, uh-huh. We’ll just, there we go. That’s much better. There we are. There, now that’s my piece of pumpkin pie. Now did I forget anything? I did. I forgot, I forgot, I forgot, how could I forget, here we go, Grandma, there you are, there’s your piece of pumpkin pie.” Do you think I’d really give that to Grandma for her piece of pumpkin pie?

I wonder if this is what we do with God. You see, God gives us the whole pie. God gives us all of our income and how do we usually handle that? We start divvying it up, right? So we take a nice, big piece and we say, “That’s the mortgage payment.” And we take another pretty healthy piece and we say, “Well, that’s the car payment and there’s the utilities and maybe that’s college tuition over there. And that’s a little bit of recreation and just a little piece left for me and then whatever’s left over, that’s what we give to God.” Is that how God wants us to be rich? That’s not being rich. That’s being selfish. And that, my friends, is what we have to learn.

We have to learn how to be rich and to give in a god-pleasing way. You wouldn’t give Grandma the leftovers, I wouldn’t at least. We shouldn’t give God the leftovers. So we look at God’s Word and say, “How is it then that God instructs us, teaches us on how we can be rich givers, on how we can manage this wealth that He’s given to us?” And there are three important things God shows us in His Word.

The first thing is this: God shows us that everything we have truly belongs to Him. Everything we have is His and He graciously gives it to us, alright? Think about the pie here, okay. The pie that Grandma brought, that’s her pie. It’s her ingredients. It’s her work. She’s the one who put it together. She’s the one who baked it and then she brought it and gave it to the family. Now would we ever say, “Now that’s my pie.” Would we ever say, “No, no, no, no, I worked pretty hard for that pie. I earned that pie.” No. None of it was ours to begin with. She did all the work. She had all the ingredients and she brought it to the family. And yet, how often do we say, “You know, I work pretty hard for my living. I went through a lot of years of schooling and I sort of gutted my way through that. I’ve put in my time in the corporate ladder and I’ve worked and I’ve tried to do my best. I put in the extra hours. I worked very hard for every dollar that’s sitting in my account.” But God’s Word has something to say about that. Is it really you? He says, “You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’” “Yeah, I worked real hard. Last week was probably 70 hours.” Okay. Uh-oh. “But remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gave you the ability to produce wealth.” He who gave you the ability to produce wealth.

Who gave you the strength to get up this morning? God did. Who gave you the smarts so you could do your job? God did. Who gave you the special skills, the special gifts that you have so you’re able to perform your unique function in your career or in your job? God did. Who gave you the air that we breath? Who provides us with the food on the planet? Do you see what I’m saying? God has given us all the ingredients and God has put it together in you. It all belongs to God. This is the important first concept that we need to understand. It’s not mine. He’s given it to me. I’m supposed to steward it. I’m supposed to manage it but, ultimately, it all belongs to Him and all credit goes to God.

When we understand that, then we understand the second thing and the second thing is God says, “Now in recognition of that, in thanksgiving of that,” God is very clear, He says, “Give a portion of it back to me. It’s all over scripture. It’s in the Old Testament. It’s in the New Testament. God says, “Give a portion of it back to me.” If we look in the book of Leviticus, the book of Leviticus is very clear. It says, “A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord. It’s holy to the Lord.” It’s His. God asked for a percentage of what we have to be given back to Him.

Let’s start over with a brand new pie, okay? So here we go, we now have our pie that Grandma has brought to us. Now I don’t know about you, but wouldn’t it be the most courteous thing, when Grandma brings the pie, who do you think should have first dibs on the first piece? I’m thinking Grandma should have first dibs. She’s the one who brought it, she’s the one who baked it but if she’s anything like my mother-in-law, if you say, “Okay, Mom, would you like a piece?” How big a piece would she ask for? “Oh, I just want a small one.” At least in the Old Testament, God says, “I’ve given it all to you.” He says, “I just want a tenth of it back.” Just a tenth. God says, “I’ll take that.” Now even if Grandma asks for a piece this small, I wouldn’t give her a piece this small. I’d cut her a little bit healthier slice than that. But that’s what God says.

Then He says, “Ninety percent? That’s yours. Manage it. Manage it well.” Do you see the different perspective when you respond first to God and the first thing you do is you say, “God, a portion of this I’m going to give back to you. This is an opportunity for me to remember and to be reminded that everything I have is from you.” And, each time we do that, it’s a lesson learned.

Go back to the book of Deuteronomy. The book of Deuteronomy it says in Chapter 14, it’s talking about the tithe, what does the tithe do for you? He says, “Doing this will teach you always to fear the Lord our God.” These are spiritual issues. These are not financial issues. They’re spiritual issues. Doing this will teach you, remind you to fear the Lord your God. In other words, to remember all the blessings God has done for you and how dependent we are upon God. It’s an opportunity then for us to learn that lesson. It’s an opportunity for us to express our thanksgiving to God. It’s an opportunity for us to say that we trust God above all else. If you were with us last week, you might remember that there is something else that’s competing for your heart. Jesus says that you cannot serve both God and money. He pits the two against each other, not that money in itself is evil, but there is a spiritual warfare going on that money wants to take priority in your life. He says, “You can’t serve one and serve the other.” Okay? It says, “You’re going to trust one or the other.” Now imagine the powerful statement that we make, the faith statement, the spiritual statement when we say the very thing that’s competing for our heart, we say, “God, I give it back to you. The first thing that I do is I give it back to you because, God, I trust you. I don’t trust my bank account. I trust you because you are certain and you are unchanging and I trust your promises.” That’s what the tithe is all about. That’s what the percentage giving is all about is, from the top, it goes back to God. It’s an opportunity to thank Him. It’s an opportunity to trust Him. It’s an opportunity for us to learn and to be reminded that we’re totally dependent upon God.

The third thing the scripture teaches us, “When we give back to God, we give it with joy.” And He says, “If you can’t give it with joy, then you shouldn’t give it.” He’s pretty clear on that one, too. He says, “Each man, each person should give what he’s decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” Not reluctantly or under compulsion. We want to go back to the pie again. Can you imagine going up to Grandma saying, “Well, here’s your pie, I guess, if you want it. If you have to have it.” You think Grandma wants that piece of pie? No, she doesn’t want that piece of pie. Do you think we come to God and say, “Well, I guess I have to. If you must, alright, here.” God says, “I’m not interested in that.” I don’t make that statement lightly. God says He’s not interested in that. You see, some of you are thinking that, you know, the preacher’s after my pocketbook here. No, God’s after your heart and, if you’ve been here a few years, you know I’m true on that. God’s after your heart and so God is looking for this attitude of joy and, my friends, until you do it, it’s really hard for me to explain. Until you start giving freely back to God, until He gets something right off the top and you joyfully give it back to Him, you’ll never experience what that’s like. I know some of you know what it’s like, the joy of giving back to God.

Now check this out. I’ve read this one before but, I’m telling you, this is something. What God says in the book of Malachi, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse so that there may be food in my house. Test me in this.” Now I haven’t checked this week but where else in scripture does God say test me? He usually says, “Don’t test the Lord your God.” He says, “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 enough room for it.” He says, “Test me on this and see if you are not blessed abundantly.” Now let’s make sure I’m not misunderstood here. This is not a get rich quick, give God $20 and next week you’ll have $40. You all know that, but let’s just make sure. It’s not what I’m saying. Because the very next verse, He says, “I’ll prevent the pests from devouring your crop,” He lists all these ways in which He will bless us that maybe we don’t see. Maybe, all of a sudden, our gas bill isn’t as much as what we thought it was going to be. The utilities aren’t quite there. The car doesn’t break down. The furnace doesn’t go on the fritz. There are any number of ways, if we open up our eyes, we can see how God is blessing us. And this says nothing of the spiritual blessings God has done for us. Because not only does He take care of us in this world, but He’s taken care us for an eternity. But God says, “In this area of giving, go ahead and test me. Go ahead and see if I will not open up the floodgates.” It’s a spiritual journey. It’s a spiritual matter that we’re talking about. God has made us rich. How can we be rich in a godly way?

Well, I believe it’s time for us to make it real and during this next week is your opportunity to make it real. As I do every year, I’m going to ask you to spend this next week in prayer and I want you to ask yourself, “Do I really believe that God has made me rich? And if I believe God has made me rich, how can I be rich in a godly way? And, specifically, how can I offer back to God a pleasing gift to Him? How can I take this opportunity to be generous to Him?”

You’re going to get something in the mail from me this week. It’s a letter. It has the usual stuff in it so you can do an evaluation of where you are in your percentage giving. My encouragement is that you make a commitment, that you put it down on paper, that you make it real. You say, “God, in my heart I can joyfully, I can thankfully give this back to you for your ministry.”

Now I’m going to be bold here for a moment. I believe this year, above all other years, given the economic condition, there is a very, very real temptation and I believe Satan is going to use it, and that temptation is to either reduce your giving or give your giving the same because you’re saying, “I don’t know what’s out there. I don’t know what’s going to happen.” I really want to challenge that. Is that a statement that says, “I trust God.” I’m not asking anybody to be foolish. I just want you to be cognizant of it because I do believe that can be used as a snare for us and it’s competing for our hearts and it’s your heart that I’m interested in.

And so I really want you to challenge that decision and challenge that choice. “How can I demonstrate my trust for God? How can I acknowledge and thank Him for what he’s done?” And see if God doesn’t open up the floodgates and bless you because I believe every one of you, and I truly do, I don’t believe any of you want to give God the leftovers. I believe that you want to give God first. And this week is an opportunity to wrestle with that.

Next week will be a celebration weekend. It will be a time when we can take our commitments and we can lay them on God’s altar and we can celebrate the joys of the ministry that He’s given us here at Gloria Dei as we highlight some of those significant spiritual landmarks in our life, that we get to celebrate as a family of God every year and we’re going to praise and thank God for the entire service. It’s going to be a good time as we recognize all that God has done.

But this week, this week, be rich. Be rich in a god-pleasing way. Amen.

Copyright 2008 Gloria Dei Lutheran Church