Not What You Make, But How You Make It

Pastor Burcham’s Sermon

Sunday, November 15, 2009

It seems that we like to beat up on the wealthy these days, at least that’s what one columnist for the New York Times believes. Evidently, he wrote a column a few days earlier where he tried to depict the wealthy, the affluent and some of the problems, the struggles they were having given the current economy. Evidently, the readers didn’t agree with him.

He wrote this, “Readers rejected the attempt to understand the concerns of the rich. ‘That’s so stupid, you ought to be slapped for it,’ one woman wrote.” Or his favorite began, “Bow ties and Reaganomics are for losers. You can cry for the rich all you want. The rest of us will be happy to see them get taxed.” Ooh, a little bit of animosity there, a little bit of anger for those people who have more than what we do. Where’s that all coming from? Where does that stem from?

Well, if you go back to the book Mind Over Money, the authors say, “There’s a general suspicion in our culture today that all wealthy people are very self-centered and they’re motivated only by those self interests.” In fact, they say this, “Usually, for those who feel that way, there’s a script that goes through their mind and the script goes like this, ‘Money is bad. Rich people are shallow and greedy and people become rich by taking advantage of others.’” But the authors note, “The same people who say money is bad, say money is connected to their self worth. They wish they had it and you didn’t.”

So which is it? Is money good or is money bad? Money is neutral. It’s a concept we need to wrap our minds around that money is neutral. It is not anything magical and good nor is it anything which is inherently evil or bad. Now some of you are saying, “But there’s that passage from scripture that talks about it.” It’s 1 Timothy 6 but what it says is, “The love of money is at the root of all kinds of evil.” It doesn’t say money is at the root of all kinds of evil. It says the love of money is at the root of all kinds of evil. Money itself is neutral. You can think of it the same way as fire. Fire is neutral. A fire can either warm you when you’re cold or, if it goes unchecked, it can consume everything in its path but the fire itself is neutral. It’s neither good nor bad. Money is neutral.

It is our attitude towards money which is really the issue. It’s our viewpoint of money. Last week, we discovered that it’s not about what you make but it’s about who you are. In other words, we can’t look to money for our emotional needs. Our self worth cannot be based upon our net worth. Our worth is based on the fact that we are a child of God. It’s not about what you make.

This week, it’s not about what you make but it’s how you make it or what it is that you do with what God has entrusted you with. We had a great parable from Jesus, read just a moment ago, about a landowner who entrusts his property to three servants. In that parable, Jesus strikes a balance for us on how we should view money and what our attitude should be about money. On the one extreme, there are those who lust after money, given to greed and corruption and always want more. On the other extreme, there are those who say there’s something inherently evil about money and there’s something wrong with it spiritually. Therefore, the only way we can stay in the good graces of God is to take a vow of poverty. God strikes a balance between those two extremes in the parable of the landowner.

There are three things that I want us to take away from the story that Jesus told about this. The first one is this: You will be held accountable. We don’t like to talk about that, especially when we talk about scriptures but it’s written all over scripture. There are things that we’re going to be held accountable for and Jesus is very clear on this. “You will be held accountable for how you manage the things that God has given to you.” What was the story about? The story is about a rich landowner. Loosely, that’s God. He goes away on a long journey. He entrusts his property to three of his servants. To one of them, he gives 5 talents, 2 talents, 1 talent. Roughly, $50,000, $20,000, $10,000. And what does He say? He says, “Manage it well.” Because when he comes back, what does he do? “After a long time, the master comes back and he wants to settle up accounts. ‘What did you do? What did you do with all that I entrusted you with while I was gone?’” And he had entrusted them with quite a bit.

My friends, God has entrusted us with all of creation. Have we forgotten Genesis 1, the creation story? God entrusts us with everything. Chapter 1 Verse 26, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image and our likeness. Let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, over all the creatures that move on the ground.’” God entrusts us with all of creation. He is the creator of the universe and everything in it and then He gives it to us and He says, “Manage it well. Take care of it.”

For our purposes today, we’re focusing in on the wealth that God has given to us, our income, our money, our possessions that we have. We understand they are a gift from God. I know that you work hard. I work hard. But God is the one who gave us the ability to work. He gave us the skills, the talents and the strength. All the blessings we have really belong to God. He gives them to us, entrusts them to us and He says, “I’m going to hold you accountable. What are you doing with what I gave you?”

Now I want you to note that the amount matters not. It doesn’t matter how much God has entrusted with you because it’s not about the money. It’s about what we do with it. It’s not about our possessions but it’s how we manage them.

Let’s look at the rest of the story that Jesus told. “After a long time, the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received 5 talents brought the other 5. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with 5 talents. See, I’ve gained 5 more.’” Note what the master says. “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things.’”

Alright, 2 talent guy. “The man who had 2 talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with 2 talents. See I have gained 2 more.’” Note the exact same words. “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You’ve been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things.’” There is no distinction between the two, even though the one started out with $50,000 and came up with $100,000; the other one $20,000 and came up with $40,000. There’s a big difference between those two amounts but the amount doesn’t matter because it’s not the amount. It’s the fact that these two servants managed well what had been entrusted to them and they could give a good account.

Contrast that with our third man. It says, “The man who had received 1 talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I know that you’re a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown, gathering where you have not scattered seeds. So I was afraid and I went out and hid your talents in the ground. See, here’s what belongs to you.’ His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant.’” And then he proceeds to throw him out. “You wicked, lazy servant.”

Think of it this way. For those of you who are retired, think back 20 years. For those of you who are looking forward to retirement, think 20 years ahead. Say you go to a broker and you say, “You know what, 20 years from now, I’m going to retire. Here’s my entire savings up to this point. I’m going to entrust it to you. And on a monthly basis, I’m going to send you another check and I want you to know, that’s what I’m going to live on when I can’t make a living anymore. So I’m banking on you to take care of it.” Twenty years later, you come back in his office, you sit across from the desk and he looks at you and he says, “You know, 20 years ago, I knew how important this was to you, that you were banking your entire retirement on what you’d given me. And I took that charge very, very seriously. And I have been watching the market for 20 years and it has been all over the board.” And well, he reaches down and he opens up a drawer and he hands you back every check that you ever gave to him. That’s what the third guy did. He didn’t manage what God had given to him. He couldn’t give a good account for what the landowner had given to him.

God’s going to hold us to account, to do and manage all the blessings that He’s given to us. So the first thing we learn from the parable, you’re going to be held accountable.

The second thing is maximize what’s been given to you. The parable tells us to maximize what has been given to us. See, we have to clear up a misperception in Christianity. There’s a misperception that says that ambition and success are wrong or inherently evil. We don’t talk about being ambitious in church talk. We don’t talk about being successful when we’re in these walls. If we do, we apologize for that or we put some qualifier on that because somehow we’ve gotten in our mind that if we’re ambitious or if we’re successful, we should feel guilty about that, that’s not a God-pleasing thing. This story flies in the face of that. What is it that the servants were commended for? The one guy had 5 talents; he comes up with 10. Way to go! He had 2, came up with 4. Alright! Good job! You managed well what had been entrusted to you. God says maximize the benefits, maximize the blessings that he’s showered upon you.

Now make note that when the master leaves, in Verse 5 it says, “He gave his servants each one according to his ability.” I want to hammer this home. It doesn’t matter the amount. It’s what you do with it. Each one according to his ability. He knew that each one had a capacity for success and so to the one, there was a 5 talent guy. “Here you go.” There was a 2 talent guy. There’s a 1 talent guy. But he treats them all the same. There’s no distinction between the three servants there. But he expects and wants them to live up to their potential and to maximize what’s been given to them.

Every one of us has been gifted by God. He’s bestowed upon you the certain genetics, the certain traits, the skills, the talents, the ability that you possess and God says, “Use it to its full potential. Maximize the gifts that God has given to you.” Look in Romans 12, “We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesy, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it’s serving, let him serve. If it’s teaching, let him teach. Encouraging, let him encourage. If it’s leadership, let him govern diligently but showing mercy. Let him do it cheerfully.” In other words, maximize the way that God has gifted you.

If you’re good at business, then excel in business. If you’re good at teaching, then excel in teaching. If you’re good at managing a home and taking care of the home, then do it with fervor. Use all the blessings that God has given you and maximize, live up to the potential that God has for you. There is nothing inherently evil or bad about ambition or success.

Now not blind ambition. Blind ambition, well, that gets over into greed and corruption and sinful behavior but I’m talking about wanting to live up to our potential. Here’s the key: The key is you measure success not in dollars and cents. You measure success, “Have I done the most with what God has given to me? Have I lived up to my potential of the gifts that God has bestowed upon me?” You see, it’s not about what you make but it is about what you do with it, how you make it.

The third thing we learn from the parable, remain faithful. This is the one that kind of balances the other two. On the one hand, God says you’re going to be held accountable. You better be ready to give an account. He says there’s nothing wrong with ambition. There’s nothing wrong with being successful. This one counterbalances that but you’re going to do it all in the context of remaining faithful. So there’s not going to be any blind ambition here. You’re not going to give way to sinful behavior because you’re going to remain faithful.

What is it the landowner says to the first two servants? He says, “Well done, good and faithful investors.” “Well done, good and profitable guys.” “Well done, good and faithful.” God is looking for us to be faithful. They had struck the balance in this story. They had maximized what they had been given but they held onto their integrity and their honesty. They had not given way to blind ambition. They had not given way to greed and corruption. They had remained faithful.

God is looking for us to remain faithful. It’s not about what you make but it’s how you make it. There are some keys on that. Let’s take a look at Ephesians 4:28, “He who has been stealing must steal no longer but must work doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.” There is the threefold formula. You want to be faithful with what God has given to you. You want to be faithful in maximizing the gifts, to be ambitious, to be successful but still remain faithful in doing it.

The first thing He says, “Be honest. Do an honest day’s worth of work.” Now there are two ways we can be dishonest. There are two ways we can fall off the wagon on this. We can fall off on the lazy side or we can fall off on the lust side. There is more to stealing than just embezzlers and petty thieves. We can steal when we cheat on our taxes. We can steal when we lie about our PTO. We can steal when we leave early and we arrive late but we get paid the same. We can steal when we don’t put in a hard day’s worth of work, when we just halfheartedly do the job that’s been given to us but yet we collect the same paycheck. We can fall off the wagon on the lazy side and not be honest in earning of our income.

But we can fall off on the lust side, too. Because if it’s all about the dollars, if it’s all about the accumulation of wealth and the stuff that we have, the bigger TV’s and the house and the boat and all the rest, if that’s where our focus is, then all of a sudden, we’ve gone into greed and corruption. We start compromising our principles and we start living outside the guidance that God has given to us. It may be legal in the state but it’s not legal in God’s eyes. But if you give way to it, if you don’t make an honest living, God says that’s not being faithful. God says be honest. This is where integrity, the rubber hits the road is when we’re dealing with money. Honesty. Honesty in how we make a living.

The second thing He says, work hard. Work hard. Because when we work hard, it says something about our character. It says something about who we are. It says do something useful with your hands. Or we can go to the wisdom literature. There are lots but we’ll just pick one. Proverbs 14, “All hard work brings profit but mere talk, it leads to poverty.” You can’t just talk about working. You can’t just talk about what you’re going to do. Put in a hard day’s worth of work. Work hard. That’s part of maximizing what God has given to you, living up to your potential. So God says work hard.

And then have the right incentive. Why is it that you do your job? Is it only for the paycheck? Is it only so you can accumulate more? You just put in your time so you can have the big nest egg or you can have the bigger house or whatever it is that you want? God says have the right incentive. What did St. Paul say to the Church at Ephesus? He says, “Be honest, don’t steal. Do a hard day’s worth of work.” For what purpose? “So that you can give to those who are in need.” So you can be generous as God has been generous with you.

Think about how generous God has been to you? In two seconds, right now, take stock of all the things you have physically. You got it? Just in two seconds, how many things could you name in your mind? God has been generous with you. Now think spiritually. What has God done for you? God has been generous with you. Now God says, “You want to be faithful? Be honest, put in a hard day’s work but your incentive again, it’s not the dollars. It’s what they’ll do.” How can I serve God? How can I bring glory and honor to Him? How can I help those who are in need?

Jesus Himself said in Luke 16, “Use worldly resources to benefit others.” If God has given you abundant resources, then use them to benefit others, to do the work of his kingdom. It’s what it means to be faithful. God is striking a balance for us, on our viewpoint, about our attitude towards money. He says you’re going to be held accountable. I think we should know that. I think it’s fair. God’s given us a lot so we should manage it well. We should be good stewards of it. God says there’s nothing wrong with ambition. In fact, He says, “I’ve given you certain gifts and skill,” and He wants you to use them and live up to your potential. But He says, “Be faithful. Be honest. Work hard. Have the right incentive.” In short, what God is telling us, it’s not what you make but it’s how you make it. Amen.

Copyright 2009 Gloria Dei Lutheran Church