Stewardship is an act of Spiritual Maturity

November 9, 2003, 8:00, 9:30, 11:00 AM

Rev. Ronald Burcham

Typed from audio transcript

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

There are over 2,000 references to money, possessions, or finances in the words of scripture. Jesus spoke more about money than any other subject. Sixteen of the thirty eight parables deal with money or possessions. One-sixth of all the verses of the gospels deal with money. Jesus talked about money five times more than He talked about prayer. Wow. That's astounding.

Over the last couple of weeks, as I compiled those statistics, I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe that God in His Word spent that much time talking about money, possessions, and finances. I couldn't believe there were over 2,000 references to it. But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. It just simply made sense.

Think about it for a moment. Think about how much of your life involves money, possessions, or finances. The mere fact that you're here this morning, more than likely you had to get in a car, which you purchased, so you could come here. You had to leave your home. You had to put on the clothes on your body, maybe have a bite to eat for breakfast so you could be here. It's hard to imagine very many days going by without having some contact with money, either cash, check, debit card, or credit card. It is so much a part of who we are. It's so much a part of our daily living. Every day has something to do with our finances, our money, our possessions. It just makes sense then. It just makes sense that God then would address it in His Word, that God would talk to us about money, that God would talk to us about our possessions and how we manage our finances. It also only makes sense to me that we should talk about it here in the context of our worship service as we come before God, as we seek to learn from Him, as we seek to learn from Him of all aspects of our life, it makes sense to me that we would also want to learn from God how to manage the finances, the money, the possessions He's given to us.

So this morning I'd like to offer to you from God's Holy Word five principles. Five principles on how to manage the finances that God has given to you. You were handed out by the ushers a sheet of paper, and I would ask that you would follow along with that. There are so many scripture references I really felt that you need to have them before you. Now, as you look over that, I'm guessing some of you are thinking, "You know, this is pretty simple. This is pretty straightforward. It's just common sense the kind of things we're going to talk about this morning." And I will agree with you 100%. But it is one thing to know it. It's one thing to understand it, but it's quite another to actually implement it and live it out in your life. And if some of the statistics that I'm looking at about our culture and our society here in America are true, we're not living by them. We're not managing our money the way in which God wants us to manage our money. In fact, we're doing the exact opposite of what God asks us to do.

For many, many people, their attitude towards money is this: "It's mine. I earned it. I worked for it. I can do with it what I please. Therefore, I'm going to spend it." And for many, many Americans, they spend more than what they have. So after they spend it, they worry about it. They worry about how they spent it. They worry about how in debt they are. They worry about their portfolio. They worry about their investments. How much time and effort goes into you worrying about money or worrying about finances. The third thing they do is they try to pay off their debts, try to repay those times when they've gone beyond what they should have done. And then if there's anything left over, well then they'll save it. And then maybe, just possibly, the fifth one is they'll give some of it away.

God, in His Word, says we are to manage the finances, the money that He gives to us, in exactly the opposite way in which the world is doing it now. The first thing God says to us is this. It's very important. In fact, it's the most important. God says to recognize that all you have is from Him. Recognize that all you have is from God, and you've heard that before I'm sure. You understand that, you know that; but, once again, do you really accept it? Do you really believe it in your heart that everything you have comes from God? Isn't it easier to think that you worked hard, that you deserve what you have, that nobody helped you along the way? I know that all of you put in a long week last week. Maybe you put in 40 hours, 60 hours, 80 hours. You've made sacrifices. You've sort of made the move so that you could earn more money for your family to take care of them, so you say to yourself, "I deserve the paycheck that's coming in." And certainly you do. The possessions you have, the house you live in, the car you drive, they're yours. You earned them. Nobody helped you. You did it all on yourself.

Take a look at Deuteronomy 8 with me. "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." It is God who gives us the ability to go to work. It's God who gives us the ability to earn a living for our family. When I read this passage, there's one thing that came to mind to me, my 3-year-old daughter, Mackenzie. My 3-year-old daughter, Mackenzie, came immediately to me when I read this passage. This is why. It was about two weeks ago. I came home from work. I walked in the door, and she proudly said to me, "I can make macaroni and cheese all by myself. I made it with Nana today, and I'm going to make it for supper tonight." I said, "Really?" "Yes, all by myself." I said, "Well, great." She said, "You're going to watch." "Yes, I'm going to watch. Let's see." This is how Mackenzie made macaroni and cheese all by herself. She got the stepstool and took it over to the counter. Mom went to the pantry and got the macaroni and cheese out. Mom got the bowl out and put it in front of her. Mom got the measuring cup out and measured the water. And then Mom opened up the packet that had the noodles in it, and then Mackenzie poured the noodles in and Mackenzie poured the water in. Then Mom opened up the microwave. Mom put the bowl into the microwave. Mom told Mackenzie what buttons to push on the microwave, which she did. When it was done, it was Mom who took the hot bowl out of the microwave, put it down in front of her, put in the last ingredient, and stirred it all up. And once it was complete, Mackenzie picked it up and turned to me and said, "See, I made it all by myself." Isn't that what we do with God? When we collect our paycheck, when we make our deposits, we say, "I did it all by myself." When God is the one who gave you life. God is the one who produces the air that you breath. God is the one who gives you the intellect so you can do your job. God is the one who gives you the strength of your arms and your hands so you can do the work. I sometimes think that God must smile in heaven the way I smiled at Mackenzie as we look at Him and say, "I did it all by myself."

All that we have, everything we own can be traced back to God and His gracious hand. God gives us everything we have. Certainly, you go to work. Certainly, you work hard. Certainly, you put in the hours. But it's God who has given you the ability to do that. So, in reality, God has provided for all of our needs. All of our possessions can be traced back to God. God has given us everything we need for this life, but God has even gone beyond that because God has given us everything we need for the next life. Romans 8, "He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all." God wasn't content with just taking care of our physical needs. God was more intent on taking care of our spiritual needs. Because God the Father was willing to sacrifice His Son, because the Son was willing to die upon the cross, because He was willing to go through the pain of hell itself, we don't have to deal with a guilty conscious. Because God has forgiven us, because Jesus was willing to become one of us, we don't have to worry about death because we know that through death, we pass over to an eternal life with Him. God has truly given everything to us for this life and for the next life. And the most important, crucial step in managing the finances, the prosperity that God has given to us is to recognize that fact, to accept that fact, to not only know it and understand it but to believe it in your heart that God has given you everything. And once you recognize that.

The second thing that God says to you is to give back the first part to Him. God says give the first part back to Him. You take a look at Proverbs 3. He says, "Honor the Lord with your wealth with the first fruits of all your crops, then your barns will be filled to overflowing." God says the first thing we are to do, the first thing we're to do with any money that comes into our possession is to give the first part of it back to him, not the middle part of it, not the bottom part, not what's left over at the end of the month, not what happens after we've paid all of the bills. God says take the first part off the top, the first fruits. Everything that's been given to us, then the first thing we do is we give back to God. There are two logical questions that come up from that. The first one is why. Why would God do that? Why would God say give the first back to me? Why doesn't He say take care of everything else because I'm concerned about you, and whatever is left over, then go ahead and offer that back up? Why doesn't God say make sure all your debts are paid and then go ahead and give some back to me? Why? Because God wants you to know that He is to be first in your life. When we give the first part back to God, we are demonstrating the fact that He is Number 1 in our life. Just as He gave us the very best, we are to give back to Him the very best. Just as God put us Number 1 in His life, we are to put God Number 1 in our life. When we take all of our possessions and the first thing we do is we give back to Him the first portion, we are demonstrating our love and commitment to God. We are showing our trust in God, our faith in God that we believe in Him, that we know that He's going to take care of us. It is a way of acknowledging the faith that God has given to us.

Think about this for a moment. Think about how dependent you are on money. What could you do if you didn't have money? What could I do if I didn't have money? It takes money to make my house payment. It takes money to pay for my car. It takes money to buy groceries. It takes money to buy clothes for my body. It takes money to do everything. Therefore, it is so easy for us to put all of our dependence on money, to believe that money is what takes care of us, to believe that money is what counts the most. Jesus says you can't have two masters. You can't serve God and money. Jesus says God needs to be Number 1. So He provides for us a way of demonstrating that fact, demonstrating the fact and guarding us from the temptation of putting too much priority on money and possessions. He says take the first part before anything else and give that back. Give a portion of that back. Demonstrate the faith that's in your heart. Demonstrate that you trust God more than you trust money, that you trust God more than your checking book, that you trust God more than your portfolio. God gives us the opportunity to do that. That's why He asks us to give the first portion back to Him.

The second thing God tells us is the how. How is it that we're supposed to give it back to Him? Take a look at 2 Corinthians 9. "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion." You may want to underline that. "Not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." God says that when you give your gifts back to Him, it isn't something you should feel that you have to do. It isn't something you feel that somebody is browbeating you into, coercing you into it. When we collect the offerings in every worship service, that is your gift back to God. It is not your dues you are paying. It is not just simply a charitable contribution. It is not you doing your fair share to take care of things around here. It is not you wanting to make sure that the person next to you doesn't think badly of you because you haven't put something into the offering plate. God is abundantly clear if the offering plate comes by and you feel that you have to put something in, if right now you're thinking to yourself, "Oh, goody, the preacher's talking about money and he wants more of mine," guess what? Put your checkbook away, put your wallet back in your pocket because God doesn't want it. That's not the point. God says give it back cheerfully. When we recognize that all we have is from Him, we recognize that He has blessed us so abundantly, we recognize that we want to keep Him first in our life, that's who we trust in, that's who we believe in, we should eagerly desire to give back to God, that when the offering is collected, it is an act of worship on our part, that we can't wait to give that token amount back to Him, to acknowledge the faith that is in our heart, to acknowledge the gratitude we have to Him for all that He has done for us. Giving is to be done not reluctantly, not because you're forced into it, not because you feel coerced. We give back to God because we want to, because we desire to, we can't wait to offer it back to Him. You see, giving is a spiritual matter. Giving is a way in which we grow in our faith. As we start depending upon God and trusting Him more and more and putting that trust into action, that's when our faith grows. That's when our spiritual life really begins to blossom.

But we can't stop there. Most stewardship sermons that I have heard stop there. Acknowledge that everything is from God, give a portion of it back to God. But if we stop there, then we're missing most of what scripture has to say about how God encourages us to manage the resources He's given to us. God is not just simply concerned with what you give back to Him. God is concerned with you. God is concerned with your life. He's concerned with how you manage all of your finances. And that's why God has more to say to us. So God says to us that we need to save for the future. It's there in scripture. It is the wise man who saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets. God tells us that we're supposed to look towards the future and we're to save towards the future. Now that sounds pretty simple. It sounds pretty direct. It's common sense. We all know that. Then why aren't we doing it? Why aren't we doing it as a nation? The average Japanese person saves 25% of their income. The average European saves 18% of their income. The average American? At best, 5%. At best. We have created a society in which we live for the moment, and we live for today. We have created a society of immediate gratification. We see something, we want it, we buy it. We see something else, we want it, we buy it. We don't think about the future, and we don't save for the future. It's a society of immediate gratification. How else can you explain the phenomenon of going to the mall as a recreational activity? How many people go to the mall as a recreational activity? It's not that you need to buy something. It's not that you need something. No. You're just going to go to the mall and hang out. I've heard people say that shopping is therapy. Now maybe it's just because I'm a man, but I don't get that. Shopping is therapy? If that's the world in which we live, if that's how we treat the resources that God has given to us, if we're not saving a portion of the wealth that we have, we are not managing the resources that God has given to us well. We need to save for the future for those things we don't expect, those things we don't see coming at us, those costs you can't anticipate. The wise person saves for the future. It's the foolish person who spends everything they have.

And that's what leads us to the fourth point. Because we as Americans have been foolish, we need to repay what we owe. We need to repay the debts we have and, we as Americans, it's astounding the amount we owe. From the Federal Reserve, it says that 92% of a family's income goes to paying off debts. 92%. The average household has 13 payment cards, debit cards, credit cards, gasoline cards. 13 of them in the average household. The average person carries a balance on a credit card of $5,800. That's figured at 19% or 20% interest? If you pay the minimum on that, you'll be paying four times as much by the time you get it all said and done. Forty percent of Americans spend more than what they make. America is in debt. Millions of people are in debt. That is not managing the resources that God has given us well. What's the main cause of debt? Impulsive buying. Every person in business knows all about it. Certainly, the Home Shopping Network knows all about it. Impulsive buying. "You only have 15 minutes left, Folks. Once this is gone, I don't know if it's going to come back again so act right now. Call the 800 number." Impulsive buying. Impulsive buying is when you go to the mall. Impulsive buying is when you go to the grocery store when you're hungry. Impulsive buying gets us into trouble, because impulsive buying says not can I afford it? Impulsive buying says is there enough room left on the credit card? We have to break the impulsive buying. I know it sounds simple. I know it sounds like just common sense. It's not rocket science, but we have to stop it. That means we don't go to the grocery store when we're hungry. That means we implement the 24-hour rule. The 24-hour rule is you see something that's a major purchase, you will not buy it then. You will go home. You will wait 24 hours, and then you'll come back and decide whether you really want to make that purchase. You will say no to impulsive buying. Why? Because we as Americans have to get out of debt. Scripture in Romans tells us to pay off your debts. Pay off your debts and get out from underneath that great weight which is pouring down upon you.

I don't know where any of you are. Some of you, this may not be an issue. But, based on the statistics from America, it has to be an issue with a good number of you. What I'm saying this morning is get a handle on it. It's not pleasant. You won't enjoy it, but get a handle on it. Take your head out of the sand. Take an honest look of where you are, and then make a plan to get out of debt. And if you can't handle that on your own, and most people cannot, then get some help. Get some credit counseling for you. It will not be easy to pick up the phone and make the appointment. It will not be easy to go to that appointment. It will not be easy to talk to somebody else about how far in debt you are, but what are the alternatives you have? If you want to be a good manager of what God has given to you, you need to break the cycle, you need to get the help you need, and you need to get out of debt. Can you imagine how much more enjoyable your life will be if you could have that monkey off your back? It won't happen overnight, but it also won't happen until you make the first move. God says if you're going to be a good manager of your possessions, get out of debt.

And then finally God says enjoy what you have. Enjoy what you have. Most of us don't enjoy what we have. Most of us don't enjoy what we have because we have not found the secret of contentment. Ecclesiastes tells us, "Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don't have." How often do we desire what we don't have? We need to learn the secret of contentment. The secret of contentment means that you need to recognize a couple things. Recognize that your yearnings will always exceed your earnings. Yearnings always exceed earnings. That means you will always want something that you can't afford. There will always be something else out there that you'll desire, that you will want. Now the problem is that we fall to the temptation of buying it anyway. That leads us to go into debt. That leads us to work even harder. That leads us to get a second job. That leads us to be stressed. Therefore, all of our relationships start to break down between our kids, between our spouse, between our friends. And do you want to know what the real kicker is, after it's all said and done and you're stressed out to the max, there will still be something else that you want because yearnings always exceed earnings.

It's time to break the cycle. It's time to learn to be content. To be content with what you already have. We are so richly blessed by God. I would guess that most of us don't even know. You know, I spent a week and a half sitting in my family room in the recliner after that brief surgery. I know every wall of the family room I'd like you to know, every stain that's on the carpeting and everything that I need to do around the house because I had time to just sort of take it all in. But there was one point that I looked around and I couldn't believe all that God had given to me. I couldn't believe the home I was sitting in, the family I have, the possessions that are mine. I couldn't believe it. Take time to take stock of what you already have and then enjoy it. Enjoy the blessings that God has given to you. Make sure you're concentrating on what's really important in your life and even take time to enjoy the possessions that you do have. Learn the secret of contentment.

God spoke so much about money and finances because it is a part of our everyday life. It isn't rocket science. It isn't complicated, but it is hard to implement. Note that the five principles God gives us need to be followed in order. You can't say to yourself, "Well, once I get a handle on things, once I get out of debt, then I'll start giving back to God and then I'll start saving." You know what, it will never happen. It simply won't happen. The first thing you do is recognize that everything you have is from God. The second thing you do is you give a portion of it back to God. Next week, we'll talk about how we're going to determine the portion that we give back to God. The important thing, though, is that you're giving it back to God first. The third thing you do then is you save, however much that is, even if it's the smallest amount, but you set aside what you're going to save. Then you work on a plan to get out of debt, and then you enjoy the things that God has given to you. That's what His Word tells us, because God wants us not only to be good managers of what He's given to us but He wants us to enjoy this life and to break the cycle of all that worry and all that stress about finances and money and our budget and all the rest. If we could follow His Word, we simply wouldn't have to deal with that.

It's one thing for you this morning to be patient and listen to all this. It would be another thing for you to take this home and do it. By God's grace, I believe you can. Amen.

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Copyright 2003 Gloria Dei Lutheran Church