These are Holy Hands: Gifts of Grace

Pastor Burcham's Sermon

Sunday, November 6, 2005

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

If you take time to add it up each week, we are given 168 hours. 168 hours every 7 days are given to us. Now, if you sleep an average of 8 hours a day, that takes you down to 112 waking hours. Now, of those 112 waking hours, the question for you this morning is how much time do you devote to earning a living, spending what you have, thinking about your possessions?

Try to add it up in your mind for the next couple of minutes. Of the 112 waking hours you have, how much time is dedicated to earning a living, to thinking or spending or money and possessions? Let's say, on the average, you work 40-50 hours a week. I know some of you work a whole lot more than that, but let's just use 40-50 hours a week. So there's your base right there. Now how much time do you spend in the grocery store or in Target or in the mall spending your money? I don't know. Add that on top of there. Now it gets a little bit tougher because then how much time do you spend thinking about money or possessions? Everything from the fleeting thought that usually happens about 10:30 or 11:00 in the morning, saying, “I wonder if I have enough cash in my wallet for lunch,” to sitting down when you see a commercial on the TV for investing and you start thinking about retirement or time that you spend maybe talking with a professional about sort of mapping out your financial future. How many hours in the average week of which you have 112 waking hours do you spend earning, thinking about, or spending money and possessions? Easily, it is over half of your time. Easily over half of the time we're awake, we're doing something, some kind of activity or we're thinking about money and possessions. It is a huge part of our life. It's a part of our very existence.

That's why it is so necessary and it is so important to understand God's principles for how we should deal with our money and our possessions. Because God knows it is a large part of our life. I'm not saying it's wrong or bad. It's just a reality. A large chunk of our life is spent earning money, spending money, or thinking about money and possessions. And that's why God's word is not silent about it. In fact, God's word has a lot to say about money and possessions. Over 2,350 verses in the bible have something to do with money and possessions. To put that in perspective for you, there are 500 verses on prayer. There are less than 500 verses on faith. God spends that much time because He knows how important it is, how integral it is, how critical it is to our existence. Money, possessions. That's just part and parcel of our lives.

So, beginning this morning and for the next few weeks, we want to lay down some foundational principles from God's word. What does He have to say about this very important subject? This morning, we want to lay the basic foundation and that is everything to deal with money and possessions is about God's grace. It's about what God has given to us. It's about His holy hands outstretched, just pouring forth His blessings to us. And there are two important principles we need to understand this morning.

The first one is we need to accept God's ownership of everything. The second one is we need to acknowledge God's provision. And I hope we take the third step and that's activating a response on our part. But accepting God's ownership, this is the very basic of basic principles when we're looking at money and possessions. When God talks about that, His word is abundantly clear. God owns everything. That's just how it is. From the very beginning of time, in fact, from the very first book of the bible, the very first verse of the bible, it declares to us that God owns everything. Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” You can't get any more basic than that. There was nothing beforehand and then everything afterwards. God is the one who created this world. God is the one who created the universe, and God created everything in it. Therefore, it's His. He created it. It belongs to Him, everything that's here. The Psalmists throughout the ages have understood that. Psalm 24 says, “The earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world and all who live in it.” We belong to God. Everything in the world belongs to God. Because of His creative power, it is here. Because of His sustaining power, that's how we live. There wouldn't be anything without God. God owns everything because God made everything.

Psalm 50 says, “For every animal in the forest is mine and the cattle on a thousand hills.” Uh-oh. Now He's getting into our livestock. Now He's getting into things we think we own and we possess. But, no, He says, even the livestock, even the things on your farm, even the things in your home, if God created them, then God owns them. God has ownership over everything.

I don't know about you, but that rubs me the wrong way. Let's be honest about this. “What do you mean God owns it? I make the mortgage payment every month. I write out the check for my truck. What do you mean God owns it?” And it's right for us, in a certain sense, to start thinking that way, that is, we put in a hard day's worth of work. We dedicate ourselves to our careers and we get a paycheck because of that and deservedly so. Let me be clear about that. You work hard; then you deserve the wages for what you've done. If you're smart enough, intelligent enough to make the right investments and to save money so you can purchase something that you've been longing for, then good for you. That is an accomplishment on your part. So it is true we work hard and then we get our rewards from that. We collect our paycheck or we have the pension or the savings account grows, whatever that might be. So I'm not saying it's wrong we have money or it's wrong we have possessions or that we shouldn't have a sense of accomplishment of pride of doing our jobs well.

But, this morning, I want you to go deeper than that. I want you to understand beyond that. Who gave you the intellect so you can do your job? Who gave you the physical abilities so you can get up tomorrow morning and go to work? Who's the one who gave you your very life? You see, God is the one who is behind it. God gives us the ability to earn a living. God gives us the skills and the talents we have because God is the owner of everything, and He simply shares His ownership with us. He shares everything in the world with us. But, ultimately, we need to accept the fact that it belongs to Him.

This morning, in the Old Testament lesson, we read from 1 Chronicles 29, King David. King David has composed a song. Now the occasion for this is King David has gathered up all of the funds necessary to build the temple. You may recall King David wanted to build the temple in Jerusalem but God said no, he wasn't going to do that. His son, Solomon, was going to build the temple. “But,” God said, “you're in charge of raising all of the funds, gathering together all of the supplies, and all of the gold, getting everything ready so Solomon then can build the temple. So King David, after he gathers all these supplies, this is what he has to say, “But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to give as generously as this?” This is the part: “Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.” This is King David speaking, folks. Think about David for a moment. Think about the character we're dealing with here. King David, mighty warrior David. He's a man's man if there ever was one. King David was given the marching orders to go in and conquer the Promise Land . He took this ragtag group of people called Israel , organized them, had an army, and invaded the Promise Land . He's the one who took over the land. He's the one who took the plunder and the spoils of all of the land. If there's ever a man who could pridefully say, “Look what I have done. Look at the kingdom I have established here,” it would be King David. From a worldly point of view, everyone else would say, “Look what David has done. It's incredible what he's accomplished.” But David accepts the ownership of God. The ownership of God. He says, “Everything we're giving to you, God, we're just giving you what you already owned.” It isn't the fact that David didn't work hard, that David didn't reap the reward from his work. He did. But he understood the concept and he accepted the fact that God is the owner of all things.

It's foundational for us, if we want to have a biblical understanding of our money and our possessions, to understand God is the owner, that ultimately God is the one who owns everything in this universe and God owns everything we might want to call our own. You see, it puts a different perspective for us. We look at things in a different light. We see our money and our possessions differently if we understand and recognize they're God's. They're not ours. God has entrusted them to us. God has asked us to manage them. But ultimately, they're His.

There's a great quote. I know I've used it before, but it's worth reading again. It's from Larry Burkette. Larry Burkette says this, “When we acknowledge God's ownership, every spending decision becomes a spiritual decision. No longer do we ask, ‘Lord, what do you want me to do with my money.' Instead, ‘Lord, what do you want me to do with your money?'”

When we accept God's ownership, what we have doesn't change. But our perspective and how we view it does change. No longer, “What am I going to do with my money and possessions but what am I going to do with yours?” It changes how we look at everything financial and things we own. Accepting God's ownership. That is hand in hand with acknowledging God's providential care, acknowledging how God has provided for all of our needs. Because God is the owner of all things and yet God shares all things. And God has promised to see to all of our needs.

You may recall in the gospel lesson in Matthew, Jesus is talking here. And He says, “So don't worry, saying ‘What shall we eat? What shall we drink? What shall we wear?' The pagans run after those things. Your Heavenly Father knows you need them.” Jesus is promising all of our needs will be met. He says, “Bar none, the needs you have in this life, even the needs after this life, Jesus promises all of your needs will be met. The crucial distinction here, the difference between a need and a want.

What's the difference between a need and a want? Now, intellectually, I think we can understand the difference between, “This is a need I have,” and “this is a want.” But, emotionally, I'm not sure we do. Because there are not many things in this world we actually need. But there are lots of things we want. Now let me pause for a moment. I'm not preaching against possessions. I'm not preaching against money. I'm not saying we're all going to take a vow of poverty here. That's not what I'm talking about. We can have our nice homes. We can have our wonderful cars, the clothes we wear. I'm not saying we shouldn't have any of that, but we should be able to recognize the difference between a need and a want. You see, otherwise, if God doesn't give us everything we want, then we might say God isn't seeing to our needs.

Think about how many things you and I have said we need, but do we actually. How many times have my kids said, “But, Dad, I need this coat. I need this jacket.” And here's where they just cringe because they know what's coming from Dad because I always say, “Now, is that a need or is that a want?” It drives them absolutely crazy. But then it gets thrown back in Dad's face because then when I say to my wife, “Well, now, Honey, if you want me to do that project, you know, I'm going to need another tool.” And she'll look at me and say, “Now is that a need or is that a want?”

How many things have you said you need but actually they were a want? You can say I need a car to get to work. Now just bear with me for a moment. Do you really need a car? It's nice to have a car, but do you need a car? Is there another way you could get to work? Let's even go further than that. Is there another job you could work so you could have an income where you wouldn't need a car to get there. I'm not suggesting you all sell your cars and that you all work at the local Quik Trip. I'm just saying understand the difference between a need and a want. A need is what is basic to our survival. It's food. It's clothing. And it's shelter. It doesn't say what kind of food. It doesn't say what kind of clothes. It doesn't say what kind of shelter. God says He will see to our needs. And God has. In fact, He has more than seen to our needs. What we consider the bear necessities in this country, it's the life of luxury to all kinds of cultures around the world. God has so abundantly given to us. Many, many of our wants. But God has seen to all of our needs. In fact, God has seen to our greatest need, the greatest need that sometimes maybe we overlook or take for granted. Because God has seen to our need not only for this life, but He's seen to our need for the next life.

Romans 8 couldn't be more clear about it, “He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all.” Now if that's the basis, how will He not also graciously give us all things? He has met our greatest need, and the greatest need you and I have is to be snatched out of the hands of hell and put into heaven. That's the greatest need we have. The greatest need we have is to be saved from ourselves and from our sins and God says, “I've met that need.” Because God wouldn't even spare His own Son but, instead, He sacrificed His own Son so your sins and mine, all of our offenses, could be paid for, that the debt would be paid in full as Jesus hung upon the cross and He can say to us we are forgiven and He can promise us with a certainty that we'll spend an eternity in heaven.

Unfortunately, I don't know often we recognize that as our greatest need until we are faced with our own mortality or the death of someone we love. I'm not sure we consider that one of our greatest needs and yet we're talking about eternity, not just a few years here on earth. God has met our greatest need in His Son, Jesus. And God has promised to meet all of our other needs and He has. He's more than met our needs. He's abundantly blessed us with many, many of our heart's desires and many of our wants.

Foundational to understanding and having a proper perspective on our money and possessions is to acknowledge God's provision, to acknowledge all He's given to us. He met our needs and then way beyond that.

This morning, the challenge for you is then to activate a response. Respond back so this principle doesn't get lost next week, next month, next year but that it really gets driven home, that you accept God's ownership and you acknowledge His provision. This morning, when you came in, each of you should have received one of these little things called a Quit Claim Deed. If you didn't, pick one up on your way out. Because this is my challenge to you: This afternoon or sometime this week, fill this out. Now a Quit Claim Deed, first of all, this has no legal bearing on it. Let's make sure we have that covered. This is for your benefit. Quit Claim Deed. You sign one of those over when you transfer property over to somebody else. Now even though it all belongs to God to begin with, let's go ahead and accept that. And what I mean by that, in the lines there, why don't you list all the things God has given to you. Now I don't know about you, but I'm going to have to do some pretty broad range groupings here because there aren't enough lines for me for all that God has blessed me with. But make a listing of all the possessions you have, and then sign it back over to God. You're saying, “God, I accept the fact this all belongs to you. You entrusted it to my care. You've left it to me to manage. But, from now on, I'm going to look at it differently because, God, this is your house. This is your car. This is your checking account. And how do you want me to manage it? How do you want me to be a steward of what you have given to me?” And, as you make up that list, check off the things that are truly needs and look at all the wants God has given to you. And if that doesn't well up in you a response of gratitude and praise to God, if you're not awestruck by how He's provided for you, I just can't believe that. And then give Him thanks and praise.

Folks, let's face it, money, possessions, they occupy over half of our waking hours. That's not bad. That's just life. But something that integral in our life, that critical, we need to hear from God's Word. We want to follow His principles for us on how we should deal with that and how we should handle it. Foundational, accept God's ownership. Acknowledge His provision. Amen.

Copyright 2005 Gloria Dei Lutheran Church