These are Holy Hands: Attitude of Gratitude

Pastor Burcham's Sermon

Sunday, November 13, 2005

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

If you were with us last week, you recall that I issued a challenge. The challenge was for you to sign over a Quit Claim Deed, that is to sign over everything you have back to God. It was in recognition and acceptance to the fact that everything we have really belongs to God to begin with. Scripture is clear in the fact that God is the creator of the heavens and the earth and everything that's in it, that God is the one who gives us the ability to work, the strength, the knowledge, the skills so we can earn a living. So, in reality, everything we have belongs to God. Because of His gracious hand and because of His blessings, anything we have, whether it's our home, our car, what we have in our checkbook or savings account or portfolio, all of it really belong to God but He has entrusted it to us.

So this past week, the challenge was to sign it over back to God as a way of showing your acceptance of His ownership. Could you do it? Did you take it seriously? Or did it find it's way into the recycle bin as soon as you got home?

It's kind of a difficult thing to do. Difficult to accept the fact that everything belongs to God and yet it's foundational. It's foundational to a biblical understanding of the money and the possessions we have. It's foundational for us to open ourselves up to the blessings God has in store for us when we understand that and accept that, when we accept that everything belongs to God and also we acknowledge that God has graciously given it back to us, that God has more than provided for our needs. When we start to comprehend that God has given us way more than just food, clothing, and shelter, much more than just the bare necessities of life, the necessities He's promised to provide for all people, but then in reality God has blessed us incredibly.

Starting with the greatest blessing of giving us His very own Son, taking care of our salvation, forgiving us of our sins, and then giving us so many things for this life that really have to be classified as wants, not needs. When we accept that foundational principle, it's life changing. It's really life changing because it changes our whole perspective. It changes our perspective on everything we think we own, everything we possess. All of a sudden, we look at it through different eyes. We see it through the eyes of God's gracious activity in our life.

Well, if we accept that first biblical foundation, accepting God's ownership and also acknowledging His provision, that leads us to the second biblical principle of understanding all we have. That is gratitude. If we've been touched by God's grace, both His grace for our spiritual life and our physical life, then that wells up in us a sense of gratitude, of gratefulness to God for all He has done. We can't help but do that when we see all of the graceful blessings He's given to us, for us to respond back, to want to show our gratitude, to give thanks to God. And gratefulness really translates into faithfulness.

One of the ways in which we can show our gratitude to God is to be faithful to God, to faithfully listen to His Word and the direction He has for our lives and, specifically, this morning, I want to talk about being faithful with everything God has provided for us. If we are truly grateful for all God has given to us, everything He's entrusted to our care, then one way in which we show our thanksgiving to God, our gratefulness to God is then to faithfully take care of everything God has given us. That means we're faithful with everything we have.

Specifically, I'm talking about the money and possessions God has gifted us with, that we're faithful with all of our finances, not just some of our finances. You see, God has entrusted all of creation to us. Genesis, the first book in the bible, makes that very clear. He gives human beings dominion over everything, over the animals, over the earth, and we're to take care of it. So God wants us to be faithful with all of creation. It's important for us to note that, in our lives, God is concerned about every aspect of our life and God is concerned about every aspect of our finances, not just what we give back to Him. God is concerned with much more than just the money we offer back to Him. God is concerned we're faithful with everything we have, with all of our money and all of our finances. God is concerned we're good stewards of all of that and we can be grateful to God and faithful to God in how we handle that.

Who better then really to tell us how to handle our money and possessions, who would know more than the one who gave it to us to begin with? God sets down four very important principles if we're going to be faithful stewards, that is, faithful managers of what God has given to us. The first one is very basic, and that is God says to be honest with yourself. Have an honest inventory of what exactly it is you have. Before you can be a good manager of everything God has given to you, you have to know what it is you have. You have to know what you have, what you owe, where you stand, what kind of budget you have. You can't be a good steward if you stick your head in the sand and just ignore that. And yet, often times, that's what we're tempted to do. Who wants to look at a budget? Who wants to look at finances? It's easier just to go along in blissful ignorance, not really knowing where you stand, not knowing how much you owe, not really knowing how much is coming in and where the bottom line's going to be. A lot of people this day are afraid to have an honest look of what their finances are like. But how can you be a good steward, how can you faithfully manage what God has given to you unless you know exactly what you have?

So the first principle God says to us is we need to take stock of what we have. We need to know what are our assets, what is it we owe, what's in savings, and what's our budget? That's the only way we can faithfully manage everything God has given to us.

The second thing God says to us, if we're going to be a faithful steward of what He's given to us, is we need to pay off our debt. We need to pay back to the people we owe. We read just a few moments ago in Romans 13, St. Paul under inspiration makes it very clear. He says, “Give to everyone what you owe them. Pay your taxes and import duties. Give respect and honor to all whom it is due. Pay all of your debts.” Well, there it is in black and white. The IRS gets their due. Sorry, nothing we can do about it. God's pretty clear about it. We have to pay our taxes. State income tax, federal income tax. God has put the government in place. God has given that government the power to impose taxes, and God's Word tells us we have to pay the taxes. God also says we need to pay back to people what we owe them. We are to pay off our debts.

If you even just casually read the paper or listen to the news, you have to know indebtedness is eating this country up alive. This is a serious issue. Many, many Americans have to deal with indebtedness. People are living beyond their means. They're going in hock above their ears until sometimes they get to the point where they can do nothing else but declare bankruptcy.

If you read the Des Moines Register back in August, there was an article in there. On August 28, it says this: “Climbing annually since 1994, bankruptcies in Iowa this year are on pace to set another record, closing in on 16,000 filings, more than three times the number of 11 years ago.” Sixteen thousand people have seen no other way out, can't dig themselves out in any other way until finally they declare bankruptcy because they haven't been good stewards of what God has given to them. They haven't paid off the debts they've incurred. Scripture says we need to pay off the debts if we're going to be a good steward.

One of the chief criminals in all of this is credit card debt. Credit card debt is sucking the life out of millions of Americans every year. And if it's sucking the life out of millions of Americans, I have to believe it's probably sucking the life out of some of you as well. Credit card debt is at an all-time high. And when you consider the annual percentage on that is anywhere from 13% to 21%, it almost seems impossible to dig out of that. That same article in the Des Moines Register said this: “Steve Henry, President of the Iowa State Bank in Des Moines , said he's seen clients come in with as much as $120,000 in credit card debt that they want to pay off through refinancing.” Credit cards are prolific. That's almost an understatement. I don't know about you, but I get weekly offers from two and three different companies offering me a new credit card and not only me but my children as well. In fact, even here at the church, they're offering the church a credit card. Ms. Gloria Dei, usually about once a month, gets offered a credit card. It's open to everybody. Is it any wonder the average indebtedness in credit cards is $8,000? Is it any wonder some people have $120,000 indebtedness? It's eating people up alive. And God's Word has some direction about that. He says, “Pay off your debts.”

If you are being eaten up alive by credit card debt, if you're buried in debt, the first thing you need to do is be honest with yourself. Stop trying to deny it. Stop sticking your head in the sand, and be honest about it. The second thing is plastic surgery. You know what I mean. Pull out the cards and the scissors. And the third thing is to get help. Get some sort of credit counseling, because you're not going to do it on your own. You've probably tried that before and failed. Go to one of the credit counseling agencies. Get some help, make a plan, have a budget, get out of debt. It's the only way to get rid of the guilt, and it's the only way you can truly be a good manager and a good steward of what God has given to you. God says, “Pay off your debts.”

The third thing God says is we're to save for the future. We are to put a portion aside of our income to save for the future. Proverbs, that great book of wisdom, Chapter 21 says this: “The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets.” A little bit later on in that chapter, he says, “Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.” No matter how small the amount is or how large the amount is, there has to be a set amount you set aside in savings, that you set aside for the unexpected. Because, sooner or later, the furnace is going to break down, the car is going to need repairs, the kids are going to have to go to the doctor. Something is going to come up that is unexpected and, if you don't have savings, then you go further into debt and you spiral down even further into that hole.

I've read several articles that say many Americans look at their available credit line as their savings account. That's not savings. God says be responsible with what He's given to you, to be a good steward of the finances He's provided for you. Part of being a good steward is setting aside part of that, a portion of that into savings.

The fourth thing God says if we're going to be a good steward, we're going to give a portion of it back to Him. In recognition of all God has done for us and in gratefulness of His grace, we're going to give a portion of our income back to God. We read it a few moments ago at the Call to Worship, Proverbs 3, “Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best of everything your land produces. Then He will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with the finest of wines.” God says to be a good steward of His money, to be a good steward of the finances He's provided for you is we give a portion of that back to Him.

Think about that for a moment. If everything we have belongs to God and if we accept that and acknowledge that, what a concrete way to demonstrate our trust in God. What a concrete way to show our gratefulness to God, to offer a portion of what He's given to us back to Him, to say, “God, I trust you're going to take care of all my needs. God, I accept the fact that everything I have comes from you. I am so grateful for all you've done for me, both spiritually and physically, and I'm going to offer a portion of it back to you.” God's Word is clear on this. To be a good steward, to be a good manager of what He's given, we give a portion of it back to Him.

Now, what portion it is you give back to God is your decision. God has given us that freedom, the freedom to decide how we're going to respond to Him, the freedom to decide how much, what percentage we're going to give back to God. But there are a couple of things I want you to know. The first thing is this: God does not want to take food off your table and put it into the offering plate. God does not want you to go without paying your bills instead of giving something to God. He isn't asking for any of that. He is not asking you to give what you do not have. God is saying of what He has given you and what you have, a portion of that is then given back to Him. What God does say, though, is what we give back to God, what we're able to give back to God, does say something about our priorities and it does say something about our gratefulness and our gratitude that we show back to Him.

What I mean by that is this: If you have two brand new cars sitting in the driveway but you can't afford to give something back to God, there's a problem. If you spend more on cable every month than what you give back to God, I believe you have a problem. If you gave more to the server last night for dinner when you went out than what you're going to give to God this morning, there's a problem. It's a matter of priorities. It's a matter of gratefulness. God doesn't ask you to give what you don't have, but He does say, to be a good steward, to be faithful to Him, to trust Him, give an appropriate response back to Him. The decision of that response is up to you. But is it an appropriate one? Is it one that demonstrates your gratefulness and trust in God.

God says we are to be faithful with everything He's given to us. That's more than just a portion that He asks back from us. God wants us to be good stewards of everything we have, to be faithful in all things.

The second important principle is this: God says to be faithful regardless of what you have, to be faithful with what you do have, not to worry about what you don't have. You may have noticed in the Gospel lesson of the parable that Jesus said right there, did you note the servant who received two bags of gold and the servant who received five bags of gold both received the same reward. Both of them were good and faithful servants, and the master said, “Let's celebrate together.” There was no distinguishing between the two. They were faithful with what they had. They weren't faithful with what they didn't have. In other words, the servant who had two bags of gold didn't say, “Well, if only I had five bags of gold, then I could really do something.” He was faithful with what God had given him, not worrying about what God hadn't given to him. God is more interested in our heart than anything else. He is interested in us being faithful with what He has provided for us. So what I'm saying is, regardless of whether you earn six figures or you make minimum wage, what God is looking for is a faithful response, faithful in what we have, not in what we don't have.

The problem is this: Often times, we believe if we had more, we'd do more. If we made more money, then we'd save more. If we made more money, then we'd pay off our debts quicker. If we had more money, we'd give more money to church. It's obvious as that. The problem is that rarely happens. It rarely happens. We make more money, but things don't change. Hasn't it happened to you? Haven't you gotten an annual raise and you thought to yourself, “Things are going to be different,” but, at the end of the year, you realize nothing really changed. You didn't save more, you didn't pay off more, you didn't give more, you just spent more. How we manage what God has given to us now, unless we change, will dictate what we'll do in the future. What we do with a little will dictate what we do with a lot. So God says, “Be faithful regardless of what you have. Don't be thinking about what you don't have.”

And the promise God says is, if you're faithful with what you have, He'll give you even more. He'll entrust you with even more responsibility. He will bless you even greater than what you have been blessed right now. Be faithful with what God has given you today, and you will be faithful with what God gives you tomorrow.

God has blessed us incredibly. If nothing else in the last two weeks, I hope you've taken stock of everything God has given to you, really taken an honest look at the blessings, the spiritual blessings of salvation and forgiveness, the physical blessings He's abundantly given to you.

One way in which we respond to that is with gratitude, and gratefulness translates into faithfulness, faithful in all God has given to us and faithful with what we have, not worrying about what we don't have. Amen.

Copyright 2005 Gloria Dei Lutheran Church