Happy Money Series

Bob Russell, retired pastor of the Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, recalls a sermon he preached years ago on hoarding. In that sermon, Pastor Bob pointed out the foolishness of waiting until we die to give our children their inheritance. He explained, “When we die, our children will be in their 50s or 60s. They likely won't need our money then! And so, until their deaths, they hoard it from our grandchildren.

“The time to help our children is when they're young and need the money. Our children will actually benefit from it, and we can hear them thank us instead of wondering if they quietly hope we croak early! And since we can transfer as much as $10,000 per child annually without the recipients paying taxes on the gift, it's wiser to transfer resources when we're living.”

Several weeks after the sermon, Pastor Bob received a thank you letter from a young couple whose parents happened to be visiting that weekend. The wife explained that after hearing the sermon, her parents sent her and her brother checks for $6,000. Nothing even close to that had ever happened before! The young woman wrote, “My brother and I call that the $6,000 sermon! Please preach more sermons on stewardship—especially when my parents are in town!” (Bob Russell, Leadership, Fall 2002; www.PreachingToday.com).

I don’t know that I’ve ever had anybody ask me to preach more sermons on stewardship. Probably, because no one ever received $6,000 after such a sermon. The fact is most people usually resist sermons on stewardship, because they don’t like feeling guilty or manipulated.

Now, I’m getting ready to preach a sermon on stewardship. But I promise you I will not make you feel guilty, and I certainly won’t try to manipulate you into giving more. So relax. I just want you to feel happy to give when God gives you the opportunity.

In their book, Happy Money: The Science of Happier Spending, researchers Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton provide five principles for what they call "Happy Money." Money can't really buy happiness, but it can bring a lot more fun into your life if you spend it in the right way and on the right things. Based on their research, here are the five principles of happy money:

Buy experiences, not just things. We can find happiness in experiences and are often disappointed by things, such as dream houses and dream cars.

1) Make it a treat. Having a house full of chocolate bars is a good way to lose the joy of chocolate, but anticipating a special chocolate treat makes your money go a long way.

2) Buy time. We are "time poor" people, so slow down and avoid expenditures that devour time. Recapture the pleasures lost by living in an all-consuming rush.

3) Pay now, consume later. Reverse the established order of our consumer society by having the money before you do or buy something, not after.

4) Invest in others. Whether we give to friends and family or make charitable donations, studies show, most people find more happiness in sharing than spending on themselves (Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton, Happy Money, Simon & Schuster, 2014; www.PreachingToday.com).

How very true! Happy Money is the money you share rather than spend on yourself. So, how can you turn your giving into a happy time, rather than a time you begrudge? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Exodus 35, Exodus 35, where the people of Israel happily gave so much, the leaders had to tell them to stop.

Exodus 35:4-9 Moses said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “This is the thing that the LORD has commanded. Take from among you a contribution to the LORD. Whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the LORD’s contribution: gold, silver, and bronze; blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen; goats’ hair, tanned rams’ skins, and goatskins; acacia wood, oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, and onyx stones and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece (ESV).

God asks His people to bring their treasures for the building of His tabernacle and for the clothing of His priests. But more than that, God asks them to bring their talents, as well.

Exodus 35:10-19 “Let every skillful craftsman among you come and make all that the LORD has commanded: the tabernacle, its tent and its covering, its hooks and its frames, its bars, its pillars, and its bases; the ark with its poles, the mercy seat, and the veil of the screen; the table with its poles and all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence; the lampstand also for the light, with its utensils and its lamps, and the oil for the light; and the altar of incense, with its poles, and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and the screen for the door, at the door of the tabernacle; the altar of burnt offering, with its grating of bronze, its poles, and all its utensils, the basin and its stand; the hangings of the court, its pillars and its bases, and the screen for the gate of the court; the pegs of the tabernacle and the pegs of the court, and their cords; the finely worked garments for ministering in the Holy Place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, for their service as priests” (ESV).