No Deposit, No Return

HoHum:

For many years, soft drink and milk companies reused their bottles. Each bottle had it’s own deposit created to motivate people to return them. Buy a soft drink, pay a deposit, and get it back when the bottle was returned. Later, ways were found to make plastic bottles that did not need to be returned. They were labeled: “No deposit, no return” because they had no value.

 The idiom “no deposit, no return” caught on and became a proverb. It proclaimed that the more we put into something the greater our return. At the bank, if no deposit is made, there is no return from which to write checks. The concept is timeless and is found many times in the Scriptures.

WBTU:

Fascinated by an article called, “A Model of Religion and Death” by Derek Pyne. In that article Derek often talks about religious capital. Derek is an economist and in this context, “Capital is physical or financial resources used to produce value in an economy.” In other words, “No deposit, no return,” or “We reap what we sow.” 2 Corinthians 9:6 says, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.” I don’t have much. We all have time, talents and treasures from which we can make investments. Talked last time about how I am uncomfortable talking about religious capital. A better term is relationship capital. We are investing in relationships. Jesus said the Greatest Commandment is, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Luke 10:27). We see here that we are investing in our relationship with God or we are investing in our relationship with others with our time, talents and treasures. 1 Timothy 6:18-19 says, “Command them (who, the rich from vs. 17, some are richer than others but we are all rich) to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share (investing in relationship with God and in relationships with others). In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.” I am uncomfortable in thinking of a positive afterlife as something that is secured by investments. I would rather view this in relationship terms instead of investment terms. Even so, the Scriptures often refer to all of this in investment terms. The thesis of Derek Pyne article is that we need to have religious capital so that when we are confronted with mortality we can have a peaceful death and a good afterlife. Let’s look at this in 5 areas today.

Thesis: Let’s consider God’s 5 investment funds, these reflect 5 purposes of the church

For instances:

1. God’s treasury fund

This is the investment fund that many think of- tithing. We invest in the treasury fund by using some of our money (our treasures) to express our worship to God (relationship to God). There’s nothing we can give that God really needs. God certainly doesn’t need our money. When we give to the treasury we are saying, “God I love you.” The Bible says, “Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops” (Proverbs 3:9 NIV). The Living Bible says here, “Honor the Lord by giving him the first part of all your income.” We honor God when we tithe. We ascribe high value to God when we give. It’s an act of worship. God wants us to give to this fund before we invest in any other fund. God does not want our money; he wants what it represents. Children came up front and asked, “What does God want from us?” “Our money”

2. God’s mutual fund (fellowship)

God wants us to invest in others. He wants us to build relationships with others. Our mission is to love people and lead them to a relationship with Jesus Christ. No matter to what or to whom we give, when we give we are drawn closer to that mission or to that person. Anytime I give of my time, talents and treasures to others, I invest in the mutual fund of fellowship. Some people have a hard time investing in just one congregation. They bounce around from one local church to another. Some obvious reasons to leave a congregation, if we move away, if the doctrine is weak or wrong, then it is time to find another church. Beyond this, I would highly question going from one church to another. Some people have a hard time with church membership but I think this is a good concept, to commit to a local church. If we fail to commit to a local church, then we will have a poor return on our investment in fellowship. Come across so many in hospice who never commit themselves to a local church. “Why doesn’t anyone come to see me?” Well, they don’t know you because never invested in the fellowship. Church can be such a source of help and support but that is never seen as important until it is too late. Investing in the fund of fellowship brings in dividends, not just personally, but in other ways. Jesus said in John 13:34-35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Galatians 6:10 “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”