It’s All God’s
November 4, 2007
Various
We’ve been convinced that if we could have more, if we could have what we wanted, if we own something more, possess something more, if we could get more stuff . . . then our lives would be happier.
In the past week, have you seen the price of gas? How are we going to pay for gas and keep the same style of living we are trying to attain? It’s one indication of the sky rocketing costs we’re incurring just to make it from day to day. It’s gotten so bad one gas station changed the way SHOW GAS SLIDE they’re advertising the price of gas.
One researcher has suggested that every 7 seconds we’re given the message that our lives are measured, based on our stuff. What we have, what we own, how we present our stuff to others is a measure of who we are as people. And it’s easy to fall into that trap.
A person by the age of 20 has seen over 1 million commercials. And what’s the purpose of those commercials? They are designed to remind you, ever so subtly, that your life is not yet fulfilling, you’re not content, your life doesn’t have what it needs, but you could everything you need . . . if you would purchase whatever is being sold. So we end up chasing stuff and more stuff and even more stuff.
We keep chasing this stuff, because we believe our lives are empty without it, and as a result . . . money and possessions become a huge obstacle for us. Maybe that’s why, if the stats are correct, 92 % of us in the room are in some financial trouble and 65 % of us, are in serious trouble. Even if we have our finances in control, even if financially we’re doing okay, according to every survey money is something that creates a lot of anxiety and stress in our lives.
That’s why the Bible talks a lot about money and possessions. Money can get a hammerlock on our hearts. Here is the interesting thing about money.
Money has the ability to be a good treasure.
But it also has the ability to be a trap us and be destructive.
Money has the ability to help,
but money can certainly hurt.
Money can unite. It can bring people together.
But who among us doesn’t know of somebody who has seen a relationship destroyed over money?
You see, money is actually neutral. It’s not good and it’s not bad. It’s how we deal with it that causes the problems, and that’s why the Bible speaks so much about this issue, because money and possession become our treasures, and they get a hold of our heart.
I want to ask you a couple of questions this morning. If you would just raise your hands on these. How many of you own your own television set? Okay. How many of you own your own car? Okay, that’s pretty good. How about you own your own home? All right.
Here’s what you just said. If you raised your hand for “I own my own television,” you’ve said, “I owe nothing on that television set. It’s not on my credit card statement, I don’t have that plan at Best Buy where that $2,000 television is going to be paid over the next 16 years at $10 per month so I can own the television.” That television is paid for completely.
If you said you owned your car that means you don’t make a car payment, that you aren’t paying some financing company or bank.
If you own your own home, you are saying there is no mortgage or bank debt or other way that you are financing the house — your house is completely paid for.
You see, otherwise, you don’t really own it, somebody else does. They’re letting you use it. In fact, you may have made a significant investment in it. You may be the one who controls what you do with the house, how you decorate it, but the truth is you’re the owner, you’re a manager. You don’t own your house. Somebody else has title to it and until you’ve completely paid for it, it isn’t yours. If you don’t believe me, don’t make any payments for the next 3 months and see what happens!
You see, when we get to the very bottom of things, we don’t own anything, God owns everything. That’s a biblical principle. In Psalm 24:1, David said, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” A couple of Jesus’ stories were about managers and stewards, not owners. In other words, God has entrusted things to us. They are under our control, they’re under our management, we get to decide how they’re utilized, but it’s God who owns them. When it comes to our money, it isn’t ours — it’s God’s.
Somewhere along the way, after becoming a Christian, I had heard the principle about tithing, giving 10 percent to the church. I’m just like most people when it comes to my money. I would look at this $5 bill and I would say, “Well, 10% percent of this belongs to God — 50 cents is His.” Now 50 cents is not much. But when you make a $1000, suddenly 10% is $100. And when we get down to it, that starts to sound like a little more of an investment.
You see, when I was growing up, I have to admit, I was cheap. My sisters would quickly state that about me. I didn’t part with money very easily. You see, since I was much younger than my sisters, my family had a system when it came to birthdays and other celebrations, I had to throw in my $2, and my name was added to the card and I was done. I got off cheap and easily. I didn’t admit it then, I do now.
But along the way in my church life, I came to understand what God was calling me to do. He had an expectation that I would tithe, give 10% to God’s work. The funny thing is, ever since tithing, and it’s probably been about 12 years or so, I’ve never ever, ever gone hungry. I’ve never had nothing to wear, I’ve never been without a car, I’ve never lacked for anything in my life. In fact, I have more than I could ever imagine. Do I want more? Absolutely!! Do I NEED more? Nope!
And here’s the reality - - all of my money and all of my possessions are God’s. What I do with it, how I invest it, how I spend it, is me managing it on God’s behalf. Am I doing it in an honorable way? Am I doing it in a God-pleasing way?
But my problem is this: I look at this money and say, “This is mine and I can do with it whatever I want to do with it. It belongs to me. I worked for it, it’s mine.” But the biblical principle about money is that it’s God’s. God owns the title to everything . . . even my life.
Maybe that’s why Solomon said this in Proverbs 30:8-9 - “Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God .”
Here’s what Solomon is saying: “I know me well enough God. I want to be careful. Don’t give me too much or I may get in a place where I say, ‘Hey, I don’t really need you. I’ve got this all figured out on my own. Thanks for checking in.’ Or if I have too little I may manipulate and steal and cheat and cut corners in a way that would not be pleasing to you and so I would bring dishonor to your name. Lord, just give me what I really need.”
How do you and I view our money? Do we see it as ours and ours alone to choose to do what we want with what we’ve got? Or do we see ourselves as stewards, managers, who manage on behalf of another, investing and spending to please the owner? And who is the owner? God.
The first principle is that God owns all of it and we are simply the stewards or managers for God.
John Wesley, the great Christian minister in the 18th century said, “Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can.” That really is the second principle; that is, we ought to earn what we can and earn it honestly. The Bible doesn’t condemn wealth, and it doesn’t condemn possessions. It condemns what we do with it and how it grabs our hearts and how we respond to it if we’re too greedy.
The Greek word for “greed” was a word that meant “unquenchable desire; lust or thirst for more.” In other words, we become convinced that we just don’t have enough. We need more. All day long the message we hear is we’re not content, our life isn’t fulfilled, but it could be if we could get more stuff. So this money, and all that it can buy for us, grabs our heart and our imagination in a way that takes us down a path where we get in trouble. But a biblical principle is that we ought to work hard and use our abilities and opportunities, earn what we can, save what we can; and give away what we can.
Of course, we need money to operate and live and manage, and we ought to earn all we can doing it in a way which honors and is pleasing to God. But again, the message we get today is counterculture to that message of God. Today’s message is any way you can get, it’s okay, any way that you can cut a corner and make it happen for you is okay — as long as nobody gets hurt in the process.
Here’s what God is saying to us: “What are you doing with your money that’s honorable and honest?” Earn all you can so you can give all you can, because that’s the third biblical principle that shows up throughout Scripture — we ought to be generous givers, you and I ought to live lives that are generous. Generous living comes when grace makes its way into our lives and we begin to live a more grace filled life. We recognize that what we have is not ours it is God’s, and we ought to use it in a way that benefits other people. So we should be as generous as we possibly can. The truth is, generosity isn’t easy for many of us, is it? The message I hear all day long is that what I have is mine, and that I ought to work hard and save hard and play hard, because it’s mine! You go get yours and I’ll get mine.
Giving is a heart issue, it’s not a financial issue. Listen to what the Scripture says: “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:6-8).
In other words, when you take what you have and you share that with others, you are blessing and are honoring God.
In his paraphrase, the Message, Eugene Peterson explained 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 this way,
Remember: A stingy planter gets a stingy crop; a lavish planter gets a lavish crop. I want each of you to take plenty of time to think it over, and make up your own mind what you will give. That will protect you against sob stories and arm-twisting.
God loves it when the giver delights in the giving.
