In Jesus Holy Name February 17, 2008
Lent II Redeemer
Text: I Timothy 6:18-19 TLB
“Stewardship: Managing the Things of God”
6th in the series: “What Good is my Giving?”
On Wednesday evening at our Mid Week Lenten service I shared this illustration. When you see a mother hen out with her baby chicks…the chicks are running every which way. They are all over the place. For protection the mother hen has to call her chicks and gather them to herself. It’s a good illustration of people in our culture who are searching here and there for spiritual knowledge or a spiritual connection to God.
On the other have you have seen a mother duck? When the mother duck wants to take her brood to the pond to swim, she starts walking and they all follow in a line. When they swim, they swim in a line. It is as if the mother duck is saying… follow me, this way… it is safe. The apostle Paul in Ephesians 5:1 calls each believer to imitate Jesus. Jesus himself calls us to follow him. Let me ask you a question. Are you a chicken or a duck?
My point: There are two major themes which weave their way through the Bible. The 1st theme tells how we can have peace and harmony with God. It is the “way to God.” The gospel of John explains it this way. “there are many things that Jesus said and did which are not written down in this gospel, but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you might have eternal life.” (John 20:30-31) The way to God is displayed in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, for there is no other name given under heaven by which we must be saved.
People who are spiritually lost…are like the baby chicks, scurrying around, pecking here and there… Others are like the baby ducks… they follow Jesus to eternal life.
The 2nd theme which weaves through the bible is our “walk with God”. These are people who follow the words of Jesus, like the baby ducks who follow their mother.
These past 6 weeks have been about our walk with God. When God created humanity he gave to man and woman the responsibility to manage his creation. We were created to be managers. Our stewardship is about the management of all the things God has entrusted to our care. We were created to use our “time” to worship God, and serve one another with the “talents” and “abilities” he has given. We talked about the stewardship of our earth, taking care of creation. We are to take care of our bodies, with healthy habits. We are to be good stewards of God’s word. We are to manage the financial resources God has placed into our hands.
Principle #1 of stewardship is: “God owns it all.”
Principle #2 of stewardship is: “We are to manage all to the glory of God.”
“How much do you pay for a loaf of bread? The price depends on where you buy it. However, in reality we pay nothing for the loaf of bread, or anything else.
When a farmer places a seed of wheat in the soil did he created the grain of wheat? No. He plants the grain of wheat in the soil which was created by God. God provides the sun and rain and that enables the seed to germinate and grow. In due course one see produces many seeds.
Eventually the farmer harvests what God provides. When we purchase a loaf of bread, we do not pay for the bread as such. We merely return “service in storable, exchangeable form” (called money) to the farmer, the trucker, the flour miller, baker and store keeper for producing the bread and making it available for purchase.” (Harry Wendt-Crossways)
God provides, we receive, we know all things including our ability to earn an income, to pay for services is a gift from God. (Deut. 8:17) In God’s economic plan he is only asking for 10% return and he allows us to keep 90% of what we earn.
That 10% is an investment for God to use for his purposes. I Timothy simply reminds those who follow Jesus to “use their money to do good. Be rich in good works, give happily to those in need, always be ready to share whatever God has given.”
When we read Rick Warren’s book (40 Days of Purpose) we learned that God has five purposes for our lives. God has five investment funds, one for each purpose of your life.
When we give our offerings, we are investing some of our money in the “fund” that enables us to ‘worship’ God. There is nothing that God needs. God certainly does not need our money. But when we give an offering, we are saying: “God, I love you.” When we honor God with our offerings, proportional, planned, set aside on the first day of each week, it is an act of worship.
2nd Our weekly offerings are an investment to encourage fellowship, to show love to other believers and build relationships. Any time we give money or provide meals and clothing, instead of cash, to people in our midst, any time we buy a card and send a note of encouragement we’ve just invested in our congregational ministry. When we invest money into creating fellowship, our church helps connect others to Jesus.
3rd Our weekly offerings support God’s growth fund called discipleship. The 3rd purpose of life is that God wants us to grow up spiritually. Some of our weekly offerings enables our S.S. Children and our adults to have supplies, and bible study material, that enables personal spiritual growth. Some of our weekly offerings purchased the “Daily Walk” many of you used last year, and catechisms for our Jr. High youth. God want us to grow spiritually, to develop skills, to educate ourselves so we can become the kind of person God wants us to be.
4th. Our weekly offerings support God’s service fund, our ministry, our community care and social ministry work. Our 4th purpose in life is to serve God by serving one another. God put us here to make the world a better place by serving others. This is part of God making us more like him.
5th Our weekly offerings invest in God’s global mission fund. If you look at our congregational budget and our January report, you’ll see that we tithe 10% of our congregational income to the church at large, the District and LCMS. We use some of our congregational budget to help other people get connected to Jesus and to heaven.
Your offerings through your congregation are invested so that God’s five purposes become reality in our midst. Worship. Fellowship. Discipleship. Service or Ministry. Mission.
I recently read about a church that was growing so fast it ran out of parking space. They went across the street to the super market that was closed on Sundays and made a deal with the owner of the supermarket to use the parking lot. The owner of the supermarket said, “You can sue the parking lot 51 Sunday’s out of the year but on the 52nd Sunday I’m going to chain it off.” The church people asked, “why?” We don’t understand.” Why would you let us use it 51 times a year and chain it off on the 52nd Sunday? He said, “Because I never want you to forget that the parking lot belongs to the grocery store, not the church.”
That’s what tithing is all about. God says I just don’t want you to forget where it’s all coming from. That I the Lord your God, am the source of your blessings. I’m the creator. You are my managers.
Psalm 116:12 “How can I repay the Lord for all His goodness to me?” You can’t. God is the one who loves and gives grace, forgiveness and love and he wants us to imitate him. Giving our weekly offerings is a weekly reminder that I’m giving thanks for all God’s blessings.
Inside your bulletin today you will find a percentage chart. If you are at 1% you can not jump to 10% because you have not planned for it. Giving is like the Christian walk. Our personal goal is to be like Jesus and it is a process. Grow in your giving. If this is new for you begin at 4 or 5 % and then each year grow 1 or 2%. It is a process. Be a duck and follow Jesus.
