STEWARDSHIP: THE MISSING PIECE TO SUCCESSFUL LIVING
One Plus One = ?
Acts 3:1-10
Dr. John Maxwell
INTRODUCTION:
If you’ll open your sermon section to where the puzzle is, I conclude today the series of messages on: “Stewardship: The Missing Piece to Successful Living.” We opened this month by talking about the benefits of a steward, a person who is faithful and giving. In fact, we just looked at dozens of Scripture verses that talked about a giving spirit. The second week, we talked about balance in our lives, the “Prosperity Gospel”, the “Poverty Gospel” and how they are both extreme. Both of them have very good valid points but a steward kind of stands in the middle and really takes the strength of both and applies it to their life. And last week we talked about the responsibility that we have as a steward, that what God has given us, we are responsible to return to Him. We don’t give to Him, we return to Him what is already His. Today I want to talk to you about partnership. What happens when you and I link up with God? One plus one may equal two in the world of mathematics but one plus one does not equal two, it doesn’t double, it multiplies. It compounds tremendously when you and I link up in partnership with God. That’s what we are going to talk about this hour.
I begin this message with a story of the man I believe was used more than any other person in the 19th century for God. He was a layman, not an ordained clergyman. His name was D.L. Moody. In your sermon section I quote the words of a man by the name of Mr. Henry Varley in Dublin, England changed D. L. Moody’s life. Look at these words: Mr. Varley said, “The world is yet to see what God will do with and for and through and in and by the man who was fully consecrated to Him.” D.L. Moody heard those words. Now, let me tell you the story. D.L. Moody is a perfect example of a person whose availability was greater than his ability. No question about it. He’s a picture of what happens when a person links up with God and they become partners. He was born in 1837 in Northridge, Massachusetts in a very poor family. In fact, his dad passed away at the age of 41 leaving D.L. Moody and his brothers and sisters and mother in terrible poverty. So poor that the creditors came and took everything the family had including the firewood. All they had left was the clothes on their back. When their mother took them to church and to Sunday school, they were so poor she didn’t want them to wear out their shoes and socks, she would have them go barefoot and they would carry their shoes and socks until they came within sight of the church. Then they would stop and put on their shoes and socks and they would go to church.
D.L. Moody, out of this incredibly poor home background, became a very successful businessman. He was one of the top shoe salesmen in the east. In fact, he was lead to the Lord in the back of a shoe store, by a fellow by the name of Mr. Kimball. Mr. Kimball was a Sunday school teacher. Can you imagine — D.L. Moody, you’ve got to understand was the most powerfully influential man for God, a layman, in the 19th century. D.L. Moody shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ with over a 100 million people. Can you imagine the reward of that Sunday school teacher, Mr. Kimball, who in the back of a shoe store lead D.L. Moody to Christ?
D.L. Moody immediately became interested in the church and wanted to join the church. He was so illiterate; he was just such a kind of a human poor person. He was so bad that he flunked his membership class. Folks, I don’t know if you’ve ever tried out for membership in church, but you can’t flunk that. But he was so bad he flunked it. He came back the second year. The second year he applied and they let him join. But they basically said, although we’ve allowed him to join we still perceive that he’s very illiterate about the things of God. Then he surprised them all by saying that he wanted to sell his business at the age of 30 and just work for God full time as a layman. I mean, they were shocked. They discouraged him. They didn’t want him to do that. In fact, he got up to speak in his local church and when it was over, one of the Deacons walked up to him and said, “I think you can best serve God by remaining silent the rest of your life.” Another walked up to him and said, “Mr. Moody, you offended me with your poor grammar.” D.L. Moody looked back and said, “I realize my grammar is very poor.” He said, “You seem to have good grammar, don’t you?” The man said, “Yes, I have very good grammar.” D.L. Moody looked at him and said, “What are you doing for God?” Message complete.
He was in Dublin, Ireland when he heard again, and we’ll read one more time the words of Mr. Varley. In fact, he was sitting on a bench in a public park. “The world has yet to see what God will do with and for and through and in and by the man who is fully consecrated to Him.” Now, I read right out of his book, the response of D.L. Moody that day when he heard those words. Mr. Moody said, “He said a man, he did not say a great man, a learned man, a smart man. He just simply said a man. I am a man. And it lies within me whether I will or I will not make this full consecration to God.” And then D.L. Moody said, "I will do my best to be that man.” One plus one doesn’t equal two when you and I link up as partners with God.
Now, this is a great story. Are you ready? Acts, chapter 3. It’s the story of Peter and John going to the temple to pray at 3:00. In this story I find seven or eight types of people that God uses to bless. What kind of people does God hook up in partnership with? That’s what we’re going to study.
What type of person does God use to bless others?
1. People who are doing the right things
The first thing I find about God blessing people and becoming their partner is He blesses and joins partnership with people who are doing the right things. In Acts 3:1, let’s see what Peter and John were doing. Are you ready? Verse 1: “Now, Peter and John were going up to the temple of the 9th hour, the hour of prayer.” All right, get the picture. It’s 3:00 in the afternoon. Every day at the temple they have a time when they pray. And Peter and John are going to the temple to pray. They are doing the right thing. Now, it’s very significant as you open up the first few chapters of the books of Acts, you find Peter and John together. Very significant. You see it was Peter who denied the Lord. It was Peter who felt estranged from the other group and it was John who was the apostle and the disciple of love. It was John, who had the ability to overlook faults and had the ability to love and I know what happened. When Peter messed up, John took it upon himself to make sure that Peter was loved.
In the first few chapters in the book of Acts, you always find John with Peter. I’ll tell you why. John was helping Peter get through this whole process of all the things that he had done wrong. And John was not going to let him do that by himself. So John is ministering to Peter in this process. But they’re doing the right thing. They’re going to church to pray. I want to tell you something about God linking partnership up with people. It is true that God uses people who are doing the right things. You say, “I want to be used by God.” I run into people, who say, “Oh, I want God to use me in a tremendous way. Oh, I want God to really take my life.” I’ve got good news for you. All you’ve got to do is just obey God and do the right things and God knows where you are. And as you’re doing the right things, He’ll bring the right people in at the right time for the right reason so that you can have the right ministry to them. Birds of a feather flock together.
Have you ever noticed some people? How they never seem to be where the action is? Do you notice that some people never seem to be used by God? Do you know some people that God doesn’t seem to flow through them? And then you notice there’s this other group of people that God blesses. I can tell you one of the first characteristics is that God blesses people who just do the right things, day in and day out. Not the sensational things, not the exciting things. They don’t do the up-front things perhaps, but they just do the right things. They just serve God faithfully, day in and day out, and God sees that faithful service and He says, “I am going to bless them and I’m going to use them.” Peter and John were doing the right things.
2. People who are willing to be interrupted
God uses people who love people. In fact, God uses people who love people more than anything else in life. So therefore, they are willing, in their busy schedule, to be interrupted.
Look at verses two and three with me please: “And a certain man who had been lame from his mother’s womb was being carried along, whom they used to sit down every day at the day at the gate of the temple which is called beautiful, in order to beg alms of those who are entering the temple. And when he saw Peter and John about to go in the temple, he began asking to receive alms.” Now, do you get the picture? Peter and John are about to get to the door of the temple. They are about to pray and all of a sudden this poor beggar begins to cry out to them. In other words, they’re being interrupted. Peter and John are just about to get inside the church and there’s this person who enters in their life and he begins to interrupt them. Now, for a choleric that’s tough. You cholerics are goal oriented and I can tell you right now, I don’t think John was—but I think Peter was a choleric. Peter is saying, “I’m just about to get where I started out this morning, I’m getting here to pray.” And just about the time he’s to finish his task and reach his goal, he’s getting interrupted. Now, all I can say is that God uses people who walk slowly through the crowds. God uses people who put people first. I can tell this story because it turned out well. If it had not turned out well, I could not have told the story.
When Dan Reiland, who is our Executive Pastor, came in 1982, nine years ago, just out of seminary, that man was a total mess. I’m not trying to be unkind, but if you didn’t know him back them, you missed nothing. It was terrible. Now, just relax. Believe me I was there. Typical seminary kid, knew nothing, I mean after all he just spent $25,000 and gave three years of his life to come out totally unprepared. Knew nothing about people, and I would watch him every day with his briefcase, dressed right, always on time, go through the lobby at the church passing all these people, never turning to the left, never turning to the right. He just passed every one of them, walked to his office, closed the door, opened up his briefcase, put his stuff out and began his work. I would stand back and I was amazed. He passed us all and never saw us. He was so right and particular and melancholy. I’m telling you, if his briefcase fell, which it never would, but if it fell, everything in his briefcase would fall out in order. Do you understand? I watched him in unbelievable amazement. Just passing people — I mean it was kind of like: “I’ve got to get through this crowd so I can get to work.”
One day after he’d been here a few months, I followed him into the room. I said, “Dan, it’s time for you to get educated. All those people out there that you are passing is why you are here.” Oh, what a new thought! And I said, “Dan, you walk slowly through the crowd and you love them all and you hug them all and you pray on the way and you may get into the office a few minutes late, but we’re in the people business around here.” Now, the thing that’s absolutely beautiful is there is nobody on staff that thought I was cruel a few moments ago. There is nobody on staff that’s a better people person than Dan Reiland. He loves them, pours his life into them. It’s a beautiful story of somebody who understood one time in his life that we’re all in the people business.
Do you ever run into people who don’t like people? Like Charlie Brown says, “You know, I love mankind it’s just people I can’t stand.” I’m here to tell you God uses people who love people. I mean they put people above policy and people above programs and people above procedure. They just love people. And by the way, in case this is a new thought for some of us, Jesus died for people. It’s the only thing on earth that’s going to be rescued out of this earth. People ask me about the Gulf Crisis, “Is this the end?” I don’t know. It could be the beginning of the end but I do know one thing, people are the only one thing that’s going to be rescued out of this. The rest of it’s going to vanish and pass away and there’s going to be a new heaven and a new earth. And the only thing that continues on is His people, because that’s what Jesus Christ died for. And people who are willing to be interrupted are people that God uses.
3. People who pay attention to needs
This is wonderful. They are not only willing to be interrupted, but they can spot a need and they begin to minister and meet that need. In verse 4 it says, “And Peter along with John fixed his gaze upon him.” They were interrupted and they looked upon him and they immediately perceived this person as being very needy. I put it in your sermon section because I don’t want you to miss it: “Givers are not people with fewer needs than others. They’re just people who have decided it’s more of blessing to give than to receive.”
You see, givers have needs also. If you had stopped Peter and John and said, “Do you have some needs?” They would have said, “sure.” But you see, givers never concentrate on themselves, they concentrate on others. And in concentrating on others, they do some incredible things for people.
Now, I had some fun with this passage. I’ll tell you what I did. I just let my imagination go a little wild and got a little creative. And I sat down and I began to write in my notes all the things that Peter and John could have said the day they went to the temple to pray when this guy interrupted them. See if any of this sounds familiar to you.
• Can’t you see Peter and John as they’re going to the temple and this guy says, “Help, I need your help.” Can’t you see John look at Peter and they both look at this guy and say, “You know what? We’d love to help you, but right now we’re going to church.” Do you know anybody who doesn’t connect helping people and serving God? Have you ever known anybody who is so spiritual that they wouldn’t think about helping somebody when they had to go pray? I mean, they truly are the kind that are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good. Do you know what I’m talking about? Don’t those people make you sick?
Christians can use prayer as the biggest cop-out in their lives. They never get involved, they never witness, they never share, they never get their hands dirty, they just go pray. If your prayers and my prayers don’t have hands to them, legs to them, eyes to them, if it doesn’t involve some process that gets me involved in the process itself; it’s not a true legitimate prayer.
• And can’t you see Peter and John say, “Hey, I know you have a need. Bless you. We’ll go pray for you.” I tell you a lot of times when people have needs the last thing they need is for you to take off and go pray. What they need is for you to stop and meet their needs. Amen?
• This guy bothers them and they look at each other and they could have said, “Why is it that every time we come to church we have to do all the work around here? Hey, bud; look at all these other people going in here. Why is it that it’s Pete or me that always has to do everything at church? Why can’t George do it? Or Susan?” Do you ever feel like you’re the only one that’s ever doing anything for God? And just walk around moaning about how much work you’ve got to do for Jesus and oh, must Jesus bear the cross? No. No. I’ll bear it with Him. In fact, let me tell you how hard it is to bear it. Oh, let me tell you. Could I tell you my sad story one more time? Yep, I suppose Pete and John could have said what we do many times: “Let everybody else do it. After all, it’s a big church. Look at all these people. Surely God doesn’t expect me to do something on Sunday. That’s my day of rest. I don’t come to contribute anything. I come to consume. Feed me, feed me, feed me, preacher, feed me (oink, oink, oink…).” Some of you don’t need any more food. You’re already spiritual porkers.
Some of you desperately need some exercise. Have I said it before? We’re educated well beyond the level of our obedience. You know what would be good for all of us? Good for me? What would happen if I just said, “You know, I’m not going to preach next Sunday until everything I said this Sunday, we go do?” I wouldn’t see some of you till next Christmas. The naiveté of people who come to church who are just consumers is unbelievable. I mean some people think that the doors open automatically, the lights turn on automatically, that everything is planned kind of automatically. And they don’t understand the expense, the whole process involved. Some of you dropped your kids off at the nursery and I’m so glad you were able to drop those kids off at the nursery. Always drop your kids off at the nursery. Please... Do you ever figure when you hand that baby across that counter that somebody gave up an hour to take care of that child? And those ushers didn’t just accidentally find themselves there. They came early to pass out the bulletins and help you find a seat. And that Sunday school teacher in that class worked all week. It amazes me how many people will come and let that offering plate go by and you don’t put anything in. You just think everything’s free around here. It just happens. The naiveté of John Q. Public who somehow just kind of thinks, “Well, I’m sure that everybody else is pitching in.”
I’m so glad that Peter and John, when they looked at that guy who was hurting so, didn’t look around and say, “Well, you don’t expect me to do anything around here. I mean after all it’s my time to get my food.” I’m so glad that they were willing to contribute and be a part. Can I ask you just one real simple question? Then I’ll move on. I promise. I’ll quit tiptoeing through the tulips. If everybody who got in their car and came to the church this morning, did just what you’ve done today, and in a few moments got in their car and left, what kind of a church service would you have had today? Good preaching John, good preaching. I just have to encourage myself in the Lord.
• They could have said, “You know, what a shame for this beggar to be outside this brand new church. Boy, he messes up the landscape. We just had those shrubs and those flowers planted over there and there he is again. Isn’t it terrible all these needy people around the church?” You know some people just think church is a museum for Christians, where we come and get dusted off every week, instead of a hospital for sinners. Now, fortunately at Skyline, we understand that this is a hospital for sinners. I’m looking at a whole bunch. And you’ve got a cripple up here preaching. We’re all in the same bunch.
• They could have said, “Why is it every time we come to church they ask for money?”
• Or they could have said, “We’ve come to church to receive spiritual food. We don’t come to give; we come to take.”
• Or they could have said, “Well, he’s asking for something I don’t have. He wants silver and gold and we don’t have any so therefore, I’m not responsible.”
They could have said all of these things, but they said none of them because these are givers and partners with God and God knows how to work through them.
4. People who give inspire hope in others
Givers are motivators. They inspire hope in others. I’ll tell you why, because whenever they come into the crowd, they always have something to pass on. Look at verse 4. “And Peter along with John fixed his gaze upon him and said, ‘Look at us.’” Notice this phrase: “And he began to give them his attention” “ oh, this word jumps out at me o “...expecting to receive something from them.” Do you know what the acid test of the giver is? I just mean the giver of life. I’m not talking about money. There are takers and givers. It has nothing to do with money. It has everything to do with what you give and what you take out of a life, what you contribute to a cause and what you don’t. Do you know the acid test of a giver is people want to be around givers. Do you know why people want to be around givers? It’s because they always receive something. In my book “Be A People Person,” I have a whole chapter on what draws people to me and that whole chapter talks about charisma. We look at people and say, “Boy, would I like to have that kind of personality. They’ve got this charisma.” Do you know what charisma is? Charisma is not personality. Charisma is very simple. Anybody in the world — you can be quiet and have charisma. All you have to do is change your whole focus and begin to think about others instead of yourself. And when you walk into the room, don’t say, “Well, I hope I look all right. I hope I’m dressed all right. Boy, I just hope they accept me and I hope they like me and I hope they talk to me. I hope they see me. I hope they say something to me. Oh, I just hope they do.” Givers walk into the place. You know what? They’re not focused on themselves, givers walk into the place and they’re focused on other people. Their whole issue is how can I make their day? What can I say to encourage them? What can I do to help them? If you want to have charisma you can have charisma. Charisma is very simple. All you’ve got to do is quit thinking on yourself and think of other people, put other people first. Whenever you go to a meeting, any group of people, always ask, “What have I got that I can contribute that can make everybody feel better about God, about themselves, about life, about their family?” You will automatically begin to have charisma and people will want to be around you because you’ve learned to be a giver. Folks, I know some people I don’t like to be around, I’ll tell you why. They drain me. There are other people I can hardly wait to be with because they’ve learned to pour in and add value to and give to the conversation.
5. People who use what they have
You see, in verse 6, Peter says, “I do not possess silver and gold.” In fact, that phrase starts off so discouraging but the second one is encouraging. “But what I do have I’ll give to you.” You see, givers always find a way to give. They always do. I guarantee you. You can’t keep a giver from giving. You say, “They don’t have resources.” It doesn’t matter, that giver will find some way to care, a way to share, they’ll write a note, they’ll call you on the phone, they’ll encourage you, they’ll say a kind word. I tell you, a giver will always find a way to contribute and a taker will always find a way to steal.
There are two kinds of people,
In life I mean,
The kind that lift,
And the kind that lean.
Not the good and the bad,
For it is well understood,
That the good are half-bad,
And the bad are half-good.
- Ella Wilcox
Just two kinds of people. I’m about ready to wrap this stewardship message up and I’m telling you folks l are you getting the point? Are you a lifter or a leaner? Are you always pulling resources out of people or are you walking into people’s life and pouring resources into them?”
6. People who realize their source of getting is God
People that have something to give realize where the source comes from and they realize it’s God. And Peter and John realized that. In verse 6, they said, “I don’t have silver and gold but what I have I give to you in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene.” You see, Peter and John realized God’s power. They realized God’s provision. They realized God’s partnership. God’s power is that He has the ability to give. His provision is He wants to give. And His partnership is He wants to give through us, which is His reason to give.
It’s an interesting study in the Bible if you go through and find out how God never deals direct. God doesn’t deal direct, folks. God deals through other people. When God was going to flood the world, why didn’t he just get up one day and say, “I’m going to flood the world?” He worked through Noah. When God wanted the children of Israel out of Egypt, why didn’t He just go down and pick them up and put them over in the Canaan Land? He used Moses. When the walls of Jericho were to fall, why did He have the people walk around the city seven times on the seventh day? When Goliath was going to be killed, why didn’t God knock him down? In fact, when God’s Son came into the world, why didn’t God just say, “My Son’s in the world,” instead of sending an uncouth guy by the name of John the Baptist to do it? I’m going to tell you why. God in His sovereignty said, “I will always work, not direct, but always work through people.”
Oh, I know the time has gone and I’m still somewhere in the wilderness. What’s new? All right, write fast. Do you see where it says partnership? God supplies, man shares. That’s the way it works. God is the creator; man is the channel. God pours it in; man passes it on. That’s a fact. That’s the way it works.
And we are in trouble when we become independent, when we think we are the source of the supply, or we get in trouble when we feel inadequate. And that inadequacy is when I say there is no source or supply. God wants to have a partnership with you and He wants to have a partnership with me. And I learned a long time ago that God really doesn’t care whom He flows through, as long as they are consecrated. Any old bush will do if God is in it.
7. People who are willing to try and trust God to do the rest
God uses those who are willing to try. If they will try, God will do the rest. He uses those kinds of people. Look at verse 7. “He seized him by the right hand...” That’s all that Peter could do “...and when he raised up, immediately his ankles were strengthened.” Now God was taking place. You see, God uses people who will do their best and realize that God has to make up the difference.
8. People who want God to receive the glory
He uses people who are unwilling to receive the glory for themselves. In verse 11, what happens is very typical. When givers give, the person who receives clings to the giver. Look what happens. He was clinging to Peter and John. Why? Because these were the ones who helped him and when Peter saw this, everybody was gathering around. He replied and said, “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this and why do you gaze at us if by our own power or our own piety we made him walk?” In other words, they said don’t give us the glory, give the glory to God.
CONCLUSION:
Pull out the little green sheet. The little “Trust Account Transfer.” Close everything else. Oh, by the way let me close with a story on D.L. Moody.
D.L. Moody was in New York City. This is several years later. And a very wealthy man gave him a marvelous gift for his school. D.L. Moody shook his hand as he was getting on the train and he said, “Sir, if you ever come to Chicago let me know, so I can return the kindness to you.” The guy looked at D.L. Moody and said, “Don’t wait for me to come to Chicago. When you get there return the kindness to the first person you meet. Pass it on.”
You have, in your hands, the “Trust Account Transfer,” which means that God has entrusted you with something in your life. I want you to put down the name of somebody you want to give something to. I’m not talking about money, maybe time, maybe a phone call, maybe write a card, maybe you want to baby-sit for a young couple who need a night out and just can’t afford a babysitter, maybe some of the grandparents bake the best chocolate chip cookies in San Diego. You need to go home and bake some and then think of somebody who deserves them that you want to give them to. If you can’t think of anybody, you can always remember your Pastor. This is my favorite part of the message. Now, folks I want you to write down the name of the person.
