Scripture Introduction
You work hard for your money. Why would you give it away? Jerry Lewis hosts an annual telethon to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Last year 63 million dollars was pledged—a significant amount, no doubt. Still, however, on a per gift basis, neither guilt nor warm feelings produced drastic generosity, at least not like it was in the New Testament church.
We are studying Acts 2 to see a dynamic church in action. I chose the word, “dynamic” because of its two-fold meaning: both alive and active. A dynamic church is spiritually alive, not merely going through the motions, but living out their faith in God, growing in love for him and his people, and increasing in knowledge of the Scriptures. And, the dynamic church is active: their life results in ministry. They do not “sit, soak, and sour,” but bear fruit in the kingdom of God.
There is both edification—the people inside the church are built up, and there is outreach, evangelism and works of mercy—so that folks outside the church benefit from the light and salt of those who walk with Jesus.
This dynamic church in Acts 2 devoted themselves to certain things: to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Today we begin to consider some of the effects of their devotion, specifically a passion to invest financially in the lives of fellow believers and the work of the kingdom of God. Acts 2.44-45 informs us that: “all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.”
For us to explore beyond the mere report of their generosity and investigate the motives behind such behavior, we are turning in God’s word to 1Timothy 6. [Read 1Timothy 6.6-19. Pray.]
Introduction
According to Forbes Magazine, Warren Buffet is the wealthiest man on earth, with a net worth of $62 billion. If you compare his net worth to our nation’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product), however, his relative wealth is less than half of what John D. Rockefeller had when he died. Rockefeller’s $1.4 billion was about 1.5% of the United States GDP; Buffet’s wealth is less than 1% of our country’s GDP.
So the story told that John D. Rockefeller was once asked, “What is the secret for becoming wealthy?” Rockefeller responded: “There are three simple rules for anyone who wants to become rich: 1) Go to work early. 2) Stay at work late. 3) Find oil on your land. Probably good advice, today even more so than in the 1870s when Rockefeller’s Standard Oil created a monopoly out of its headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio.
But I’m not here, this morning, to tell you how to fatten your wallet. In fact, I want to help you lighten it—to learn generosity. But generosity with a twist; I want your gain to be greater than Rockefeller’s. I’m offering you an investment plan that cannot lose. My goal is to help us lay up more treasures that Gates and Buffett and Steve Jobs can imagine. If you are a Christian, then your Father’s wealth is beyond measure, for “the world and its fullness are [his]” (Psalm 50.12). I want us to lay hold of the “riches of his glorious inheritance,” which are ours as daughters and sons of the King.
1. Faith in God Demands that We Seek Personal Gain (1Timothy 6.6-8)
As you probably know, there are many religious hucksters in TV land seeking to profit from the sale of religion. This does not surprise us; it merely illustrates the truth of the Bible’s teaching about mankind’s sinfulness. Nor is this new. The context for God’s teaching about wealth and contentment here in 1Timothy 6 is the young pastor, Timothy, facing the exact same problem. They did not have television, but they had slick sales-preachers who (according to verse 5) used godliness as a means of gain.
So we might expect the instruction for this young pastor to run along these lines: “Timothy, you must teach your people that Christians do not live for gain. Christians do what is right for its own sake. Preach the profit motive out of their minds; because a desire for personal gain is worldly.” That is not what the Bible teaches. Instead of quashing our desire for personal gain, God asks why we are satisfied with so little.
C. S. Lewis describes this beautifully in Weight of Glory: “If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
Where does Lewis get such an idea?
From passages like this. In 1Timothy 6.6, Paul reminds Timothy, “There is great gain in godliness, if you have with it, contentment.” But this is not the only place.
Earlier in the same letter, Paul reminded his young apprentice: “…godliness is of value in every way…” (1Timothy 4.8).
He learned this from Jesus.
Now some of you are probably thinking, “Wait a shake, pastor, Jesus told us to get rid of our money.”
You would be right; as in Luke 12.33: “Sell your possessions, and give to the needy….” (I told you that I was out to help you lighten your wallet!) But read the rest of the verse: “Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail.” Jesus motivates you to radical generosity with the promise of personal gain.
What about in Luke 14? Jesus says: “When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you.” Jesus admits that this is a sure way to become poor: feed the needy people of the world. But why do it? Should Christians feed the poor simply because Jesus said to, with no regard to personal benefit? Listen to the whole verse: Luke 14.13-14: “When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” Jesus motivates you to radical generosity with the promise of personal gain.
Luke 6.35: “Love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great….” Jesus motivates you to radical generosity with the promise of personal gain.
Matthew 6.3-4: “When you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Jesus motivates you to radical generosity with the promise of personal gain.
One of Aesop’s fables tells the story of a Miser who buried his gold in a secret place in his garden. Every day he went to the spot, dug up the treasure and counted it piece by piece to make sure it was all there. He made so many trips that a Thief, who had been observing him, guessed what the Miser had hidden, and one night quietly dug up the treasure and made off with it.
When the Miser discovered his loss, he was overcome with grief and despair. He groaned and cried and tore his hair. A passerby heard his cries and asked what had happened. “My gold! O my gold!” cried the Miser, “someone has robbed me!”
“Why did you put it there? Why not keep it in the house where you could easily get it when you had to buy things?”
“Buy!” screamed the Miser angrily. “Why, I would never think of spending any of it.”
The stranger picked up a large stone and threw it into the hole and said, “If that is the case, cover up that stone. It is worth just as much to you as the treasure you lost!”
You brought nothing into the world; you cannot take anything out with you. You can, however, lay up treasures in heaven by investing in the work of the God’s kingdom. Do you trust the God who promises great rewards enough to be generous and ready to share? Faith in God demands that you seek personal gain.
2. Faith in God Demands that We Not Serve Money (1Timothy 6.9-10)
Each of us wants to steer clear of pain and misery, flee temptation, escape the snare, stay away from senseless and harmful desires, avoid ruin and destruction, and not pierce ourselves with many pangs. These personal dangers would entrap and destroy us; we all agree they should be avoided. How do we do so?
Some witty person said, “Money will buy:
* a bed but not sleep;
* books but not brains;
* food but not appetite;
* finery but not beauty;
* a house but not a home;
* medicine but not health;
* luxuries but not culture;
* amusements but not happiness;
* a crucifix but not a savior;
* religion but not salvation.”
Wealth is funny that way, isn’t it? It promises happiness, and the more I set my heart on it, the more it clouds my vision of what would really make me happy. Two things to note:
First, money itself not evil. God makes some rich, others poor. Men like Ron Sider (whose book, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, sold millions promoting a redistribution of wealth) falsely demonize the creation and use of private capital. Money is not the root of all evil; and vows of poverty are foolish and dangerous flirting with pride.
Second, what matters is where your heart is. The poor can desire to be rich as easily as those with great wealth. Those with meager income can love money. Where is your heart? When Jesus explains why we must use our money to purchase treasures in heaven, he warns: “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6.21). Spend your wealth to buy treasures in heaven, then you will know whom you serve. “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6.24). Whom do you serve?
Faith in God demands that we not serve money.
3. Faith in God Demands that We Store Up Treasures (1Timothy 6.17-19)
Be careful of riches; they make us prideful. We begin to imagine that we are better than others because we have “earned” more cash than some. Money also sings a siren song of salvation. Those who are rich appear to have the power to escape the problems and pains of this world. As a result, a subtle switch happens. Instead of placing my hope in escape from this evil world, my hope slides onto escaping the problems and pains of this world. As a result, I begin to see the pleasures of this world as the place of fulfillment, rather than the presence of God.
So what shall we do?
Invest your wealth, and do so wisely. Think carefully and prayerfully about every penny you spend. You are to do good with your wallet, to be rich in good works, to be ready to share, to feed the poor (like when we provides meals for the children involved in Whiz Kids at Winton Woods). You are to be generous, especially to those in the family of God. You are to be ready to share with those who have need. Why? By so doing you store up treasure for yourself in heaven. Please, do not be a fool—you cannot take it with you. You can, however, send it ahead.
John Wesley: “When a man becomes a Christian, he becomes industrious, trustworthy and prosperous. Now, if that man when he gets all he can and saves all he can, does not give all he can, I have more hope for Judas Iscariot than for that man!”
Was Wesley saying that we can buy salvation? I think not. He was saying this: when God promises staggering rewards to those who invest their money generously in mercy and good works, and we say, “No thank you, want to spend it all on myself,” then might we not wonder if our profession of faith in God is mere pretense?
4. Conclusion
In his chapter on “Money” in Desiring God (from which I received much inspiration for today’s sermon), John Piper observes that many Christians are confused about how to use their money because they do not realize the state we are in: “There is a war going on. All talk of a Christian’s right to live luxuriantly ‘as a child of the King’ in this atmosphere sounds hollow—especially since the King himself is stripped for battle…. A wartime lifestyle implies that there is a great and worthy cause for which to spend and be spent.”
To illustrate, Piper draws the reader’s attention to the Queen Mary, now a floating museum in California. This great ship was built as a luxury liner, and it served the wealthy with lavish comforts. Part of the ship has been restored to show the way it was outfitted in all its regal glory, with grand dining rooms set with china and gold utensils and large, elegant staterooms. 3000 people could travel the seas in the grandest luxury accommodations.
But if you move your eyes across the partition, you will see the way the ship was refitted for WWII: “The wartime austerities present a sharp contrast. One metal tray with indentations replaces fifteen plates and saucers. [Single beds are replaced by] Bunks, not just double but eight tiers high.” [No longer are 3000 well-to-do socialites vacationing in comfort; now 15,000 are ferried to war. What would cause the owners of one of the most beautiful, elegant, luxurious ships ever made, to paint it dingy grey and submit it to the indignities of being stripped of its glory and filled with filthy soldiers? Nothing less than the survival of a nation depending on it.
Have we been lulled to sleep by the comforts of our wealth and forgotten we are at war? I want you to send your wealth to the front lines, to supply the army and to fight the battle. Then your Father will see that your heart is thrilled by his cause, and will reward you. Will you lay up treasures in heaven? You think about that.
