Money
August 17th, 2008
A Heart of Wallet
Next week we are going to begin a series on the book of Hebrews. But before we get to that we need to finish our discussion on money. We talked about it a few weeks ago but there is more that needs to be said. Money is a big part of our lives and something most of us struggle with. As a result it merits more than just a single glance. I want to show you just how important money is, even if it is not a subject you are comfortable with. I will promise you this: this message will not be an offering appeal on steroids nor will it be a guilt trip trying to get you to give the church more money. I hate guilt trips. I am not talking to you about money so that you will give more. I am talking to you about money so that you can see just how powerful and important we have made money and so that if you give you give right. It is not the purpose of the church to try to get as much money from you as possible. The church should not look like an infomercial. The church should not look like some charity organization or public broadcasting company always asking for your money and support. Finances are a part of church but that is not what a church should look like.
Let me show you what the ideal church looks like. Turn to Acts 2:42. This is a description of what the church of God is. This is what the church was always suppose to be. Acts 2 is a beautiful picture of Christ’s spotless bride…before she was corrupted and tainted. Before the divisions and separation and fights and church splits. Acts 2 is the church as God intended. Look at it in verse 42:
Ac 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Ac 2:43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. Ac 2:44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. Ac 2:45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Ac 2:46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, Ac 2:47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Here is the church in all of her beauty. The members are devoted to God’s word and to each other. They are focused on fellowship with one another and prayer. They performed many wondrous signs and shared everything. This is what the church was supposed to be. The met together every day, they shared meals together, they were growing, and most of all they were unified. Acts 2 is a description of perfect unity. They had everything in common. This church took care of all the people in it. The Acts 2 church is like-minded, they are one, rejoicing, fellowshipping, unified. There are no power plays in this church. There are no church politics. There are no divisions of class within this church. There are no spiritually superior people. This is what the church should look like.
Notice that in this text there is nothing said about tithing. Making it all the more apparent that a perfect church is a church that doesn’t tithe. It is a church that is generous with their possessions. A perfect church is not a church where 100% of the members’ drop 10% of their income into plates every week, the perfect church is a church that takes care of the needs of its members and of the church and community as a whole. It is a church where the individuals care more for the community than they do themselves. Look at what this church is doing: they are selling their own possessions in order to provide for those in need. This is what the church should be about. One person sacrificing person comforts to provide for the physical needs of another.
Many times in the church our offerings are something we feel obligated to do because if we don’t we are not a good Christian. No one enjoys obligation. Giving is: voluntary, willful, cheerful, and is something you are accountable to God for and that is what our offers should be. We give out of a desire to support the church and our fellow brothers who are in need. For Christians a giving is not about the amount of money that is given it is about that heart behind the giving. Acts 2 got it right. If you will turn now just a few pages to Acts 5:1 Here we see another story. This is the story of Ananias and Sapphira. I want to give you a little context from Chapter 4.
Ac 4:34 There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales Ac 4:35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need. Ac 4:36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), Ac 4:37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.
So far things look pretty good. The Acts 4 church looks just like the Acts 2 church. It is not until all the way in Acts 5 that we encounter our first problem.
Ac 5:1 Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. Ac 5:2 With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet. Ac 5:3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Ac 5:4 Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.” Ac 5:5 When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Ac 5:6 Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him. Ac 5:7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Ac 5:8 Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?” “Yes,” she said, “that is the price.” Ac 5:9 Peter said to her, “How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.” Ac 5:10 At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. Ac 5:11 Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
Do you see what is happening here? Something has changed. This text shows us the importance of the church keeping a proper perspective on their money. This couple wants all the praise and esteem of the community for their act of charity without having to give up anything. They let their personal desire for wealth overcome them and they lied to the church and God about their gift. They wanted it both ways. They wanted the Spiritual side of being a part of a community while maintaining their personal financial independence. They wanted to keep what was theirs while sharing the community of what was everyone else’s. Ananias and Sapphira let their desire for things of this world corrupt their gift.
The punishment may seem severe but the consequences of their actions were far worse than the punishment they received. After Acts 5 the church was never the same. The unity and one-mindedness did not stick around for long, not even a full chapter of Acts. Ananias and Sapphira put themselves first. They allowed their love of money to rule their hearts. They let their priorities get away from them. The punishment is not harsh death is the end for us all. The sad thing about this story is not that they died it is that they chose to serve themselves over God.
I want to be clear. This is not a story to scare you into giving money to the church. If you put money in the offering plate out of fear, don’t. Keep it. The church needs money to function but money given out of fear is wasted money no matter who you are giving it to. The purpose of this story is not to scare you but to remind you of where your focus should be. We so easily get distracted by money and the things of this world. We let money divide and separate us. We give it so much power and yet it is little more than kindling to the fire to come. Your money, your wealth, and all your possession have no value other than the value you give them. This text is a reminder to us of how unimportant those things are. Your money is green paper. The things you own are simply toys that make a short life more comfortable or enjoyable. What real value do they have? Can you trade them? Sell them? Use them in eternity? The problem with money is that it is so good at deceiving us into thinking it matters. It doesn’t. When you die it wont matter if you have $10 million of $10. It won’t matter if you gave away billions or hardly anything it all. The reason I wanted to talk about money this week is simply to say this: money does not matter. No matter what it seems it can do or how far you think it can get you, it cannot really buy you anything worth having. In the end it is simply a bad picture of some dead president. Completely and totally worthless.
The great thing about my point is that I am not the one making it. This is straight from Luke 21. Jesus says it better than I ever could, look at His words:
Lk 21:1 As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. Lk 21:2 He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. Lk 21:3 “I tell you the truth,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. Lk 21:4 All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”
In the temple there was a place for offerings to be given. In this area there are 13 different bronze boxes used for different kinds of offerings. Each box was labeled according to the type of money it was for. Jesus sat there and watched as rich men dropped handfuls of coins down the bronze coffer. The coins would make a lot of noise as they slid bounced against the metal of the coffer. The more coins were dropped the louder the noise and naturally the more attention it would draw. Of course these rich men seemed so spiritual because they dropped large amounts of money in the coffers. Yet that is not what catches Jesus attention. It is not the rich men who catch Jesus eye but a widow. She comes into the temple, probably trying to go unnoticed as she is embarrassed by the amount that she has to give. There would be no loud clanging at her offering. Her offering would not attract attention or turn heads. In fact what she was dropping in was merely shavings of metal probably equivalent to about a penny in value. What she brings is more of a hassle than anything. If she had dropped her offering on the floor most people wouldn’t even bother to bend down and pick it up. When Jesus sees this He calls His disciples over to Him very excited. Certainly there would be a lot of anticipation, this has been one of the most exciting days of Jesus ministry. He has given many incredible teachings, He cursed the fig tree, cleansed the temple this has been one exciting day. So the disciples rush over eagerly awaiting what Jesus has to say. They are in for a big shock. Can you imagine the look on their faces when after all the incredible things that have happened in the last few days their teacher is excited about a couple of pennies?
You can imagine at this point the disciples are worried that Jesus has finally snapped. All the pressure of dealing with the Pharisees must have gotten to Him. After all what kind of sane person gets excited about a couple of pennies? It would be one thing if the pennies made the offering hit this exact specific amount that was needed to raise money for the temple building project or something, but that is not the case here. That is of course not to mention the fact that Jesus is apparently really bad at math. He says that this woman gave more than all the others. Can you imagine what was going through the disciples heads at this point? Ok, that guy just dropped in like $2000 for his offering. She gave 2 cents and you think that is more? Seriously Jesus we are going to call them men with white coats if you don’t knock this off. It seems strange that Jesus is just really excited about a couple of coins.
You see Jesus doesn’t look at the amount of the donation. He was totally unimpressed with the rich men dumping their heavy coins into the offering plate. Jesus doesn’t seem that interested in the size of the donation but He is drawn to the size of the sacrifice. The rich men get praise because man looks only at what is given, God gives praise not based on what is given but based on what is kept. Jesus says this woman has given more than all the others because she didn’t keep anything for herself.
God looks at the sacrifice not the gift itself. You don’t impress Him with $$$ you impress Him by relying on Him. This is surely not the first time you have heard this story…but let me ask you, which one of these characters are you. When you read this do you really believe the poor woman gave the greatest gift. Or do you read it and say to yourself, “well that’s nice Jesus, very cute and all but seriously we’ve a temple to run here. Nice as it is, 2 pennies doesn’t exactly pay the bills does it?” We read this and think it novel and displays Jesus’ character and then dismiss it as irrelevant because we know that is not how life works. You think Jesus a bit naïve? Or is it that we have become so unbelievable dependent on our misconceived independence that we have forgotten what it is to rely on God rather than on ourselves. God may be the God of our lives, but how often do we lock Him out of our bank accounts? Do we trust Him to save our souls but not to put food on our tables? Do you see the problem here?
Giving is not about the money it is about reminding ourselves who it all really belongs to and leaning on Him rather than ourselves. Our offerings are not about money they are about trusting God to provide for us. Our offering are about giving up control and letting God drive the car of our life. Let me ask you this: if you can’t trust God to provide for you physically with your finances, how is it that you think you can trust Him with your Spiritual needs? If you can’t trust God to be faithful to His little promises like that He will provide for your daily needs then how can you trust God’s big promises like to save your soul? Don’t you get it? If you can’t trust God with your wallet then you can’t trust Him with your life.
It is time we stopped letting money get in our way. It is time we let go of our reservations and truly let God be Lord of our lives. So this week I just want to end by asking you one question: Do you put your faith in God or do you put it in money? You see the Lord of your life is the object that you have the most faith in. If your faith is in money, then money is your master. So what I want to ask you to do today is see what money really is. Money is teacher that shows us how to trust God with everything we are. Use it as such.
