A WORLD OF POSSIBILITIES
Part One
Seeing Money the Way God Sees It
November 1, 2009
Pastor Brian Matherlee
Once upon a time, a mother gave each of her sons two dollars and took them to a toy store to buy the beautiful, shiny marbles they had been asking for. The older son quickly figured out how many marbles he could get with his two dollars, chose the biggest and best of them all, and brought them to the counter in a brown paper bag. He was very happy.
Now, the younger son, who loved the marbles just as much as his brother, realized he needed a strong bag to carry them around in so he could play marbles with his friends. After choosing a sturdy little drawstring bag, he could buy only half as many marbles as his brother, but he was happy too.
The older brother thought so much of his small treasure that he would never let anyone else play with those shiny marbles—in fact; he wouldn’t even play with them himself. He would only look at them adoringly in the privacy of his own bedroom. Whenever he went anyplace, he gathered them up in the brown paper bag and clutched it to his side to be sure no one would get them.
The younger brother, on the other hand, went to the park every day and played marbles with his friends for hours and hours. At first, he lost many of his precious marbles to his friends, but he soon became good at the game and won back more than he lost—filling up his sturdy little drawstring bag.
One day, as the younger brother walked to the park, he found a beautiful marble on the sidewalk. He found another a few feet later, and another. He found marble after marble all the way to the park. He couldn’t fit all the new marbles into his bag, so he handed them out to some kids who didn’t have any and invited them to play marbles too. They had more fun than afternoon than any other day so far.
When the younger brother returned home for dinner, the older brother was in the kitchen staring mournfully at his brown paper bag—which was empty, with a hole in the bottom.
In God’s kingdom, everything is upside down and backwards: The first shall be last, the weak are strong, the foolish confound the wise. In the area of stewardship, those who give generously and use their resources have so much more than those who hoard.
This story is a simple version of one in Scripture:
Matthew 25:14-30
“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.
The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’ “His master replied, ’Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
“The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
“Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you. His master replied, ‘you wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. ‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
We learn something about how God looks at money from this passage:
1. God’s got plenty
There is no shortage of Scriptures that point out the wealth of God:
i. Haggai 2:8, “The silver is mine and the gold is mine, declares the Lord Almighty.”
ii. Psalm 24:1, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.”
2. God entrusts us with it
a. In the days of Jesus servants were seen as valuable managers of a wealthy person’s estate. Joseph was one such servant who was entrusted with great responsibility over the house of Potiphar.
b. Jesus shows us that God’s design is to involve us in the stewardship of Kingdom resources. We are seen as critically important.
c. We are given what we can handle by God’s help.
d. This master goes away and believes in the abilities of these he has left behind.
e. It is important to note that the servants would also share in the increase of their efforts. The scripture says, “Come and share in your master’s happiness.”
3. God expects a good return
a. God expects a good return because God knows how things work. He empowers us to have faith, to execute in faith and to see the results of faithfulness.
b. It’s obvious when the master returns that he is pleased with what the first two servants have done but not surprised. He knew what was possible. He was stretching their vision & letting them see what was possible and was going to challenge them to expect more and see more.
c. It’s also obvious that he was furious with the last servant. This servant didn’t trust his master’s confidence but allowed fear to dictate how he administered his responsibilities. Let’s go back to our point of sharing in the increase. The first two servants stood to gain right along with the boss. This last servant could have been afraid that the little he had was going to be gone and wasn’t willing to risk letting it go.
d. Letting go—that’s the key, isn’t it.
e. God’s expectations for us in regards to money and stuff are crystal clear in the Bible.
Let’s take a few moments and see the key principles God would desire each of us to embrace:
1. General Giving
Malachi 3:8-9, “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ ‘In tithes and offerings.
You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me.”
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.
a. Tithe
i. 10 % of what God has blessed you with.
ii. Temptation to take some and designate it here or there but that is not what God desires of the tithe. The tithe is for the ongoing work of the Lord’s body of believers.
b. Offerings
i. These are special things that God will prompt individuals to give over and above the tithe and it is an expectation that this will become a part of our giving.
c. This grace of giving is that there may be resources for the needy around us. God doesn’t need “food” in his house. People who come hungry need to have something to eat.
2. Generous Giving
a. Isaiah 58:7, “Share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood.”
b. Isaiah records God’s words—his desires. He doesn’t want a bunch of ritual from us; he wants us to help hurting people. He even had to speak to the problem of neglect in families because people were being so selfish.
c. 2 Corinthians 8:7, “Excel in this grace of giving.”
3. God-sized Giving
a. There are times when God will ask someone to give in a sacrificial way.
b. A picture of this is in 1 Kings 17:10-16
i. The widow knew she was going to use up the last bit of what she had.
ii. She couldn’t see any other resources on the way.
iii. But she trusted the word of the Lord through Elijah and gave the last of what she had.
Conclusion
Malachi 3:10, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”
Sometimes we may be tempted to think God is greedy or only wants to make it tough on us. God’s purpose for money is to develop our trust in Him. This is the only place in Scripture where God invites testing. Basically God is saying, “Let me prove it to you.”
If you could see money the way God sees it what would be the possibilities?
3 “God Dreams” for us & money:
1. I wouldn’t controlled by money
2. I would bless others & would be blessed
3. My faith would be increased
