Series: Saving For Life
I Save So I Can be Generous
1 Corinthians 16:1-2, Psalm 37:25-26, Luke 12:13-21
Within the Declaration of Independence of our country exists this phrase of what is the free right of every person, “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” That last part of pursuing happiness for most people infers a sense of gaining more money or more possessions which most assume would make their life more enjoyable. I would have to agree this is probably what was meant by this phrase because so often the ability to have more wealth means more open doors of opportunity and comforts. Unfortunately a couple of years ago I think I saw the modern interpretation of this phrase on a bumper sticker which said, “He who dies with the most wins.” Meaning they believed happiness is found in the accumulation of stuff. Later I saw what I might call the Christian response to that bumper sticker in the form of another bumper sticker which said, “He who dies with the most toys still dies.” It is a joke – well at least it is supposed to be.
If we closely examined our homes, where would we place in the competition to get the most toys? Truth be know we have quite a bit more than the average person in the rest of the world – I have seen that with my own eyes. But before you start thinking that I am going plant this big guilt trip about how we all should be ashamed because we have too much, I want to point out that riches aren’t evil in themselves and some of God’s favorite people were wealthy. What we are warned about is the danger inherently found in having wealth and how if we do not become master of our money it will become the master of us
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Forest Dale is in the midst of our stewardship campaign where we ask each of you to prayerfully consider giving consistently to the church through 2010 – It is a call to make our offerings to God be the first decision in our financial plan for next year. In our current economic situation you might be tempted to cut your giving to God because there is so much uncertainty but listen to what Psalm 37:25-26 says, I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. 26 They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be blessed.
So the question becomes, if God promises to take care of our needs and supply for the benefit of our family, then what is the real purpose for saving? If God is going to do that why should we just spend everything we have right now and just wait for him to his magic? He could but he hasn’t chosen that as our test – we instead have been provided with abundance not randomly but with a specific purpose. As the ups and downs of our financial situation create a sense of uncertainty is where we have a huge opportunity. If we are striving to be good managers of what we have been given – to save our money for a larger mission and with the goal of becoming people who will display a greater generosity. Taking a portion of what we are given through our income and saving it away is a smart decision that each of us must practice with determination and perseverance – but that way of thinking isn’t very popular in a place where credit and debt are the norm. But let’s admit something: Just putting money away is not the most exciting or enjoyable use of our money – a thousand other toys seem to be so much more rewarding. In the back of our mind I believe we know that the ability to be generous with our money is the most rewarding because it lasts and it seems to change both the giver and the receiver. This is the attitude we need to feed – saving our money so that we can be even more generous in the future.
I. A Problem with Saving
A. The practical decision to save money is more than just the action of storing it away..
1. It is a decision to consider something else more than just the present day. Because even though living pay check to pay check might work for a while, some unexpected expense or need will always arise and create. That is where we really get into trouble with our money.
2. Jesus told parables about those who saved and those who wasted, and those who were the real smart people in the stories were those who approached their spending with thoughtful consideration.
* Because even some of the people in his stories who saved their money didn’t exactly make his good list. On story in particular is in Luke 12:13-21. Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." 14Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?" 15Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
16And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17He thought to himself, ’What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
18"Then he said, ’This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I’ll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." ’
20"But God said to him, ’You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
21"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."
3. So what was the problem?
B. The rich man’s reasons for saving.
1. He trusted his wealth to keep him secure. The man is identified as a “rich man” meaning he was not living day to day. Translation update: Change the word bank for barn, “I will tear down my banks and build bigger banks to hold all my money.” His biggest concern is how he is going to preserve the extra income because it won’t fit. He has enough but it isn’t enough!
2. He planned on keeping it all for himself. “I will build bigger barns to store my grain and my goods.” His distress was that he might lose a little of the overflow and not be able to personally enjoy every little grain. It never occurs to him that the abundance was put there for the purpose of supplying for a person in need.
3. He wanted to be free from interacting with anyone else. What is interesting in this story is that the rich man has interaction with no one – he doesn’t speak to a friend or family when making the decision, he doesn’t consult God about what he should do. He talks to himself – he is alone in this process. In fact it seems as if he enjoys storing up even more so that he doesn’t have to work with anyone for the rest of his life.
*I heard about an 83 year old man the other day who had lived his entire life as a bachelor. One day this man gathered his four nephews and announced that he was planning to be married. His nephews were in shock. One spoke up and said, "Uncle are you getting married because this woman is beautiful?" He said, "No." Another nephew asked, "Uncle are you getting married because this woman is a great cook?" Again he said, "No." The third nephew questioned, "Are you marrying this woman because she is rich?" "Of course not," was his reply. The final nephew said, "Uncle if your not marrying this woman because she is beautiful, or because she is a great cook, or because she is rich, then why are you marrying her?" With a wink he said, "I’m marrying her because she can drive at night !"
The rich man’s motivation for saving is for the sole purpose of being in complete control of his own future. He wants to make sure that the extra income is used to enjoy the ultimate pleasures available in his lifetime. He never gets the chance to implement the plan because he dies that night – his plans will not happen because someone else will be in charge.
II. A Picture of a Better Future.
A. It is a terrible thought that you would spend your life working hard to earn and save only to see those things collapse.
1. Yet we can look back in the past and see how quickly change fortunes and disaster takes away what so many were sure would last for their entire life. Things on this earth will pass away, it is only a matter of time so sometimes saving them for later seems pointless.
2. That is why everyone should have a bigger reason for saving and handling their money than just the hope that it will stay together for their lifetime - and also why it is important to be generous with whatever level of income we posses.
*As I mentioned last week, the church in Corinth was very wealthy and in Paul’s second letter he commends them for being so eager to help by their repeated generosity he had even began to boast about them to the churches in Macedonia. Now before they gained the reputation of being so generous, listen to the instructions Paul gave them before that 2nd letter. 1 Corinthians 16:1-4 Now about the collection for God’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. 2On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. 3Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. 4If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me.
3. Paul used his connections with the Corinthians to make their church an effective tool of ministry and an example of generosity. He said they should save their money for more than just having a security blanket. He put the foundational idea of how a person of God should save, use, and give their money.
B. As the Corinthians did what was taught to them, an eagerness to give began to grow in their hearts.
1. Instead of being selfishly motivated to save for their own uses, the church began to focus on what they could do for other people. They started to see how God placed them in a wealthy city for more than just making their life more comfortable.
*We are in a similar situation in this country – I don’t think any of us would consider ourselves to be wealthy when it comes to the top level of money makers in the USA, and while we clearly are not as well off as we were a year ago, our level of wealth and possibilities of being able to make a living far surpasses most of the world. Such wealth has made people comfortable but it hasn’t solved as many problems as we would like. Instead it has tempted people to get involved in more bad stuff. In 1964 President Johnson signed into legislation something referred to as the “War on Poverty” where our country committed itself to making sure every person in the US would be helped out of their poverty. In 2009 our percentage of poor people is almost the exact percentage as it was in 1964 – Jesus said “The poor you will always have with you...” and we have seen it be played out before our eyes. Obedience to what is right is a choice and throwing money at a problem doesn’t fix the real problem. A spiritual strength is needed to overcome these problems, and people who are generous at the right time are the real method of ministry God wants to reach the poor and the troubled. Instead we often see those with wealth too caught up in their own desires to care about how much damage they are doing to their own hearts. It is a common problem, success is often equated with excess – if you make it then you should be allowed to blow it all on whatever you want. It isn’t that God wants to prevent us from having nice things – he blesses us with so much that we are rich – but if that is the only reason to save then we will never be satisfied.
2. This goes back again to the principle of telling your money where to go or it will tell you where to go. There must be a greater purpose to saving money than just to buy every new product the heart desires.
3. So the question really is, why do we think God has given us so much?
a. It is an expression of His love for us. You can’t get more descriptive than this – why God loves us is one of the greatest mysteries which we simply must learn to enjoy and appreciate. Have you ever had someone give you a generous gift and you realized that they really had no motive or reason to do so, they made you say “I don’t understand why you gave me this but thanks!” Love is hard to explain sometimes. Our riches should remind often of God’s love.
b. It is given with the expectation that we will use it wisely.. In another passage in the book of Luke Jesus reveals something: “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”(Luke 12:48) Having riches means God has put trust upon you and responsibility in your life. It is a privilege to be given trust.
c. As a experience in giving. God wants us to know the experience of giving – He wants us to gain a perspective and have an investment in something which giving creates.
*For the Corinthian church a way of regular giving was an important concept – the whole idea of an organized group saving and giving was apparently a new concept for them and a way of changing their thinking on the use of their wealth. The change in the church from 1 to 2 Corinthians is amazing – they become a church filled with generous people who excelled in not just the area of offerings but their attitude became something which Paul would go around and say, “let met tell you about this great church in Corinth and what they are doing for God’s kingdom.”
4. And I am proud of this church because I hear missionaries that I talk with say, “Forest Dale has been such a great supporter of our ministry,” and “We really appreciate how Forest Dale has taken on special projects for our work, we cannot tell you how encouraging that is to the people in our country.” Generous people and generous churches change the landscape of the world and set the foundation for people to see how God can provide in their time of need.
*So as a person who follows God I think we should have more involved in our though process when it comes to the reason as to why it is important that we are careful with our money and save it responsibly. We do not want to become the rich man in the parable Jesus told – where we simply try to gain more to use for our own comfort.
III. A New Proposal for Saving.
A. This means the process of saving money becomes a plan for having greater generosity.
1. While it is very smart for us to put aside money for retirement, unexpected expenses, and planned purchases, those things should not be out only motivation for saving.
2. A deeper motivation must be found for the followers of Christ. Jesus didn’t use the rich man in his parable as a bad example because he was rich but because he was not generous with God. The problem with his desire to save was not because he wanted to save it but because the purpose of doing so was so completely selfish.
*This should reveal a fundamental truth to all of us. Saving money is not just an exercise in trying to be responsible and keep you from debt. What God wants to do with our savings is to provide an abundant life – which is only found in having a generous mindset. This is why in the NT Jesus and the apostles never really give us a number or percentage of our income that we are supposed to give – the simply teach the principle of being generous leaving it up to the individual to decide how much to give. Now clearly their idea of generous is based upon the concept of 10% - or as we call it a tithe- is the measure of what a person is supposed to give. A generous person would be someone who gives more than 10%. Therefore as a dedicated person to Jesus Christ we should be driven to put ourselves in the position to be generous people – and saving our money now in an effort to be responsible with what we have been given is one of the best ways to position ourselves to be generous in the future.
Proverbs 13: 22 A good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children, but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous. Shouldn’t we refocus our mind on what having more than we need is all about?
B. Consider your motivations for saving money.
1. It is a key to getting and staying out of debt. I know that it is difficult to save money because things are expensive and the bills just suck up everything that isn’t nailed down. But we add to our problems when we take on extra debt or get ourselves locked into payments for things we just don’t need. Solomon wrote that debt is equivalent to slavery – you become owned by them. Saving your money is a way to stay out of debt because when expenses arise there is money to help you not go so deep. Most people know this but we all need a reminder and an encouragement to do the right thing when it doesn’t seem all that exciting. You will not be able to be truly generous until you are free from the slavery of unnecessary debt.
2. Having saved money won’t be the solution to worry, but it will help if you ever thought that winning the lottery or receiving a huge inheritance would stop you from worrying – it won’t. There is always something new to worry about. You actually would just trade worries and in fact you probably would have twice as many things to worry about with more riches. Only trust in God will really relieve worry, but being faithful with what you have will spare you the feeling of guilt about it.
3. God promises to give more to those who are wise with their money. – Now don’t get caught up in the idea that we give God and he multiplies it back 10 fold until we are all millionaires. That is what can be termed as the “health and wealth” gospel. That is not what the Bible teaches – what God gives is not measured only by money – in fact some have seen their faith wrecked because they were too concerned over giving to God only to et more back. God wants to bless us with incredible things – and sometimes we are too impatient to let him do it. We rush in too fast and get ourselves locked up and lose the adventure of getting more than we deserve. By planning a future of generosity through giving to the church in the present day and saving for a later time, it offers God the opportunity to bless our lives as he has repeatedly promised in the Bible.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
4. Consider how great it would be if you had enough to meet a critical need. Having our needs met is a blessing from God but having more than enough means a trust has been placed in us to do something with an abundance. And the more we save the greater opportunity we will have to be more generous.
*Imagine if instead of telling the story of the rich man building barns Jesus told the story of a the man saying, “I am going to direct my workers to take the excess and search for people who could use this extra – I have enough for myself right now and besides that I won’t live forever.” If the man’s life is over that night the plan for his wealth could still go on because his thought was to be generous toward other people.
1 Timothy 6:17-19 17Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. If more rich people would operate this way, can you imagine how much better our world would be? Can you imagine how many more people would be encouraged and inspired to keep going when they didn’t see how they would get through the next day?
