OPEN: His name was Timothy Dexter and he was born in Massachusetts in 1747. At the age of 20 he took his life savings – a grand total of $9 – and moved to Newburyport, MA where he met and married a wealthy 31 year old widow.
Fancying himself to be a shrewd businessman, he used his wife’s money to buy stocks because that was what the other businessmen in the community were doing. But he didn’t know which stocks to purchase, so he simply bought the cheapest ones available.
To everyone’s surprise his stocks rose in value and he sold them for a profit.
Apparently Dexter bragged a lot about his good fortune, and the other businessmen in town began to see him as an annoying fool. So they began to amuse themselves by giving him lunatic business tips. One merchant told him the West Indies (where colonization was booming) was sorely in need of warming pans, mittens and Bibles. Dexter was so impressed by what the man told him that he went out and bought more than 40,000 warming pans, 40,000 pairs of mittens, and 40,000 Bibles and shipped them out.
What Dexter didn’t realize that the West Indies were in an extremely hot part of the world and his investment looked extremely foolish to anyone who understood the region. But it just so happened that when his ship docked in the West Indies there was a religious revival taking place, and his Bibles were purchased at a 100% profit.
As if that weren’t enough, a fleet of Russian trading ships was visiting the West Indies and they had their agents immediately buy up the mittens to the last pair.
The warming pans sat idly in the warehouse until some inventive planter discovered that they made ideal skimmers for ladling molasses into vats and so each and every pan was sold for a profit. These incredible sales made Dexter enormously wealthy.
Now, the other merchants were not just annoyed by Dexter… they became extremely jealous of him. So they planned to purposely ruin him by urging him to invest every dime he possessed to ship coal to Newcastle, England. They did such an excellently job of convincing Dexter of the sure-fire benefits of this investment that he hired scores of sailing ships, and filled their holds with all the soft Virginia coal he could find, and sent them off to England.
What Dexter didn’t know was that Newcastle was the center of England’s coal mining industry. THEY DIDN’T NEED COAL! They had plenty of their own.
But instead of being ruined, Dexter’s amazing good luck held. Just before his ships arrived, the mineworkers of Newcastle held a massive strike. And with no one to work the mines there was a shortage of coal in the area. When Dexter’s ships arrived, his coal was purchased at enormous profit making him twice as rich as he had been before.
(Uncle John’s Supremely Satisfying Bathroom Reader p. 134ff)
APPLY: Timothy Dexter wasn’t particularly savvy in what he invested in. But he made money because he invested.
In the Gospels, Jesus tells this story of the wealthy man who left money with his servants to invest.
• The 1st servant invested that money and made back 2 times as much as he’d invested
• A 2nd servant invested the money the master gave him – and he doubled it
• But the last servant took what he’d been given and he buried in the ground.
When the master returned he praised the servants who had invested what they’d been given. But the servant who’d buried his money the servant who gave back to his master exactly what he’d received – that servant was condemned.
The master said ‘You wicked, lazy servant… you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. 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.’ Matthew 25:26-30
One of the lessons I get from this is: God wants His people to invest what’s He’s given them.
But God’s idea of investing is different that your typical Wall Street broker. God isn’t concerned about whether we make a killing on the stock market. God isn’t concerned if we make a shrewd business deal and make enormous amounts of money.
GOD SIMPLY WANTS US TO INVEST IN THE THINGS THAT ARE IMPORANT TO HIM.
(pause)
Now all this month I’m predicting your future.
The first week of January I predicted that (if you were a Christian) God would be with you throughout the year. And I could predict with confidence because that’s exactly what God promised in Hebrews: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Then last week I predicted – you’re going to die. And I predicted that because that’s exactly what the Bible teaches.
And this morning I predict – that if you invest in the things that God wants you to invest in -
• God will reward you
• You will receive a return on your investment.
Because that’s what Jesus said in His parable here in Matthew 25
“For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance” Matthew 25:29
Those who invested what the Master gave them, were rewarded.
And that’s what God told His people in Proverbs 3.
“Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.” Proverbs 3:9-10
Again, God tells Israel in 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.’”
And again in II Corinthians God tells us:
“Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: "He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever." Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.” 2 Corinthians 9:7-10
So (based on those scriptures) I can predict your future with confidence.
If you invest in the things of God… God will give you a return on that investment.
Now, there are a few things we need to understand about this.
1st – This is not a “get rich quick” scheme.
In fact, if you’re going to try to use God to make yourself wealthy and influential… forget it. I understand there are churches that will preach a “health and wealth” doctrine where tithing money to God is promoted as a way to become very well off in this world. BUT THAT IS NOT what God teaches.
God has nothing against us being wealthy or influential but - the investment plan the Bible talks about - isn’t about you/me. It’s about God. God’s objective isn’t about making YOU rich.
I mean – God may make you rich, but if He does so He’ll do it so that your resources will help His kingdom grow.
Paul writes the Corinthian Church and says:
“You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.” 2 Corinthians 9:11
If you God has given you great wealth… He expects you to use that great wealth for Him.
With great wealth comes great responsibility.
So God’s investment plan is NOT about making you rich. It is about making you a partner with Him in His Kingdom. He’s wants you (if you will) as a financial advisor for the resources of His Church.
ILLUS: Think about it this way. Let’s say you’ve just come into an inheritance of $ 2 million dollars and you decide you need a financial advisor to help you properly invest your money.
So, you go down to an investment company and you find they have a modest office with good but not expensive equipment. The advisor is a nice person dressed in a JC Penney suit and you think you can trust him so you place your funds in his care.
About a year later you get a letter from the advisor telling you -you haven’t made any money yet. You think that’s odd, so you go down to his office… but you find he’s moved. You go to the new office and it’s a VERY impressive set of suites. It’s tastefully decorated and the equipment is state of the art/ top of the line. He comes out to meet you in a $2000 Armani suit and his hair and nails have obviously been professionally done.
Now – what are you going to think?
I know what I’d think… this man’s been using my money to make himself rich at my expense. And more than likely he’s not going to be my financial advisor anymore. I’m going to take my money away from him and give it to someone I can trust.
(illustration loosely based on a Tony Evans sermon).
That’s one of the lessons Jesus’ parable of the talents.
If God uses you as His financial advisor He does so because He wants a return on HIS investment. Only a wicked and lazy servant takes God’s resources and buries them out back.
So Jesus teaches us that we’ve been given great resources so that we can invest them for HIM. His investment program is NOT about our kingdom… it’s about His
Now, that brings me to my 2nd point.
All our money is tainted.
Taint yours and taint mine… it’s God’s.
Or as Tony Evans recently said “The money you have is loaned, not owned.”
When you and I became Christians we declared that Jesus was now our Lord and Master (Romans 10:9-10). In the days of Jesus, when a person called someone else his Master, he was usually a slave. Did a slave own anything? No!
Thus, when you I became Christians we essentially told Jesus: it’s all yours.
ILLUS: Oftentimes when I’m talking to someone about becoming a Christian I’ll pull out my wallet and explain… once they come to Christ, they’re giving God everything they own.
It’s all Him… every dime, every dollar is His. Everything in the wallet, everything in the bank, everything in my retirement account. It’s all His. Now I give Him back a certain portion of what I earn, but even that which is still in my possession isn’t mine. Everything I buy, rent or lease is paid for with HIS money. So, when I give of my tithe, I’m only returning a portion of what was His to begin with.
II Corinthians says much the same thing when it declares:
“Now he who SUPPLIES seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.” 2 Corinthians 9:10
Everything you have came from God to begin with. As Christians (by calling Jesus our Lord) we’re merely stating the obvious and giving God total control of our resources.
Now, when we give the Tithe back to God, it’s not like He really needs it.
As God tells us in Psalm 50
“I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it.” Psalm 50:9-12
But let’s backtrack for just a moment.
Our Sunday offering is an investment in God’s Kingdom.
And we often talk about it as the Tithe and many of us give a 10th of our income to God every week.
Now there are those who argue that as Christians we don’t HAVE TO tithe. The Tithe was an Old Testament command and so they don’t feel Christians should use the tithe. And they are kind of right:
• the OT law commanded God’s people to give a 10th of their income.
• and since we’re not under the Law, you’d think the tithe didn’t apply to us.
But there’s a few problems with that reasoning.
1st - Jesus approved of the tithe.
When he was rebuking the Pharisees Jesus said: You give a tenth of your spices— mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law— justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.’ Matthew 23:23
Jesus condemned the Pharisees for ignoring justice, mercy, faithfulness but He commended them for tithing.
2nd - God approved the tithe even BEFORE the giving of the Law.
Does anyone remember when the first tithe was given? It was in Genesis 14 (before the Law was given). Abraham returned from a battle - and God tells us - that Abraham gave 1/10th of the plunder to Melchizedek, the priest of God. And God was pleased.
In fact, God was so pleased He referred to what Abraham did with Melchizedek in Hebrews 7. In Hebrews God tells us that since Melchizedek was a type of Christ and that Abraham was essentially giving His tithe to Jesus.
So, we know that God appreciated Abraham’s tithe even before the Law was given.
And now, in the New Testament, after the Law has been fulfilled - God doesn’t REQUIRE us to tithe. But you and I know that if God liked Tithe before the Law when it was required, He’ll love the tithe from us now… when we DON’T have to give it.
Now I’ve found that it’s generally true (though not always) that when people who oppose the tithe, they generally don’t give very much to God. Generally they never plan ahead as to what they want to give God. They just rifle through their wallets and pick out a couple dollars to put in the plate.
ILLUS: I spoke with a youth minister some time back and he told of the time when he helped pass the plate during offering. He said he hadn’t meant to peak, but he couldn’t help but notice when one prominent member opened his wallet, he passed over several $20s and finally picked out a $5 to put in the plate.
Now, do you think that man had “planned ahead” in what he gave? Probably not.
Do you think that was actually a 1/10th of what he’d made that week? Think again.
If I make $100, what my tithe? $10
If I make $500, what would my tithe be? $50
If made $1000 what would be a tithe? $100
It kind of adds up after awhile doesn’t it?
One man put it this way:
WHEN I GIVE NOTHING:
I cast a vote to close the church.
WHEN I GIVE LESS THAN ONE-TENTH OF MY INCOME:
I do less than what was required of the poorest Jew.
WHEN I GIVE GRUDGINGLY:
I find no joy in my giving. I am a disappointment to the Lord, for God loves a cheerful giver (II Cor.9:7)
WHEN I GIVE LESS THAN LAST YEAR:
I have experienced a decrease in income or I have changed my priorities, or I question the need for the work the church is doing.
Proverbs 3 tells us we should “Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops” Proverbs 3:9
We should plan ahead in what we give. We should give Him the 1st fruits.
ILLUS: One woman I talked to recently said she gets paid every two weeks. When she gets her check, she cashes it and then puts her tithe in the front of her purse. She does that before she does anything else. And if she can’t make it to church on a given Sunday, she gives the money to me to put in the offering plate. She gives God her FIRST fruits, and thus she honors Him by what she gives.
But now, if God owns it all anyway, why would I need to give Him a tithe?
Why does God want us to “invest” in His Kingdom when He could just as easily do it all himself?
Well, frankly tithing is something of a test
In Malachi, God says “test me in this” – give the tithe and see if I can do what I’ve promised.
But in reality, the tithe is more a test of me than it is of God.
It tests whether my priorities are the same as His.
It tests whether I believe in the same things He does.
It tests whether I’m willing to be used by God to invest the resources He’s given me for His kingdom.
ILLUS: Over a 100 years ago Henry P. Crowell was struck down with tuberculosis and he was told he could never achieve his ambition of becoming a preacher. This devastated him because that had been his dream.
But then he heard a sermon by Dwight Moody that talked about being a steward of what God had given him. Crowell decided if he couldn’t be a good preacher, he’d be a good businessman. And he prayed to God, “If You will let me make money, I will use it in Your service."
A doctor had advised young Crowell to work outdoors. So he followed this advice and at the end of seven years had regained his health. Then bought the little run-down Quaker Mill in Ravenna, Ohio.
His business prospered, and, true to his promise, he paid a faithful tithe. Within 10 years his business became a household name. And for the next 40 years Crowell faithfully gave from 60 to 70 percent of his income to God’s cause!
The name of the business he started? Quaker Mills.
