Have you seen the Television show, Storage Wars?
Storage Wars is a reality television series that began on the A&E Network premiering in 2010. The show features two auctioneers and 5 auction hunters -- Dave Hester, Darrell Sheets, Barry Weiss, and Jarrod Schulz and Brandi Passante. (If you watch the show, you probably have a favorite hunter and a hated hunter.) The premise of the show is this. When rent is not paid for three months on a storage locker in California, the law allows the contents to be sold by an auctioneer as a single lot of items. The show is summed up by the winners (those who made the most profit) and losers (those who made the least profit or lost money) from the storage bins they bought at that particular auction.
The show fascinates me for this reason. I am usually surprised by the value of contents of some of those lockers. And it makes me wonder why certain lockers with so much value are abandoned.
Apparently the owners of those lockers could not take their stuff with them and they could not afford to keep renting the lockers. Eventually, stuff they thought was valuable enough to pay for storage defaults to someone else.
We begin a new series of messages entitled “Storage Wars.” The theme passage for this series of messages on stewardship is
Matthew 6:19-21 (NIV)
19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
I understand that any time a series of messages is done on money in the church that there are a number of perceived elephants that appear in the room.
“The church needs money.”
“That is the only subject the church ever talks about.”
One of the reasons that talking about stewardship makes me as the preacher uncomfortable is these perceived elephants.
Perhaps even more uncomfortable, however, personally is that being a good steward is not always easy for me to do. I sometimes struggle with handling money. I have expenses and dreams for things too. And one of my struggles has been this.
I have had periods in my life where I had more money going out that coming in. I struggled just to make ends meet. It was during those periods of my life that giving was hard. I had always been taught that I should give 10% of my GROSS income. There were times it would not have amounted to a whole lot of money, but it might as well have been a million dollars to me. I often faced a choice. Tithe 10% or pay the electric bill. I would give what I could, but often times it was not even close to the 10% I had always been taught. I would wonder what difference it really made. Worse yet, I would wonder if God was offended by my lack of a true tithe?
Have you ever been in the same boat? Maybe you find yourself on a fixed income, unemployed, or struggling to make ends meet. And you wonder if the few pennies you can give will make any difference in the grand scheme of things. You wonder if God is offended by a gift that seems so small.
Let me share with you a story from Luke 20:45 to Luke 21:4
Context: Jesus is surrounded by those who thought of themselves as the religious elite of the day. And their intent is clearly defined in Luke 19 when the Scripture tells us that they intended to have Jesus killed. Luke 20 suggests they are trying to trap Jesus in his words. So they ask him about his authority to teach (show us your degree); they ask him about how to handle taxes, they ask about divorce and remarriage and the resurrection; they ask him why he calls himself the Son of David. One by one Jesus defeats their questions and they are left embarrassed. Then Jesus turns to the crowd and Luke tells us,
Luke 20:45-21:4 (NIV)
45 While all the people were listening, Jesus said to his disciples, 46 "Beware of the teachers of the law....
The teachers of the law were those who studied the Jewish Torah – the Old Testament. They would have been like Bible college professors -- their job was to memorize, understand, and interpret Scripture. The law they studied prevented them from collecting a fee for their studies. So, in order to make this a full time occupation, teachers of the law would depend on donations. It was a system rife with corruption.
And Jesus is warning his disciples and those who will listen that these men are not all they pretend to be. Listen to the text:
TEXT:
45 ...They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 47They devour widows’ houses and (all the while) for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely."
Do you hear the conflict that is being set up? These men should have been drawn close to the heart of God by their study of His word. Instead, they made themselves self- important. They wore flashy clothing.
Long flowing robes would be akin to expensive suites and silk ties– they liked to be recognized around town – if it were today their picture would have been a prominent picture on the books they would write – they always took front row seats in church so everyone could see they were there, they liked to be addressed by titles and to be noticed at the banquets. They felt they should be honored and respected because they KNEW God’s word.
And yet Jesus says they devour widows’ houses. They consume the property of the neediest people of their time. And Jesus points out that their “religion” and “piety” were a façade. They were fronts for greed and self-glory. And to cover it all up, Jesus says they would make a show of lengthy prayer.
And Jesus is not impressed with the façade of piety.
We all know this preacher don’t we? The one who says, “I know you need…I know you struggle. You just show God how faithful you are by sending me a check and I will pray for your need and God will meet it.” The sad part is that it is often those who can least afford to send a check that do.
I understand that these people who send money want to be faithful. They desperately want to be true to God and to trust Him in their hour of need. But before they know it, their money is gone by greedy corrupt “holy men” and they are worse off than before. Do you know what I’m talking about?
Real Life Illustration:
Folks, I know a widowed woman who gave money she could not afford to send to a Tele Evangelist; and instead of having her need met, she ended up living with her daughter and Son in Law. She had not choice. Otherwise she would have been homeless. And the ministry she gave her money to? It was recently shut down.
If you are like me that story disgusts you. It disgusts Jesus too. Because he warns that those who devour widows houses and still make a show of religion will be punished rather than rewarded.
Principle: Jesus certainly does not want religion to be something we fake. Jesus wants people who are real. Those who are “fake” are often looking for how religion can benefit them. And they often take advantage of those who are in the darkest places and the deepest need.
As if on queue, after warning his disciples about the false piety of the religious leaders and how they devour the houses of widows for their own gain, Jesus watches the giving in the temple courts. He makes a point about how the system works.
TEXT
1 As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury.
Jesus took time to scan the temple and to find a place near the temple treasury to watch.
Principle: God cares about the money that comes into His treasury.
Not all, but some of these rich people who are putting their money in as a gift are giving what they have robbed from widows. And their giving like their prayers is simply for show. They want to be seen as giving and generous when in actuality they are liars and thieves. They have robbed from the poor to give to themselves; their giving at the temple is simply to gain for honor and prestige for themselves and to be perceived as holy.
Jesus then catches sight of a poor widow and he sees her gift.
TEXT
2 He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.
In comparison to the false piety of those who are wealthiest, her gift is meager. She puts in two very small copper coins. The gospel of Mark makes it clear that these were the two smallest coins in circulation at the time. It was a few pennies. Meager is an understatement.
This part of the story strikes me. Jesus saw the meager gift. I know that when tithes are counted each week, it is the gifts that are large that are noted and often praised. It is easy to see the check for $500.00, $1000.00, or even $5000.00. It is easy to see generosity as measured by amount. What is so easy to miss is the faithful giving of $5, $10, $20 a week. In the world’s measurement, those gifts are meager.
In the worldly measurement, the widow’s gift was only a worth a fraction of the gifts of the rich.
But not to Jesus. Jesus sees and listen to what Jesus says.
TEXT
3 "I tell you the truth," he said,
When Jesus says, “I tell you the truth”, it is code for you NEED to hear this. This is important!
TEXT
"this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 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."
It is high praise for the widow. In God’s economy, her gift adds up to more than all the others combined. The gifts the wealthy are tossing into the collection vases, Jesus virtually ignores. Why? Because they are giving what they do not need, out of their excess, out of false piety covering theft and greed. That giving is not honored.
But in this passage Jesus honors the faithful gift of the widow. If you are struggling with giving and tithing, if you feel guilty that you are not able to give 10% remember that God honors faithful giving no matter the amount (even if it amounts to a few pennies).
Principle: I think God desires giving that is based on faithfulness rather than giving that is based on measurement.
In my life I have struggled with giving 10%. That’s what God requires, right! I have started with a smaller percentage and slowly worked my way up. There are still times even now that being faithful in giving is difficult. But God honors faithful giving no matter the amount.
I also think we need to consider the other tenor of this passage as well. There are probably some who have read this passage and think, “It was pretty foolish for this widow to give everything she had to live on!” Does God really require that? It’s a question that commentators have wrestled with for centuries. Some read this passage and see it as about sacrificial giving. Giving until it hurts. Sacrificial giving.
But consider the context of the previous chapter. There is a second aspect of this story that mingles with the first. There are other characters in the story other than the widow.
And what I believe we can see in this story is this. There is a condemnation of a religious system that would require a poor widow to give up her only means of sustenance, “Everything she had to live on.” It’s a warning to those who have who would prey on the weak and needy and still feign piety.
There is some very real application here.
As individuals, how we “earn” our money is more important to God than how we give it. If our money is earned through Greed, theft, or usery, God will not be pleased when we give it to the church in order to fake some kind of holiness.
And as a church….
Principle: How we as a church use the gifts of those who contribute is important to God.
Can I be real again? When I go to our board meetings, there is a section of time we devote each month to looking at income and expenses. I have to admit I do not enjoy this time. I firmly believe that being a follower of Jesus Christ should be about building relationships and not about cash flow. I still do. I do not like looking at the details of finances. But if this passage is true and I believe that it is, then there is certainly value in make sure that the gifts that people are contributing are being used wisely.
How the church uses the money we receive is important to God. To that end, the budget we have and the financial decisions we make are available at any time for the congregation to see.
But a word of caution is necessary. Those who give most should not claim more voice than those who give less. It’s the tension in this passage. Tithing does not entitle the giver to a greater voice in God’s Kingdom. Those who give and expect a greater voice are falling in the dangerous trap of the teachers of the law -- expecting a seat of honor, expecting to be recognized, expecting an immediate benefit. Jesus has just contrasted in a very real sense the phony goodness of the teachers of the law with the true devotion of this widow.
If our giving has become a source of honor that feigns piety (because it uses people) or if it becomes a benefit for self, we need to repent. Otherwise God will punish our giving rather than reward it.
Remember our theme verse?
Do not store up for yourselves treasure in heaven where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasure in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
When giving is done from the heart, it makes a huge difference in God’s economy. What have you decided in your heart to give? Would you give faithfully? In our narrative today, a poor widow struggling just to make ends meet has put in more than all the others combined even though it amounted to a few cents. Her heart is in the right place. Her giving is about worship.
When that happens, the treasure we store in the storage wars won’t be sold at auction, it won’t be lost, stolen, or destroyed, instead it will be safely deposited in heaven for us.
