Redefining Wealth
Matthew 6:19-33
A wealthy, older gentleman had just recently married a lovely young lady 40 years younger than him, and was beginning to wonder whether she might have married him for his money. So he asked her, "Tell me the truth: if I lost all my money, would you still love me?" She said reassuringly, "Oh honey, don’t be silly. Of course I would still love you. And I’d miss you terribly." Let me ask you a question this morning: what is your relationship with money? More importantly, how does your money impact your relationship with God?
In our Scripture today, Jesus gives us keys on redefining our understanding of money and the role that it plays in our life. It's amazing the attention Jesus gave to money. Jesus spoke more on the topic of money than on any other subject, 7 times more than he did about prayer! Why is this single subject such a priority for Jesus? Because how you handle your money impacts your relationship with God. Jesus said, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal." Too many of us fall into the trap of being consumers and hoarders. Jill Winter has written a book entitled, “I Have Nothing to Wear.” How many of you ladies have said that? Most people have clothes they never wear in their closets that are either out of style or no longer fit. But we do other things as well. Anybody ever buy an article of clothing, take it home and you never wore it? Jill says, what you need to do is de-clutter. She says we need to get rid of 75% of our clothes by either throwing it away because it’s in such bad shape and out of style. Or just donate it. That's what Jesus is saying: instead of storing up things here on earth, "Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven….For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Verse 20-21
Money is the most concrete measure of your faith. We could talk about faith and what you believe all day long, but Jesus says the true window to what you value and what you depend upon in life is demonstrated by how you handle money. I have a friend Ron Morris who says, If you want to know your priorities, balance your check book. Where you spend your money is the truest measure of your relationship with God and what you really value in life. When you think about it, we have all types of frivolous expenditures. When several people began to look closely at their spending, one woman found that she was spending $50 a month on magazines she picked up in the grocery checkout line. One man found that he was spending $45 a week on cigarettes. Other frivolous expenses can include gourmet coffees, designer handbags or clothing, eating out for lunch, junk food, shoes, movies channels on cable… Here's the question to ask when Jesus says “where your treasure is, there your heart is also”: when you look at that bank statement, what part of that serves God? The tougher question is: what could you be giving to serve God or what could you give up to give more to God? All of us have frivolous expenses which are keeping us from maximizing our sacrificial giving.
Luke 19 tells the story of Zacchaeus. "Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was the chief tax collector and was wealthy." So here's a guy who's had a lot of success in his life. And the result of that success is wealth. There is nothing wrong with wealth, but there's something wrong with the pursuit of wealth. We're going to learn today from Jesus that you can only pursue one thing. So you can't serve God and wealth, but you can serve God with wealth. Here's the problem: we want our cake and eat it too. We want Jesus in our life, but what we're really seeking is security and happiness and we look to money and possessions for that. These things become the focus of our life and thus an idol. We want to see Jesus and maybe even have him a part of our life but we fear having him be our life. When Jesus called for Zacchaeus to come down from the tree, Zacchaeus welcomed Jesus gladly." What does it mean to welcome Jesus into our life, into your home? It means to welcome him into every part of our life, including our finances. Notice how the demonstration of Zacchaeus' conversion impacted his money matters. "Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, 'Look Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.'" “And Jesus says, 'Today salvation has come to your house.'" Do you see that? Your relationship to Jesus changes your relationship to your money.
This isn't just one isolated event. In Matthew 18:18-22, "A certain ruler (The Greek word for ruler means person of status.) asked Jesus, 'Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?' Jesus answered,…'You know the commandments, do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.'" Now this guy cut off Jesus right before the next commandment, which is a money commandment – thou shall not covet. "'All these I've kept since I was a boy,'" He never let Jesus get to the money matters. "When Jesus heard this, he said to him, 'You still lack one thing.'" Jesus knew he hadn’t given over his money matters to God. So Jesus challenged him to "'sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.'" I don't think Jesus was saying to him, become penniless. Everything God does is through people, if we become penniless, how are we going to reach the lost with the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and set oppressed people free? What he was saying to this man is you have to let go of what you're holding onto for meaning and security and invest yourself in my kingdom purpose.
Money Matters are all about priorities. Focus on the right priorities, God's priorities, and you will become a light for others. It’s all about what you’re focusing on. So if we are focused on the right thing, God's priority, and seeking God’s kingdom, then you will have the light of Christ in your life. Light means life. Now if our focus is unhealthy, and we're focused on the pursuit of things and wealth, there will be nothing but darkness. Those things will become your idol and supplant your pursuit of God. Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." We have to understand the power of marketing in our life. Marketing promises you things from money and material things that only God can give. Products like Harley Davidson and Apple iPads, iPhones and iPods, Prada, Jones on New York, Stacy Adams, Sebastion, Michael Jordan, Lexus, promise you happiness, meaning and identity." Well, that's what God does. So you see the pursuit of money and possessions become a replacement for God.
My understanding of who I am, that is, my identity does not come from things or wealth. It can only come from God. Others find their security in things. Some people are predicting we could be on the edge of second recession. Believe me; our security is not in things or money. It's in God and eternity. When Satan took Jesus up on a mountain and showed him all of the glitter and gold of the kingdoms of the earth, he said all of this is mine; all you have to do is bow down and worship me. And Jesus said, “No, it is written you should worship your God and serve him only.” Matthew 4:10
If Jesus is Lord, then he has defining rights of my values, my priorities and my money. We can't have two devotions in our life. So Jesus is teaching us Kingdom Economics, and here's the first principal: God will take care of all of our needs. You can take that to the bank! God will take care of all of our needs if we "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all of these things will be added to you as well." Matthew 6:33 When we don't seek the kingdom of God first, when we're not worried about God's priorities first, that’s when we are left on our own. But when I worry about God's priorities and his Kingdom, then God is concerned will supply all of my needs. Michael Jones writes, While ministering in Africa, I met a Christian worker who raised his 6 children on $10 a month. He told me the story of how children in his village were going blind because of a disease that could be prevented with medicine that only cost 50 cents. He began to pray and ask God to send a rich person to their village to help give the money for the medicine, but no one ever came. As he kept praying, the Lord told him he should give the money to buy the medicine. But with 6 children and only a $10 a month salary, he couldn’t see how he could do this. But he and his family prayed and decided that every month they would buy the medicine to help one child. When I last spoke with him, he'd been doing this for 7 years and had saved 84 children from going blind. And his family saw God meet all of their needs.
Second, trust God. I once heard the story about a wealthy man who had no need for pocket change, yet he still took the time to bend over and pick up lost pennies and other coins. Whenever the man found a coin he would stop look at it in his hand, then after standing quietly for a moment, he would then put the coin in his pocket and continue walking. He was once asked about his unusual habit. “Why does a man who has no need for money stand still as though he had just found a gold coin?” The man replied, “When I find a coin I look at the words, ‘In God We Trust,’ and I can hear God asking me, ‘Do you still trust me?’ Once I’m certain that I still trust God more than money, I can continue with my day.” Do we trust God enough to give sacrificially? The reason we struggle with generosity is trust or the lack thereof.
In Matthew 6:25-32 Jesus said, Don't worry about what you'll eat or drink or about your body, what you will wear. God’s care for the needs of the birds and so he will take care of you too.” We forget who God is and who we are to God. Wow. I can give sacrificially to God and trust that God will take care of my needs, not my wants, but my needs because He is God and He said he would. "So why do you worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things." When we don’t trust God, we get caught up in society’s priorities, but "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all of these things will be added to you as well.”
The third principal of Kingdom Economics 101 is blessings increase when used for God's purpose. 2 Corinthians 9:6-11. "Remember this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God's able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all you need, you will abound in every good work." Jesus makes it very clear, if you give generously, God will bless you “so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work and God will provide you more, not so that you can be more comfortable in life but so that you can give even more to His work and to those in need.” This is the principle of sowing and reaping. Why does God bless us? So that we can give more physically, spiritually and financially and have a greater impact on building the kingdom of God.
We are blessed to be a blessing. Here’s the problem too many of us make: if we get a raise or a windfall, the first thought is “I earned this, I worked hard for this and so what can I buy to reward myself?” That’s not the purpose of that blessing. It’s so you can give even more generously and through your generosity others will give Thanksgiving to God." Brian Kluth writes, After my 40-Day Spiritual Journey to a More Generous Life book became an unexpected bestseller, I was contacted by NBC to do a TV news story. When the TV reporter interviewed me, she asked, “So, you think God wants everyone rich?” I said, “No, I don’t believe that.” She was a little surprised by my answer and then asked, “Well, what do you believe?” I responded, “I believe that everyone needs to learn to become more generous with whatever God has given them.” She then asked, “Well, didn’t your book becoming a bestseller make you rich?” I replied, “No, it helped me become more generous!” Then he says, “The truth is--every one of us in America is rich when you compare us to the rest of the world. What each of us needs to learn is how to become more generous with whatever God entrusts to us.”
The first act of obedience is planned giving to God. Planned means that before I ever go and have a great weekend enjoying the food and entertainment of the city, before I ever go and get a new outfit or pair of shoes, I first give sacrificially to God. The first economic decision I make in my budget is my planned giving to God. So if I came in here today, and I open my wallet and there's $5 left after I did all that other stuff, or $50 left or even if there's $500 left, it's not seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. It’s got to be the first act, which means we need to sit down and say, this is set aside before I do anything else in my life. God might be giving you $50 a week or $500 a week or $5000 a week, this is part of the plan, this is set aside. Before I make any plans for expenditures, before I buy another sweater, or a Harley Davidson, this money is set aside for what I'm going to do with God. Amen.
