OPEN: Little Tommy told his mother he had decided what he wanted when he grew up.
“Well, honey,” she responded “what’s that?”
He said, “I’d like to have a million dollars, a big house, and no bathtubs.”
“No bathtubs?” asked his mother. “Why not?”
“Because,” he said,” when I grow up I want to be filthy rich.”
APPLY: Now Deuteronomy 15 is a unique passage in the Old Testament. God is telling Israel… that if they did things His way they might not be “filthy” rich” – but they’d be fairly well off. God told Israel that if they did things the way He said they should “… the LORD your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you.” Deuteronomy 15:6
In other words, if God’s people followed God’s financial principles they’d be ok financially.
But what are those financial principles?
1st principle: God wants His people to limit their debt.
God recognized that people would borrow money and get into debt once in a while. But He didn’t want their debt to be such as would dominate their lives and destroy their potential. He decreed that debts were to be cancelled every 7 years. He also decreed that every 50th year was to be a Year Of Jubilee. In that year any property that had been sold was revert to its original owner.
My point is this: God never intended us to believe that debt is immoral. But God never intended us to believe that debt should be NORMAL.
Debt is not normal for us.
Debt is NOT where you and I should be.
God told Israel that if they obeyed him… they would “borrow from NONE.”
That’s where God wants us to be.
He wants you and I to get to the point where we don’t need to borrow.
But how do you get there?
How do I come to point where I’m not borrowing money?
And if I’m in debt how do I get out of it?
Well the only way to get out of debt is to be DELIBERATE about it. We can’t just presume we’ll get out of debt because we’re nice people.
One person once said getting out of debt is like drifting upstream. Do you think you could drift upstream? (give them time to respond)
You can’t do it can you? To go upstream, you’ve got pick up your paddle and deliberately work at going against the flow of the water. And just like you can’t “drift” upstream…. you can’t “drift out of debt”. You have pick up your paddle and work at getting out of debt.
So how do I do that?
The first rule of thumb in dealing with debt is this:
If you find yourself in a hole… quit digging.
Don’t borrow anymore.
Decide not to get any further into debt.
2nd rule of thumb is this:
Figure out where you are leaking money… and turn off the tap.
ILLUS: Years ago, doctors would test the sanity of mental patients with a test: They put their patient in a room that had a sink. Then they turned the faucet on. They put a stopper in the sink which caused the sink to overflow. Then the patient was handed a mop and closed the door.
If the patient mopped like crazy and never bothered to shut off the water or pull the plug, he was considered still insane.
But if he had enough sense to shut off the water pull the plug, and then mop up the water, he was considered capable of going home.
To avoid debt - you gotta turn off the tap. You got to quit spending money you can’t afford to spend. Otherwise you can find yourself being overwhelmed by a flood of more and more debt.
But how do we do that?
How do we keep from spending money we can’t afford to spend?
Well… we DO WITHOUT.
ILLUS: Out West there is a General Store on the edge of nowhere. As travelers stop in they are greeted by a sign that says "If you can’t find it in this store, just ask us about the item, and we’ll tell you how to get along without it."
As we pointed out last week: much of our debt is based on our WANTS rather than our needs.
People WANT to go out the movies. They want to go out to eat. Men want better cars, bigger houses, cable TV, Internet access, Big TVs and sound systems. Women want their hair done, their nails done, and all kinds of beauty aids. Kids want the most stylish clothes and expensive tennis shoes.
And the list could go on and on and on.
Now those things aren’t necessarily bad …
But if we’re in debt we have to ask ourselves: “How badly do I really need these things? If I haven’t got the money… why spend it on things I really DON’T NEED?”
ILLUS: I went into the Sprint store to enquire about their new phones (since I was eligible for an upgrade). The salesman went into a long spiel about the newest model and how fast it was, how long the battery charge would last… and all the gee whiz characteristics of the new phone.
“How much?” I asked the salesman.
“$200” he replied.
When I said I couldn’t afford that, he said “But it’s a $500 phone.”
“Yeah,” said I “but I can’t afford $500 either!”
Now, that was a nice phone. If I could have afforded it there wouldn’t be anything wrong with my owning it. But I couldn’t afford it. And I didn’t really NEED it that badly. The phone I have still works just fine and until I really NEED a new phone, or that new phone comes down dramatically - I ain’t buying it.
So, the first rule of thumb in dealing with debt is – if you’re in a hole quite digging. The 2nd rule of thumb is: find the leak and turn off the tap. Do Without!
3rd Rule of Thumb: Make a plan… and work the plan.
One plan is called the envelope plan.
You take envelopes and put titles on them: Electric bill, loan payment, phone bill, etc. You have an envelope for every thing you owe every month. Then EACH WEEK, you put a portion of your income into each envelope. For example: if your electric bill is about $200… then EACH WEEK you put $50 in envelope.
But why would do it that way?
Because we tend to be like the guy who looks in his checkbook and says “Hey, I can’t be out of money, I still have checks!”
(pause) Does the fact that he still has checks mean he has money?
No. It’s an illusion.
In the same way people tend to look at their checking account and say: Hey I got money!
But they forget they still have bills due at the end of the month. So, they end up spending the money for the bills… and they don’t have the money for the bills.
But if the money is already “spent” (in the envelopes) when the bill comes due… they’ve got the payment right there.
Crown ministries suggests Setting up a budget (A variation on the Envelope plan)
You put a percentage of each check into an envelope – after you’ve set aside your tithe
· Food – 12%
· House - 38% (rent, mortgage payment, electric, gas, etc.)
· Automobile – 15%
· Debt (not housing or auto) – 5%
· Insurance – 5%
· Recreation – 5%
· Clothing – 5%
· Medical and dental – 5%
· Savings – 5%
Another idea is to use the “24 HOUR rule”.
Before you make a large purchase go home and pray about it, ask yourself if this is something you REALLY need and if this is an expenses you can REALLY afford. THEN wait 24 hours before making the purchase.
ILLUS: One man used this process and stopped himself before he purchased a diesel truck that had cost $50,000 but he could buy for $40,000. He didn’t really need the truck, but what had appealed to him was… he really loved the truck; it was a really good deal.
He went home and prayed about it… and waited 24 hours.
In that 24-hour period he realized no matter how good the deal was (if he wanted out of debt) he didn’t need it, and it was way more than he could really afford. No matter how good a deal it may have been it really wasn’t a GOOD deal for him.
Another way to deal with debt is to plan pay off outstanding loans.
One financial planner calls it the snowball plan.
A lot of people have several loans that require monthly payments
· Credit card loans
· Car loans
· Loans on furniture/ appliances/ carpet/ etc.
Each month – all of those loans have to be paid with interest.
If a person has several outstanding debts like that… it takes a toll on your monthly income. So the plan is to retire one loan at a time. Focus on the smallest loan (which you can pay off quicker). Once that smallest loan is paid off, you use the money you WOULD have paid on that loan on the 2nd smallest loan. Once that 2nd loan is paid off, you would make the payments you’d have paid on the first two loans and apply them to the 3rd loan… and so on.
One last way to save money – is to deliberately let the church help you.
· We have a food pantry here and may people who have trouble financially use it. That’s what its there for. And I commend those who work that ministry.
· And if you get down on your luck, we try to help out financially.
But in addition to those ideas, there are ministries that could help you if you’re struggling. Ministries that anyone (in debt or not) could begin that would benefit the members of our church.
· Find others who are struggling and decide to cook together (a small scale carry-in). My home church used to have a Thursday night carry-in and Bible study. It not only gave fellowship to the church, but it served a time for families to “go out to eat” without hurting themselves.
· Get together at someone’s house or here at church and rent a Christian movie, or play a game together.
· Set up a work exchange. You trade your skill for something you need. (Fixing cars/ Electrical repair/ making meals/ mowing grass/ balancing a checkbook).
These are ministries that could benefit the church as well as build fellowship and ministry. Too often people think of the church as a social organization or a religious thing they do once a week. One person compared that view of church to a bag of marbles. They’re all in the same container, but all they do is bump into each other.
But then they said, the church ought to be more like a bag of grapes. When they get bumped around against each other, they combine their juices to form a drink that gives sustenance and enjoyment to all.
Now, these are things that WE can do to take control of our finances.
But where does GOD fit into this?
I mean – is advice all He has to offer?
According to Deuteronomy 15, ADVICE is where God starts.
And IF we listen to His advice then He says He will help out.
Deuteronomy 15:4-5 says “…(God) will richly bless you, if only you fully obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today.”
Now, I could address this idea of fully obeying God to receive blessings in several ways.
· I could talk about making sure your life is holy before God. Hebrews 12:6 “… the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son." So… you might be in financial problems because God is disciplining you and trying to get your attention.
· Or, I could talk about the tithe God wants us to bring to Him. Malachi 3 tells us that when the Israelites didn’t tithe, God accused them of robbing Him and said the whole nation was under a curse. Thus, they suffered financially because they weren’t bringing the first fruits of their tithe to God.
So, I could talk about holiness and the tithe in relation to this passage. The idea would be how God withholds blessings from His people because they haven’t obeyed Him in things that He expects.
But Deuteronomy 15 is different.
It doesn’t talk about God withholding blessings.
This passage says… God will bless you if you do this one thing.
What ONE THING could that be?
“If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs.” Deuteronomy 15:7-8
That’s the main focus of this promise: you take care of the poor… and God will take care of you. That theme is repeated several times in the Old and New Testament. Proverbs 19:17 for example, says: “He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.”
If you help the poor what does God say happens? (wait for reply)
God says when you do that you have LOANED to Him.
ILLUS: Now if I go down to the bank and take out a loan, is the bank just giving me the money out of the goodness of their hearts?
No? What do they expect in return?
They want me to repay the loan… with interest.
So what God is saying here is, when I’ve helped the poor, I’ve loaned to Him. He WILL repay, and He will repay with interest.
But, wait a minute.
If I’m struggling to meet MY debts… how can I give to the poor?
I mean, let’s say I owe Greg (one of the men in the congregation) $5000. And I say to Greg: “Sorry, I can’t repay your loan. I gave it all to the poor.” Is that ok?
Of course it isn’t.
I’m not giving to the poor.
I’m making Greg do it for me.
So if I’m struggling financially, how could I possibly give to the poor? Well, God gives us a way to do that. It’s called fasting.
Fasting is when you DELIBERATELY don’t eat so that you can give the money you’d have spent on that food to the poor. You were going to spend that money on food anyway. You have simply denied yourself a meal (or a few meals) so that you can loan to God.
And how does God repay that kind of Loan???
“… if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.” Isaiah 58:10-12
In other words – if you deny yourself food so that you can help out the hungry and oppressed God will repay you by lighting up your darkness. He’ll make every day just shine with joy. He’ll satisfy your needs even in a sun-scorched land. And He’ll strengthen your body.
CLOSE: Now, one last thing.
Deuteronomy 15 talks about having debts forgiven every 7 years, but it doesn’t tell us when in that year the debts were to be forgiven. It isn’t until Deuteronomy 31:10 that we find out that the day when forgiveness of debts took place was during the Feast of Tabernacles in the fall of the year.
Now, why is that important?
Because Israel had 3 great feast days: Passover/ Pentecost/ Tabernacles
Each of them had a special significance in the first coming of Christ.
· At Passover Jesus died for our sins as our Passover Lamb
· At Pentecost – the feast of the first fruits - God started the Church and 3000 people were baptized into Christ - the first fruits of God’s new Kingdom
But what about the feast of Tabernacles? What significance did that have in Christ’s ministry? Well, John 1:14 (Jesus) “was made flesh, and DWELT among us…” (KJV)
In the Greek… that word “dwelt” is actually “tabernacled”
Jesus became flesh and He tabernacled amongst us.
This has led many people to believe that Jesus was born during the Feast of Tabernacles. If that’s true… this reinforces for me 2 things about the birth of Christ:
1st - He came down from Heaven to dwell among us. He lived and breathed, and suffered and bled and faced anguish and suffering just like we do. As Hebrews 4:15 tells us “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are— yet was without sin.” He dwelt with us so that we’d know He understood what we faced in this life.
But even more than that, Jesus “tabernacled” with us so that He could forgive us the debts of our sins.
ILLUS: Let’s say you go down to the bank to make a payment on your mortgage. The banker says “You don’t owe anything more. Someone came in earlier this week and paid off your entire mortgage.”
Would you like that? Of course you would. So would I.
Or let’s say you went into make a payment on your car, or your credit card debt, or some other bill. But you find out the entire bill has been paid in full. That’s what it was like at the Feast of Tabernacles: ALL debts were paid. Nothing more was owed.
And that was the imagery God wanted to place in our minds.
When Jesus came and “tabernacled” with us – the debt of ALL our past sins was paid in full. It was entirely removed and we were set free.
Here’s the deal.
You can be wealthy beyond the dreams of avarice, you can have a big home, new car, great job, and still be in debt because of unforgiven sins. You’ll be overwhelmed by guilt and shame of the past. You’ll be burdened with the weight of sin you can’t undo.
But if you allow Jesus to come into your life and “tabernacle” with you, you can receive forgiveness of sins. All you need do is belong to Him.
· To believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God
· To repent of/turn away from the sins you’ve committed in the past.
· To confess that Jesus will now be your Lord and Master
· And be buried in the waters of Christian Baptism and rise up a new Creation in Christ.
And if you’re already a Christian, God says all you need do is: “…confess (your) sins, (because) he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
