Believe 9 - Stewardship
Psalm 24:1-2 / Luke 12:41-48
November 16, 2014
I think most of us who have lived a little bit of life, basically anyone who is in the working world . . . I think you would agree with the fact that life is not necessarily easy. Not only is it not always easy, we may find ourselves envious of the younger folks. After all, many of them don’t have the same problems we have. It seems that the more we work and acquire stuff, the more we find ourselves in some type of struggle.
When you consider the days when you owned practically nothing? Wasn’t life a little easier? You had less concerns. I know it was true for me. I had wants, but if I didn’t have something I couldn’t worry about it. Then I went to college, got a job, moved out, got a condo. Had a mortgage. My first mortgage was at 15.5%. I now had bills to pay, a car to pay for, clothes to buy for work. New concerns and issues invaded my life. I didn’t ask for them. I wanted money and a job. Probably in that order, too. When my light fixture broke, I had to fix it, and blew the circuits. And on and on it went.
The responsibilities grew and then I got married. Of course, I didn’t have to fix anything there. Now it was Debbie’s job to do the fixing! Then we had children, and new responsibilities came and will forever remain. We bought a house, had new toys we had to buy and keep up; and it never ends. At least is seems that way. It seems the more we own, the more we get, the more complicated life becomes.
David tells the following in Psalm 24 ~
1 The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,
2 for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.
David is pretty clear about who is the owner and creator of everything. As the NIV translates this passage, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.” That pretty much sums it up. Everything is the Lord’s! While we may admit that, it’s kind of disconcerting. We strive for control and power over our lives, and it often starts when we are very young.
One day a dad wanted to do something special with his 5 year old son. He asked him what he wanted to do right now! The boy said, “I want McDonald’s French Fries.” His father said, “OK, let’s go!”
They got into the car and started toward McDonald’s. The boy could taste the fries before they even reached McDonald’s. His Dad made the order, and the boy’s heart pounded when his Dad said super size it.
The dad was thrilled to see his little boy so happy over something so simple. He decided to join in the fun. He reached over to get a couple of the boys fries.
To his surprise, his son quickly put his arms around his fries, pulled them toward himself and said, “These are mine.” His dad was shocked. He couldn’t believe it.
The dad was thinking, my boy doesn’t understand I am the source of those French fries.
At the counter, I was the one who gave the cashier the money. I did not give him the size he was expecting, but something much bigger and better. Yet, he’s talking about his fries.
Not only was I the source of the French fries, he doesn’t realize I have the power to take all the fries despite his protests. Or if I wanted to, I could go back to the counter and bring him so many fries that he could never eat them all. He also doesn’t understand, “I don’t need his French fries. I could go back to the counter and get as many fries as I wanted.”
As the Dad thought about it, one or two fries really wouldn’t have made much of a difference for him that day. What he wanted most of all was for his son to invite him into the wonderful little celebration the dad made possible for his son. He wanted his son to be willing to share the very blessing he had provided.
As we look at week 9 of Believe, our conversation is kind of a tough one, it’s about STEWARDSHIP! We have to realize that everyday God takes us to McDonald’s and beyond. He does that on a very regular basis.
God blesses us. He blesses you and me. He’s given all of us French fries. Some have small bags, others medium, others large and some super size. Some are McDonald’s, some are Burger King, some are Rally’s. Some are curly, like Wendy’s. Some are like 5 Brothers! Some are cottage, you get the point! Lunch anyone?
Like that Dad , God desires to sit down at the table with us for some fellowship. When God reaches over to use some of the blessings He’s given us, far too often we say “No God, these are mine. Go, get your own.” We try building our own little forts around the blessings we received from the great giver, God.
Stewardship literally means you are the manager of the house for the owner. Everything is the owners and your job is to take care of everything for the owner. When we look at that from a Christian perspective, everything is God’s, and we are called to manage or care for everything God has supplied for us.
Do you understand God is the source of all that we receive? Sure we go to work and earn our money, but God has blessed each one of us with gifts, talents and skills we can use to earn our pay and receive blessings from God.
We also need to understand God can take away everything we think is ours . . . And God can give us far more than what we have. There’s not a single person here who knows how many times God has already spared their lives when death came knocking. We should never underestimate the Spirit’s power to protect us from things we didn’t know about.
We also need to know that God does not need our French fries, and it’s an honor and a privilege to be able to share our fries with God. God does not ask us to give because God is hurting and in desperate need.
God asks us to give because God wants us to be like Him. God has a giving attitude and He wants that giving attitude modeled in His children. Think about John 3:16 — For God so loved the world that He . . . GAVE . . . His only Son. God gave His only Son. Talk about a gift. And gifts?
How about Romans 6:23 — Paul tells us For the wages of sin is death, but the FREE GIFT of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
In Matthew 7:11, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
Throughout the Bible, you find that God is always giving. In your own lives, how many of you know you cannot underestimate God’s ability to provide for you in ways that you had not thought possible. God greatly desires to bless us. Let’s look at a passage 1 Chronicles 29.
In the first nine verses of the chapter, the Israelites had just taken up an incredibly huge offering for a new building project. They were going to build the first temple for God. The people gave and gave and gave. This was a time of great celebration.
Verses 10-16 indicates the that God is the source of every blessing.
10 David blessed the LORD in the presence of all the assembly. And David said, “Blessed are you, O LORD, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever.
11 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty,
for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all.
12 Both riches and honor comes from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.
13 And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.
14 "But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own we have given you.
15 For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding.
16 O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your Holy Name comes from your hand and is all your own.
Did you catch all the references to the fact that everything we have comes from God? Notice these phrases ~
11 all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours.
Yours is the kingdom,
you are exalted as head above all.
David said ALL that is in heaven and earth is yours. God is head above ALL. Above even you and I.
12 riches and honor comes from you,
you rule over all.
In your hand are power and might,
in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.
In the last part of verse 12, David said In Your hands are power and might to make great and give strength to all.” David understood God was in control and could give us French fries or take them away from us.
14 For all things come from you, and of your own we have given you.
In verse 14 David said, “ALL things come from you, and all we have given back originally came from you. It’s like saying, “God, you gave us everything we have, and we’re just turning around and giving some back to you.”
16 all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house comes from your hand and is all your own.
David is saying, “God you are the total source of all we have. All this wealth we have given for the building of the temple, You put in our hands, and then we took it out of our hands, and put it back in your hands. It’s a circle of giving.
Now, am I saying God is the source of everything? Yes. Whether we worked for it, won it, found it, or received it as a gift. God is still the ultimate source. The bible tells us, the earth is the Lord and everything it in, the world and all who live in it.
Everything we think we own, belongs to God. Wait a minute, are you saying my car, my house, my PS5, my clothes, by jewelry and my food belongs to God.? You may think you earned it, you worked for it, you traded for it. You could not have done those things without the strength God provides.
There are people more educated than you, smarter than you, prettier than you and more persuasive than you, but they can’t get up out of a hospital bed without God saying it’s time to get up. Your health and the ability to receive anything is a gift from God. Your family, you, spouse, your loved ones are all gifts from God.
There is nothing we have that God ultimately has not provided. We are growing in Christ when we realize that God gives to us and delights in us giving to others and giving back to God. Doesn’t it amaze you that we would act like Jimmy with the French fries with God.
God gives us all these French fries and we’re sitting around saying, “oh no, no, no these are mine.” God as a parent is hurt because we have such a limited understanding that everything we have was God’s and still is God’s.
If God sat with you at a table, and gave you 10 dimes, what would cause you to say no if God asked for one of them back? Yet 96% of all people who say they love God will say no God, it’s mine.
We get upset about giving 10% to God as an offering. We’re offended when the pastor talks about money. There he goes again. It’s always about money. No it really isn’t. It’s about our hearts. Jesus is the one who said it, so don’t blame me. Back to the Sermon on the Mount ~ 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
We want to be in total control and the biggest part of our spiritual battle is believing we’re in control when we’re not. We think when we have success. It was all us. When you win in sports or master a musical instrument and win a contest; when you get straights A’s; when you get a promotion, when you can finally retire, comfortably . . . when you can buy whatever you want for Black Friday and Cyber Monday and Terrible Tuesday . . . we give credit to ourselves. We forget what God has done for us.
We forget about the wisdom, the athletic abilities, the musical talents, and everything else. We leave God out. We do it in so much of life . . . we say our time is our own.
Nobody promises you tomorrow, yet don’t you assume God will rescue you from your time of despair and desperation? We expect God to do for us, but what are we really willing to do for God? Hmm, makes you wonder a little doesn’t it?
I understand time is precious. I know that 100%. It’s a different time than when I was growing up and look at how little we were on the run. We don’t stop in my house. Yet, we make time for what we place as priorities.
So, as we come to the end of our time this morning, I want you to consider how much you have.
Not just on the financial end, but family, friends, home, furniture, clothes, one another . . . and to know that all of this, including all of your gifts, talents, skills, great looks and JESUS the Christ - - - - are all gifts from God.
Nothing you have comes from you! It’s all from God, and God wants you to share back with Him. He wants you to participate in the life of His kingdom. Whether it’s within the church, in the community, in the nursery, on a committee. It doesn’t matter. God wants you to join Him in building the greatest kingdom in the history of the world — the church.
Will you!?
