Kingdom Investors
Matthew 6:19-34
John Hess-Yoder writes of serving as a missionary in Laos. Before the colonialists imposed national boundaries, the kings of Laos and Vietnam reached an agreement on taxation in the border areas. Those who ate short-grain rice, built their houses on stilts, and decorated them with Indian-style serpents were considered Laotians. Those who ate long-grain rice, built their houses on the ground, and decorated them with Chinese-style dragons were considered Vietnamese. The exact location of a person's home was not what determined his or her nationality. Instead, each person belonged to the kingdom whose cultural values he or she exhibited. And then he writes, “So it is with us, we live in the world, but as part of God's kingdom, we are to live according to His kingdom's values.”
Kingdom Investors have the right priorities. Jesus says we are to “Seek first the kingdom of God.” That means the first value of our lives is to invest in the building of the kingdom of God. But what is the kingdom of God? The kingdom of God is any time and place where God's invisible rule and activity is made visible. It is a physical demonstration of heaven on earth. It is the evidence of God's presence demonstrated through a community of people who are living in submission to God's authority. It is where the resources of heaven are in operation on earth. In Matthew 1: 2-5, Jesus' cousin, John the Baptist, has just been arrested. Even though John baptized Jesus and proclaimed him as the promised Messiah, now that he is in jail, he has questions. So John told his disciples to ask Jesus if he was truly the Messiah who would usher in the kingdom of God. Jesus answers: "Go back and report to John what you hear and see. The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor." It was Jesus’ works and miracles which identified him as the Messiah and Lord. As Lord, that means he has the defining rights of our lifestyles, our values and our money matters. When you acknowledge Jesus is Lord then He determines everything about your life, including your money matters because he owns it all. Kingdom Investors recognize it all belongs to God.
Juan Carlos Ortiz talks about life in the kingdom as a valued pearl. He then tells the story of a man who marvels at this pearl and says, 'I want that pearl too. How much does it cost?" "The seller says, 'it's too dear, too costly.' "But how much?' "Well, it's very expensive.' "Do you think I could buy it?' "It costs everything you have -- no more, no less -- so anybody can buy it.' "I'll buy it.' "What do you have?' "I have $10,000 in the bank.' "Good, $10,000. What else?' "I have nothing more. That's all I have.' "Have you nothing more?' "Well, I have some dollars here in my pocket.' "How many?' "I'll see: I have 34 dollars.' "That's fine. What else do you have?' "I have nothing else. That's all.' "Where do you live?" "I live in my house.' "The house, too.' "Then you mean I must live in the garage?' "Have you a garage, too? That, too. What else?' "Do you mean that I must live in my car, then?' "Have you a car?' "I have two.' "Both become mine. Both cars. What else?' "Well, you have my house, the garage, the cars, the money, everything.' "What else?' "Are you alone in the world?' "No, I have a wife, two children...' "Your wife and children, too.' "Too?' "Yes, everything you have. What else?' "I have nothing else, I am left alone now." "Oh, you too! Everything becomes mine -- wife, children, house, money, cars -- everything. And you too. Now you can use all those things here but don't forget they are mine, as you are. When I need any of the things you are using, you must give them to me because now I am the owner."
From the kingdom perspective, our money, our possessions, our life are not our own. When we don’t, a good majority of our life is spent worrying about meeting our financial needs and obligations and accumulating the things we want to buy! But Jesus says when you make the kingdom of God your number one priority, God will take care of your needs so you don’t need to worry about them. That’s a great blessing but with it also comes responsibility.
Third is to seek first God’s kingdom. “Seek first the kingdom of God and God's righteousness.” Righteousness is right action in God’s eyes. It’s not just having right beliefs; it is demonstrating those beliefs in action, including how you handle your money. We are saved by faith but the demonstration of faith is the fruit of our actions. Why did Jesus talk about money more than any other subject, including prayer and faith? Because where you spend your money demonstrates what you value and trust most in life. We are called to invest in the building of the kingdom of God. This is the only right action in the eyes of God and it is this which identifies us as followers of Jesus. 1 John 2:29, "If you know that Jesus is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him."
Jesus defines love as an action, not an attitude. "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us." That's an action of sacrifice and we called to act sacrificially as well. For he says, "And we ought to lay down our lives for one another." We are called to give sacrificially as well. Jesus then goes on to say in verse 17, "If anyone of you has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in you?" In other words, if we’re not acting with our material resources toward brothers and sisters who are in need, then we are not born of Jesus' spirit. Please hear me: God releases the resources of heaven through people. Miracles never just fall through the sky. Every miracle is delivered through a person. We are the hands and feet of Jesus. That's what it means to be the body of Christ. God never delivers a miracle except through another person.
In Matthew 14, it says, "As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, 'This is a remote place and it is already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.'" Notice what Jesus said in verse 16, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat." His disciples didn't want to own the responsibility. God never releases the resources of heaven except through God's people. The disciples begin to make excuses. We only have five loaves of bread and two fish. How are we going to take care of 5,000 families? Some of you are sitting here right now thinking "hey, the mortgage payment and health insurance alone don't add up, so how are we going to release resources, let somebody else do it, Jesus." Right? "Jesus said, 'Bring them here to me.'" Jesus is saying: whatever you have in your hand, release it for my purpose. "And…Taking the five loaves and the two fish …" Where did he get the five loaves and two fish? From God? No, from a little child who freely offered it.
"Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people." You are the only bank account that God has to build the kingdom of God in this world. The miracle can only happen when we release what we have been given. As long as you are holding on it, there is no miracle. When we give what we have in our hand, and make it available to Jesus for His purpose, then Jesus multiples it, gives it back so that we can distribute to people. There is no resource from heaven that doesn't come from any other source than through the hands of God's people. And then notice how the people were blessed: "They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up 12 basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about 5,000 men, besides women and children." verses 20-21
Turn to Matthew 25:14 Jesus tells a parable. "Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them." How many of you, this month, received a check from anywhere - from an employer, to customers, to social security, to welfare, how many in the room received income? Guess where that income came from? The master "who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them.” Remember, God entrusts HIS wealth to us. Look at verse 15, “To one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one talents, each according to their ability.” A talent was 20 years of wages for a day laborer. So to one he gave the equivalent of a hundred years of wages for a day laborer. The second servant received the equivalent of 40 years of wages. The final servant received the equivalent of 20 years of wages. Go to verse 19; “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.” Now don’t ever say on the Day of Judgment that your pastor didn’t tell you that there is a day of accountability for however many talents that God has entrusted into our hands, and how we have used that wealth for God’s kingdom purpose. It goes on in verse 20, "The man who had received five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.'" "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's blessings.'" The second guy did the same thing, turned his two talents into four, the master gave the same response. "Come and share your master's blessings." Now here's the third, verse 24, "The man who had received one talents came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.'" And so what did he do? He hid it in the ground and thus kept it to himself. And Jesus’ response was, “You evil and wicked servant…”
Kingdom Investors are going to be held accountable for what we have given and thus they act accordingly. Why did the third man not invest his Master’s money? Fear. The same is true for us. Instead of investing our (Master’s) resources for the Kingdom , we spend it on ourselves, afraid that God won’t provide for our needs. And here’s the price we pay: if we’re not faithful with what God has entrusted into your hand, then he is going to take the blessings that he has planned for you and give it to someone who is faithful and will use it to build his kingdom.
Our problem is a scarcity mentality. I don’t have enough to be generous and sacrificial in my giving. You can have a six-figure income, but in our minds, it’s not enough. Like J.P. Morgan said when asked how much is enough, "Just a little bit more." It is always like I don't have enough and someone who has more; it is really their responsibility to make it happen.
Once, a man said, "If I had some extra money, I'd give it to God, but I have just enough to support myself and my family." And the same man said, "If I had some extra time, I'd give it to God, but every minute is taken up with my job, my family, my clubs, and what have you--every single minute." And the same man said, "If I had a spiritual gift, I'd give it to God, but I have no lovely voice; I have no special skill; I've never been able to lead a group; I can't think cleverly or quickly, the way I would like to." And God was touched and gave that man money, time, and a glorious spiritual gift. And then He waited, and waited, and waited.....And then after a while, He shrugged His shoulders, and He took all those things right back from the man, the money, the time and the glorious spiritual gift. After a while, the man sighed and said, "If I only had some of that money back, I'd give it to God. If I only had some of that time, I'd give it to God. If I could only rediscover that glorious talent, I'd give it to God." The scarcity mentality can keep us from being kingdom investors.
We don't exist here to just come to worship. We are here to be salt and light in the community and to be co-laborers with God in building His Kingdom. It goes beyond financial prosperity to life prosperity.
This week is Thanksgiving, a time when we give thanks for the gifts and blessings of God. Today, we’re going to express our Thanksgiving by investing in God's kingdom work. Will you take this card that we have given you? The word says our first priority should be planned giving to God. I am going to ask you to fill out your card and place them in the baskets along with your weekly offering. I want you to bow your head and pray with me and silently, naming as many things as you can that God has given you for which you are thankful.
