The end of the year is approaching, and most of us are very busy. The New Year is rapidly approaching. A lot of us look forward to the new year as a time to make changes, new starts, and for many, a time to think about budgets. In fact, we will be working on the congregational budget soon.
But this morning, I want to look at some verses in the book of Romans, and see what Paul had to say about budgeting and finances. Open to Romans 13. Let’s start in v1.
13 Everyone must submit to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist are instituted by God. 2 So then, the one who resists the authority is opposing God’s command, and those who oppose it will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have its approval.
This first set of verses probably get less popular every day, especially in this country. We have this idea that we are free to talk bad about everyone, especially if “their” ideas or beliefs don’t match up with ours. Remember who was the ruler when Paul was writing this? Nero – Granted this is before he started persecuting the Christians so aggressively, but they were still living in a country where they didn’t have nearly any of the rights or privileges we enjoy.
4 For government is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, because it does not carry the sword for no reason. For government is God’s servant, an avenger that brings wrath on the one who does wrong. 5 Therefore, you must submit, not only because of wrath, but also because of your conscience.
Paul says the government is a servant for good. Sometimes we find this concept laughable, but this is the word of God. Notice Paul’s conclusion in the next verse.
6 And for this reason you pay taxes, since the authorities are God’s public servants, continually attending to these tasks.
Pay your taxes! This is also an unpopular idea these days. I know a lot of people who work really hard at getting out of this obligation. We are supposed to pay our taxes, not be like Henry David Thoreau, going to jail to get out of it.
These next few verses are where I want to focus this morning.
7 Pay your obligations to everyone: taxes to those you owe taxes, tolls to those you owe tolls, respect to those you owe respect, and honor to those you owe honor.
“Pay your obligations to everyone.” First of all, notice that Paul says we have obligations to everyone! What is an obligation? An obligation is defined as, “an act or a course of action to which a person in morally or legally bound; a duty or commitment.” As followers of Christ, we are morally bound, we have a duty, we have an obligation to E V E R Y O N E! That mean’s all the people on the planet.
And, we don’t get to pick and choose what obligations we honor. As God-fearing, God-honoring people, we need to pay all our obligations to Everyone! Not just the other Christians. Not just the people we like. Look at how Paul breaks this down.
Pay taxes to the tax collectors. Tolls to Toll collectors, which always makes me think of the Troll under the bridge in the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff. But we are supposed to pay tolls to Toll collectors, not to Trolls.
We understand these concepts because they are logical. But look at the next phrase there, "Respect to those you owe respect." Again, we don’t get to pick who we owe respect to. If the position a person occupies is a position that deserves respect, then we owe them our respect. And the same with honor. We call Judges, “Your Honor,” because that is the title and respect they deserve. We are supposed to Honor our Elders. Honor our Parents.
And then we come to the next verse, which is possibly one of the most challenging verses in the entire Bible, at least for me.
8 Do not owe anyone anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
Don’t owe anything to anyone! Easy, right? If we don’t borrow money, we won’t owe, right? Let’s approach this from a different angle. Remember the servant who owed a bunch of money and had his debt forgiven? Go over to Matthew 18, let’s pick up in verse 21.
21 Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how many times could my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 “I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus said to him, “but 70 times seven. 23 For this reason, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 When he began to settle accounts, one who owed 10,000 talents was brought before him.
So this 10,000 talents is a huge sum of money. One talent was equal to 6,000 denarii, or 6,000 day's wages. According to the census bureau, last year in Homer, the average annual income was about $60,000, which works out to about $231 per working day. Some quick math, $231 x 6,000 working days = $1,386,000! And then multiply that by 10,000 = 13.86 Billion with a B!
25 Since he had no way to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt. 26 At this, the slave fell facedown before him and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything!’ 27 Then the master of that slave had compassion, released him, and forgave him the loan.
This master knows there is no way in the world the slave is ever going to come up nearly $14 Billion dollars to pay him, back, and he just forgives the loan! It blows my mind to think about how the guy got into that much debt in the first place, but then his master just says, ok, don’t worry about it.
This reminds me of another story from the Old Testament. Turn back to Genesis 23. This is when Sarah dies, and Abraham wants to purchase a place to bury her, so he goes to the local landowners and asks to purchase a piece of property.
10 Ephron was sitting among the Hittites. So in the presence of all the Hittites who came to the gate of his city, Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham: 11 “No, my lord. Listen to me. I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. I give it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead.” 12 Abraham bowed down to the people of the land 13 and said to Ephron in the presence of the people of the land, “Please listen to me. Let me pay the price of the field. Accept it from me, and let me bury my dead there.”14 Ephron answered Abraham and said to him, 15 “My lord, listen to me. Land worth 400 shekels of silver—what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.” 16 Abraham agreed with Ephron, and Abraham weighed out to Ephron the silver that he had agreed to in the presence of the Hittites: 400 shekels of silver at the current commercial rate.
Again, I looked this up to try to figure out the value of this piece or property that Ephron just hands over. Those 400 shekels of silver works out to about a quarter of a million dollars. And this isn’t even someone that we get the idea is necessarily Abraham’s friend. In fact, I don't know that Abraham even knew Ephron, because he petitions the Hittites to speak to Ephron on his behalf. And this guy, Ephron, he just says, "don’t worry about it."
Look at verse 15 again. "What is that between you and me.?" Basically, he’s saying, it isn’t enough money for me to bother with.
I don’t think very many of us are in the habit of giving away quarter-million-dollar pieces of property to someone we just met. If you are, come talk to me after the service! I’m teasing, of course. Let’s go back to that slave that owed the $14B - $14B!. Matthew 18 again, let’s start reading again in vs 28.
28 “But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him 100 denarii (or about 4-5 months wages). He grabbed him, started choking him, and said, ‘Pay what you owe!’ 29 “At this, his fellow slave fell down and began begging him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ 30 But he wasn’t willing. On the contrary, he went and threw him into prison until he could pay what was owed.
If I’m being honest, I relate to this guy far more than I do Ephron or the Master who is willing to write off a $14B debt. For example, in High School, I lent a guy $5 or $10. I hounded him for months and months before he paid me back. It was to the point where literally every time I saw him, in the hall at school or at the grocery store, I asked him, "Hey, got my money?" I like to think I have matured since then, and that I’m not quite that obsessive now, but it still bothers me to lend money or sell something without getting the cash upfront. I cannot imagine giving away or forgiving a debt of that size. Am I alone in this, or can anyone else relate to this?
Let’s go back to Paul’s letter. Romans 13, now vss 9-10.
9 The commandments: Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not covet; and whatever other commandment—all are summed up by this: Love your neighbor as yourself. 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Love, therefore, is the fulfillment of the law.
If we think that maybe Paul is stretching here, linking finances and love, let’s examine this some more.
Way back in Leviticus 19:18, God lays it out this way.
18 Do not take revenge or bear a grudge against members of your community, but love your neighbor as yourself; I am Yahweh.
Let’s look at some other times this comes up. Mt 19:616-19, 22:34-40 – retold in Mk and Luke.
Galatians 5: 14 says it is the entire law “14 For the entire law is fulfilled in one statement: Love your neighbor as yourself.” This is what we owe our neighbors.
James 2:8 calls it a royal law. “8 Indeed, if you keep the royal law prescribed in the Scripture, Love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well.”
Let’s go back to the Sermon on the Mount. Mt 5 43 “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.
Look at how Luke records this concept. Turn over to Luke 6:27 ff
27 “But I say to you who listen: Love your enemies, do what is good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If anyone hits you on the cheek, offer the other also. And if anyone takes away your coat, don’t hold back your shirt either. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and from one who takes your things, don’t ask for them back. 31 Just as you want others to do for you, do the same for them. 32 If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 If you do what is good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do what is good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High.
How do we express love to our neighbors? Since that’s what we owe our neighbors, it would be good to know how to do that. Fortunately, the Bible gives us that answer also. Let go to Luke chapter 10.
25 Just then an expert in the law stood up to test Him, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 “What is written in the law?” He asked him. “How do you read it?” 27 He answered: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself. 28 “You’ve answered correctly,” He told him. “Do this and you will live.” 29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus took up the question and said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him up, and fled, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down that road. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 In the same way, a Levite, when he arrived at the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan on his journey came up to him, and when he saw the man, he had compassion. 34 He went over to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him. When I come back I’ll reimburse you for whatever extra you spend.’
36 “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”
37 “The one who showed mercy to him,” he said. Then Jesus told him, “Go and do the same.”
While initially, it seems odd to link finances and faith this way, it actually makes a lot of sense. I think most of us spend at least some time thinking about money. Paul makes this transition make sense. We, or at least, I, struggle with how to put my faith into practice. And that’s what Paul is addressing in this part of his letter to the Romans. It turns out that we have an obligation to every person we will ever meet. That obligation is to love them. Love them in a way that goes so far beyond expectations, it is as if we are forgiving Billions of dollars worth of debt or giving away quarter-million-dollar pieces of property to people we just met. And that is where the rubber meets the road, isn’t it?
But it is possible. Do you know how I know? Because remember that story about the two slave and their debts? That story, even though it’s in the Bible, written thousands of years before I was born? That story, that’s about me. Because that unpayable debt . . . that’s the burden of my sin. And God forgave that debt. That unpayable debt. There is no way I’d ever be able to do enough good to offset that debt. It isn’t possible. But when I remember that, I should have no problem treating everyone I come in contact with, with as much love as I can summon. And in perspective, the love of God is worth so much more than any amount of money. We can budget unlimited everything for everyone else because it will never be anywhere close to what we owe. This a huge challenge for me, honestly. I don't even like people, or being around people. That's why I chose my career. I talk to you for five minutes, and then, "goodnight." But Jesus says, I can show them the love he showed me.
I hope this study has been helpful for you, or at least made sense and gave you something to think about. If you struggle with this, or need the prayers of the church.
If you are subject to the invitation in any way, please come forward while we stand and sing.
