Money and Giving
12/4/05
Pastor Greg Tabor
Lighthouse Assembly of God
Introduction
There was a song years ago entitled ‘I Wanna Be Rich.’ It said ‘I want money, lots and lots of money.’ That song’s lyrics are just as true today. People want money and they want all the things that money can buy. Even people that don’t really have money find ways to accumulate possessions and ‘toys.’ While culture changes, it is obvious from our passage of Scripture today that the need to talk about wealth and what to do with it doesn’t change. Jesus had to deal with the issue of money and possessions and so do we.
Let’s read our main text: Matthew 6:19-35.
Where should I invest my treasure?
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.”
When investing your money, you look into different types of accounts out there and what the pros and cons of each are. You want what is going to give you the best return, don’t you?
Do you think of giving tithes, giving to missions, etc., as investing? You should. Especially if you are considering how to invest your money and what will bring you the best returns.
Before we go any further, it is important that you and I understand something about our relationship to money. Answering the question ‘What is the Biblical View of Wealth?,’ in his book The Bible Answer Book, Hank Hanegraaff writes, “First, it is crucial to realize that “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Psalm 24:1). God is the Landlord; we are just tenants. We did not arrive with anything, and we will not take anything with us when we leave. Just remembering this fact of life will save us from a world of hurt.”(p.79). Randy Alcorn, in his book The Treasure Principle writes: “A steward manages assets for the owner’s benefit. The steward carries no sense of entitlement to the assets he manages. It’s his job to find out what the owner wants done with his assets, then carry out his will.”(p.24).
With that said, two things to take note of here: First of all, we are stewards of God’s money. Secondly, God tells us how to invest His money and tells us that, by doing things His way, we will be the recipients of the dividends. So what does He tell us to do?
a. Don’t stock pile your treasures on earth. Why? Jesus tells us that storing treasures on earth makes them susceptible to decay and thievery. He uses such things as moths, rust and thieves to illustrate His point. All three of those are representative of the many things that destroy or steal our treasures that we’ve decided to store on earth. When you look at it from that point of view, investing primarily in earthly possessions makes no sense, does it? Not to mention that when this life is over, if we’ve invested only in temporary earthly things, Heaven’s vaults will hold no treasure for us.
b. Store your treasures in heaven. Why? Heaven’s vaults are 100% moth, rust and thief proof. We are guaranteed a better security than the FDIC every dreamed of offering. Every single investment made into heaven’s account will be kept safe and will multiply. Randy Alcorn writes, ‘You can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead.’ We would be wise to take our earthly wealth and exchange it for heavenly currency by investing it into things that make an eternal difference. When our investing is done that way, we will open Heaven’s vaults one day to treasures that will last and be truly satisfying. It’s a no brainer. Either invest in earthly things and lose it all eventually or invest into the things of God, giving up temporary riches for true riches that will last.
Let me give you a scriptural example of a man that had a short-sighted view of wealth and invested everything into earthly possessions rather than eternal treasures. In Luke 12:16-21 NIV it says,
“16And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ 18“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ 20“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ 21“This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”
This is not a passage designed to scold those who responsibly save up emergency funds or retirements, but rather Verse 21 lets us know that this is warning for those who hoard stuff for themselves in this life to the detriment of their eternity. This man represents the vast majority of people that are stockpiling their riches on earth without a single thought to their own mortality.
So how should you invest? The answer is simple: Make sure you are storing up treasures in heaven. Remember, you can’t take it with you but you can send it on ahead! And we’ll talk about the ‘how’ of storing of treasures in heaven in a little bit.
If home is where the heart is, then where is my heart?
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Our heart should be set on things above. And it is important to note that your heart follows your investment. But if you invest in earthly stuff, then your heart will be focused on earthly stuff and will be torn from being focused on things above.
Many times we are obsessed by what we possess. Maybe you could say we aren’t just obsessed by what we possess, we are possessed by what we possess. Norman Geisler, in his book When Critics Ask, writes, “There is nothing wrong with possessing riches – there is something wrong with being possessed by riches” (p.502). When riches possess us we are so earthly minded we are of no heavenly good.
In Matthew 19, there was a rich young man who couldn’t leave the god of riches to follow the God of the universe. After His disappointing discussion with the man, Jesus said these words:
“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Matthew 19:23-24 NIV
The obvious reason for that is illustrated by the reaction of the young man to Jesus’ call for him to sell his possessions and give to the poor. This man’s heart was obsessed with his earthly wealth. He was possessed by his wealth. Jesus invited him to make a heavenly deposit, an investment that would be for eternity, but the guy just couldn’t let go of his earthly stuff.
Unfortunately, many times we are like the rich young man who probably couldn’t fathom getting rid of his possessions and storing up treasures in heaven as being greater than the luxurious living he was involved in. However, he was wrong and we are wrong too when we think anything on earth can compare with what’s awaiting the faithful in heaven.
Jesus may never call you and I to give away all of our earthly possessions as He did this man, but He does demand that we surrender our rights over to Him to do whatever we please with our money. When you consider the fleeting wealth we have here in comparison to the incredible inheritance in heaven, why wouldn’t we eagerly trade in our decaying riches?! The church in Laodicea (see Revelation 3:17-18) thought they were rich, but Jesus said they were “pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” He challenged them to buy real riches from Him. Their riches didn’t even compare. God was essentially saying, ‘You think you are rich? You need to take my counsel and obtain real riches cause you ain’t got a clue!’
God knows that the man who pursues riches is captivated by those riches, much like the young rich man of Matthew 19. God doesn’t want your heart to be captivated by these so-called riches that rot away. He wants you to enjoy the real stuff. He offers abundantly living far beyond what our temporal wealth can supply and He wants you to take part in it.
We would do well to meditate on the words of Jim Elliot.
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
I challenge you to begin to put your wealth in eternal things. Move from a ‘me’ centered agenda to investing in what pleases God and what will have eternal results. By doing that it reveals where our heart already is. But also, when you do that, your heart will follow where you’ve invested your treasure and you’ll find yourself more focused on heavenly things than earthly things. When you invest in a stock, you are concerned with what happens with your investment. When you invest in relief efforts in Indonesia or a missionary to Peru or a Church Plant in Hermitage, etc., you focus your attention and interest on investment there. Your heart turns from me-centered temporal things to things that will make an eternal investment.
Honestly, God doesn’t need our money. He can print up as much of it as He wants. Christ multiplied fish and bread twice for crowds of several thousand, so He’s not bound by whether or not we give money to Him. If He wanted to He could just take it from us or form gold bars out of the gold in the hills. What He does want is our heart. And when we are captivated by earthly possessions, it leaves little room for Him, and it turns our interests to taking care of ‘me’ in the here and now rather than looking at life through an eternal perspective. But when we’ve invested heavily in eternity, then it shows that our hearts are focused on God and what is important to God and we are excited about what He wants done in this world. In this case, we’ve sent our money on ahead, exchanging its temporariness for eternal blessings! And our heart anxiously awaits our inheritance from the Father and the soon return of Jesus Christ, rather than gorging on a fading feast here on earth and being lulled asleep by its seeming security.
Randy Alcorn writes:
“God wants your heart. He is not looking just for ‘donors’ to His kingdom, those who stand outside the cause and dispassionately consider acts of philanthropy. He’s looking for disciples immersed in the causes they give to. He wants people so filled with a vision for eternity that they wouldn’t dream of not investing their money, time, and prayers where they will matter most.” (The Treasure Principle, p.43)
When you really catch a vision of what your giving does to advance God’s Kingdom at home and around the world, you’ll be so moved by that reality that you’ll be excited to give. Randy Alcorn quotes Hudson Taylor as stating: “The less I spent on myself and the more I gave to others, the fuller of happiness and blessing did my soul become.” Randy also writes, “’God loves a cheerful giver’ (2 Corinthians 9:7). This doesn’t mean we should give only when we’re feeling cheerful. The cheerfulness often comes during and after the act of obedience, not before it. So don’t wait until you feel like giving – it could be a long wait! Just give and watch the joy follow” (The Treasure Principle, p.27).
Another point I want to make is that big givers won’t necessarily find treasures in heaven. You see there is a heart issue. Why do we give? Do we give like the Pharisees who wanted only the recognition of man? Or do we give to please God, to show Him our heart is after the things He desires. Luke 16:14 NIV speaks of the “The Pharisees, who loved money…” They didn’t care about God, they were just trying to look spiritual. Our giving should first and foremost be out of a heart that loves God and what God loves. So if we expect to receive rewards for our giving, our hearts must have pure motives for giving.
Have I been negatively affected by the pursuit of stuff?
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”
Listen to what the Life Application Bible Commentary says about these two verses:
“Jesus described the “spiritual vision” his disciples should have. Proper spiritual vision requires us to see clearly what God wants us to do and to see the world from his point of view. “The eye is the lamp of the body” means that through the eyes the body receives light, allowing it to move. In the Old Testament, the “eye” denoted the direction of a person’s life. “Good” eyes focus on God. They are generous to others and convey the single focus of a true disciple. They receive and fill the body with God’s light so that it can serve him wholeheartedly. “Bad” eyes represent materialism, greed, and covetousness. Those with “bad” eyes may see the light, but they have allowed self-serving desires, interests, and goals to block their vision. Those with “bad eyes” think they have light; in reality, they are in spiritual darkness. This could mean a sort of “double vision”—trying to focus on God and earthly possessions. It will lead to gloom in life and darkness in eternity. How great is that darkness for those who see the light but are not focused on God. Materialism destroys the whole self. In these words, Jesus was calling his followers to undivided loyalty—eyes fixed and focused on him.”
Some people just can’t seem to let go of the pursuit of materialism. They are trying to keep up with the Joneses.’ Some try to mask their lust for wealth with spirituality. Paul speaks to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6 about false teachers that thought “godliness is a means to financial gain.” He then continues in verses 6 – 10 by saying:
“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
Timothy is then told to flee all this. But how many Christian people are running after riches just like the world. Why can we not be content? Because we’ve become blinded by the darkness of the love of money, many times even disguised as something spiritual. Think of how many get-rich-quick-schemes people fall into. What about the lottery? People will pay their last dollar, gamble their life away just for a chance at hitting it big. What is the endless pursuit of riches worth to you? Wandering from the faith? Piercing yourself with many griefs?
We need to heed the warning in the parable of the sower and the seed. Jesus said in Matthew 13:22 NIV, “The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.” The deceitfulness of wealth can choke out your spiritual life. Is it doing that to you? Are your ‘eyes’ good or are your ‘eyes’ bad?
Am I really being God’s steward with God’s money?
“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
Colossians 3:5 refers to greed as idolatry. Greed, the love of money, the same thing. You can’t serve God and idols. If we are not careful, we will find ourselves serving money, pursuing it, doing anything we can to have more and more wealth and possessions. We become a slave to its enticements. It becomes our one focus in life, ‘if I could just have that.’ Rather than serving God, we spend our lives serving money. God won’t settle for that.
Money was never meant to be your master. God was. So rather than serving money, make it serve God’s purposes in your lives. Truth is there is nothing wrong with using some of the money God has blessed you with to have nice things or go nice places. God told the Israelites in Malachi to test His faithfulness in pouring out blessings to them in abundance if they’d be faithful in their tithes and offerings. Paul told the Corinthian Church that if they gave generously they’d reap generously. Where money becomes an idol is when having nice things and going nice places becomes the purpose of accumulating more and more wealth. It also becomes an idol when we hoard the blessings of God entirely for ourselves. Paul also told the Corinthians that they’d be made rich in every way so they could be generous on every occasion. We should share God’s blessings, not hoard them.
This brings up the question: If you are giving to God at all, are you giving God the leftovers over of your finances?
Andy Stanley, in his book The Best Question Ever, writes:
“If you wouldn’t serve your guests leftovers, why would you give God your leftover money? That’s like saying, ‘Sorry, Lord, I wish I could do more, but I can’t because I spent most of it on me and gave the rest to Uncle Sam.’ When we refuse to prioritize giving, it is tantamount to praying, ‘Heavenly Father, I don’t really need Your involvement in my finances. I can handle that arena all by myself. Amen.’” (p.95)
Listen to former prosperity preacher Jim Bakker:
“Tossing 10 percent of my income into the offering plate does not give me the right to do whatever I want with the remaining 90 percent. Does God really help me acquire wealth simply so I can buy a better stereo system, a nicer television, a new car, or a bigger house? I used to believe that, but not anymore. I now believe that when God gives us more, our first consideration should not be how we can improve our lifestyle, but how we can give a higher percentage of our increase toward the Lord’s work.” (Prosperity and the Coming Apocalypse, p.88).
Randy Alcorn echoes this when he writes: “God prospers me not to raise my standard of living, but to raise my standard of giving.”
Paul gave instructions for Timothy (1 Timothy 6:17-19) to tell the rich:
“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”
For the most part, Americans are rich in this present world. And for the most part we put our hope in the security those riches bring. But we should realize that it is God that provides wealth and that rather than serving it, we should use it in serving Him. And while there’s nothing wrong with enjoying monetary blessings because God “richly provides everything for our enjoyment,” in serving God we should naturally be giving much more of our finances to Kingdom work, then to luxurious living. T. Burton Pierce, in his book Ministerial Ethics, writes, “A good rule for wise spending: Be conservative in handling the flow of family finance except toward the kingdom of God” (p.203). Generosity and a willingness to share the wealth God has given us is the mark of someone who’s developed maturity in stewardship.
What is distracting you from giving?
25“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 28“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Let’s be honest, not only does the amassing of wealth distract us from an eternal perspective, but so do the basic cares of life. Matthew 13:22 mentions the ‘worries of this life’ as being one of the factors that chokes out the fruitfulness of the seed that fell among the thorns. We worry about clothes, food, paying the bills, etc. Those are legitimate needs. But we so over concern ourselves with worrying about the stuff of this life that those things take precedence over seeking God’s Kingdom. If the apostle Paul had acted this way, the Roman world wouldn’t have been evangelized.
Perhaps you’re going through a financial hardship and you are finding it hard to financially invest into God’s kingdom. In fact, financial hardships, to you, might seem like a good excuse to pull what’s left of your financial resources out of the work of the Kingdom. But I like what Andy Stanley, in his book The Best Question Ever, writes,
“Our heavenly Father is not insensitive to our needs and desires. In fact, these verses underscore His commitment to meet our practical earthly needs. The problem, according to Jesus, is not that we need certain things; the problem is the priority we place on meeting those needs. Our concern becomes worry. Our worry reflects a lack of faith. Our lack of faith surfaces in our priorities. So we prioritize our wants and wishes first and God’s kingdom last. Jesus suggests we reverse the order.” (p.98-99).
I dare you to give despite your circumstances and then trust God’s provision. Rather than holding out and being skimpy, give generously even in the hard times. That’s what the Macedonian churches did. And they were going through it themselves. But did they let that stop them from answering the call to helping others monetarily? No sir. Listen to what Paul says about them in 2 Corinthians 8:1-3 NIV:
“And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability.”
The need for you to practice giving has nothing to do with how much you currently bring in each week or month. Jesus observed a poor woman at the Temple that, while giving far less than the rich men, exceeded them percentage-wise. If you don’t give when you are less fortunate, then what makes you think that you’ll change when you hit it big? Giving when you don’t have an abundance to give is an act of faith. Do you really believe God will take care of you? Then seek God’s Kingdom first. I by no means think this is limited to financially giving to God’s Kingdom, but it most certainly includes it.
How do I give?
Again, I do not think storing up treasures in heaven or seeking first the Kingdom of God is limited to giving monetarily. Certainly we are to give more than just our finances to God. But certainly it does involve our money. And surrendering our finances to God is a major step in spiritual maturity.
We’ve learned today that amassing wealth for the sake of hoarding it up for ourselves will end up leaving us a truly poor man when we die. We’ve also said a couple of times that while you can’t take your wealth with you, you can send it on ahead.
If you and I really catch on to that principle, then we’d give like crazy. We’d make huge eternal investments realizing that whatever we invest in God’s Kingdom will result in rewards when we arrive.
Luke 16:9 NIV says, “I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.”
That verse is not telling us to be like the prodigal son who amassed friends around him as he squandered his inheritance on prostitutes and drinking buddies. Rather it is telling us to use money to make an eternal difference in someone else’s life. When the earthly money is gone, the fact you used it on Kingdom work that saved souls will give you an entrance into the eternal dwellings of many your wise giving made a difference in. Isn’t that the essence of Ray Boltz song, ‘Thank you for giving to the Lord,’ using our time, talents, resources and finances here on earth to make an eternal difference? As a Christian shouldn’t our checkbooks and bank statements be a reflection of our desire to see souls saved and brought into the eternal Kingdom of God? Could there be any greater investment? Of all the rewards we will receive in heaven, isn’t the greatest treasure (other than being in the presence of Christ) seeing the countless souls there as a result of your investment into things that really matter?!
So how will you use your wealth to make an eternal difference?
Jesus said it was more blessed to give than to receive. Do you believe that? Your checkbook and bank statements tell the story. If you do believe that, then let me give you some thoughts on giving.
First of all, you should give in proportion to your income. Obviously the person who makes less will give less than the rich person if both are giving in proportion to one’s income. Don’t worry about what so and so gives, you give what you can give.
Secondly, give sacrificially. There will be times your giving will be above what you normally would find comfortable. We already saw that the Macedonians did this despite their own poverty. God wants us at times to give more to His Kingdom and sacrifice some other things we normally ‘can’t do without.’ This helps to make us more Kingdom minded.
Thirdly, I’d encourage you to tithe. Though it is hotly debated, it makes very little sense to me that the principle of tithing should be tossed to the side just because there is no explicit New Testament command to tithe. In fact, if tithing was beneficial for the work of God in the Old Testament, how much more beneficial is it now under the New Testament? In fact, 10% of your income should be seen as a place to start, not a goal to get to. Once you realize 100% of your income is God’s anyhow, your attitude in giving the tithe should change quickly. Oh, and by the way, the tithe belongs to the local church, not some TV evangelist.
Fourthly, you should give over and above the tithe. The tithe is a good place to start, but there are so many other worthy causes in the Kingdom that should be considered as well. Missions, Church Planting, Benevolence ministries, just to name a few.
Fifthly, ask God what He wants you to give to. You cannot support every ministry under the sun. Ask God what you should invest in personally. He’s given you your money for specific purposes. Find out what those purposes are.
Sixthly, investigate every ministry you are considering to give to. I encourage you to go to the website address on the back of your bulletin and read Nineteen Questions to Ask Before You Give to Any Organization by Randy Alcorn. You’ll gain some great insight into giving by reading that.
As was already noted, while we focused on money this morning, giving includes much more than just giving your dollars. Time, talents and resources can all be included in storing up treasures in heaven. While we all must give financially, some of us can also give incredible amounts of time. We all need to use our talents for God. So look at life with an eternal perspective and give all you can to the Kingdom of God.
In closing, James Dobson’s words ring very true: “God does not need our money. But you and I need the experience of giving it.” In light of all we’ve learned this morning, I couldn’t agree more.
