Treasure Principles
Compounding Joy
November 5, 2006
Money Rant
Treasure Principles
Compounding Joy
November 5, 2006
We’re going to look at several key principles about building up treasure in heaven. This morning we’ll be looking at one. I had six in mind when I began this series but I’ve cut it back to five.
Are you ready? Here we go… Key principle #1
Treasure Principle #1: God is the owner; I am the manager
“‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the LORD Almighty.”
Haggai 2:8
There are two pieces to this issue.
First, God is the owner. I am not the owner of anything that happens to be in my possession. All of the assets that I have in my control belong to someone else – my father God.
To fully comprehend this concept is to be changed in a powerful way. Possessions become a tool and a means to an end rather than being the end. Our attachment to them becomes weak and tenuous because they don’t belong to us.
This results in a really wonderful attitude shift – from being burdened to being free. None of this stuff is mine.
There was an occasion when John Wesley’s house caught fire and burnt to the ground. When the messenger arrived to give him the bad news he said, “Mr. Wesley, I’m sorry to tell you that your house burned down.”
Wesley weighed the news and then calmly replied, “No, the lord’s house burned to the ground. That means less responsibility for me.”
Wesley’s response was not denial. It was bold affirmation of reality. God is the owner of all things.
Whenever you begin to think and act like an owner – this is a red flag. We should be thinking like stewards, investment managers – always looking for the best way to use the owners funds.
Second, I am the manager and it is incumbent on the manager to find out what the boss wants and work to make it happen.
Shannon and the school teacher… stupid assignment. Do you want to be successful? Find out what the boss wants and give it to him.
Are you a student? – your boss is the teacher. Important to understand what the boss wants.
Are you an employee? Boss at work – find out what they want and give it to them.
Are you married? – figure out who is the boss and give her what she wants.
Here it is in a nutshell… Your name is on God’s checking account. Your name is on God’s stock portfolio. Your name is on God’s real estate, His clothing, and His title for the cars, RV, and the boat.
In the bulletin this morning I gave you a check… representing the fact that God has placed you over all the possessions in your life. Just print your name on the “pay to line” and you have it down. God has turned it all over to you.
You have unrestricted access to it and you are trusted to set your own salaries to pay your living expenses while you do manage his money.
As such, a manager is in a position to abuse his privilege – and some do.
One of our central spiritual decisions as a follower of Jesus is determining what is a reasonable amount to live on. What ever that amount is – and it will vary legitimately from person to person – we shouldn’t hoard it or spend the excess. Why? Because it isn’t yours. It belongs to the boss and is to be used to advance his agenda.
This kind of joy does not come except through understanding that what we possess – it all belongs to God and we manage it for his benefit.
Let me share two examples of this kind of attitude. The first example comes from the churches of Macedonia.
The Macedonian Churches
Take for example a group of churches in the days of Paul that just happened to be in the poorest part of Greece. These churches were in the mining districts and the gold had pretty much played out. Times were tough. Yet listen to what Paul had to say.
“Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity…
3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints.”
2 Corinthians 8:2
Severe trial = overflowing joy. How does this happen? It happens because you have some churches that understood that all they possessed belonged to God and was to be used for their well-being and the advancement of the kingdom of God.
They saw their needs in the reflection of God’s agenda and it changed their behavior. They became givers instead of being consumers.
Let me tell you about a man named Abraham T. He lived in India and took me from Kotoyam to the airport in Cochin… He was committed to the work of God to the point he was willing to do whatever it took to take care of my needs. God’s agenda.
Let’s look at a second example in the Old Testament. The first ministry center ever built was called the tabernacle. Moses built it with the help of the freewill offerings of the people of Israel. In Exodus 36 we learn how their campaign worked out…
The First Ministry Center
“And the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning… Then Moses gave an order… “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” And so the people were restrained from bringing more…”
Exodus 36:5-7
The people who gave in the wilderness to build the first tabernacle to God – Exodus 36:5-7 – had to be restrained from giving too much.
What would it take for us to have that kind of commitment to the agenda of God? Imagine the building committee coming to us and saying… we’ve got enough. You can tell them to stop giving now…
Wow… I guess that’s all I can say… wow.
Benefits of Giving to Advance God’s Agenda
Giving benefits us. Did God need the money from that poor Macedonian church that was struggling with an economy that had played out? Did God need the freewill offerings of the people of Israel?
No! Any God that can create the world with a few well chosen words does not need my help to pour a foundation, build some walls, string some wire and nail down some shingles. God gives us everything we need to advance his agenda for our benefit.
What are those benefits? Let me name a few…
We are most like God when we give.
The churches in Macedonia begged for the privilege of giving. They understood the benefits of giving to God’s agenda.
The people of Israel gave until they were told to stop.
These were getting closest to being like Jesus.
We are most like God when we give.
I was talking to someone the other day and they said they just wanted to be like Jesus. Jesus gave all that he had freely. He poured out his life for his church. He gave it all freely.
We usually think we are closest to God when we are praying, singing, or reading the word.
The truth is that we are closest to and most like God when we are giving.
We are free from the weight of stuff when we give.
When you break loose the grasp of your hand from the things in your life there is a wonderful freedom that occurs.
When you give your tithes and offerings to God the gravitational pull of money shifts and you break out of our orbit around possessions. And when that happens, you gain something incredible – freedom.
In two weeks I’ll be talking more about this incredible freedom.
We feel his pleasure when we give.
There is joy – compounding joy. Joy that grows and expands until it fills your heart when you give to advance God’s kingdom. The fact of the matter is that when you learn to give – to really give – it’s a blast!
I have a friend who sold a house. He’s not very old but he made the decision of how much he wanted to live on and how he wanted to use the rest to advance the kingdom of God. So he sold his house and bought a less expensive one. From the proceeds he set aside a certain sum – some $5000 – as the Lord’s money and then he and his wife had the time of their lives giving it to benefit the work of God.
They had the compounding joy of blessing all kinds of people through their giving. They had the joy of giving and the joy of seeing what God did with their gift.
Look at that check you found in the bulletin again.
All you have and ever will have given to you by God. What will you do with it? How will you use it? Where will you spend it? Who will get it?
It is up to you. You are steward of all God has given to you
We’re about to build the first ministry center ever in the life of Meridian Christian Church. I want to encourage you to ask God what he wants you to do with what he has given you.
God is the owner; I am the manager
Let’s pray.
