We Trust Part 2: What does the Act of Giving say about Our Faith? Series: In God We Trust 1 Corinthians 8:6 November 25, 2018 Thanks again for being in worship today. Next Sunday, we enter into Advent as we celebrate once again the coming of the Christ Child. Today, we conclude our series, In God We Trust. Since 1957, the phrase has been on our money. We ve been talking about how to make that phrase more real in our beliefs and actions. I want to invite you to turn to page 5. There you will find the key points of the last three messages as we have talked about. Today, we will talk about What does the Act of Giving say about Our Faith? I may have told this story. The pastor of a church that didn t have the reputation for being very generous with their giving decided that it was time to do something drastic in order to teach the congregation the importance of giving. He contacted an electrician and had all of the pews electrically wired. The next Sunday was Commitment Sunday, when the church took up pledges from the people. The Pastor stood up and made the following announcement: From now on, instead of putting your pledges in sealed envelopes and turning them into the church office, all pledges will be made publicly during the worship service. Then he said, So let s get started. All of you who will pledge to give ten dollars a week, please stand up. As soon as he said this, he pushed a button that the electrician had installed in the pulpit, and it sent a jolt of electricity through the wires and into the pews. Immediately about one half of the congregation jumped to their feet. The pastor reached down and adjusted a knob on the podium and then said, All you who will pledge to give twenty dollars a week please stand. A second stronger volt of electricity caused several more people to rise to their feet. This whole process was repeated several times. Each time the pledge amount was raised along with the voltage. The ushers had to work fast just to record all of the names and pledges. After the service the pastor and staff were busy adding up the totals and congratulating themselves on the great success of the annual stewardship campaign. Their enthusiasm ended abruptly however, when one of the Deacons opened the door and announced that four church members had been electrocuted because they refused to stand up Well, I m not going to try to force you into doing something you don t want to do today. I simply want to kind of challenge you to consider what your giving says about your faith and Who or what ultimately is in charge of your life. And I guess in some ways, the answer to that question depends upon who you ask. Ask a child who is in charge at your house, and they will probably say, Mom. Ask a husband who is in charge at the house, he will probably say, My wife. Ask the wife who is in charge, and she will say, Oh, no one is in charge But tell her that the her closet space is going to be reduced, and we will see who is in charge. It shouldn t be that way for Christians in the church. We should know who is in charge. A lot of people will say, The pastor s in charge. 1
All kidding aside, there should be no question who rules over our lives as Christians. Look at 1 Corinthians 8:6: yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. 1 In Paul s day, there were many so called gods. But Paul stated there was only one God our Father created us, and we as His creation are to live for Him. Likewise, in Paul s day, anyone above you in power and rank could be called my Lord. The highest lords were the rulers of the world, such emperors, and they were considered next to gods, some of them ever deified. But Paul said there is only one true, visible governor of the world and the Church, by whom are all things are made: Jesus Christ our Lord. Christ is Lord. He is in charge. He made and governs all things. We, as His creatures, live in reference to Him, and we live by and through Him. Jesus Christ. Christ is Lord. I m not. Melody isn t. Nothing in this world is Lord of all except Christ. So, what does that mean in my daily life, for Christ to be Lord? Let me suggest to you 4 things, and this form the acrostic PASS. First, Christ is Lord over my Priorities. German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe grasped the importance of priorities. He said, Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least. Stephen R. Covey in his bestseller The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People wrote: One of my favorite essays is The Common Denominator of Success written by E.M. Gray. He spent his life searching for the one denominator that all successful people share. He found it wasn t hard work, good luck, or astute human relations, though those were all important. The one factor that seemed to transcend all the rest [was] putting first things first. Setting the right priorities is vitally important for success. And, it turns out, not just for material success. In Exodus 20, we have the first delivery of the Ten Commandments, and they start this way: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before (or besides) me. 2 The Christian life is the daily pursuit of personal surrender to the Lordship of Christ. Our sinful nature wants us to be the center of the world, so we set priorities in life that attempt to make that reality. Every single one of us do this. But that is not the way it should be. We are to have no other gods but the one true God, and He sets our priorities in life. Not Madison Avenue. Not your friends. Not the boss. Not some self-help guru or personal trainer. Not some book on successful living. Christ is the Lord over my priorities. Therefore, my priorities will be determined by Christ as my Lord. And anything that is not Christ s priority has no place in my life. My giving to the Lord will take first priority in my budget. 1 1 Corinthians 8:6 (NIV) 2 Exodus 20:2-3 (NIV) 2
The first thing Myra and I budget in the new year is our tithes. And we never waver on giving that tithe because it is our number 1 priority because Christ is Lord over my priorities. So, when Christ is Lord over my priorities, then Christ is Lord over my Actions. Actions spring from priorities. If I have as one of my priorities to lose weight, then my actions should be efforts to accomplish that priority. But it is more than that. I may be trying to lose weight, but ice cream sure is nice as a night-time snack. I decide my actions, even if they violate my priorities. But the way of Christ as Lord of my life means He dictates my actions, and not because of fear. I obey because I love. Jesus says in John 14:15, 21: If you love me, obey my commandments Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them. 3 Obedience comes out of love. It is the proof that we love Christ. Same thing with giving. We give out of love for Christ and His church. Yes, the church may not be perfect, because the church is made up of people, and sometimes, people make mistakes. I hope no one thinks I m perfect, and I don t hold you to perfection either. The church makes mistakes, but that doesn t stop me from giving, because it is not about the church matching up to my prerequisites, my expectations, in order to receive my giving. We give because we obey, and we obey because we love. Third, when Christ is Lord, then Christ is Lord over my Stewardship. There is a story of a minister in a small town who was having trouble with the collections. So, one Sunday, he announced from the pulpit: Before we pass the collection plate, I would like to request that the person who stole the chickens from Brother Smith s henhouse please refrain from giving any money to the Lord. The Lord doesn t want money from a thief. The collection plate was passed around, and for the first time in many months, everybody put something in. Whether ill-gotten or legitimately obtained, everything we have comes from Christ, and Christ gives these things to us for us to care for, or be stewards of. And because Christ has given, we too are to give back, and especially on Sunday. In Jesus day, the Pharisees had set up a long list of do s and don ts (mostly don ts) on what you can and cannot do on the Sabbath. Repeatedly, Jesus conflicted with their rules, like when He healed on the Sabbath. Once, when He and His disciples were walking through a grain field on the Sabbath, the disciples picked some of the grain as they were walking and ate it. The Pharisees had a conniption, saying the disciples violated Sabbath rules. But Jesus said, For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. 4 Christ is Lord of the Sabbath, and since we are to give on our Sabbath and not come before the Lord emptyhanded, then Christ is Lord over my stewardship. He directs yours and my giving. Finally, if Christ is Lord, then Christ is Lord over my Soul. 3 John 14:15, 21 (NLT2) 4 Matthew 12:8 (NIV) 3
The surgeon said to the 8 year-old-boy, Tomorrow morning I ll open up your heart. You ll find Jesus there, the boy said. The surgeon continued, I ll open your heart and check the damage. You ll find Jesus there, the boy said. When I see the damage, I will suture you back up and then think about the next step, said the surgeon. You will find Jesus in my heart because my Sunday school teacher told me so. She said it says so in the Bible. Besides that, our Sunday school songs say He lives there, said the boy. The surgery took place the next day. After the surgery the surgeon began to make notes of what he found. In his mind, there was no hope and no cure. The little boy would die within a matter of months. That thought began to get to the doctor and all of a sudden the doctor shouted to God, Why did you do this to the boy? Why can t he live a normal life? God spoke to the surgeon s heart and said, The boy is a part of my flock and will always be a part of my flock. When he is with Me, there will be no more suffering and pain. He will have comfort and peace. Everyone who has Me in their heart will have comfort and peace The next day, the surgeon went to the boy s room and sat down with the parents beside the bed. In a moment or two, the boy opened his eyes and asked very quietly, What did you find in my heart? With tears flowing down his cheeks, the surgeon said, I found Jesus there. 5 How do you get to heaven? The Bible is clear: if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 6 We must acknowledge Jesus Christ as the only Savior, believe is our hearts that He and He alone died for our sins, and was raised from the dead for our justification. As a result, we are to depend solely on him for that justification, and we will be saved. My friends, Christ is Lord. It means intentionally giving Christ authority over our lives. We think, speak, act and give according to His commands, not our personal desires or societal norms. IF JESUS IS LORD MEME: If Jesus is Lord, then Caesar is not. If Jesus is Lord, then the economy and stock market are not. If Jesus is Lord, then my possessions, country, and job are not. If Jesus is Lord, then I am not. 7 When we put all of this in the focus of stewardship, then we realize that: First, when Christ is Lord over my Priorities, I will prioritize my life away from selfishness, away from what advertisements say, away from what all the other voices say. I will prioritize so that Christ and His work is number 1 in my spending, my budget, my time, over everything in my life. 5 Author unknown 6 Romans 10:9 (NIV) 7 Richard Rohr 4
Second, when Christ is Lord over my Actions, I will obey His commands regarding stewardship and giving solely because I love Him, and I will not do anything to diminish that love, that relationship, with Him. Third, when Christ is Lord over my Stewardship, then I will never come before the Lord empty handed. My offerings will be inline with the charge His has given me to tithe, give freewill offerings, and when we see a need, we will meet a need. Finally, when Christ is Lord over my Soul, then I am kingdom minded and I want my stewardship to be used to reach others so that they too might be saved. I will not be selfish with my giving at the cost of someone s eternal soul. Christian financial advisor Larry Burkett said, It really comes down to one question, do you trust God, or have you just been saying you trust God. When you go to a doctor for your annual check-up, he or she will often begin to poke, prod, and press various places, all the while asking, Does this hurt? How about this? If you cry out in pain, one of two things has happened. Either the doctor has pushed too hard, without the right sensitivity. Or, more likely, there s something wrong, and the doctor will say, We d better do some more tests. It s not supposed to hurt there! So it is when pastors preach on financial responsibility, and certain members cry out in discomfort, criticizing the message and the messenger. Either the pastor has pushed too hard. Or perhaps there s something wrong. In that case, I say, My friend, we re in need of the Great Physician because it s not supposed to hurt there. 8 At the bottom of page 6 is a place for you to make your own personal commitment. You will not turn this in. But it will be a promise between you and Christ regarding your stewardship from this time forward. Pages 5-6 are designed for you to remove, to tear out, and keep someplace as a reminder. There are 3 options, and only 3: I am tithing to the church, and will see how I can increase my giving, trusting God with all my offerings. I pledge to begin tithing to my church immediately, trusting God with my tithe. I pledge to begin working towards a tithe by reprioritizing my finances, with the goal of tithing by (date), trusting God with my giving. There is not a fourth option, because a Christian doesn t have any other options. The Biblical standard is the tithe, not a tip. Giving our money confirms what our money says: In God We Trust. 8 Ben Rogers 5