INTRO: 2015.01.18 The New ABC s Of Financial Freedom Message #2: Bondage (Deuteronomy 28:1-14) Bumper Video à The Office clip à If you ve ever watched The Office, you know that s pretty typical behavior for Michael Scott. And while his antics may be funny, the stress of debt and financial problems isn t funny at all. That s why we re in a series called THE ABC S OF FINANCIAL FREEDOM. I m convinced this series can improve your family s future; for some, it may rescue your business; and it can definitely extend our impact and reach as a church. Last week we began by looking at Our Attitude Towards Money in relation to the sovereignty of God. When it comes to finances, we need God s help and direction because in reality they re not our finances. Remember Psalm 24:1 the earth is the Lord s and everything in it; the world and all who live in it (cf. James 1). Everything we have comes from and thus belongs to God. That makes us managers of our resources more than owners. So the A in ABC s is about Attitude. This morning, I want us to look at the second step, which is Breaking the Bondage of Debt. The B in ABC s stands for Bondage. And though that word may sound strong, the Bible tells us that debt is not only a trap in effect it is a form of slavery. Proverbs 22:7, The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender (Proverbs 22:7, ESV). TRANSITION: David Rosenberg, a respected economist, recently noted that the ratio of household debt to disposable income is up from 30% in the 1950s to around 125% today (it was even as high as 139% in 2007 before the economic collapse). What those numbers mean is the vast majority of Americans are living well beyond their means. And what complicates matters is that we have very few role models to look up to. Our government certainly doesn t set a good example. The national debt is over 18 trillion dollars and the interest on that itself costs hundreds of billions of dollars a year. And while those numbers may sound astronomical to us, whether we re talking trillions of dollars in national debt or thousands of dollars in personal debt, the Bible says all debt no matter the amount is a subtle, but deadly snare. You don t have to raise your hands, but have you ever bought something you couldn t afford? Remember the feeling you had when you walked out of the office after signing the papers? Or when you drove off the lot? Something inside you asked, What have I done? But you just kept driving or walking and eventually you started feeling better. Why did you feel better? Not because your situation changed. You started to feel better because we re masters at talking ourselves into stuff. We say things like, I deserve this. I ll pay it off early. We need it. You see, when it comes to money we ve become adept at rationalizing even the irrational. But the truth is, eventually, we all have to wake up to the painful mess that debt causes. 1
TESTIMONY: Today I d like to look at several passages from the Old Testament, passages that represent God's Law for the people of Israel. I realize that as Christians we are not under law; we are under grace. That means you are not saved by how you handle your money. You are saved by the blood of Christ period. Let me say that again you cannot earn God s love through giving. He gives it to you freely through Jesus. That said, these passages are still Scripture, which means they reflect the heart and character of God. And because of this, they reveal valuable principles that can help direct us towards God- honoring financial management. So I d ask you to let me to share these principles today with conviction, even though I admit I m teaching them as principles, not law. You make ask, What s the difference between principle and law? The difference is the wise person will follow these principles because they want to not because they have to. Are you with me? Turn with me to the book of Proverbs (turn). While you re turning there, I shoud let you know that your pastor is doing his best to practice what he preaches. Apart from the mortgage on our house, Sarah and I are completely debt free. And even when we bought our home we agreed that we wouldn t buy a house unless it was a 15- year mortgage. If we couldn t pay it off in 15 years we figured it was too much house. And our goal is to pay it off even sooner than that. I promise never to preach something I m not either first practicing or growing to put into practice. So together, let s see what the Bible has to say about debt. TEXT: 1 My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger, 2 you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth. 3 So do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor s hands: Go to the point of exhaustion and give your neighbor no rest! 4 Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids. 5 Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler (Proverbs 6:1-5, NIV 11). The idea here is if you ve entered a pledge with someone else that means you owe someone some sort of payment or debt you should make it a point to pay that off as quickly as possible. God s plan is not for you to live in a state of stress, running from one financial obligation to the other. That s bondage. And it suffocates the life God offers you. There s a well- known passage in the New Testament, in the book of Galatians, which talks about the fruit of the Spirit. These are the qualities that a Christian should grow to exhibit. They are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self- control. Do you know what debt does to these? Debt tramples on love; it steals joy; it robs you of peace, eliminates patience and kills kindness; it turns good people into monsters; gentle people into cunning wolves, and faithful people into the type who fudge numbers. 2
And debt generally demonstrates a lack of self- control because often times we go into debt simply because we re not able to control our appetite for more stuff. God wants better for you. He want you to be debt free not so you can say, Hey, look at me! I m debt free! God s desire is that you experience the life He intends for you. It is a healthier life. It is a more content life. It is a more generous life. In short, a more blessed life. That s what Moses is getting at in Deuteronomy 28 (turn) 1 And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God. 3 Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. 4 Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. 5 Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 6 Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out (Deuteronomy 28:1-6, ESV). I know it s difficult, but please resist the urge to read the word blessing through this lens that if I do what God asks, He will keep giving me more and more stuff. That s not what the Bible is getting at. When you read the word blessing in the Bible what it s really getting at is the idea that when you live within the margin God asks of you He can begin to fill your life with the things that really matter. THAT S TRUE BLESSING. And to help us wrap our minds around this idea, consider this question. Have you ever stopped to imagine what life would be like if you were completely debt free? What would life be like if you didn t owe anything to anyone? Did you know the New Testament actually talks about that? Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law (Romans 13:8, ESV). What would it be like to not owe anything to anyone except the debt of love? If that sounds too unrealistic from where you sit today, imagine what life would be like if the only financial debt you had was an accelerated mortgage payment. No car payment. No boat payment. No still paying off last year s vacation. No school loans. What could you do for your family? What could you do for your neighbor in need? What could you do for the Kingdom of God? ü For that matter, what could our church do if every one of us were debt free? What could we do to love and serve the hundred thousand people who live in or around our community? What could we do for our missionaries? What could we do for children and teenagers? What could we do for local schools? What could we do for and with community organizations? What could we do for single moms and single dads? For widows? What could we do for our elderly? Or for our refugee population? ü You want to know the answer just about anything we wanted! Why can t we do that already? Because of DEBT! Miserable, life- killing, joy- destroying, DEBT! 3
Larry Burkett, in his book, Debt Free Living, says Regardless of how it seems today, debt is not normal in any economy and should not be normal for God s people. We live in a debt- ridden society that is now virtually dependent on a constant expansion of credit to keep the economy going. That is a symptom of a society no longer willing to follow God s directions. TRANSITION: If you d like to break free from the bondage of debt, to use your money in a way that honors God, and to have your financial management serve as a testimony to others here are five things you need to know: APPLICATION: (1) Debt affects everything you do. Even your attitude is affected by debt. ü If the government increases your tax hit and you re out of debt, no big deal. You may be frustrated but it s not going to ruin your life. If you re in debt, the question becomes, What do we do now? ü If your son or daughter wants to play a sport and the league fee costs $100 and you re out of debt, you don t have to say no. If you re in debt, you ve got to figure out how you tell your kid they can t play basketball because Mom and Dad wanted granite countertops. ü If the church needs money for an important project or to meet a pressing need and you re out of debt, no big deal how much do we need? If you re in debt and the church makes a big ask, Well then we need to find a new church because all this church wants is our money. J.W. Fulbright once said, Priorities are reflected in the things we spend money on A nation s budget is full of moral implications; it tells what a society cares about and what it does not care about; it tells what its values are. It s safe to say that what s true of nations is also true of families and individuals. Your checkbook, credit card and calendar tell the story of your priorities more than what you say, it s these things that demonstrate what you really care about. That s the first thing we need to know debt affects everything. (2) The Bible doesn t forbid debt but it does discourage it. It s true that the Jewish people made loans to their fellow Israelites (Deuteronomy 15:2). But God did forbid them to charge interest. Deuteronomy 23:19 says flatly, Don t charge 4
your brother interest. The Bible also forbids charging interest to the poor 25 If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be like a moneylender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him (Exodus 22:25, ESV). 1 ü Why? Because God cares for the poor. He wants us to care for the poor. But as Proverbs 22 told us, if we re not careful we can create a society where, The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender (Proverbs 22:7, ESV). ü When I was with my family for Christmas the Indianapolis Star ran an article on payday loans. There s a whole industry out there preying on low- income families. The article told of one woman who applied online for a $300 loan and the money was in her bank account the next day. Sounds like a pretty good deal, right? Sometimes you need some quick cash. An advance on your check. Here s a way to get it done. But two weeks later when the loan wasn t repaid, the lender deducted $90 in interest from her account and also renewed the loan. Two weeks later the same thing happened again. And in less than two months the woman had paid $360 in interest on a $300 loan and she still owed the full $300. That s how the borrower becomes slave to the lender. But you can t just blame the lender. We have to take responsibility for our financial decisions. Do you remember Michael Scott s bar graph from the video? Here are your essentials (i.e. house, car); here are your non- essentials (i.e. magazines, entertainment); and this scary bar on the right represents all the things you ve bought that no person ever should need (i.e. two magic sets). The truth is many of us spend a lot of hard- earned money on the second and even the third category. We haven t learned to be content. When we learn to be content, we will make wise financial decisions. When we make wise financial decisions we will be freed from debt. And when we are free from debt, we will be able to live with more of an eternal perspective. ü It s telling that the longest term of debt advocated in the Bible was seven years. Turn to back a few chapters to Deuteronomy 15. I want you to see this for yourself 1 At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release. 2 And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor. He shall not exact it of his neighbor, his brother, because the LORD s release has been proclaimed (Deuteronomy 15:1-2, ESV). ü Now there s probably not much chance your creditors are going to release you from your debts after seven years because of Deuteronomy 15. But you can take it upon yourself to 1 Cf. Leviticus 25:35-36. 5
get out of debt as quickly as possible. In fact the late Larry Burkett, who wrote prolifically on financial matters, once said that he believed almost anyone could get out of debt in seven years or less if they truly made it a priority. If you re in debt make it a priority to pay off what you owe sooner rather than later. Don t just hope it will happen. Make a plan for it to happen. If you want to know where to begin, ask yourself questions like this: Do you know where your money is going? You d be amazed how many people have no idea. And I m not talking about the big expenses. Could you tell someone right now how much money you spend each month eating out? Could you tell someone how much you spend on clothes? Gas? Utilities? Do you have a budget? You have to budget to get out of debt. And then you have to budget to stay out of debt. o Psalm 37 tells us why this is important 21 The wicked borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives (Psalm 37:21, ESV). This verse gives us two reasons to get out of debt. First, because of your testimony. It says borrowing and not paying it back that s what wicked people do. Not paying your bills damages your reputation as a Christian, which damages the reputation of Christ. The second reason to get out of debt, according to this verse, is that when you ve paid back what you owe you are now free to give to those in need. o The end of this Psalm speaks of a person, who is 26 [He is] ever lending generously, and his children become a blessing (Psalm 37:26, ESV). How would you like that to be your legacy? Your children known for being a blessing to others. Something to think about. (3) Co- signing is not a sin, but it isn t necessarily smart. The bank says this person can t afford the loan. The bank knows more than you about what that person can and can t afford. You better listen. We already read Proverbs 6:1-5 that explains the danger of making a pledge. Here s what Proverbs 22 says, Be not one of those who give pledges, who put up security for debts. If you have nothing with which to pay, why should your bed be taken from under you? (Proverbs 22:26-27, ESV). I m thirty- three and already I have seen wonderful relationships destroyed by loans and co- signing. If you want to help someone out with a particular purchase or help them out of a pinch and you have the resources to do so here s the most God- honoring way. Give them the money as a gift. Just give it to them. If they ever repay you, count it as an unexpected blessing. And what about this if they don t end up giving it back to you, but they pay it forward to someone else, count that as a blessing as well. What did we read earlier? The righteous person is generous and gives. That s using money well. Speaking of using money well (4) It is possible to be generous in the present and still prepare for your family s future. 6
Proverbs speaks about the wisdom of storing up money 22 A good man leaves an inheritance to his children s children (Proverbs 13:22, ESV). Think about the implications of that verse. A wise person leaves an inheritance to his or her grandchildren. Why not her own kids? Because Mom and Dad already taught their own kids to have their financial act together. Wisdom enables you to push the blessing further down the family tree. And the Bible calls that good and wise. There is a balance to saving and giving. Sarah and I try to follow the principle that we won t save and invest more than we give. So if we want to increase our savings, we don t cut back on our giving. We cut back on our spending so that we can increase our saving and giving. Because you can t honor God by storing money up for the future and ignoring His mission in the here and now. (5) God s plan is that His people be lenders not borrowers. 12 The LORD will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. 13 And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them, 14 and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them (Deuteronomy 28:12-14, ESV). God intends the church to be a model for the world when it comes to wise living, including how we manage our money. As a church, we do our best to live within our financial means. We make an annual budget. We present it to the congregation for approval. If we don t have the money we anticipated, we don t spend it or we make other cuts. It s true that we have debt but we re paying it off aggressively and at our current rate we will be debt free by November 2018. It s getting close enough to taste. And it s our intention not to go back. The church ought to be the best- run financial institution in town and Christians the best money managers on the planet. If we learn to live DEBT FREE we will have taken a big step towards that goal! TRANSITION: As we wind down our time this morning, I want to let you hear from a few people in our church who are setting a good example of how to manage their finances. I have invited Keith and Deborah Branch, who teach our Financial Peace University class and have mentored countless people towards healthier financial living. And also Jason Payne and Ashley Moore, a young couple, who are dating, that recently went through FPU because they wanted to establish a good foundation for their futures. 7
INTERVIEW: Keith/Deborah Branch What is the biggest challenge you to see for people who come to FPU? Jason/Ashley How has what you learned in FPU changed your life and better prepared you for the future? Keith, when is the next Financial Peace class being offered? It begins February 22 nd. Thanks to each of you for spending some time with us this morning and sharing your insights. After last week s sermon that kick- off the ABC s series, I had a couple approach me with their story. And I want to share that story with you now via video Colby and Carol Macquarie testimony. TRANSITION: In his book Priceless, Dave Ramsey writes, Save yourself, save your marriage, and forget crisis management get a cash flow plan in place that helps you pay off the past, manage the present and prepare for the future. That s good advice that has helped many a family break the bondage of debt. CONCLUSION: Is debt free living the ultimate goal of the Christian life? Absolutely NOT. But it s an important step towards living the life Jesus calls us to. I realize that from where some of you sit this morning, the journey to become debt free may seem overwhelming or even impossible. But I m telling you, you can make it and God is willing to help. How do I know that? I know that because He has already rescued us from our greatest debt. Make no mistake, the greatest debt any of us will ever have is our sin. So God sent His only Son to die in our place and pay the debt we could never pay. Jesus came, died, and rose again so you could be debt free for eternity. Here s a question: If God did everything He could to get you out of debt for eternity, don t you think He ll help us get out of debt in our finances, now? His Word says it s important to Him. Don t you think He will help us? He will but we have to do it His way. And it starts by first taking care of our sin debt through the blood of Christ. Prayer/Invitation 8
Resources Burkett, Larry, Debt- Free Living (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999). Cameron, Barry, The New ABC's of Financial Freedom (Joplin: College Press, 2015). Evans, Tim, Breaking out of Financial Traps, The Indianapolis Star (December 27, 2014). 9