Church Sermon - May 4, 2003

HANDLING WORLDLY WEALTH

Rev. Mark F. Bartels

Epistle Lesson; 2 Corinthians 8:1-7
Old Testament Lesson; Exodus 35:20-29
Sermon Text; Luke 16:10-12

It is probably a little known fact of Bible history that when Moses was commanded by God to build the tabernacle and he asked the people to bring their offerings to make it possible to build that tabernacle, the people eagerly began to bring their offerings! But, they didn’t stop there…

They brought more offerings!

They brought their offerings to the point that the men who were responsible for building the tabernacle had to finally go to Moses and say, "Moses, we have way too much stuff here. The people have brought way too many offerings. You are going to have to ask the people to stop bringing offerings." Moses had to send word to the whole camp, to stop bringing their offerings! The Bible says that he had to refrain them from bringing their offerings to the LORD! Talk about rich generosity and overflowing love! Can you imagine a church having that kind of a problem, where the board of stewardship has to get up and say to the people, "We are going to have to ask you to stop giving. We just don’t know what to do with all of the gifts!"

Did you know that King David was responsible to see to it that offerings were collected, to build the temple of God, in Jerusalem? Scripture records the following words of King David.

"Who am I?

Who are these people,

that we should be able to be so generous?"

He considered it a great privilege to be able to be generous with his worldly wealth, toward God! Do you know how much David gave out of his own personal treasury, to the building of the temple? (This is one of the rare times in scripture, where the Bible actually records the amount of someone’s offering.) The Bible tells us that King David gave 110 tons of gold and 260 tons of silver, from his own pocket. Talk about rich generosity!

That is an example of the extremely rich person. Now let us go to the example of the extremely poor person. You remember the story of Jesus sitting in the temple with his disciples, as they were watching people putting money into the offering. The Bible says the disciples and Jesus could see that some of them were putting in large sums of money. Then a poor widow came along and she put in one little coin, called a mite. That little coin is worth less than a couple pennies.

It was then that Jesus turned to his disciples, and said,

"I tell you the truth,

that woman gave more than all of the others,

because she gave all that she had."

That lady gave 100% of her worldly wealth to God! Talk about extreme generosity!

Do you remember the story of when Jesus was in the home of a Pharisee and a woman came in, opened up a jar of very expensive perfume and then poured that entire jar onto Jesus’ head? The Bible goes on to tell us how much that bottle of perfume was worth. It says that it was worth one year’s wages, which by today’s standards would probably be about $35,000. She took that $35,000 and poured it out on the head of her Savior. Talk about extreme generosity!

In our scripture reading for today, Paul is talking about the people in the Macedonian Churches. The Bible tells us, "They were living in extreme poverty." And, yet Paul says,

Which means that they sacrificed things in their own life, for the great privilege of giving to the work of God!

Now what is it about those people, that enabled them to be so generous, as to even be self sacrificing, so that they could have the privilege, (as the Macedonians called it) the privilege of giving to God? There is one thing that truly motivated them. And, the one thing that truly motivated them was the Gospel.

Think about that beautiful story of the woman who went in the Pharisee’s home with that $35,000 worth of perfume and poured it onto Jesus’ head. What motivated her to give so much?

She was a sinner.

Other people had condemned her.

Her conscious troubled her.

She probably was very concerned about the prospect of spending an eternity in hell, forever and ever.

And then, here was Jesus.

v Jesus came to her with the words of the Gospel.

v Jesus, her Savior, looked at her and said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."

v Jesus removed that burden from her shoulders.

v Jesus spoke to her, nothing but words of great comfort.

v Jesus ultimately went and purchased her, not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious life and death on the cross, to pay for her sins.

She was so moved by His love for her, that she wanted the privilege of being generous toward her Savior.

The same can be said of the Macedonian people.

The people in Macedonia had been heathens.

They had been unbelievers.

They had been living in sin.

They had been heading straight for hell.

But, by the grace of God, St. Paul had come to them and spoken to them.

v St. Paul was preaching to them the saving Gospel message. St. Paul was preaching to them the message of Jesus Christ. They had heard that, while it was true that they were sinners, all of those sins had been removed and forgiven! They had been released from their guilt!

v And they knew that Heaven had been purchased for them, at a great price, through the death of God’s own Son!

v They were so overjoyed with their salvation!

v They were so overjoyed with what Jesus had done for them!

v They were so overwhelmed with the love that God had given to them, (not a bit of which they deserved).

So they pleaded with Paul, (they pleaded with him) for the privilege of giving!

is

the only thing

that truly and properly motivates us,

as God’s people,

to want to be

us!

You know what Martin Luther said in the explanation to the 2^nd Article of the Apostle’s Creed.

"Jesus has redeemed me, (that means He has paid a high price) He has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sin, death, and the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with His holy precious blood and His innocent sufferings and death."

We know that!

And, we believe that!

We KNOW

God’s Son

paid the highest price,

giving us the

AWESOME BLESSING

of being

FORGIVEN by God!

We have been released of our guilt, freed to go out and live for Him in this life, with the joyous future of an eternity in Heaven! And, we know it is totally undeserved. And, that is the Gospel message that motivates us. It motivates us to be generous with the worldly wealth that God has given to us.

When you buy something, when you purchase something, what is the reason why you purchase it? For instance, why did you purchase your car? Why did you purchase your house? You purchased your car, because you intend to use. You purchased your house, because you intend to use it. Why do you think Jesus purchased you? What was the reason for Jesus to purchase you? Jesus purchased you, because He intends to use you for His Kingdom! A Christian gladly and joyfully says, "Jesus, I am here. I have been purchased by you. You own me. I belong to you. Every single thing that I have, I commit to you. I am totally and completely committed to you. I want to be used for you and by you, for your Kingdom."

Scripture teaches that we should not only give our offerings because the Gospel motivates us, but it also teaches what we call First Fruit Giving.

Everything that I have,

every penny that I have,

belongs to God.

Jesus purchased me with the intention that I would use the gifts He has given to me, for Him. Every penny that I have should be committed, out of love for Jesus, to be used either directly for the service of the Kingdom, or indirectly for the service of the Kingdom. When we bring our offerings to church, those offerings are used directly for the service of God’s Kingdom. When we buy our house, food, clothes, car and the other necessities of life, those things are used indirectly for the Kingdom. Why do I have a house? Why do I have food, clothing, and a car? As a Christian, I understand that those things are there to enable me to have the strength and health to go forward in this life, living and serving my Savior. I can then go out and make a living, using the income that God has given to me, for the service of God’s Kingdom and the growth of His Kingdom.

First Fruit Giving means I first ask the question, "What am I going to give directly to the Kingdom?" before I decide what I am going to use indirectly for the Kingdom. That is the first decision that we make as a family. Then we know what is left over for us, to use indirectly for the Kingdom of God.

The Bible also talks about the principal of proportionate or generous Percentage Giving. Scripture clearly tells us to be generous. St. Paul tells us in one of the epistles,

"Each one of you

should

set aside a sum of money,

in keeping with his income."

The phrase "in keeping with his income" really would be what we would call Percentage Giving. Since God has given me and blessed me with this amount of income, what do I feel, what does my family feel, would be a generous percentage to set aside for the direct work of God’s Kingdom?

Scripture does not tell us, it does not tell us, what that generous percentage is, in your life. You have to really look into your own heart and talk about it as a family, asking, "What would be a generous percentage for us to give directly to the work of the Kingdom?"

For some people it may be 5% of their income. For others, it may be 10% of their income. This past week I was talking to a couple of pastors, (actually I know three pastors) who give 20% of their income directly to the work of the Kingdom, through their offerings to the church. I was talking to one of them, who said, "You know in the Old Testament people had to give a tithe. They had to give 10%. They were told to do this, by God. It was the law. It was necessary for them. Their motivation was the Law. But our motivation is the Gospel. Our motivation is because of what Jesus did for us. Our motivation is so much stronger, and so much more powerful, than it was because of needing to follow the Law. I see 10% in my own life, as just a starting pointing. After all, if people under the law could give 10% and my motivation is so much stronger, for me that 10% is just a starting point. I have the ability to give generously to the LORD."

I can’t tell you what a generous portion or percentage of your income is. That is an act of faith, on the part of each one of us.

Scripture also gives us the principle of Regular Giving. The Bible says,

"On the first day of each week,

(the first day of each week),

each one of you

should set aside a sum of money

in keeping with his income."

That phrase, "first day of each week" means it is regular. If you want to know if something is important to you, all you have to do is open up your checkbook. For instance, living in your house is pretty important. You will notice that you are very regular in seeing to it that is taken care of. Owning a car is very important and you will see proof of that in your checkbook, as well. You are very regular in taking care of that. As Christians, there is nothing more important to us than the work of the Kingdom. So that should be a regular part of our life. We willing and happily want to regularly see to it that God’s Kingdom is cared for.

The Bible also talks about Cheerful Giving. The Bible says,

The Macedonian people considered it a privilege, a privilege, to give to our Savior. For a Christian, giving is not a burden. It is a joy! It is an honor, to use our worldly wealth for the furthering of God’s Kingdom!

Finally, the Bible talks about Confident Giving.

You know, it is pretty easy to sometimes look at what we are giving for the work of the Kingdom and ask ourselves, "How can I make ends meet? How can I do that, if I give this portion to God’s Kingdom, to the church?" Yet scripture says this,

"Give.

A good measure,

pressed down,

shaken together and

running over."

There is a promise from God. The promise is that when we give to Him, we can go forward in absolute confidence. God promises, Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, and running over!" God is going to take care of my needs. As a Christian, I can confidently go forward and trust that.

St. Paul ends this little section about the Macedonian churches by saying,

"Just as you excel in everything,

in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us,

see that you also

excel in this grace of giving.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

That though He was rich,

yet for your sakes

He became poor,

so that

you,

through His poverty

might become

rich."

These are your words, Heavenly Father. Lead us in the way of truth. Your word is truth.

Amen.

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