Money, Money, Money!
Blessed are the Poor
Jesus did not live in as much
different world as we do. Money spoke in his day as much as ours. But He said
2.Luke 6:20 Blessed
are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who
hunger now, for you will be satisfied…
It’s a very hard saying for
someone living in South Ruislip. Even in European terms you are rich, having as
on average as much as five times the income of some of our European partners.
And compared with the rest of the world we have so much. And yet it is bad news
for us because the kingdom of God is for the poor and the hungry. Yes, I know
you can spiritualise it but James repeats this version quite explicitly.
3.James 2:5 Listen, my dear brothers: Has not
God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and
to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?
. Money and wealth are ‘gods’
that take us away from our dependence on God.
It is very easy. How many of us do not have today enough money to live
the rest of the week? So when was the last time you asked God for enough to buy
breakfast? When did you last pray over your shopping list? You see, we do not depend on God for our day-to-day
lives; we have all sorts of good and healthy mechanisms to protect us:
pensions, social security, grants and the like. They are not bad in themselves
but if have no need to cry to the Lord for our daily bread we have not learned
to pray.
Jesus identified the source
of the problem this way:
4.Matthew 6:19-21 "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. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
The
problem is simple. Whether we like it
or not we find it hard to value heavenly treasure over and above earthly
treasure.
Jesus did not see a
compromise where we can sort of ‘have a small fortune’ but not be
affected. His words were blunt and to
the point.
5. Matthew 6:24 "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.
What is the problem? Money
gives us
5a.Security
- I can weather the storms of life
because I have money put away and I have insurance.
5b.Possession - It’s mine to do as I please.
5c.Happiness –
we believe we can buy happiness.
All of those infect our
dependence on God. Our wealth takes us away from the kingdom.
Trusting God is what the kingdom is about. As we have been seeing
from our Gospel believing in Jesus is the key. It is that trust that is of
prime importance in our spiritual lives. The Gods of this world bring fear and
anxiety. Our gospel is all about trust and peace. Jesus therefore said:
6. Matthew 6:34 . 34 Therefore
do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has
enough trouble of its own.
It’s uncomfortable isn’t it?
We want to be good disciples but our whole lives revolve around creating and
sustaining wealth and we let the world squeeze us into its mould, trap us. What
was Jesus’ solution? Well in the case of one young man very dramatic. Let’s
read about it
This is not comfortable
reading. , especially when I remind you that you are one of the rich in this
world. Just because there are richer does not excuse us. Most of us are home
owners with assets over a quarter of a million pounds. The test of Abraham was
simple. Sacrifice the one thing you have that you value above everything else.
In the case of this young man, the call is the same. Sacrifice the one thing
that you value most. Is this over the top? No! God gave his one and only Son so
that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life (where have
I heard that, before?) So he is not asking you for what he hasn’t done himself.
Where doe lead us?
8.Steps to avoid the idolatry of wealth
Well I am going to suggest a
number of steps to avoid the idolatry of wealth. But I am not going to close
the door on Jesus demands of this man. There may be some of us to whom this is
his calling. But it is not for all. Read the early part of Acts to understand how
the early church worked this out in practise and spend time praying about your
dependence on wealth.
1.
8a.Pray about your dependence Give us this day our daily bread. It is so easy to say grace
and forget that you are expressing your dependence on your father God. How
about thanking God for your wages. But I earned them! I deserve them. But if
you have joined God’s kingdom, this paycheck is not yours. It is God’s. So step
two is:
2. 8b.Tithe Malachi
3:6-12
I want to make two to
three observations here. We are not under law, but under grace. Tithing is not
an obligation to Christians; it has to be a response to the love of God and the
desire to obey. The amount is for you
to decide between you and God. It is not anybody else’s business. If you are
married it is your husband, or wife’s business and it is part of marriage to
work these issues out. The example, in the Old Testament is 10% of income. Whether
before or after tax is your decision. It is not all your giving because Jesus
taught that in giving we should not let the right hand know what the left is
doing. In other words there are responses that go beyond accounting. So you
pray about it and do some simple accounting. Then what? Well, you now have to
decide who to give this money to. The church is not the only recipient but as
God lays on your heart projects, mission, aid and other issues, you respond.
And yes part of your response to God’s love will involve giving to the church
and it’s fund so that its mission can go forward. At this time our Chancellor
has made a very generous deal so that gift-aiding your giving means that 22%
can be added to your giving. This church does not collect the Gift-aid itself.
Instead you give to the two funds through Stewardship or Charities Aid
Foundation (which is a smaller body, set up by government) You can gift-aid any
gift you make to a recognised charity so long as you are an income tax payer.
If you are paying 40% Income tax George Brown allows you the other 18% back via
your tax assessment. While this offer exists it is a great asset to all givers
and charities even if it requires some organisation!
3. 8c. Honest
investment Acts 4:32-5:11
The principle here is
that giving was to be honest. These
Christians were divesting themselves of capital assets for the sake of the
family of God.
4. 8d. Secrecy Matthew 6:1-4
There is no Biblical
warrant for public parading of giving. It is to be as secret as we can
practically make it. There are practical problems like you can’t gift-aid
without identifying who you are and how much you are giving and in these days
of electronic accounting, it is necessary for gifts to be identified with the
giver. However, your giving is a private affair. In this church only the
treasurers and the auditors will know who makes the gifts. What you give to
beyond this fellowship is for you to keep secret. Then you will be rewarded by
your father in heaven. There are no secrets with him. He will know not only the
amount of your giving but also the attitude of heart that made you give. He is
looking for the same attitude as he had. He gave and gives because he loves
you.
5.
9.What to invest in
a. 9a. The Poor – we could make poverty history if all evangelicals
in the world tithe and still have enough to evangelise as well! A recent report
published in Stewardship says that 30% of evangelicals in this country
tithe. Sadly that means 70% don’t and putting crudely 70 % of the poor remain
poor.
b. 9b. The
gospel both at home and abroad. Where
your treasure is there will your heart be also works the other way round. If
you are passionate about this gospel we are talking about you will want to take
it to the world. You will want to invest in evangelism.
6.
9c. Manage to remaining 90% None of it its
yours by rights, your wages are like your life a matter of stewardship, of
servanthood, of obedience. That is not to say you cannot spend it on yourself.
In God’s family, you are loved and provided for. Enjoy what God gives because
you are given it by him to spend so that you can appreciate his love.
There
are a few notes to make here.
1. 9d. Don’t let your credit card get out of control. If you do not have the money to pay for something by the time you have to
pay your credit card, don’t buy it. In other words, make one months income your
credit limit, whatever the credit card company puts on your statement.
2.
9e. Instead of worrying about the
increases in gas & council tax, plan to meet the increases now. Your gas
bill will be about one fifth more next time than it was this time last year.
Your gas bill is about £500 a year so it will go up by £100 which means £12 per
month or £25 per quarter.
3.
9f. If you are struggling to meet bills or unable to, seek help. Either talk to me or an organisation called Credit
Action. DO NOT go to one of these
companies that RESCHEDULEs your debts Last month egg.com offered no interest deal but
actually the APR was 15.9% when
interest rates are around 5%. They benefit from you being in debt, not getting
out of debt.
The
Office of Fair trading produces a pack on how to go about it and there is good
advice around if you need it.
7. 9g. The big challenge is how does your spending
reflect your life-values? You are the body of Christ and each of you are
art of it. What you spend your money on is reflected in your house so visitors
see it, and in your car, your dress and these things speak more loudly than the
words we say.
10. Finally
we must return to the objectives:
The Objective 1. 10a. Treasure in heaven. Where your treasure is, there will your
heart be. We are talking here of dependence, faith and joy in the Lord.
2. 10bTrust in God. Give with joy, give
until it hurts, give because you have received so much of the Lord. Trust God
that he will richly repay what you give. Believe Jesus that treasure in heaven
is far more value than the temporary pleasures on treasures on earth.
11.