1 Timothy 6:3-10, 17-19

It’s Not About the Money

How many of you attended the Harvest Dinner on Saturday night?  For those of you who weren’t able to attend you missed a great meal and an even better evening of fellowship and forward visioning. 

Thank you to Steve DeJarnett and his committee for all their hard work, thank you to our new “Praise Band” (you should have heard them) and thank you to all of you who helped clean up!

Saturday night kicked off our Stewardship campaign entitled “Expanding Our Horizons.”  And this morning I get to preach about … STEWARDSHIP!

Now, I am well aware that for me to speak about stewardship, especially as it relates to money, makes some of you just a little uptight, nervous and uneasy. Uneasy, perhaps because things are getting a bit too personal, for to tamper with our money is to tamper with our lives, and we don't like that.

“Don’t try and make me feel guilty, pastor!”  I can hear it now.  “Times are tough and probably will continue to be tough.  Maybe talk about money NEXT year!” Truth is, many of us are barely living paycheck to paycheck.  And some can’t even do that.  Believe me, I understand!

When Marylyn asked for the title of this morning’s sermon my mind went back to a movie that came out a little over 10 years ago. It was called Jerry Maguire.  Anybody see it? It is about a professional football player and his agent. The signature line is “Show me the money!”

How’s that for a sermon title on stewardship?  Thankfully, I thought twice about that and decided not to use it.

Still, it always amazes me when I read about sports figures who decide to hold out for more money.  Think Michael Crabtree. With salaries and guaranties that are in the 10’s of millions of dollars, they still feel underpaid. Often they will tell the media that it is not about the money, it’s about respect. Of course when they say it isn’t about the money, it’s always about the money.

 Money in today’s environment is a tough issue to talk about.  There was a report about five years ago that highlighted the following facts: Consumer debt had tripled since 1980. The average American household had over $35,000 in consumer debt. The average amount of credit card debt in households with more than one card was now more than $8,000.

About 43% of American families were spending more than they earn each year. Personal bankruptcies had doubled in the last 10 years.

And that was BEFORE the recession hit.  Just imagine how much worse it is today.

Many people have more month than they do money. They have more bills to pay than bills to pay them.

Gallup reports that 64% of all couples worry about money. It is also now the number one cause of divorce - 51% of all spouses that call it quits say it had something to do with their finances.

And in most instances, it’s our own fault.  We have this preoccupation with money, with wealth, with things and the more the better!  It gets us into trouble!

What makes all of this even more amazing to me is that compared to the world, most of us are unbelievably rich. Do you realize if you own your home, have two cars and any kind of retirement plan, you have more wealth than 98% of the world's population. You were in the top 2% of the world's richest people. Even without owning our own home, two cars, and without a retirement plan, the rest of us are still in the top 10% of the world's richest people regardless.

Still we seem to be focused more and more on getting money – the more the better. It can define who we are to ourselves AND to those we love. I came across a story the other day about a man who came home after a hard day at the office and fighting the traffic and greeted his wife and little 3-year old daughter. He stooped down in front of his little girl and said, "How about a kiss for Daddy?"

She must have had a hard day, too, for her only response was "NO."

Seeing the hurt look on the father, the mother said, "I'm ashamed of you, Janie. Your Daddy works hard all day to bring home a little money and you behave like that?"

Taking the cue, the father asked again, "OK, honey, come on now, where's that kiss?"

The little 3-year old looked him in the eye and replied, "Where's the money?" True story!

Where’s the money, indeed!  That’s probably why the scriptures tell us that “Money is the root of all evil.” Right?

Actually, psychologically that phrase is very appealing because, well, it lets us off the hook. If it’s the money that is evil, we can project the blame on something outside ourselves - wealth - you know what an awful temptation it can become.

But money isn't the culprit - the problem is within ourselves and our attitude, for what the scriptures actually say, what Jesus actually says is that “the love of money is the root of all evil.”

For love of money people will cheat, lie, betray, murder, try to keep up with the Joneses, manipulate others, find loopholes, go further in debt to give the impression or illusion of prosperity.

One problem with money is that it's just so easy to love….  It fulfils so many needs in a very real way. To us it can be a lot like … god (small g)

When you're sick – money can buy you a doctor’s visit and potential healing. When your soul is troubled – money can buy you counselling. When there's little or no rain – money can even buy you water…

Money can buy you so many of the things that you need for life that it is quite easy to allow it to become a sort of mini god, isn’t it?

Money can perform miracles. (With enough money and my cell phone, I can make a pizza appear here in less than 30 minutes – and if it’s cold, then it’s free.)

But the sad truth is that money can also be addictive.  The love of money is almost like a drug.  When we have it we almost always want more – because there are always more things to buy, more vacations to take … more, more, more. It never ends. It seems as if our contentment can only come through the acquisition of more and more material things.

Interestingly, studies show that the more a person earns, the less proportionally he or she gives to charitable causes. There are exceptions, of course, but this is the general rule. The more we get, the less we give. It should work the other way, of course. As we get wealthier, we have more of what is generally called discretionary income.

If we are earning $70,000 a year, it should be much easier to give $7,000 (10%) than it is for the person earning $30,000 to give $3,000. After all, the necessities of life--food, shelter, clothing--cost no more when you earn $70,000 than when you earn $30,000. Look at how much you should have left over.

But that’s not how it works though, is it? As we become wealthier, our idea of so-called necessities change. We do not even realize it, but something can also happen to our soul. Outwardly we still worship God--but inwardly we begin worshipping things. And that’s dangerous.

Jesus dealt with the dangers of money more than with any other subject. When he said that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God, he was saying something very stark and real to us. He was saying to us that there is something about material wealth that has robbed as many people of their spiritual inheritance as any of the sins of the flesh.

The world makes much of money and of the sort of power and status that money often brings…..

God takes a totally different view. Look at Zacchaeus! Do you remember his story? He had everything! He was CHIEF tax collector. He was WEALTHY. He had no material worries. In the world’s eyes – he’d arrived! 

But Jesus describes Zacchaeus as someone who is LOST! He’s lost because he’s put his hope and faith in something that can’t satisfy…The Bible says : don’t put your hope in money - put your hope in GOD !

And that’s just what Zacchaeus decides to do. He meets Jesus and chooses to put his hope in God. And the immediate result is: he feels totally different about his money. He decides he’s going to give away half his wealth. He’s going to give back the money he’s cheated people out of four times over!

He’s stopped serving Money and he’s started serving God. He’s stopped loving Money and now he’s loving God – and his neighbor. His hope no longer lies in money: his hope is in Jesus.

So Zacchaeus becomes less rich in the eyes of the world – but much richer in God’s eyes. In fact, he does all the things we’re urged to do in our text this morning in First Timothy: he does good; he becomes rich in good deeds; he’s generous and he’s more than willing to share!

This self-made man becomes a Jesus-made man. When we read about Zacchaeus, we can just imagine that when he gave his money away, he did so with a great big smile on his face.

That’s what Christian giving and sharing should be like. There’s no place for a miserable reluctance to enjoy things, just as there’s no place for miserable giving.

God does work in mysterious ways. When you share what you have with others it always comes back to you in a blessing. It may not be monetary. It may not be tit for tat.

In God's wisdom, the blessing comes in a form that makes your heart glad. I don't think I've ever seen a generous person lost in despair. They are often the happiest people I know. God keeps blessing them as fast as they can share what they have with others.

And yet that is so hard for most of us to do.  God asks us to give from our heart.  In ancient Israel God asked for their “first fruits.”  In other words, before you gave anywhere else, before you even gave to yourself, you gave first to God. God was that important.  Their relationship with God was that important.

Some of you like to give dinner parties.  Some of you are really good cooks.  Put the two together and you have a great evening.  If you were going to invite some good friends over to dinner, what would you serve? How many of you would serve leftovers from the previous evening’s meal?

So then, let me ask you this. If we would not serve our guests leftovers, why would we give God our leftovers when it comes to money?

Reminds me of a story: Once upon a time there was a man who had nothing. So God gave him ten apples. He gave him the first three apples to eat. He gave him the second three apples to trade for shelter from the sun and rain. He gave him the third three apples to trade for clothing to wear. He gave him the last apple so that he might have something to give back to God to show his gratitude for the other nine apples.

The man ate the first three apples. He traded the second three for shelter from the sun and rain. He traded the third three for clothing to wear. Then he looked at the tenth apple. It seemed bigger and juicier than the rest. He knew that God had given him the tenth apple so that he might return it to Him out of gratitude for the other nine.

But the tenth apple looked bigger and juicier than the rest. And he reasoned that God had all the other apples in the world. So, the man ate the tenth apple and gave back to God the core.

There are some of us who are taking from God blessings that would inspire awe and envy in the hearts of most of the world’s people and we are only willing to give back to Him the core. No guilt, just something to think about.

It’s not about money … it’s about the LOVE of money.  Billy Graham once said, “Tell me what you think about money and I’ll tell you what you think about God.”  Good question!

Amen