Stewardship – The Priority of the Cross – 1

Priorities

How does your life reflect your priorities?

Whatever answer you feel you want to give, the fact is – that your life already does! Your life reflects your priorities – whatever we say they are, our life tells the truth! Your life will be an active reflection of the things that truly are close to your heart.

James 2:18-20 “…someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?”

Our actions show us up! They reveal our commitments and priorities. It may be that we have good intentions, that we are in the midst of change and growth – and they will change over a lifetime – the priorities we have at 19-20 are different from when we’re 40 or 60. But our actions, our lifestyle will be the proof of what we value.

As Christians my guess is we want to have the same priorities as God through Jesus. We talk about this in different ways – seeing the world through God’s eyes – having his perspective, doing God’s will, sovereignty of God etc.

Paul says to the Corinthians church… 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

When we become Christians we take on a new outlook, a new plan of life – the old has gone, the new has come. The new improved “ME” – interesting concept! Over here, the old me – lifestyle, activity, thoughts, plans, purposes, goals, choices and priorities – over here, the new me – lifestyle, activity, thoughts, plans, purposes, goals, choices and priorities – I am a new creation! It’s like New Year resolutions except permanent and life changing rather than thrown away at the first sign of opposition.

What is that going to mean in the big things of life? What am I going to look like?

Because – let me say – it’s easy becoming a Christian. It may not seem so at first because it’s a tough choice in some regards giving up control – but it is a simple choice. The hard part comes day one – when the choices and the decisions need to be made according to God’s principles and plans. My priorities as God’s man have to be different from what I was before – for example with sin!

Romans 6:1-4 “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”

Dead to sin, alive to Christ – everything – all my attitudes and hopes and dreams – all my priorities are new! What’s it going to mean in day-to-day life? How will I regard the world and it’s inhabitants with my new eyes? What will be my new priorities?

2 Corinthians 5:16-17 “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

Over the next few posts I want to explore the theme – the Priorities of Christian Life – the Cross, the family, the Church, and finally money! I would love to encourage you to learn the verse immediately above, 2 Corinthians 5:16-17, off by heart. Memorizing scripture is one of the most valuable things we can do – if it’s in our hearts and minds then it can guide us and the HS will use it to change us.

The Dummies Guide to Ministry

Introduction… Stewardship

How do we as Christians practically act as God’s stewards in this world? A steward is someone who looks after the owner’s property and protects the owner’s interests. Money, time, energy and everything else is exercised according to the owner’s instructions. They manage the property and honestly report to the owner every detail. One of the foundational passages for this in the NT is the parable of the talents.

Matthew 25:14-18 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.”

In four blogs I want to look at Maturity, Ministry, Materialism and Money… to do so with some practical ideas – what do our choices and commitments say about our faith? Would someone know we are a Christian by the way we speak, the way we act, the way we spend our time, the movies we watch, the company we keep, the books we read, the way we spend money, the way we act at work, the way we treat the poor, the way we speak to or about our spouse or kids?

If you’ve ever been tempted to read one of the “Dummies Guide’s to…” – well that’s my aim – a “Dummies Guide to Stewardship”. You don’t have to be dumb or act dumb – a dummies guide is simply a non expert’s guide – an everyday guide. Stewardship for us is not a matter of putting into practice our expertise but rather putting into practice our beliefs and our trust.

I want to challenge you for four commitments.

1. Maturity… actively working towards maturity in Christ through prayer, Bible reading, regular church attendance and ministry.
2. Ministry… to use God given gifts in ministry for the encouragement and building up of Christians and the ministry of the Gospel
3. Materialism… to prayerfully and courageously stand against the world in the pursuit of happiness through possessions.
4. Money… to give generously and regularly to the ministry of the gospel in your church.

A Dummies Guide to Ministry

Two Little Boys – P.S. it’s a Joke!!!!

• Two little boys, 8 & 10 were always getting into trouble – whenever anything happened in their small town their parents knew their sons would get the blame. But mum heard on the grapevine that there was a clergyman who’d been successful in disciplining kids, so she asked him to speak with her boys. He agreed to see them individually the next day.
• So, mum sends her youngest down to the church next morning. The clergyman, a huge man with a booming voice, sat the boy down and asked him sternly, “Where is God?”
• The boy’s goes to speak, but makes no sound, sitting there with his mouth hanging open.
• The clergyman repeats the question. “Where is God?”
• Again, the boy makes gives no answer.
• The clergyman raises his voice, shakes his finger and bellows, “Where is God!?”
• The little boy screamed, sprinted from the room, ran home to hide in his wardrobe, slamming the door behind him. His brother finds him crying, and asks; “What happened?”
• The little boy, fighting off tears says: “We’re in so much trouble – this is bigger than anything we’ve ever done. God’s missing, and they think we did it!”

Ministry’s such fun!

The Church 100 years on!

100 years ago that story might well have been a good description of church – things have changed dramatically (though you can still find churches that would not think this joke was a joke!). Ministers were scary – fire and brimstone preachers bellowing about sin and damnation from pulpits high in the air – dressed in black with big black Bibles. They still exist!

In the Anglican church and in plenty of others what the priest said was law – except it had greater authority because it came from God. The priest had standing in the church and the community; he was an integral part of society. Churches did limited ministries – teaching happened at church by the preacher. It happened in the home when every member of the family was catechised – which is what catechists used to do – come to your home and teach you the catechism – it’s in the back of the prayer book. The Priest preached and read services, did the prayers and the readings (3 or 4, even 5 at times) – there were few lay preachers or readers. Sunday Schools, if they existed, were tightly controlled by the minister, there were few youth groups, mostly no Bible Study groups (we have the Wesleys to thank for those in the modern church) – the ones that existed were an opportunity for the priest to come to preach to the gathered group in your home. I know this probably seems foreign to most – yet I know from personal experience that some groups still operate this way, and some ministers and even lay people operate this way.

Makes me wonder how they dealt with a passage like…

1 Peter 4:7-9 “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ…”

Mostly today the church is very different. The 16^thC Reformation changed how we view church and ministry by going back to NT principles – especially that ministry was never meant to be the exclusive domain of the professional ministers and priests. Peter speaks of the new people of God, the church, as a priesthood of all believers.

1 Peter 2:9-10 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

Once we did not belong – we were not the people of God – but together now Christians are the people of God, the priests of the kingdom, called to declare the praises of Jesus who called us out of darkness – we are chosen and we are priests – a holy nation that crosses all boundaries, all colours, all national and racial differences to form one nation of priests under God.

The Dummies Guide to Ministry says… Ministry is not the domain of professionals – it is the responsibility and lifestyle of all who believe.

The Priesthood of all Believers

Peter writes about change – the real change that’s required of those who belong to Jesus. This shouldn’t come as a surprise – at least the theory – yet Peter goes to great lengths to describe the changes. His letters describe Christians at length – the new people of God – a chosen people, a royal priesthood, holy, a nation belonging to God, receivers of God’s mercy – God’s elect, strangers in the world, no longer strangers to God – spread throughout the world, yet gathered around the word, gathered before the throne of God – the chosen ones, made clean by God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit, chosen for obedience, made one with Christ by his blood, granted peace and God’s grace in abundance. Why go on and on?

Why so many descriptions of the change?

Is it so detailed because even after 2000 years we still struggle to leave our old lives behind and be wholeheartedly committed to the new?

1 Peter 4:3 “For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.”

All this we must leave behind gratefully, enthusiastically, with a sense of the reality that faces all people – that we must face God and deal with the lifestyle we have led.

1 Peter 4:4-5 “They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you. But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.”

In the face of imminent judgement – how are we to live?

1 Peter 4:7-9 “The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.  If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”

Living as Priests

This passage is the Dummies Guide to Ministry. As we read the rest of Peter we can see that as God’s gathered people we are to be holy, to be self controlled, to purify ourselves through reading and obeying the Scriptures. We are to love one another, to crave what is good, to encourage rather than tear down, to get rid of all the relational tools that don’t belong in the church – malice, rage, anger, slander – there are standards of behaviour and love that we must live according to, no matter how imperfectly.

It is spectacularly easy to fail in these areas, to fall back into the behaviours of our old life, to revive the relational tools we were committed to as non-Christians. If that’s where you find yourself – failing in relationships as Peter is speaking of here – it’s not impossible to change, though it will often feel like it is. If you wrong someone – apologise – go to them and seek forgiveness – be open about it, talk about it – ask them to forgive you. It’s tempting to just ask God and to think that’s enough – it’s not. When we sin we sin against God and people – we need to seek the forgiveness of both. If its 20 years ago then deal with it today – seek forgiveness today. Forgiveness can only happen when you seek it. And if you fail today – seek forgiveness from the person you have wronged and repent and start again. And if you fail tomorrow do it again. How many times do we need to forgive – or be forgiven…? Jesus says 7 times 70? 7 is the number of God, times the number of God, times 10. We might say infinity + 1.

Christians are the priesthood of the kingdom – we have a new lifestyle – not one given to satisfying our cravings but given to ministry. Don’t think of ministry as a great list of gifts and abilities – Pater has no lists – this is the Dummies Guide – the experts guide for the rest of us – it gives us the simplicity of love and hospitality. Every Christian is a minister – we are each responsible to build, encourage, teach and train – to use our gifts, which every one of us has been given, to further the work of the gospel. We are to think clearly and carefully about life, relationships, the world, church, the cross, salvation, money, family – think clearly about this things from God’s point of view. We are to be self controlled – not pursuing things that will kill us but instead that which will save and keep us. It’s the work of a lifetime – to give up pagan commitments and commit to the work and life of Christ. Ministry starts with love.

Ministry Starts With Love

Actually – ministry starts with recognition – every one of us is a minister. There are no pew sitters in Christ’s kingdom.

1 Peter 4:7 “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”

We have to start by believing God – he declares he has gifted us for his work.

Do you believe God?

Do you believe God when he says that you have been gifted by Him for the work of ministry? I guess I’d want to ask if you think God hasn’t gifted you – why is that? Why would God single you out to lack the gifts to serve in ministry – when he clearly promises that every Christian is gifted for the good of the church?

Maybe it’s hard for you to see where you can serve – maybe you need help working out where to get involved – maybe you need an environment that supports you or a ministry team who will encourage you – but the Bible is clear that each of us, as Christ’ chosen people, have been given the gifts required to serve Christ’s church faithfully.

1 Peter 4:9 “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.”

The thing is – getting involved in ministry is not a complex issue. It’s not a matter of discovering a specific gift – though that can help. Rather it’s a matter of realising the wonder of what we have received – the grace of God, the riches of Christ, the glory of heaven, and the forgiveness of sins… once we realise how unbelievable it is that we are in a right relationship with God through Christ – ministry is the means by which we will share that news. Ministry starts with love that is clear about the nature of this world and the judgement to come and out of love for God and others shares the gospel.

When two people get married – how ready are they for what’s to come?

Let’s be honest – they are not!? They’re not ready for the changes, the commitment, the differences, the day-to-day wonder of learning to live in intimate relationship. But… we commit to love and to service – to love one another to the exclusion of anything that will destroy, wreck, hurt, damage etc.

It’s the same in ministry – we don’t have to know precisely what our gift is or how to use it – what we need is a commitment to love. With self control – not living just for pleasure… and with clear mindedness – not clouded with the world – and a commitment to pray – we must love each other deeply and offer hospitality without grumbling.

The Whole of Ministry

This is not just the Dummies Guide to Ministry – this is the whole of ministry. Everything else fits into these two ideas. Firstly Peter speaks of Agape – love of a family member – Christians – we are to demonstrate a real and abiding love for each other firstly by sharing the gospel together and building each other up in the truth of God’s word. That love is powerful because it can bring about the obliteration of sins. Peter says “love covers over a multitude of sins” – in the context of church and relationships and ministry. He doesn’t mean we sweep the sins under the carpet – we don’t deal with them as some churches do with a false ceremony of absolution, which has no effect whatsoever. No – the love of the Christian community can deal with sin – on the basis of love we can make sin disappear – we can remove the stain of sin from our relationship and relate to each other not based on sin but on holiness. The pain from personal hurt may well remain, but relationships can be rebuilt. Peter says we are through with sin – that was our lifestyle but no longer. Our practice should meet up with the theory, and though it never will in this world, that is what we are to strive for. We minister together when we deal with sin, forgive sin and no longer treat each other as sinners but as forgiven and beautiful.

Can I just make a bit of an aside and be really, really clear. Sweeping sins under the carpet is not what we are talking about. I wouldn’t suggest for a moment that a victim of abuse (for example) should be told that “love covers over a multitude of sins” as though that somehow fixes the sin of others who did the abusing – it doesn’t in any sense. But go from a different position – the active, compassionate, practical, persistent and long term love of a Christian congregation towards a victim of abuse can mend brokenness and ‘cover over’ the sins and bring healing.

• A girl who has been abused by her mother might (eventually) find a whole group of mums at church that care for her and provides the sort of relationship a daughter has with a mum. It’s not the same – but it can bring healing and strength, a person or people to confide in, get advice from and to learn from. The mum still needs to be brought to account if that’s possible. But you know what churches so often do – they support the mum because they can’t believe their friend would ever do such a thing, and they condemn the girl and try to force her back into the abusive relationship.
• Or consider the case of a paedophile priest – for too long the church has fumbled around ineptly dealing with these issues – all too often by sweeping the sin under the carpet, blaming the victims, and paying people off whilst moving priests to new location where their past is not obvious. The church has taken the idea of ‘love covering over a multitude of sins’ entirely the wrong way! This is wrong! The victims of abuse deserve support and love that in time may cover the effects of the sin by rebuilding trust, faith and hope. And for some victims this will not be complete until we reach heaven – in fact maybe for most victims. All too often the victims are the ones rejected by the church – frankly this is reprehensible – if we do that we deserve the condemnation we so often receive in the media. But a church can also demonstrate the love of Christ by not covering over the sin, by not excusing the behaviour of the abuser, by not condemning the abuse victim, by not allowing the evil to continue, by not assuming that the priest could never have done such things because he’s always been such a lovely man, by not excusing sin as an aberration. The priest who abuses deserves to feel the full effects of the law and the condemnation of the church. Whilst the aim of the law is punishment, the aim of the church is to bring that priest back from sin to forgiveness and relationship – but that should not EVER be an easy path and they must NEVER be trusted without responsible and obvious supervision at all times – that is part of loving both the victim and the perpetrator – and even of loving those who could have been victims had the priest been allowed to continue. They must repent publicly and openly (within the bounds of the law) – there must be no prevarication – they must be thrown out of the church and we must not fellowship with them until they are fully aware of their sinfulness, and make a full, honest and public confession and pay for their crimes – we must treat them like the criminals they are. If and only when they have completed an appropriate lengthy time of repentance and excommunication should they be allowed back into fellowship – under the strictest conditions and warnings. We may forgive the truly repentant, we may choose to fellowship again with them and treat them as a fellow Christian, but it is right that their sin should follow them – for the sake of others.

Anyway – back to the Dummies Guide – the second part of ministry is this…

1 Peter 4:9 “…Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.”

The word hospitality is not really the word we think of – it comes from a Greek word that means to demonstrate love to the stranger. It’s hard to see that in English. On the one hand we are to love our brothers and sisters deeply – with such love that we face up to sin – we don’t sweep it under the carpet but we deal with it – and once dealt with we forgive and get rid of it and no longer relate on the basis of the sin (duly noting what I have said above about abuse) – and – we are to love the stranger in our midst. We are to welcome strangers into our gatherings and into our lives. We are to give them of ourselves, our homes, our wealth, our resources, our time, our energy – we have a responsibility as priests of the Kingdom to…

1 Peter 2:9 “…declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

True love for non-Christians is not to condone their lifestyle by getting involved in the pursuit of pleasure (which so many Christians do – and I’m guessing all middle class western Christians probably fall into that trap at least at some point)… but to call them out of darkness into God’s wonderful light – to help them confront their sin and deal with it obediently under Christ.

A Dummies Guide

If we’re going to be practical about this then how do we do it? How do we minister? The Dummies Guide to Ministry is about good basic practical things.

• The end of all things is near – so don’t give into the world but live prayerful, self controlled lives – be clear about the world.
• Christians – love each other deeply. Love is ministry – love leads to ministry and love deals with sin.
• Love those who are not Christs’ people – yet! Tell them the truth and help them be won to Christ – this is ministry.
• Each of us has been given gifts for the purpose of serving Christ’s Church.
• Use your gift to faithfully administer God’s grace.
• If your giftedness is as a speaker of the Word then speak as though God were speaking – be humble but strong, loving but don’t water it down, ever truthful but gentle.
• If your giftedness is a service gift get on with it and do it with the strength God provides.
• Whatever you do in life as a Christian you are a minister – in all things we should live so that God may be praised through Jesus Christ.
• The end result of ministry should be…

1 Peter 4:9 “…that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”

From our ministry people should be left praising God.

Competing With God – Money and Generosity

Duty, Scraps and Little Expectations

A friend’s dad used to come to church at Christmas – every year – he was very religious. And he thought that he should support the church. He was well off – not a Packer or Murdoch, but he had plenty. When the plate came around he would drop in 50c. He deliberately came to church without notes – he felt it was his duty to give money to the church once a year, but only what he wouldn’t miss – the scraps.

Big John was a great guy – the sort of bloke that would make a fat guy feel positively slender – big hearted too. He was a commercial banker – nicely set up with all the trappings. He said to me one day…

“God doesn’t want me to deprive my family so he doesn’t expect me to give more than I can spare. That’s right, isn’t it?”

He is a Christian, generous to his family, gifted, faithful, hardworking, and good at witnessing the gospel. I have seen him in action and especially amongst men at church he was a gifted evangelist.

Was he generous towards God – absolutely not!

• Where does generosity come into our relationship with God?
• What does it mean to be generous towards God?
• How has God been generous to us?

Lifestyle Religion

Malachi was the last book of the OT to be written – about 450 years before Jesus – and it summarises Israel’s relationship with God, gives God’s assessment – have they lived according to the covenant – have they been God’s people living God’s way in God’s land. That’s the question. The answer is not just a resounding NO!

Malachi 3:7 “Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’

Israel simply refused to live by the covenant for any length of time. They were just ordinary people – not particularly bad, not particularly good – just like us except they were Jewish and most of us aren’t. Many of them probably wanted to serve God faithfully, to be obedient – in the same sense that we see today –Christians generally want to be faithful. But Israel had a problem.

Malachi 3:14 “You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What did we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the LORD Almighty?”

Their problem was obedience and repentance – or rather a lack of!

Negative Equation

They looked at the world and said…

Obedience + repentance = 0

Doing God’s will, repenting of sin – gets you nowhere. The rich get richer at the expense of the poor. The arrogant are happy, evildoers prosper and escape God’s wrath. So they followed the nations. They wanted what other people had – security in an insecure world, security they could touch, taste, hold and be sure that it was real. They wanted love, and justice, fairness, romance, health, wellbeing, prosperity, enjoyment, safety, and peace. And they decided to get them through money and by calling God a stupid fool.

Foolishness

See, what they said was ‘evil people prosper and get ahead’. The part they didn’t say – but obviously believed – was that God was either wrong or stupid. The world doesn’t work the way God says it does. God says ‘hang on – take a step back from your sin? Give me glory and honour – obey me, be my special possession as you agreed to be – and then you will see the difference.’

Malachi 3:18 “And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”

But Israel wanted to see a difference that didn’t exist. They wanted God’s blessing even though they were exactly the same as the evildoers – there was no discernable contrast between Jew and pagan. Be mine says the Lord, be absolutely my people – be discernibly different and then you will see the difference.

Money

In their relationship with God they had given up everything that had any meaning and were simply doing the religious bits and pieces. And one of the clearest indicators was with their money. This is so often the truth with the people of God – what you do with your money says volumes about your faith. The Jews thought that money would get them ahead. They saw the locusts devour the crops, the thieves steal and storms destroy, they saw the taxman and the banks taking more and more and their superannuation destroyed by downturns in the market and they said to themselves, “I have to stop giving to God so that my family can live.” And they did – they gave up the tithes and offerings.

What do you think God said to them?

“Look guys – sure – yeh – no worries – no problem, I understand. Times are tough, I know it’s all been a bit hard – heaven’s been a little tight too – there have been cutbacks you know – so look, that’s fine.”

You know what God says to Israel?

Malachi 3:8-98 “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ “In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me.”

Israel responded to God’s generosity with disobedience and a lack of generosity.  They weighed up faithfulness and financial security and money won. Their interests and security had to come before God. They thought they had to provide every good thing, that they were responsible for prosperity, that they had to make a name for themselves, to protect themselves against locust, thieves, storms, disaster – have you ever tried to stop a swarm of locusts? They decided that it was up to them to provide generous blessings for themselves.

At this point there should be big flashing neon signs saying “Danger” “Danger” “Danger”.

Lifestyle

How different are we from Israel? We are God’s people living God’s way for eternity in God’s kingdom – by the death and resurrection of Jesus – the new covenant. We are not Israel, we don’t have a regimented lifestyle religion, we don’t live in Palestine, nor has God ever promised any such thing. But like Israel our lives are meant to conform to God’s will. We are to worship God, to walk in Jesus’ footsteps, to live by the Spirit, to grow closer to Jesus day by day, to fellowship with each other, to do specific things when we gather, to support and care for each other, to witness the truth of the gospel even to the point of death. It’s not a matter of rules and regulations but our entire lifestyle is to be a reflection of what we will be for eternity – God’s people living God’s way in God’s kingdom – by the death and resurrection of Jesus. For all eternity we will be focused solely on praising God in word and action – shining lights sharing in Christ’s glory.

Modern Society

But right now we live in a society obsessed with money and possessions, and the temptation for us is to see a hostile world, to see its dangers and difficulties and to bunker down – to protect our assets and build for the future. That is what the world encourages us to do – at every turn, if we are to be productive members of our society then we must strive for security, for the money and possessions that will free us – and we have bought the message so fully that we think God agrees with our aims! We think it is righteous to withhold from God – we think God agrees with the worlds view of cash!

But God says that we are in the greatest danger – danger of robbing him – danger of responding to his generosity without generosity – of being like Israel bunkered down, relying on themselves and their wealth, trusting their ability, giving glory to themselves and lacking generosity towards God.

The question is – what to do?

God says “be generous as I am generous” – but what does that mean?

I guess we could do what Israel did – look for rules – how much should I give to God in $$$ terms or % terms? The Pharisees of Jesus’ time gave 10% of everything they produced, including the herbs on their kitchen window – they had rules, hundreds of rules to regulate what generosity to God meant. I know for myself that is my temptation as well – to look for rules in my giving. I was brought up with the idea that 10% was a good starting place – I’ve hardly questioned that principle in my life. Even now as I write it bounces to the surface – if only people in the church would all give 10% the church would be loaded – ministry would progress, evangelism abound… (just leave aside the little element of self-righteousness that threatens to creep into my thoughts).

But God isn’t interested in how much! God is not interested in how much money – or time, fellowship, worship, praise, prayer, possessions, love, care – or money. There are no quantities being bandied around in the heavenly realms – quotas and targets. No – not how much… but rather God’s interest is how will we respond to God’s overwhelming and outrageous generosity?

You know what must have stuck in God’s throat with Israel? God promised them everything – their heart’s desires. In fact God was the only way they would ever have their hearts desires. And he came through – when they were obedient and repentant they received everything with abundance. Did they respond with gratitude – did they respond in kind? No! They said – “Wow, look at what we’ve done. Look at what we have built for ourselves – look at how rich I am – I did it my way – I better make sure that I protect it – that is the most important thing.”

And you thought they were different to us?!

How should they have responded?

With cheerful generosity! To say to God “You’ve given us everything we need and desire – can we give back to you.” To say to God “I will trust in you to fulfil your promises because you hold out the things I want and need.”

Look – the reality is no different for us. All the things we desire are found in Jesus – he offers us love, security, peace, hope, life, esteem – everything we really want, the things we seek. How should Israel have responded to God’s generosity? How should we respond? When we look at our little world – our home, possessions, education, superannuation, family, kids and grandkids, friends, holidays, leisure, our plans for the future, our marriage, our church and church friends here, the lifestyle that we have – do we look at all that, do we survey our domain and say “look at what I have done for myself”? Or do we say “thank you God”. Do we say, “I did it my way” – or with cheerful generosity, do we say to God “You have given us everything we need and desire. I will trust in you to fulfil your promises because you hold out the very things I want and need. How can I be generous towards you Lord?

Reality Check

Here’s the thing – I know lots of churches struggle to exist. But I do wonder why? Why are finances always an issue? It makes sense if there is real growth and the money just keeps outstripping the demand for ministry – that’s a nice problem to have. But for lots of churches that’s not the case. Why are the finances in constant trouble? Is it that there are not enough people earning enough money? Is it that we don’t give enough as individuals? Is it that churches spend the money unwisely? Is it that budgets are too adventurous or simply wrong?

As I look back at Israel it strikes me that when they did not prosper it was because as individuals and as a nation they refused to be generous to God!

There could be all sorts of reasons why churches lack sufficient funds – but if what the Bible says is true about money and generosity… if we will respond to God’s generosity with generosity then we will lack nothing – God will provide far above our desires and even our imaginations.

It’s a hard question isn’t it – it hits home pretty hard, right into every aspect of our lives and our families. But hear me on this – it’s not a matter of how much we give, or don’t give. Rather it’s a matter of living by God’s principles as we deal with money.

Principles of Generosity

I’d like to suggest three Biblical principles about money and possessions. This is not everything – just a part.

1 Timothy 6:17-19 “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”

Paul says… don’t be arrogant about wealth, don’t put your hope in wealth, do hope in God (the provider), do good with the cash, be rich and generous towards others (probably speaking about those in the church), lay up heavenly not earthly treasures, take hold of real life not the falsehood of money. And… it’s also ok to enjoy what God has provided.

Three Principles?

• Be generous.
• Don’t assume responsibility for what God has done.
• Set your hopes on God.

We can bunker down all we like in the face of trouble. We can fear for our financial security and hoard and store and protect OUR assets for all we are worth. But none of it matters an ounce should God decide to alter our perspective. None of it’s worth a drop should we be found in the end to have been trusting in riches. It’s true for individuals and for churches.

God is the one who provides. God is the one who gives us generously out of his great wealth – if you have wealth of any sort – in fact if you have anything at all, it has come from his generosity. We falsely assume responsibility for our position in the world and in society when God is the one who gives and can take away. If you are hoping in your riches – your hope is entirely misplaced.

God says… don’t hoard and protect – don’t bunker down in the face of trouble.

He says “Try and beat me at being generous.”

Try and be more generous to me…
than I can be towards you…
and see who wins!

Money & Church

Christians don’t like it when ministers talk about money and generosity. Maybe you feel churches should focus elsewhere rather than on money and giving. I’d say the opposite – I can’t think of a more appropriate place than church gatherings to be asking myself (again and again) “How am I responding to God’s generosity?” If I am God’s person, living God’s way in God’s kingdom for all eternity because of the tragic death and the incredible resurrection of Jesus Christ then how will that affect my cash? For no other reason than God’s gracious love, he gave his son to take my place in death so that I might live.

We talk about the wonder and joy of Christmas – do you know the truly amazing thing about Christmas?

It’s not that Jesus was born as a baby boy!

But that he was born at all – that God acted generously towards me and you by providing his one and only Son as the sacrifice for our sins.

Do you think there will ever be a day that you can be more generous than God has been towards us? Out of that outrageous act of kindness God gave us life – life that is without limit, life that is full of every good thing, life full of everything I need and all my hearts true desires. How can we respond to God’s generosity by living generous lives towards God?

Some Questions for Thought and Discussion

Think/Discuss

1. What is your attitude towards money? Especially – what is your attitude towards giving money to God?
2. How did you decide what to give?
3. Where did your understanding about God and money come from?

Read 1 Timothy 6:17-19

1. Is your hope in God or your wealth and financial standing?
2. How would your friends and family answer that question about you?
3. What does hope in wealth look like in day to day life?
4. How are you using your money to lay up treasures in heaven?

Read: 2 Corinthians 9:6-11

1. Can a lack of growth in maturity, converts and the church be linked to a lack of generosity towards God?
2. If the harvest is small – does that mean we have put too little in?
3. If we lack anything we need does that mean we have not been generous to God?

Think & Pray: How can my church use the money God has given to proclaim the gospel? What will it take to convert those we live amongst?

Action: What actions do you need to take regarding money? Who do you need to speak to this week about Jesus?