Enough Pt 2 - Sermon

I get it. Talking about stewardship of our time, talents, and resources makes us uncomfortable. We like to claim that money and church just don’t mix - and that’s where I stop understanding. Stop getting it. Because Jesus talks about money and wealth a lot. Sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly, but there is no shortage in either testament in addressing money. And if Jesus talked about it, so do we.

I grew up in a tithing family. I remember watching my dad write out his tithe check  every Sunday before I could even really know what a check was for. The story goes that around the age of six I came out to my dad while he was writing his tithe check and asked for an envelope. Dad gave it to me, and I disappeared into my room, returning with my name printed in large letters on the front in crayon. I handed it to my parents and my dad asked me what it was. I told him it was my money for church, just like his - and when he opened up the envelope he found $1.00 - a treasure for someone that age. I have tithed and given to the church ever since.

Now maybe its easier to give when we are children. We aren’t all wrapped up in the fear of what is to come. But I also think that children understand the wisdom of today’s scripture lesson in a way that we forget when we grow up. When we are children who are well cared for, we don’t worry where our next meal is going to come from or if we will have clothes to wear. We simply trust that we will be provided for. Trust our parents. Trust our grandparents. Trust those who are our caregivers. But then we grow up and think that we need to make it all on our own - we start to fret over not just having food and clothing, but having the best. We start to fear that we will not have enough instead of trusting God to provide. We start to sum up our lives not by God’s grace but by what we have accumulated. We start to worry that God doesn’t know what we need or that God won’t come through for us. We fear that if we give to the church, give back to the work of the Kingdom of God, that our quality of life will diminish. We start to wonder if we will need that money for something else. As we write out the check, we hesitate, wondering if we are saving enough for future, unknown needs. 

Last Sunday we discussed, at the beginning of this sermon series, some of the ways we can unknowingly waste our money. Perhaps you live beyond your means, racking up more debt then you ever intended to, in an attempt to keep with “the Jones’s” as presented in commericals and advertizements that surround us every day. Sometimes we waste money on buying things that we don't even want or need. But other times, perhaps, we waste our money because we aren’t living into some of the Biblical principles presented about money. We may know them, just like we may know the basic principles around what we need to do in order to be physically healthy, but we haven’t put them into practice, which can lead to squandering and spending at a rapid pace. 

Biblical principles #1 - tithe unto God. Sometimes people start to argue over the details of tithing. Do I give God ten percent of my net or my gross income? Here is my take on tithing. It is an act of trust, and its giving to God our best. For me, I give the church ten percent of my income after taxes and deductions, like healthcare and pension - knowing that I will one day be tithing on my pension checks as they are withdrawn. Perhaps not everyone will agree with me on that, but that is what a tithe looks like in my life. It may look different for you. But the question is what are you giving to the work of the Kingdom of God in terms of finances and why. I don’t give to the church, in order to be blessed, like a trade-off with God - if I give you ten percent, you will give me this. Instead, I tithe as an act that I trust God. My tithe checks are always the first ones written when a paycheck is deposited. Perhaps you can’t give ten percent this year because you are new to the idea of setting aside a certain portion for the Kingdom, instead of simply giving whatever you have in your wallet on Sunday - that’s okay. Figure out, prayerfully, what percentage you can set aside, maybe 2 or 3 or 5 - and faithfully give that. The basic idea is are you giving God what God is due - are you giving God your very best or simply what is left over? 

Biblical principles #2-4 have to do with being wise with the money we receive. The problem is that we aren’t always good at this. CNN Money reported in a 2007 survey that less than 50 percent of Americans have $25,000 or more set aside in their retirement accounts. Some this is because they are living beyond their means now instead of planning for the future. For others, saving simply isn’t on their radar - and instead of setting aside some money in savings, they are spending it now simply for the sake of spending money - not on necessities, or even things they want, but simply things that catch their eye, finding themselves buying on impulse. It doesn’t matter if you are saving for retirement or a trip or a just incase something breaks in the house fund - we can all find our efforts to save thwarted form time to time by impulse buying. Try taking a step back, leaving the item for 24 hours. If you still find yourself wanting it after that period of time, you can return and get it. 

Biblical principles #2-4 around money include: having a budget, living a simple life below your means, and paying off your debts and saving money for the future. Once again these all fall under the categories of being wise with the financial resources God has entrusted into our care.

Because at the end of the day that is what money is  - a resource that we are called to take care of, to be good stewards of. And to what end? To be able to live into the call and purpose God has placed on your life. Another way to state this would be to ask what is the purpose of your life and how do your financial habits reflect that purpose? One of my chief purposes is to glorify God and spread the good news of Jesus - do my finical habits reflect this? Another is to care for my extended family and help them feel supported and loved - do my financial habits reflect this as well? When we consistently, impulsively spend our money without examining our habits through the lens of God’s purpose and call on our life, we can unknowingly end up being wasteful.

Brothers and sisters, where are you struggling around the idea of Biblically wise finances this morning? With tithing? Having a budget? Living a simple life, below your means? Or paying off debts and saving? Our money is meant to be a resource to help us live into the purpose that God has placed in our lives, not a chain that holds us back. Would you join me this week in prayerfully considering how to have more Biblical practices around money, in order to glorify God? Amen.