Download Sermon Notes

Covenant Sermon
I am a Steward. Who is King?
5/5/2013
This morning we are beginning a two point series on stewardship. Next week
Pastor Sean is going to be preaching on the Ascension of Christ as it is ascension
Sunday. And then the following week we will conclude this series on stewardship.
There are two types of meetings that seem to clear out churches faster than
anything else: prayer meetings and stewardship series. Prayer meetings get the
connotation that they are boring and not fun (totally wrong) and stewardship series
make people uncomfortable because the focus is often entirely on money. We can’t
help but feel sometimes like stewardship series are like phone-a-thons that are an
annoying disturbance to our regularly scheduled program. There is nothing like
finding a concert on PBS where you are really enjoying it and then it abruptly pauses
so they can take 15 minutes to drive to get your money in support of the station and
they will send you a tote bag or sparkly pencil as a special gift!
In two weeks we are going to talk about stewardship of our time and talents,
but this morning we are going to talk about money. I promise you that it is not a
phone-a-thon moment to the awesome things that God is doing in this church. I am
not worried about money. God has provided and will continue to provide. What I
want to deal with this morning is the very reason we get uncomfortable when we
talk about money. I want to talk about how valuable money is to us.
Turn if you will to Matthew 18:23.
I want to start off this morning by talking about stewardship. Why do we use
that word in conjunction with money, time, or talents? Stewardship defined is: “the
careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care.”
I like to prepare people and get feedback from Sunday’s sermons by utilizing
questions and discussion on Facebook. I put out this question on Monday: If
someone gave you a lot of money…let’s say $2000…Do they have the right to tell you
how to spend it? And if they do, would you spend it your way anyway?”
The overall response to this question was: if it was a gift given to you then
you should be able to spend it how you want. One person even said that they
wouldn’t take the money if they knew there were strings attached. Some even
questioned if it was a gift at all if they were asked to spend it in a specific way.
Well after 15 or so responses, I added this: Here is the twist...what if it was
God who gave you the money or any gift or talent for that matter. Does he have the
right to tell you how to spend or use it? And if he does, do you spend what he has
blessed you with in your own way anyway?
You see that is what stewardship means. God has given us many gifts. He
gives them to us freely. The problem arises when we forget that ultimately
everything is his.
Listen to Haggai 2:8, “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the LORD
of Heaven’s Armies.”
I am a visual guy and so one of the best visuals I have ever seen is from the
Lord of the rings movies. There is a scene in Return of the King where Gandalf goes
to Denethor the steward of Gondor to ask for his help in overcoming his enemy. Just
watch this minute and a half clip and see if it helps you, as it does me, to understand
stewardship
Show clip
Did you catch it? Did you see where the steward of Gondor, Denethor, was
sitting? He wasn’t sitting on the throne. He was sitting on the left hand side of the
throne. And the problem is that he has heard that the king was returning and what
does he say? “The rule of Gondor is mine and none other.” He forgot he was a
steward.
Point 1: Stewardship means that everything is God’s. Therefore, he has a right to all
that we possess.
This is a hard pill to swallow. But you will never be a good steward of
anything, including your finances, if you don’t live by this truth. Otherwise you will
constantly whine and complain and fight against God’s plan for your life.
1 Corinthians 4:7 says, “For what gives you the right to make such a judgment? What
do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if everything you have is from God, Why
boast as though it were not a gift?”
We can easily get like Denethor if we allow ourselves to have an entitlement
attitude that we deserve what we have or we earned it by our own strength.
Deuteronomy 8:18 tells us that God is the one who gives us the power to be
successful. This applies to everything that makes you who you are: your time, your
talents, your gifts, your abilities, and your finances. Why am I going to focus in on
finances this morning? Because it is the easiest area to hold onto and the hardest to
let go of. Are you still at Matthew 18:23? Let’s read it:
Read Matthew 18:23-35
Now the context of this passage is forgiveness and grace, but God uses money
and finances as the illustration. Tell me, who would you or I be in the parable? The
servant. And who would God be? The king. Tell me, does the servant owe anything
or is all that he has always the property of his master? The servant and all he has is
the master’s.
And in this parable, a specific servant owes the Master ten thousand talents
or the equivalent of 20 years worth of pay. No small amount! So the idea is that the
Master trusted this servant with this amount and he wasted it. And since he wasted
the finances his Master has entrusted him with, he is now to be made a slave, he and
his family, in order to make the payment.
Understanding the fullness of his situation, he begs for his life. And
amazingly, the Master has pity on him, releases him, and forgives him his debt.
Although he wasted his Master’s money, the master in love forgave him.
As Christians we understand that apart from Jesus we deserved death. We
owed a debt we could not pay, and Jesus died in order to pay our debt. All we have is
his. 1 Corinthians 6:20 says, “Your life is not your own, you were bought with a
price…”
But just like with this servant we forget so quickly that all we have is God’s.
We are thankful for what he has done for us, but we fail to show his character like
this servant. And the parable shows this when the servant fails to forgive a man his
debt who owes him 100 denarii (which is the equivalent of 100 days wages. No
small amount either). Instead he throws him in prison until he can pay it.
When the master finds out, he releases the man and throws the unforgiving
servant in jail instead.
Point 2: Stewardship means that what you have should be freely shared with those
in need.
Turn to Acts 2:45.
You know so often when we talk about giving of our finances to Lord. We talk
about the 10%. Abraham gave 10% to God. Jacob promised to give 10% to the Lord.
It was part of the Law of Moses to give 10% to the Lord. Jesus even talks about the
tithe in Matthew 23. Tithe does mean tenth. But let me clarify some things about
tithing. The tithe in Genesis literally means “a tenth part.” But this thought was not
in a percentage as we would think about it today, instead it was more of a measuring
unit. So giving a tithe does mean literally 10%. It truly means “a complete gift.”
In fact if you look at all of the giving required for the people of God in the Old
Testament it looks more like 23 to 25%. No joke. Every year they were called to give
a Levite tithe that was 10% of their income. The festival tithe was another 10% that
was taken up in Jerusalem to be eaten with the family priests etc. Then every three
years at the national feast they were to give 3% to feed the fatherless and the
orphan. This does not include things like leaving grain in the corners of your field
for the poor to gather or leaving extra figs on the tree for the same purpose.
Ten percent should be a starting point. Randy Alcorne makes a great
argument for how we should approach giving our finances to God.
Show video
We still battle that attitude of it is mine or I deserve this or even, God is
asking too much. Listen to Acts 2:45: “They (the early church) sold their property
and possessions and shared the money with those in need.” Now the selling and
giving in the Greek is in the imperfect tense which means that this was a continuous
action as it arose. It was not that they sold all they had and lived on the street
together. It was that they understood the concept that it was all God’s and that since
it was all God’s that we were responsible as his stewards to help other brothers and
sisters who were in need based on what we were given to give.
Have you ever heard: God loves a cheerful giver. For some reason that phrase
always irks me. I think, “I bet he does.” But that isn’t just a nice phrase that isn’t in
the Bible like “Cleanliness is next to godliness.” This statement is taken from
2 Corinthians 9:7 that says, “Each of you should give what you have decided in your
heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
How do you get to that point? In Exodus 35 after God has given Moses the list
of things needed to build the tabernacle, the ark, and the articles of worship, Moses
asks the people to give as God moves them whether it was silver, gold, fine clothing
etc. He is asking for the best of what they have. They are not coerced or guilt tripped.
He is not asking a certain percentage of what they own. He is just asking them ask
God what he would have them give and respond.
And guess what happens? The give in fact listen to Exodus 36:3-7.
How do we get to this point? I am going to be completely honest with you this
morning. Most people fall into the category of a saver or a spender. I am definitely a
saver. My wife and I have lived through moments when there was less than 100
dollars left in the bank after the bills were paid and we wondered how we were
going to feed the family.
Now don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with saving. John Wesley
was quoted as saying, “Gain all you can. Save all you can. Give all you can.” But the
newcomer’s class just got our spiritual gifts inventory. I had one done weeks before.
My strengths were pretty close to what I though they were, but do you know what
my lowest percentage was? Giving. Out of 100 possible percentage points my
spiritual gift of giving was a measly 11%.
Now I want you to understand that I have always given God 10% of all I
made. My parents taught me that from the start whether it was even birthday,
Christmas, or allowance money. But that is the bare minimum. That is like passing a
test with a c minus. It gets me to the next grade, but it’s nothing to brag about. And
my prayer for my own life in preparation for this sermon is: how do I get to the
point where I give above and beyond the bare minimum and give joyfully?
Listen to I John 3:17 “If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother
or sister in need but shows no compassion- how can God’s love be in that person?”
Passages like this haunt people like me with a spiritual gift of giving of 11%. How
can I gain a heart that gives joyfully and freely as God wants me to?
Point 3: As stewards we can give joyfully because our King is also our Father.
Turn to Hebrews 13:5-6. I really believe the answer lies in this passage. Another
passage that helps us have the proper perspective is what Jesus says in the sermon
on the Mount in Matthew 6 where he tells us not to worry about the things of this
world even about the bare necessitites of life including food and clothing. He
provides for the animals in creation as well as the plants in the field. Why do we
worry? Instead he says in verse 33, “Seek first the kingdom of God and all these
things will be given to you as well.”
So we have a promise that if we seek him out and his will, we don’t have to
worry about our needs. He has it covered.
Listen to Hebrews 13:5-6 says, “Keep your lives free from the love of money
and be content with what you have, because God said, ‘I will never leave you; nor
forsake you.’ So we say with confidence: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me!’”
Let me give an illustration to share this point. My daughter Emma likes
money. Not because she knows how to use it, but she likes the weight and shineness
of coins at her age. And time and time again, do you know what she wants to do with
her money? She wants to give it to Jesus. Nick gave her a dollar the other night
during Wednesday night. Do you know what she wanted to do with it? Put it in the
children’s offering. This past Christmas we heard about a ministry where you can
buy a goat or a sheep or a cow for poor families in Africa. Do you know what Emma
wanted to do with her piggy bank money? Feed the poor kids in Africa. She is only 4,
but she still has something that I have lost.
That is where the joy can be found in giving and spiritual gift of giving can increase.
The reason she can give is exactly what I was talking about 2 weeks ago when I was
talking about heaven. Matthew 18:3 Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, unless you change
and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” I need
to reclaim that childlike faith that my daughter has. She is willing to give any money
that she receives or has because she is not worried about what she is going to eat, or
drink, or wear. Daddy is going to provide it.
And parents we must remember that although we are called to provide for
our families, God is our provider. We must become like little children. My daughter
gives joyfully and freely because she doesn’t love money. She loves Jesus, even at 4
years old. She is secure in her Daddy as I am secure in mine. And if he asks me to
give all that I possess for him I am secure because he will never leave me nor forsake
me.
I have one more illustrations I would like to close out the service with. This
past week at the Stocketts small group Glenda Mills shared about a time in her life
when her and Dave had only 200 dollars to their name. She knew that God was
calling her to give that money to a missionary. They had a refrigerator malfunction
and they had two options.: replace the floor or nail down the linoleum. To replace
the floor would cost…you guessed it… two hundred dollars. To nail down the floor
was the price of the nails. And do you know what they did? They pounded the nails
and gave the money away.
I don’t say that to puff up their pride, or to play a comparison game. But
something she said stood out to me. She said, “It was all we had.” I couldn’t get that
phrase out of my head because God was teaching her something through that
process. The 200 dollars was not all they had, when they gave it up, Jesus was all
they had and he was enough. And by challenging them to give that up, they realized
all the more, that he was all they needed. They never went without in all their years
of marriage.
I don’t know if you give 10% of your income to Jesus or 5% or 50%, and
frankly that is between you and God. I don’t know who gives what. I don’ want to
know. But what I am concerned about is that you realize that you are a steward of
the king, that he wants you to give freely and joyfully, and that you realize you can
do so because our king is also our father.
And if you are new to our congregation, that is why we receive the offering at
the end of the service. It is not something we do to get it out of the way. It is a
response in worship. We follow it with the doxology because it is our recognition of
thanksgiving that he blesses us so that we might bless others. Our present and
eternal hope is secure in him. Money is not our God. He is.
Let’s pray.