Text: Matthew 6: 19-24
I
want to talk about money this morning. This is a touchy subject, so let me give
you a bit of background. The worship committee responded to a suggestion that
we spend some time talking about money. We could talk about questions such as,
“How much we should tithe?” Should you tithe 10% of gross income or net income?
Do you give all of your 10% to your home church and then give offerings beyond
that to other ventures in God’s kingdom? And so on.
One
can answer such questions readily. Tithing as a matter of law does not apply in
the New Covenant. We give as a response of gratitude and love for God’s grace
active in our lives. This truth increases the importance of giving. A tithe can
feel like a tax, so that we look for the least we can do to satisfy the law. A
response of gratitude and love leads us to ask how much we can give, how little
we can get by on for ourselves. But of course these answers gloss over a deeper
issue: How do we relate to money?
I
was talking about this question with some friends recently, and we noted a
shift in our area between our generation and those who precede us. Older folk
tend to hold their money more lightly; we (I speak as a baby boomer) tend to be
more concerned with accumulating money.
So I want to wrestle with this question this morning: How should we
relate to money? What can we say as Christians about money?
Money is Good
Can
we agree on this point to begin? Money is good. Money is (or can be) a sign of
God’s blessing. Listen to Proverbs chapter 3:
5 Trust in the
Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways
submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
7 Do not be wise
in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.
8 This will bring
health to your body and nourishment to your bones.
9 Honour the Lord
with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops;
10 then your barns
will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.
Now
this particular passage goes on to observe that wisdom based on the fear of the
Lord is worth more than these overflowing barns, but the point is clear: wealth
comes from God. Consider people in the early church such as Lydia (Acts 16) and
Joseph of Arimathea (Matthew 27:57), who used their wealth for the benefit of
people around them. This point is worth making because people sometimes
misquote Paul: “Money is the root of all evil.” Of course you know that Paul
says, “The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). To begin then, let us say that money and
possessions are good. God wants us to thrive—as Proverbs puts it, to have full
barns and good wine. Paul’s words remain, however, and they lead us to our
second point. If money is good, then how can the love of money be the root of
all kinds of evil? How can the love of money be bad?
Money seeks to
take God’s Place
Note
the way that Jesus puts it in this morning’s text: “You cannot serve God and
Money.” Money is good; but money can be abused. Similarly, fire can be destructive,
burning down someone’s house. But fire itself is a good thing, providing heat
and energy for people like us who live in such a cold climate. When fire is out
of control, it becomes destructive and bad. It is not simply that it burns up
dead stuff—in a forest fire that activity contributes to the long-term health
of the forest. But when a fire burns out of control it destroys good and bad
together and becomes an agent of destruction. Similarly, when money is not
controlled, when money becomes the controller (the master), it becomes
destructive.
Hear
again Paul’s words in 1 Timothy 6:10: “Some
people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves
with many griefs.” Money is good, but greed is bad. Money can be God’s blessing
in our lives, but loving money and pursuing it leads to grief. Why is this?
The Trouble with
Money
Do
you remember Jesus’ words in Matthew 19?
16 Just then a man
came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal
life?” 17 “Why do you ask me about
what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to
enter life, keep the commandments.” 18
“Which ones?” he enquired. Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not
commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, 19 honour your father and mother,’ and ‘love
your neighbour as yourself.’” 20 “All
these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”
21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be
perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have
treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22
When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. 23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly
I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a
camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter
the kingdom of God.”
Jesus’
point is clear: The rich cannot enter God’s Kingdom unless God makes it
possible. We can see this more clearly by looking at a definition of who is
poor and who is rich.
We
often define “poor” economically. Instead, let’s define “poor” theologically. I
think it is Kittel (The Theological
Dictionary of the New Testament) who defines them this way: “The poor are
those who need God’s help and know it.” The rich then are those who need God’s
help—and don’t know it. Compare this idea to Revelation 3:14-18:
To the angel of the church in Laodicea
write: “These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the
ruler of God’s creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are
neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm –
neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired
wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realise that you are wretched,
pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I
counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so that you can become
rich; and white clothes to wear, so that you can cover your shameful nakedness;
and salve to put on your eyes, so that you can see.”
Sometimes
we focus on the lukewarm nature of this church: “I wish you were cold or hot!” I’m
not sure if what follows is cause or symptom, but observe: They use their
wealth to self-medicate their condition. They think they can solve their
problems with money. They think that their wealth will protect them from the
problems of life. Like Donald Sterling of the LA Clippers, they think they can
solve any problem they face with money. They are wrong!
Ravi
Zacharias has put it this way: “The words of Augustine are most appropriate: ‘You
have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they find their
rest in Thee.’ Or, as Pascal put it, ‘There is a godshaped vacuum in the heart
of every man, and only God can fill it.’”
I
read a blog replying to this quote, in which the author claims that atheists
are happier than Christians, so the quote must not be true. What I say here,
then, I say with appropriate caution: I believe that Augustine and Pascal (and
Zacharias) are right, but I don’t identify the experience of God’s presence
with happiness. Christians may not always be happy; but we do find the fullness
of God’s presence, which alone satisfies. You can call what we find “joy”, or
“peace”—something deeper and richer than the pleasure that comes from spending
money. “There’s a deep, settled peace in my soul, while the billows of life o’er
me roll, he abides, Christ abides.”
The
rich try to fill that inner space with many different things, and they fail.
Poor people struggle with obvious problems such as no housing and no health
care. Rich people’s problems are often invisible, but just as destructive. Paul
Simon turned a poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson into one of the best and
grimmest of his early songs:
They
say that Richard Cory owns one half of this whole town,
With
political connections to spread his wealth around.
Born
into society, a banker’s only child,
He
had everything a man could want: power, grace, and style.
But I work in his factory, And I curse
the life I’m living, And I curse my poverty.
And I wish that I could be, Oh, I wish
that I could be, Oh, I wish that I could be
Richard Cory.
The
papers print his picture almost everywhere he goes:
Richard
Cory at the opera, Richard Cory at a show.
And
the rumor of his parties and the orgies on his yacht!
Oh,
he surely must be happy with everything he’s got.
But I work in his factory, And I curse
the life I’m living, And I curse my poverty.
And I wish that I could be, Oh, I wish
that I could be, Oh, I wish that I could be
Richard Cory.
He
freely gave to charity, he had the common touch,
And
they were grateful for his patronage and thanked him very much,
So
my mind was filled with wonder when the evening headlines read:
“Richard
Cory went home last night and put a bullet through his head.”
But I work in his factory, And I curse
the life I’m living, And I curse my poverty.
And I wish that I could be, Oh, I wish
that I could be, Oh, I wish that I could be
Richard Cory.
The
trouble with money is that we use it to try and heal what only God can heal, to
do what only God can do and fill the space in our lives that was made for God
alone.
Simplicity
A
common response to this line of thinking is to adopt a simple lifestyle. It’s a
good response, but by itself it is not enough. Simplicity is not an end in
itself. Simplicity is not the goal; God is. You can decide that you are going
to break the grip money has on you by moving to a cabin in the woods. You may
decide to downsize radically. You may buy a used car and get your clothes at
the MCC Thrift Ship. You may become genuinely cheap! But none of this is the
goal. God is the goal.
The
Shakers were a group who broke off from the Quakers in the late 1700s. They
were an idealistic group who committed themselves to life in the Spirit, living
in anticipation of Christ’s return. They had some characteristics not worth
emulating, as well as many admirable qualities, one of which was their
commitment to simplicity as the path to freedom in the Spirit. We can learn
from their understanding of simplicity, expressed in a little one-verse hymn
you may know. Here are just the first two lines:
’Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the
gift to be free
’Tis the gift to come down where we
ought to be ….
Richard
Foster wrote a book called The Freedom of
Simplicity. He starts out by saying that simplicity is not simple.
Simplicity is complex. Simplicity is possible only through God’s grace active
in our lives. One of the churches in the larger Mennonite family has adopted
what they call their Core Values. Their statement on simplicity runs like this:
“Living Simply: We value uncluttered
lives, which free us to love boldly, give generously, and serve joyfully.”
Simplicity
is a gift from God that sets us free to love God and serve God with our whole
hearts and minds and strength. Simplicity—freedom from being controlled by the
pursuit for more, for things, for money—sets us free to serve God alone.
Some basic ideas
in closing
If
we are free to use money as our servant, instead of serving money as our
master, then a way of living results. I can’t give you rules and say: Do this
and you have it. This way of living is in response to God’s grace and love
active in our loves. True love is visible and expressive, and cannot be
captured in a simple set of rules.
What
then does the love of God look like, expressed in the way we live with our
money?
I expect that we will sometimes spend
the money God has given us on things that please us. These things are God’s
gift to us, and God likes it when we enjoy his good gifts.
I expect that often we will spend our
money simply on God. That might take the form of:
·
Offerings
to the church.
·
Caring
for someone who is less financially fortunate.
·
Living
generously towards others.
Actually,
this way of asking the question is wrong: It’s not our money. I remember a
Christmas about 20 years ago when our young son carefully wrapped up the dollar
we gave him for his week’s allowance and gave it to me for my Christmas
present. I loved it! I loved it so much that I had the dollar laminated and
made into a bookmark. But where did it come from? Lois and me. Who would give
him more? Lois and me. It was a good thing to do, that showed his love for us
wonderfully, but it really came from us all along.
That’s
a bit like the case with us and God. We struggle over how to live with our
money, when we would first of all relax in God’s arms and trust God to take
care of us. All that we are and have is God’s anyway. We cannot give God
anything that is not already his.
Return
to the questions we started with: How much should we give in our tithes and
offerings? No rules, but two ideas.
·
Ron
Sider has suggested a graduated tithe. Give 10% on the basic amount you need to
live on—say $50,000, and then increase the percentage for every 20,000 (or any
other increment you choose) above that and give the extra to God’s work and
God’s people and God’s world.
·
Someone
else has suggested: Whenever you buy something you don’t really need but would
like, make a matching gift to God. If you spend $1,000 on electronics or some
other “want”, make a matching gift of $1,000 to God’s work and God’s people and
God’s world. You can do the same with small luxuries, such as going out to eat.
I
can’t give you a rule to follow; you have to work out the specifics for
yourselves. The answer will be the same but look different at different stages
of our lives. God moves in our lives at every age, but the answer when we ask
God how to use our money will look different when we are 20 from when we are 40
from when are 60 from when we are 80. The answer will be the same: Do what
shows your love and gratitude to God, using the good gifts God has given us for
God’s sake, not for ours.
BRETHREN
IN CHRIST CORE VALUES
Experiencing God’s
Love and Grace: We
value the free gift of salvation in Christ Jesus and the transforming power of
the Holy Spirit.
Believing the
Bible: We
value the Bible as God’s authoritative Word, study it together, and build our
lives on its truth.
Worshiping God: We value
heartfelt worship that is God-honoring, Spirit-directed, and life-changing.
Following Jesus: We value whole
hearted obedience to Christ Jesus through the empowering presence of the Holy
Spirit.
Belonging to the
Community of Faith:
We value integrity in relationships and mutual accountability in an atmosphere
of grace, love, and acceptance.
Witnessing to
the World:
We value an active and loving witness for Christ to all people.
Serving
Compassionately:
We value serving others at their point of need, following the example of our
Lord Jesus.
Pursuing Peace: We value all
human life and promote forgiveness, understanding, reconciliation, and
non-violent resolution of conflict.
Living Simply: We value
uncluttered lives, which free us to love boldly, give generously, and serve
joyfully.
Relying on God: We confess our
dependence on God for everything, and seek to deepen our intimacy with Him by
living prayerfully.
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