This Week's Sermon

Whose Money Is It?

By Pastor Scott Hannon

 

Text: Luke 16:9-12

9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes. 10 "Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. 11 If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own?

 

Giving to God what is God’s does not necessarily involve giving away anything. After all, what is God going to do with my 2008 Ford Fusion? I doubt that God needs a car. This led me to think that giving to God what is God’s is about giving in a different sense. What would it mean if I were to say to God, you may not need this 2008 Ford Fusion to get around in, but you may need the ministry that I can provide with it.

 

What I am getting at is that God does not need our cars, homes, or money. After all, God is the Creator of all that there is, so God does not need any thing. With that said, what does it mean for God to own those things? Several months ago, if you will recall, I told you about my accident along Highway 169. It was icy and I lost control of my car and wound up in a ditch. During the two-week period that it was at Dale’s Body Shop in Olathe, I used a car that I had rented from Enterprise. That car was owned by Enterprise, yet I had the privilege of using it…for a fee, of course. It was on loan to me. Because I declined the extra insurance coverage on it, I was very careful with how I used it. If it got damaged, I would have been responsible for getting it repaired. So I drove more carefully than I usually did and I parked it away from other cars.

 

You might be asking: What does all of this have to do with the subject of money? Well, it is like this: Like the car from Enterprise, money belongs to God. Now, I realize that some of you have a problem with that. You reason that since you earned your money, it belongs to you. As you might guess, the bible has a different take on that. For example, in 1 Chronicles 29:14, King David is quoted as saying: “For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.” And in Romans 11:36, the Apostle Paul is quoted as saying, “For from him and through him and to him are all things.” These verses mean everything we have comes from God. You might argue that you earned your money because of your intelligence, healthy body, sound mind, creativity, industriousness, and resourcefulness. True, you may possess all of those qualities. But did you decide to be born with a healthy body and mind? Did you determine the opportunities that would be given to you in life? Did you decide to be born in this country? The truth is that all things come from God, and there is nothing that comes to us that is not, first of all, a gift from God’s hands.

 

When we truly understand this, gratitude is the result. “To be grateful,” writes Thomas Merton, “is to recognize the love of God in everything He has given us, and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace…”[1]

 

We are stewards of these gifts – of our money and material possessions, of our bodies and our minds, of life itself. We are given them for a time so that we might fulfill the loving purpose of the One who has given them to us. They are given to us for a purpose, a purpose that is related to the purposes of God.[2]

 

Mahatma Gandhi taught his followers: “Those who own money [should] behave like trustees holding their riches on behalf of the poor.”[3] If we truly believe that we are stewards of what we have, trustees who hold riches on behalf of others, Gandhi believed that “life on earth would be governed far more by love than it is at present.”[4] Charity would replace greed. Generosity and concern for others would replace obsession with our own prosperity and comfort.

 

“So we must ask ourselves, Have I thought of myself as the owner of all that I am and all that I have, or as a steward or trustee of these gifts? And how have I used them? – for my own pleasure and comfort and benefit or for the service of others, especially the poor, who are so close to God’s heart?  How shall I, from this day on, view my money, my time, my possessions, my talents, even my life itself?’” [5]

 

We can use money anyway we want. But if we are mindful that God owns it, we will take care of how we use it. We will make sure that it is used in ways that honor God. To some extent, I think this is what Jesus had in mind when he talked so much about money. Because the use of money is so much a part of our lives, it makes sense that Jesus talked so much about it.

 

But still, it does seem like Jesus was overly obsessed with money. And this being my third sermon in a row about money, it might seem like I am overly obsessed with money. If it does, let me tell you about another preacher who was even more obsessed than I am:

 

There was a preacher who “never stopped talking about money. The congregation clutched their billfolds and squirmed. He told them not to worry so much about stuff that will rot and rust. He told them that the folding stuff was not the currency to buy meaning and happiness. He singled out one man and told him to sell everything and then give the proceeds to the poor. He had them shaking their heads when he said, “Happy are the poor.” Some of the best dressed stomped out, their noses in the air. A few of the wealthy and powerful slipped quietly into a back room and had a contract put out on the young preacher’s life. And it cost them only thirty pieces of silver.”[6] If you will recall, the disciple who betrayed Jesus was Judas.

 

Surprisingly, Jesus appointed Judas to be the treasurer for the disciples. The point is not that Jesus made a bad decision: The point is that Jesus had a need for a treasurer. Being divine, he could have multiplied money like he did bread and fish. Of course, I do not know why he did not do that. However, I can speculate. What I speculate is that Jesus wanted to impress the disciples with the need to contribute to the ministry. One day he had an opportunity to impress his disciples with that need. The occasion was when the Pharisees asked Jesus about paying taxes. He responded by asking the Pharisees whose head is on a coin. The Pharisees said, “The Emperor.” To which Jesus replied, “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”[7] Just as there was a need to give to the government, Jesus said there was a need to give to God.

 

Regarding the need to give to God, tithing is a biblical command. Basically, it is ten percent of a person’s income. Even though after the tithe, 90 percent of a person’s income remains, many people think this it is too much. “Dr. James Kennedy tells a story of a man who came to Peter Marshall, former chaplain of the Unites States Senate, with a concern about tithing. He said: ‘I have a problem. I have been tithing for some time. It wasn't too bad when I was making $20,000 a year. I could afford to give the $2,000. But you see, now I am making $500,000, and there is just no way I can afford to give away $50,000 a year.’

 

“Dr. Marshall reflected on this wealthy man’s dilemma but gave no advice. He simply said: ‘Yes, sir. I see that you do have a problem. I think we ought to pray about it. Is that alright?’

 

“The man agreed, so Dr. Marshall bowed his head and prayed with boldness and authority. ‘Dear Lord, this man has a problem, and I pray that you will help him. Lord, reduce his salary back to the place where he can afford to tithe.’”[8]

 

Perhaps the biggest obstacle to tithing is a sense scarcity. That is, if we give 10%, then there will not be enough left over. Such a thought focuses solely on money as a blessing from God. As I have implied above, money is only one of many blessings. When you consider those blessings, tithing is a very small thing. After the amount of the tithe is given, so much more is left over.