A Great God; A Great Work: 2. Making a Wise Investment
By Pastor Steve Purdy
[Preached 10/30/11; Based on James Varner’s Sermon Seed & 1 Timothy 6:17-19; Mt. 6: 19-21]
Our baseball season is over for this year but on opening day 1954, the Milwaukee Braves and Cincinnati Reds played each other, and a rookie for each team made his major-league debut during that game. The rookie who played for the Reds hit four doubles and helped his team win with a score of 9-8. His name was Jim Greengrass. The other guy who didn’t get a hit? His name was Hank Aaron. (Failing Forward, page 29) Hank Aaron was resilient! He didn’t quit after his first game!
I’d imagine that all of us know the experience of failure: whether it’s a class in school, a job, or even a marriage. All of us have had times in our lives when we had to start over; times when we had to rebuild our lives and restore relationships, revive a broken spirit. All of us, at some point, have met with failure. And I’ve discovered that sometimes it takes longer to rebuild than it did to get started in the first place.
We all know that restoration and repair work have already started in our church. We celebrate that but we all understand that much more needs to be done. We can’t be satisfied with what we’ve done so far… we can’t stop yet.
The story is told of another church that held a capital campaign some years ago. One night, in a meeting of campaign leaders, a man interrupted by saying, “We don’t need a consultant to tell us how to raise money. God told me to buy these five lotto tickets. All we need to do is believe that we are doing is God’s will for our church… One of these tickets will pay for our building project. We just need to have enough faith and we will have all the money we need!” The stunned group sat quietly until a grandmother spoke-up. “Hush, Johnny, you have no idea what you are talking about. If God really told you to buy a lotto ticket, you would only need to buy ONE ticket.”
Sometimes we wish that a simple, easy and painless answer could be found. Maybe someone hid gold in the attic of the church long ago. Perhaps there is oil underneath our property on Highway 46. Or, perhaps all we need has been entrusted to our members.
There are undoubtedly as many ways to approach raising money for significant projects as there are churches! There are wonderful stories in the Bible of God’s people providing the financial resources for doing God’s work. When King David was setting aside resources for building the Temple in 2 Chronicles 29, he asked this question in verse 5: Who then will offer willingly, consecrating themselves today to the Lord? The Hebrew word translated “consecrating themselves” literally means “to fill one’s hand.” In today’s words, David is asking, “What will you bring willingly, joyfully in your hand for building the temple?”
In 1 Timothy 6, the Apostle Paul is actually asking that same question and he is NOT assuming everyone in the church is rich. Remember in the early church, there were slaves and poor people as well as slave owners and wealthy people. I believe Paul is asking them, “What will you do with whatever God has blessed you with for doing God’s work?
With Paul in this text, I will suggest three reasons why we invest in God’s work and how each relates to our giving to God in the Restore. Renew. Revive. Capital Campaign.
- Give in Thanksgiving to God.
- Give to Do Good.
- Give to Invest in Eternal Things – to Discover Life’s True Meaning.
1. Give in Thanksgiving to God
Throughout the Bible, God reminds us that we are not self-made. Our culture tells us that a vocation’s importance is measured by what it pays and that wealthy people are more important because of what they have. But Paul said, Don’t be obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage.
I want to be very clear. The Bible does not say there is anything wrong with being successful in life or business. There is nothing sinful about having material things. Earning and owning wealth becomes a sin when it is the goal of one’s life. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (NRSV)
Some of the most generous people I know have limited wealth. They are so grateful for what they have; they are the first to share with someone who has a need. Whatever we have, it comes from God; give in thanksgiving to God and resolve to use it to do good.
2. Give to do good.
Alfred Nobel had the unusual experience of reading his own obituary while still alive. His brother died, but the newspaper instead wrote of Alfred’s life as the “dynamite king.” The obituary told of his business success and great fortune. He would be remembered for creating a world of violent destruction. But that was not how he wanted to be remembered! So he resolved to be remembered as a man of peace. He dedicated himself and his wealth to activities to make the world a better place. Today, the Nobel Peace Prize is his legacy.
“Doing good” or “being a do-gooder” have become derogatory terms and yet, eleven times the New Testament says to “do good.” Interestingly, six of those listings are words of Jesus and have to do with our relationship to others. The writer of Hebrews says: “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” (13:16) So, doing good to others is a sacrifice—a worship offering to God.
Today, our culture says we must look out for #1: put our confidence in our job, savings, retirement plans, trusting nothing except what we can do for ourselves. What is the antidote for selfishness? Paul says the prescription is “generosity,” to share with the needy. I’ll even quote a Baptist here, John the Baptist, said, “If you have two cloaks (coats), give one to someone who has none.” (cf. Luke 3:11) So, give in thanksgiving to God and give to do good. Thirdly, we are to….
3. Give to invest in eternal things – to discover life’s meaning.
Paul recognized with Jesus and John Wesley that how we use money says a lot about what we think is important. To put it another way, “What are you investing in… trusting …living for?” I like the way Paul said it in our text: storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future. Jesus called them treasures in heaven.
Donald Duck’s uncle is Scrooge McDuck. He was so rich that he had a room full of money and he loved to dive into it like kids today running into a McDonald’s playscape.
As an adult and a Christian, I have learned there is more to life than money. Of course, the credit card commercial says, “There are some things money can buy.” Well yes, but we don’t have to max out a credit card for things money can buy.
John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, in a sermon titled, The Use of Money:
“In the hands of God’s children [money] is food for the hungry, drink for the thirsty, raiment for the naked. It gives to the traveler and the stranger where to lay his head. By it we may supply the place of an husband to the widow, and of a father to the fatherless; … It may be as eyes to the blind, as feet to the lame; yea a lifter up of the gates of death.”
Doesn’t that make more sense than the TV commercials that suggest if we drive a certain car, drink a certain beverage, wear a certain brand of clothes, use a certain brand of deodorant or mouth wash, go to a certain place for vacation… we will discover the good life?
In Bishop Robert Schnase’s book, titled the Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, he quotes a public poll in which people were asked: “How much more income would it take for you to be happy?” Ironically, the answer was the same for people in every income level. The answer 20% more! People earning $20,000 a year said $24,000 would provide all they need to be secure. People making $50,000… $60,000 to be happy. And those making $100,000 said if they just made $120,000 they would finally have it made. [p. 113]
Don’t misunderstand me. I am not saying giving/pledging to Restore – Renew – Revive Capital Maintenance Campaign and Investing in God’s Work will answer all the challenges you face today. That would be along the same line as the endless list of commercials I mentioned, but I do declare with Scripture that thinking of those who are needy and those who will come after us will enrich our lives in ways that go far beyond how much we earn or the size of our financial investments.
When Jesus called his disciples, he said, “Come” and yet he prepared them for his eventual “Go into the world.” He gave them authority to represent him… and He prepared them for inevitable failure---because not everyone would respond positively to them. They didn’t all respond positively to Jesus, did they?
Jesus told them to shake off the dust from their feet. Historically, this was a sign of releasing responsibility for the rejection of the message… and also, it meant, “Don’t even carry the dust with you.” Leave it all behind - don’t allow bitterness to develop.
Jesus had been clearly rejected in his hometown and He knew his disciples would fail at times… and so will we. How do we respond?
1. We can sit and let our whole world grind to a stop, or
2. We can become more like Christ… and move on to other opportunities. (Sometimes love means hanging on and sometimes it means letting go.)
Now listen – There are some things worth sticking out… I’m not saying that if at first you don’t succeed, quit… but there are times when rejection is certain and failure is inevitable. There is a decision that must be made and it’s not “Will I fail?” …But it is, “Will I fail like Jesus taught?”
I am not preparing us for failure in our Capital Campaign this morning because I believe we will succeed in what God has in mind for this church. I am praying that all of us will:
· Give in gratitude,
· Give to do good, and
· Give to invest in eternal things and to discover life’s true meaning.
I am praying for a spirit of generosity. Let’s pray together…
Lord, we realize that your ability to use a gift is in no way hindered or enhanced by the size of our gift. As John MacArthur said, ‘It is not the greatness of the gift that counts, but rather the greatness of the God to whom it is given.’ (John MacArthur, Twelve Ordinary Men, 86) And there is no doubt that you are a great God!”