Sacrificial Giving

Rev. Ron Sumners

January 29, 1995

I Peter 4:8-11

You have probably already anticipated what I am going to preach about. Those of you who didn't get upset with me last week will have another chance today. If you develop some anxiety when I began to talk about money, then count me in. I would really rather not talk about money. I'll make a deal with you. If we'll give our budgeted amount each week, I'll never preach about money again! You see, talking about money offends people, especially those who don't give. They begin to get uncomfortable. Money is a taboo subject. For many it has become a cop­out for not going to church, "All they talk about in church is giving money, and I'm not going." Well, we do talk about giving all the time; that's what the Christian faith is all about, and money has to be a part of that giving. But I seldom preach about money. I preach about love, and fellowship, and sharing the Gospel, that's giving too, but nobody objects to preaching about all those things. They are less tangible and harder to measure than an amount given weekly. You see, you either tithe or you don't, there is no way to fake it!

Money is a far more sensitive subject today than sex. We talk about sex rather freely. But money is considered too private to discuss openly.

Sometimes people say, "The preacher would do better to stick to the Sermon on the Mount and leave the money matters to a person's private discretion." The fact is though, that Jesus said more about money in that sermon than anything else. His talk about the use of material things consumed a major portion of His message. When He faced the issue of tithing, He said flatly, "This you should do." When a widow put two mites into the temple treasury, He said she gave more than anyone else because she, out of her need to give, gave all she had. How many of you feel a need to give to God's Kingdom? Would you be willing to give everything you have if necessary? Several of Jesus' best loved parables are stewardship stories. Jesus did not hesitate to talk about money.

Should I follow His example? Yes! The Spirit of Christ and the multitude of needs in our church compel me to speak.

Why? Because money is necessary. We have not found a satisfactory substitute for it. The world today would be in economic chaos without money. And the work of the Church has to have financial resources if it is to be carried out.

I have to talk about money because of what this church is trying to do. We are here to say to this community that Jesus Christ is alive and ready to receive all who will accept His offer of salvation. We are here attempting to minister to human needs; physical, spiritual and emotional. We believe what He said, "If you have done it to the least of these, you have done it unto me." You can't do very much for "the least" without money.

I have to talk about money because the Church belongs to Jesus. He fulfills His promise to save. He can give life and give it abundantly. Jesus founded the church upon the confession of Peter: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." If you are mixed up in your loyalty to the Church, you must be confused in your thoughts about Jesus. The church is full of sinners who have found a grace greater than their sins. The church makes mistakes, but it is still God's instrument for proclaiming the Gospel. God has always used imperfect people to do His work. We are simply the "latest edition."

What we give to God shows how much we really love Him! When a man goes shopping for an anniversary gift for the wife he loves, he isn't interested in carnival trinkets.

Truett Gann tells about a man who worked for his father. Truett was a teenager at the time. The man owned one of the first Harley-Davidson motorcycles. It was a beautiful machine. The man would sometimes let Truett ride his cycle. One day Truett asked him, "Hugh, can I ride your motor again today? Hugh replied, "You can ride it any time you want to, anywhere you want to. Just remember to ride it like it was mine and not yours."

God has poured out wonderful blessings on us. All he asks is that we use these blessings like they were His and not ours.

That's the reason I have to preach about stewardship. God expects me to remind myself and you that the "earth is the Lord's." How we use our money is a witness to how much we love God and how serious we are about the job He has given us to do.

Money is a pretty accurate barometer of our commitment to Jesus Christ and His church. If your dues at the club and you alcohol and tobacco bill this month amount to more than what you have given to the church, there is hardly a question about where your commitment lies. If, in the last year, you spent more on eating out than you gave to the church there is little doubt where your commitment lies. If you spent more on new clothes last year than you gave to the church, there is hardly a doubt where your commitment lies.

Talking about money may upset some people. They might even quit coming to church. But it never hurts the tree for all the dried-up apples to fall off.

Let's suppose you belong to the Lions Club. They will invite you to be their guest for the first meal. After that you will pay for your own. Before long, you will be asked to participate in some club project. Lions are noted for their interest in sight preservation. Before you know it, you will be selling light bulbs, mops and brooms to raise money for the eye foundation. It won't matter if you are the President of the bank, or Mayor of the city, the Lions Club will expect you to pay your dues and sell brooms. You can't be a member there and not be committed with your time and money. I wish I could say that about the churches I've been associated with.

You don't have to be told that the church can't operate, and the Missionaries can't go, and the Children's home will close, and this particular church can't do ministries unless you give freely and unselfishly. But it's my job to remind you of that. I'd rather not have to do it. Money is so worldly. It is materialistic. The love of it is the root of all evil according to scripture. But money can be converted into love and mercy. Money can say, "I care. I will help." Money converted like this lays up treasure in heaven where moth and rust do not corrupt.

There are so many worthy causes today that make appeals for money. I get appeals weekly from various organizations asking for financial assistance. We must learn to discriminate. Those worthy causes we cannot support financially, we can pray for.

There is no doubt that a larger percentage of the money you give through your church gets to the need for which it is given than in any other way. And there is no doubt that it is the Gospel that has given birth to the whole spirit of compassionate concern for others.

Being a good steward does not mean that a person is sinning if he lives in a good home, drives a good car, and wears good clothes. It is not a sin to be wealthy. You can make a long list of wealthy people in the Bible who were friends of God. There was Abraham, David, Joseph of Arimathea, and Lydia the merchant. Wealth is necessary to a productive economy. Wealth makes jobs possible. Wealth is needed for the whole Christian enterprise. In the administration of his wealth, the Christian acknowledges God to be the giver of all good gifts. The Christian assumes responsibility for the use of what he keeps as well as what he gives away. Just because you give your 10% doesn't mean you don't have responsibility for the use of the other 90%. The Christian does not trust in the deceitfulness of riches but lives out his life in the glory of God.

We are healthy people. By the standard of the rest of the world we are tremendously blessed. And our wealth affords us a great privilege. We can be God's instrument for tremendous good. We are dealing with a God of infinite grace, not a celestial Scrooge. His own giving is an example for us to follow. He loved the world so much that he gave His only Son to save it. That's extravagant giving. No one can outgive God, but if you will follow His example, you will discover a higher level of life, a more abundant life than is possible any other way.

If the Biblical minimum is a tithe (10%) then we as a church are failing to meet God's minimum giving standard! Could you and your family live on ten times the amount you give weekly?

Jesus never said, "things are bad," He said, "Your Father knows you need these things." Jesus said we are not to worship things. They are not to possess us; we are to possess them.

You might ask, right now, what good a sermon on giving is going to do. People are pretty much set in a routine of what they give or don't give. My hope is that some of our people will raise to even greater sacrificial giving and that others be impressed with this most important responsibility. If you claim to be a child of God, you have a responsibility to support His Kingdom's work with your money.

The man of the world cannot always understand our profession of faith, but he can understand our service. Theological concepts of sin and righteousness may confuse the man who is cold toward religion, but when we give of ourselves and our substance, he begins to believe that there is something real to what we profess. Based on what you give this church, how real is your profession to the world?

God takes your life seriously; your life is important to Him. And He expects you to take His gifts to you seriously. They are not to be hidden away in fear or indifference or laziness. They are not to be used in our private interests only. We are dispensers of God's gifts.

God's gifts are as varied as the ability to preach and the capacity to work with children, as varied as the art of making friends and being a good host. The gifts come from the same source for the same purpose, to build up the body of Christ until all people everywhere are in one fold, with one shepherd, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.

Could you ever give enough?