The Debt Termite
[Preached January 27, 2008; Based on 1 Kings 17: 8-16 and Romans 13:8]
Words of Meditation – “Every time I take a step in the direction of generosity, I know I am moving from fear to love.” (Henri J.M. Nouwen, SFB, p. 1532)
About two years ago, our church sponsored a course called, Financial Peace University, an intense and extensive course on “Christian Financial Management.” It required 40 hours over 12 weeks and we had about 16 in the class. Dave Ramsey is the author and speaker of this video-series and he is an innovative and inspiring Christian. Vickie and I took the course and to the extent we applied what we learned, it was wonderful.
Then, our church offered a five hour course called Good Sense Budgeting. It was designed by Bill Hybels of Willow Creek Church. It was much simpler which was nice, and yet, it didn’t help much because we didn’t do anything to change our habits.
Then, Texas Methodist Foundation brought our church a course called, Getting Your House in Order. We had 20 in attendance. I did talk with an attorney about updating our wills, but unfortunately, we have not followed up regarding the specifics.
I guess what I’m saying is that there are plenty of options available for Christians to become good stewards, but hearing excellent preaching (hopefully) and taking excellent courses do not really help unless we put the lessons and principles into practice.
No wonder Jesus said, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.” (Matthew 7:26) Ouch... that really does describe me in this situation. Fortunately, there is another option: "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24) So, a choice, the Sand or Rock – where do I build? Will I be a rock-solid disciple?
Today is the second of four messages on Rock-Solid Giving. Last week we talked about Giving as God Gives. We could never match God’s giving, so it was not Giving as Much as God Gives, but rather, give in a like manner... Our goal: Be rock solid givers!
So, do Vickie and I have financial debt? Yes, but we don’t allow that to keep us from saving, investing, and tithing. Fortunately, Alicia is graduating from college in May and we are actually making progress on decreasing our debt level – slowly, but it’s declining.
Now, I’d imagine there are a few of you who are thinking: “And he’s our pastor! How can he stand there and so calmly admit being in financial debt?” Well, the first answer is that I’m a good Baby Boomer American and that’s just the way we’ve been trained. Secondly, I have peace in my heart because we do tithe and assist others where led.
One of the pastors I was with in Dallas a week ago told me confidentially that she and her husband were giving to their church at a 12% level plus missional giving plus her church’s capital campaign! In addition, they are completely out of debt. [As I thought about that, I realized that it just may be because they’re out of debt that they can give more to the Lord’s work... or perhaps, because they are so generous, God has blessed them and taken care of their debt.] On the one hand, I rationalized that my friend and her husband only have one child who is already out of college, but on the other hand, our tithe was no longer that impressive – other people do give more than what is required. It drove home the point that tithing is the minimum expectation... I really don’t like being a minimal Christian.
So, we give to the Lord and there are our obligations to our nation. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. (Romans 13:7) So, if the Bible teaches anything beyond, “Don’t go into debt,” it would be, “Pay any debt you’ve incurred.”
Now, there is a kind of indebtedness the Bible encourages. Again, Paul wrote the Christians in Rome, Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. (Romans 13:8)
It’s interesting to me that Paul encourages Christians not to be indebted at all, except to one another. I can see how we are all indebted to God, after all that God has given us. Do you remember the song, “He paid a debt He did not owe; I owed a debt I could not pay, I needed someone to wash my sins away. And now I sing a brand new song, “Amazing Grace” all day long, Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay!”
There is no way we can repay God for his sacrifice on our behalf. He paid it all. We can’t work or pay our way to forgiveness or heaven. So, indebted to God, yes... but indebted to other Christians? How are we indebted to one another? Let’s do a quick review:
· Great Commandment - “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength.” And the second would be: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
· Golden Rule – Treat others as you would have them treat you.
· Great Commission – “Go, make disciples, baptizing in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to...” but I think it’s the...
· New Commandment – “Love one another as I have loved you.”
When the local church has a healthy perspective regarding all of these, the atmosphere or culture of the church is affected. If we believe that:
· Love for God is tops, closely followed by
· Love for neighbor... let them know just how much God loves them... and
· Love for one another – this should affect the way we treat each other.
Vickie and I live on Lazy Lake Drive (Doesn’t that sound so nice?) For our house, we have a pest control/termite contract. We receive quarterly inspections and treatments if necessary. When we were in Corpus Christi, the parsonage there had termites on one wall and completely destroyed the integrity of the wooden studs. The studs and drywall had to be replaced. But, if that hadn’t been taken care of – it would have been a lot worse!
It sure seems to me that if we inspect our homes for termites, we should likewise inspect our spiritual lives and our financial lives. Unwillingness to forgive is a termite in one’s spiritual house [It will eat you up!] and financial indebtedness is a termite in one’s financial house! You just can’t ignore either one for very long!
The Book of Proverbs says, “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.” (Proverbs 22:7) So: What’s the difference between borrowing and stepping out in faith when you are uncertain how God will provide?
Look with me at our Old Testament lesson. This is really a fascinating instance as Elijah was instructed by the Lord to go to the town of Zarephath because God told Elijah He had commanded a widow in that place to supply him with food.
Now, if I had received this word from the Lord, I would have presumed that the widow knew I was coming, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. When Elijah spoke with her, he first asked for a little water, and then the text says, As she was going to get it, he called, "And bring me, please, a piece of bread.” (11) What a perfect opportunity for her to recognize him as the man the Lord had commanded her to feed... right?
Well, maybe God’s forewarning her simply provided her the time to come up with her response. She was ready:
12 "As surely as the LORD your God lives," she replied, "I don't have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die."
In other words, she was telling him she really couldn’t help him. ”How can I help you with my very last earthly goods?” This is precisely the opposite of the widow in the New Testament who gave her last two coins in the offering. Remember? The New Testament widow gave her all to the Lord, trusting God to care for her temporal needs. The Old Testament widow was clinging tightly to what she had left.
Elijah was not deterred. By this time, he was what we would call a veteran prophet, so he was pretty straight-forward: "Don't be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son.” (1 Kings 17: 13)
And then he promised her that her resources would not be used up! To me, it is like Elijah said, “Okay, let’s do it your way, except do what I want first!” What a negotiator! What is amazing to me is – she actually followed his instructions and the result: So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry... (1 Kings 17: 15-16) This widow eventually took what she had and responded in faith. She didn’t think there’d be enough but was willing to try. This is significantly different from: “We don’t have enough money in the bank, so let’s charge it.” Are we willing to try being rock-solid givers?
Do you see the difference? Before credit cards (“There actually was a time people didn’t have credit cards!”) ... before credit cards, we either had the money and traded it for something of equal value or we didn’t make the purchase. Now, we don’t have to have the money, we just charge it. Where’s the trusting God in that scenario? Let’s think a moment about value...
“Currency” to show here (1:08)
What is the value of an object? Is this item worth a purchase? I’ve worked hard for what we have in the bank.
A rather absurd example that I’ve actually seen is: You’re out shopping and don’t have cash but you have your checkbook. You “check” the register and see you don’t have enough in your account to make the purchase. Would you simply write the check and say, “God wants us to have this and so, by the time this check gets to the bank, I believe God will give us the money we need?”
It sort of sounds like faith, but it is really irresponsible. It is not Christian stewardship.
So, what can we learn from our Old Testament lesson?
What about the price of a human soul? I don’t believe I have ever appealed to guilt to motivate you to commit to the work of the Lord because that’s just not biblical. Paul clearly spoke for God when he said: 7Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9: 7)
I cannot tell you how excited I am about what God has done and is doing in the life of this church. We have visionary leaders (not the pastors) who fully believe we are called to “go” to the community trusting the one and only God, as we share the good news of Jesus Christ.
This church has one of the most fruitful evangelism programs in the valley, if not in the entire Southwest Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church and it is called Valley Praise. It is a healthy and growing force for Christ’s message!
I am praying for all of you to cheerfully complete an estimate of giving card and that as we stand together, we stand as rock-solid givers on the Rock, Jesus Christ!
Benediction: Probably, my greatest help in Christian financial management was not Financial Peace University, Good Sense Budgeting, or Getting Your House in Order. I think my greatest help was the example of my parents – “Son, whenever you get a dollar, remember that the first 10 cents belongs to the Lord!”
I can hardly wait to see what God is going to do as we all commit ourselves to be Rock-Solid Givers!