Sermon Manuscript

[[Video:  “Money Matters - Bumper” - 0:30]

There’s an old saying that says, “The more things change… the more they stay the same.”  That’s right.  You’ve heard that old saying.

When I was growing up and became a teenager I started liking music as most teenagers do.  And for Christmas I asked for a Toshiba Boom Box.  Do you remember those?  Some of our younger people are probably thinking, “What is that?  What kind of ancient contraption is that?”  But it was amazing.  It had a radio so you could listen to the radio.  It was also battery powered so you didn’t have to use a cord.  All you needed was 4 DD batteries.  They were huge and very heavy.  Kind of like car batteries!  But by using them you could carry that Boom Box up on your shoulder and turn up the music!  Loud.  Loud enough that everyone who grew up in the eighties will probably all need hearing aids.  But the only problem with my Boom Box was that I needed music.  I need some “cassette tapes” that I could use to play music with.

So my dad at the time joined the BMG Music Club where you could get 10 tapes for the price of 1.  Do you remember those?  Wow.  They were amazing.  We just didn’t know that when you bought them you had to pay for shipping and handling.  And agree to buy a few more over the next few years.  Making it not as good of a deal as it seemed.  But my dad joined this club and because he didn’t need 10 he let me get a few.  And I scoured the magazines and looked at all of the tapes and finally I chose a few of them.  

And one of the tapes I got at the time was Madonna’s second album which was called Like a Virgin.  By the way, when did they start putting the 80’s music on Class Rock radio stations?  That is crazy.  But on that album was a song that became famous at the time.  It was called Material Girl.  And the words went like this.  Madonna begins the song by saying:

Some boys kiss me, some boys hug me

I think they’re okay

If they don’t give me proper credit

I just walk away

They can beg and they can plead

But they can’t see the light (that’s right)

‘Cause the boy with the cold hard cash

is always Mister Right

‘Cause we are living in a material world

And I am a material girl

You know that we are living in a material world

And I am a material girl

That song came out in 1984.  42 years ago!  But “the more things change… the more they stay the same.”  Because what she sang then still is true today.  We’re living in a material world and most of us are still “material boys” and “material girls”.  People who live our lives in the constant and relentless pursuit of more.  More cash.  More credit cards.  More money.  So we can buy more clothes, more shoes, more cars, more homes, and more electronics.  More.

And when this happens money begins to rule over us.  Because it will tell us where to go and what to do.  It will tell us what we need to become important, popular, and happy.  And in the process money has a way of revealing who we are.  It will reveal the best and worst of people.  Tony Robbins is a public speaker who has been quoted as saying, “Money doesn’t change you.  It makes you more of who you are.”  For some, it will cause them to be extremely selfish and for others it will cause them to be extremely generous.  But it will reveal something about us.  And it will show something about us that is deep down inside us.

And maybe that’s why the Bible talks so much about it?  Did you know that there are over 800 verses on the topic of money in the Bible?  And that there are over 2000 references to the topic of money?  That’s a lot.  And think about this.  Of the 38 parables that Jesus taught 16 of them dealt with money, possessions, stewardship, or wealth.  Wow!  That’s 42%!  So 42% of all of the parables Jesus taught (which were short stories with a single point) dealt with money.  And so all of these statistics just beg the question:  What is so important about money?

Why is money so important to God?  Well, that’s the focus of the next four weeks.  Because over the next four weeks we’re going to enter into a series of messages called Money Matters.  Because, well, money matters.  It matters to God.  And if it matters to God it needs to matter to us.  There is something about money that is so important and so powerful that when God came into our world and took the form of a Man he had to speak about it and teach about it 42% of the time in order to get His point across!  

And if that is true then we need to understand more about it.  We need to think about it.  We need to appreciate it.  We need to reflect upon it.  We need to respect it.  And we need to know that it says something about who we are and what is important to us.  It says a lot about who we are as Christians and if we really are following God as closely as we think we are.  Because my guess is that many of us are OK with examining our time or our relationships with God or family members but if you ask me to “Open my check book” or I ask you to “Show me your credit card statement” we all get a little squeamish!  Why?  Because money matters.  And we know it.

So let’s examine this topic together.  Let’s learn about money together.  Let’s see what the Bible says and then examine where we are so that together we can change.  You can and so can I.  Because if money matters this much to God then it needs to matter much more to us as well.

Let’s get started.  If you have your Bibles, turn with me to the book of Proverbs chapter 16.  Today we’re going to start in verses 3 and 4.  However, we’ll be examining quite a bit more.  If you’re new to The Fountain and you’d like to follow along you can do so by using our app.  It’s called Church Center.  Simply open it up and click on Sunday Services followed by Message Notes.  I mention that each week.  However, this series will be a good one to use that app.  Because we will be jumping around quite a bit and it will help you to follow along.

As you turn there let me set the stage by sharing with you just a little about the book of Proverbs itself.  The book of Proverbs is the 20th book of the Old Testament.  There are 39 books in the Old Testament.  So it’s right in the middle.  Just after Psalms.  And it’s a book that is filled with wisdom.  It’s part of a category of literature in the Old Testament known as wisdom literature.

It was also written by Solomon or King Solomon.  Solomon was the third king of Israel after Saul and David.  But he was the wealthiest and wisest man to have ever lived on the earth.  Except for Jesus of course.  No one could match his wealth and wisdom.  And the reason for that is that when he became king, in 1 Kings 3, God came to him and said, “Solomon, ask what I shall give you and I will give it to you.”  And rather than asking for fame or fortune or a long life Solomon simply said, “Give me wisdom to govern your people.  Help me to know right and wrong so that I may discern what to do and make good decisions.”  And God was so pleased with his response that He said, “Because you’ve asked for wisdom instead of fame or fortune or a long life or the death of your enemies I’m going to give you wisdom.  Wisdom like no one has ever had before.  And I’m going to give you wealth as well.  You’re going to have more wealth and honor than anyone has ever had before on this planet.”  Pretty amazing!  

And God did what He said He would.  Solomon received wisdom from God and along with it fortune and fame.  But if you know his story you know that he didn’t always use it for good.  In fact, he will go on to have 700 wives and 300 concubines.  That’s crazy.  He also worshiped foreign gods and even built altars to some of those false gods.  This led him to even disobey God’s commands and to teach others how to do the same.

But at some point within Solomon’s life, as he began to look back and think about his decisions, he wrote down what he had learned.  The wisest man to have ever lived decided to write down truths about what he had learned in life.  And the result was the book of Proverbs.  And within the book of Proverbs what we discover is that he wrote more than 100 verses on the topic of money.  And this is what he wrote in chapter 16, verses 3 and 4.  He said:

3 Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established. 4 The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.

Alright.  So Solomon begins here by teaching his children to “commit” their work to the Lord.  The original word means to “turn over” or to “roll”.  Like rolling a stone towards God or maybe “releasing” your work to the Lord.  Solomon says, “If you do this.  If you don’t work for yourself but for Him then your plans will succeed.  Why?  Because the Lord does everything for a reason and a purpose.  He’s given to you work to do and He wants you to complete it.  You can either do it for yourself and for your glory or for His.  But remember that He does everything for a purpose and “even the wicked”, Solomon says, “God has created for His purpose.”

So our work and our money can either be used for ourselves or for God.  We can commit what we do and what we receive to God or we can keep it for ourselves.  It’s a choice we have to make.  A choice that Solomon’s sons had to make and one that we will have to make too.  When you stop and consider your work and why you do it, what are you hoping to achieve?  Do you see your work and what you receive from it as a blessing from God or not?

Because our work and our money is meant to be a blessing.  Proverbs 10:22 says:

22 The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.

So God has made everything for a purpose and when we commit our work to Him our plans will succeed.  And we will prosper.  God’s blessings will fall upon us as we do so.  Because you see God is not opposed to success and money.  He’s opposed to you thinking that your success has come from you instead of from Him.  This is why He told the Israelites in Deuteronomy 8:18 that:

18 You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

You see God wants you to remember where wealth comes from.  It doesn’t come from you or your abilities.  It comes from Him.  He created you and He gave you your gifts and abilities.  He gave you the “power” you needed to “get wealth”.  So that He might confirm His “covenant”.  Which covenant?  The Abrahamic Covenant.  Where God told Abraham he would be “blessed” in order to “be a blessing”.  So why does God give you a job and gifts and abilities and help you to make money?  So that you might be blessed and others might see that you are blessed by God.  So that you might tell others about how you have been blessed by God and so that you might be a blessing to others.  And this is why God wants you to remember Him when you are blessed.  Because He gave to you the power you needed to get the wealth you now have.  You see God gives to you the ability to produce wealth.  It comes from Him.

As a result, God blesses you through both working hard and working honestly.  Here’s a couple of verses to support that idea.  Proverbs 10:4 says this:

4 A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.

A slack hand means “a hand that is unwilling to work”.  This is a person who is lazy and careless as opposed to someone who is diligent or “hardworking”.  “Laziness”, Solomon says, leads to poverty.  “But hard work produces riches and wealth.”  Here’s a similar verse.  Proverbs 28:19 says this.  We read:

19 Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty.

So a hard worker will have “plenty of bread”.  They will be “well fed” or “wealthy”.  But a person who pursues “worthless pursuits” will have plenty of poverty.  In other words, hard work will be rewarded but laziness and a refusal to not work will not.  It will lead to poverty.  Here’s one last one.  Proverbs 6:6-9 says this.  Solomon writes:

6 Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. 7 Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, 8 she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. 9  How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep?

So Solomon says, “Learn from the ant.  The ant is a small creature but it works hard and it works together.  It doesn’t have a “chief” or a “king” and yet it gathers and stores and makes ready for the winter.  “So learn from the ant!” Solomon says.  “Work hard.”  Because God rewards hard workers.  But He also rewards honesty and integrity.  Proverbs 11:1 says:

1 A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight.

A false balance refers to scales that were used to measure something.  And a false scale is a dishonest scale.  One that tilts in your favor in a dishonest way.  God hates it when we “cheat” people but loves it when we treat people well.  This idea of balance and scales is found at least five times within this book.  Over and over again.  So God blesses hard work and honest work.  He does not bless liars and cheaters and stealers.  He doesn’t bless “wealth takers”. 

A few days ago I was listening to a message by a Pastor named Rick Warren.  He’s the author of The Purpose Driven Life.  And within his message on money he talked about how there are “wealth makers” and “wealth takers”.  It’s true in any society.  So within any society there are people who go to work and produce something.  They work in a factory and produce something or in a school and teach something or in a hospital and help heal people or in entertainment and help people to enjoy something.  These are “wealth makers”.  But there are also “wealth takers”.  People who don’t do anything.  They don’t produce anything.  And whenever a society has more “wealth takers” than they have “wealth makers” then that society becomes “upside down”.  And this is happening today in our country.  Today in the United States of America 60% of us are “wealth takers”.  We have more “wealth takers” than we have “wealth makers”.  That’s not good.  Because God created us to “produce wealth”.  He created us to be productive.  And part of His plan for our lives is “wealth production” or “wealth creation”.

This is also what’s different between Capitalism and Communism.  Both are different from Christianity.  Because Capitalism says, “What’s mine is mine!  I earned it.”  And Communism says, “What’s yours is mine and I have a right to take it.”  But Christianity says, “What’s mine is really God’s and I’m willing to share it.”  Do you hear the difference?  Because the fundamental difference is, “Who does my stuff belong to?  Who owns it?”  And if the answer is “Me.  I own it.  I own it all.”  Then we have forgotten the source of our wealth.  We have forgotten that it is God who made us, God who has sustained us, and God who has given to us the ability to produce and to receive the wealth that we have received.  He is the One who has blessed us.”

It comes from Him.  And so this is the first principle we need to understand when we think about money.  There are four Biblical principles we will learn throughout this series and the first one is this:  Everything belongs to God.  Everything belongs to Him.  What you own and what I own really belongs to God.  We’re just borrowing it for a time.  Our house, our cars, our computer, our tools, our clothes, and our shoes.  They all belong to God.  Everything belongs to God.

Think about it in this way.  Years ago I heard a Bible teacher I love named Steve Gregg describe it in this way.  He said, “When you become a Christian, Jesus says to you, ‘OK.  You want to be My disciple?  You want to follow Me?  OK then.  Here’s the rule.  Everything now belongs to me.  Your home.  Your cars.  Your clothes.  Your shoes.  Everything.  Are you still willing to follow Me?”  And you say, “Yes, Lord.  I understand.  It’s all yours.”  But then Jesus says, “Well, then, good.  Here’s the thing.  I don’t really need another home.  And I certainly don’t need another car.  I don’t need those clothes or computers or any of it.  So I’m going to give it all back to you but now I want you to manage it for Me.  I want you to use it for My glory.  It now belongs to Me but I’ve loaned it to you.  And you will now care for all of it for Me.”

Does that make sense?  Because this is what we mean when we say that Jesus is Lord.  We’re saying that “He’s My Boss.  He’s Number One.  Not me.  He owns everything - everything I have and everything I am.  He owns me.  Everything that I have now belongs to Him.”

And that’s what Jesus is looking for in your life and mine.  We know that because of a famous story about money which you’re familiar with.  The story of Zaccheus.  In Luke 19 we read that while Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem that He passed through the city of Jericho.  And while He was there He met a rich tax collector named Zaccheus.  And this man wanted to see Jesus but he was short so he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree.  And when Jesus called up to him and said, “Zaccheus, come down for I must stay at your house” then Zaccheus said, “Behold, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor.  50% of everything I have I am right now giving away!  And if I’ve been dishonest in my dealings.  If I’ve ever lied or cheated or stolen anything then right here and right now I will repay it by giving four times as much!!!”  And do you remember what Jesus said to that man?  He said to that rich tax collector, “Today, salvation has come into this house because this man is also a son of Abraham.”  And then Jesus said in Luke 19:10 the famous words, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”  And who are the “lost” here?  Those who are “financially out of sorts”.  Those who, like Zaccheus, don’t recognize that what they have comes from God and that everything belongs to Him.

Jesus recognized that Zaccheus was saved because of how he viewed his money.  Think about that.  That’s powerful.  Because before that on the road to Jerusalem Jesus had met another man who behaved very differently.  The Rich Young Ruler.  Do you remember that?  He wanted to follow Jesus too.  But when Jesus challenged him to let go of his wealth and money in order to follow Him he wouldn’t do it.  Two responses to Jesus.  One viewed his money as being from God and was saved.  The other did not and was not.  You see your money really does matter.  It matters to God and it matters to Jesus.  It matters to your salvation.  And what Jesus challenged people to understand was the same thing Solomon challenged his sons to understand.  To think differently about money.  And realize everything belongs to God.  Everything belongs to God.

Let’s wrap up by acknowledging 3 truths about money.  Based upon what we’ve learned this morning.  These three truths can help us to properly think about our money, what it is, and how we are called to use it.  So very quickly here’s the first one:  Money is a tool given to me by God.  Money is a blessing God gives to all of us.  But He wants us to use that blessing well.  He wants us to commit our work to building His Kingdom and not our own.  It’s a tool we are given for His Kingdom and His glory.  It’s a gift from Him and it belongs to Him.  So we need to see it as being from Him and as a tool we get to use for Him.  Second, money is a test of my obedience to God.  Money opens up doors and provides opportunities.  It reveals who we are in a very clear way.  And the more we have the more we often trust in it.  If we’re not careful we can begin to trust in our abilities and our bank accounts.  We can feel safe and secure as long as we have enough in the bank to take care of ourselves.  But God calls us to see money differently and to use money in obedience to Him.  And that leads to a third truth.  Money is a testimony of my love for God.  Money provides evidence of my love for God.  This is why Jesus challenged both the Rich Young Ruler and Zacchaeus.  This is why the Rich Young Ruler left that day sad and Zacchaeus left happy.  Because the Rich Young Ruler said, “What’s mine is mine!” and Zacchaeus said, “What’s mine is really God’s!  And I’m willing to share it!”  Two testimonies.  Two different stories with two very different views of money.

You see, it’s important for us to learn how to view our money differently.  When we see money as belonging to us we get upset when God asks us to use it for Him.  But when we realize that as followers of Jesus it doesn’t belong to us and it’s actually owned by Him we can let go and trust God and know that it’s a tool, a test, and a testimony.  It’s a testimony to who we are in Christ.  Because Madonna was right.  We are living in a material world.  The question is, “Are we going to be material girls and boys?”  Or are we going to view money differently?  So…

View money as a gift from God and use it for His Kingdom and His glory.

Let’s pray.

[Prayer:  For God to help us to see our money differently and know it belongs to Him.]

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