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6:19 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, 6:20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Matthew 6:19-21Passing the Buck Part 1
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." Gal 2:20
What does our life stand for? Are we passing the buck to someone else?
Often I have to check of my life to see if I'm living it for Christ and having Him live in me, or am I living this life for myself and the pleasures of the flesh. When I live for myself, I become more interested in protecting "my stuff," "my future" and "my family" rather then what belongs to God. In essence, I become protective of all of these things because I am afraid of losing them. My life does not stand for Christ at that point and I leave what God has put into my trust to someone else. I'm "passing the buck." To help us, we must constantly be transformed by God's word, so we can continually grow and be sanctified by His grace. When we are sanctified, then we don't only live as children, but grow as adults in faith. This will, in effect, change the way we live and give for Gods glory.
In the book Revolution in Generosity, Former President of the Christian Stewardship Association, Scott Rodin, wrote a chapter entitled, "The Transformation of the Godly Steward: Promise, Problem, and Process." He states, "over the past twenty-six years, I have had the privilege of meeting many generous Christians. Looking back, I recognize one consistent characteristic: they were engaged in the process of personal, spiritual transformation." It is important in the whole of our lives that we are always growing.
What is stewardship? Scott Rodin tells us that, "stewardship is the daily practice of the steward who places into God's service the entirety of his or her life and resources with great joy." He states "for Christians, godly stewardship is our destiny." This means that we are willing to give up everything to God and to do so, we must be transformed by the grace of God in order to understand the rich promise of change that we have in Christ.
It's important to note, as the writer suggests that, "transformation requires relationship. The God who created us is the God who calls us to be transformed by the renewing of your mind." (Rom. 12.2). This renewal is possible only in a relationship with our creator God. This transformation is not easy. It runs directly in the face of the world. Scott Rodin says, "the transformation of sinful individuals into godly, Christ- like stewards runs absolutely counter to the prevailing values and forces within North American culture." He quotes Tom Sine who says" at every turn we are being tempted, cajoled, urged, manipulated, and bullied into making decisions that directly conflict with the spirit's transforming work within us."
Our lives are bombarded everyday with the thoughts that we live for ourselves. "The secular humanist's goal is a self-actualized world society in which human growth and the liberation of human intellect create a paradise on earth." He states that "transformation is holistic, requiring our whole being: heart, soul, strength and mind. If the Holy Spirit is the transforming agent, then every miniscule particle of our being will be affected by His work in us."This runs in opposition to the statement made years ago, "The one who dies with the most wins". We live for Christ and building our treasure in heaven and not here on earth.
How blessed we are that God has left us with His Holy Spirit, that we don't live this world alone. We don't have to be left alone to fight the battle alone. Tomorrow we will look deeper into what our responsibility is in the process of transformation
Passing the Buck Part 2
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." Gal 2:20
It is easy to get caught up in living the way of the world. Back in the 1980's, Ivan Boesky, a man later sentenced to prison for securities fraud, embodied that philosophy. Time Magazine featured him on their front cover, when he was at his height, with the title Making Millions with Your Money. His life motto was "he who dies with the most toys wins." I remember, as a young man, seeing a painting that depicted this motto. It showed a beautiful home on a beach front with a four stall garage filled with expensive cars. Just like so many Americans, I envied these people, aspired to embody their mottos and was focused on myself and material happiness. I did not care about my neighbor as Jesus commanded. (See Matthew 19:19 again)
To see life as Christ and start living for him, giving for him as loving our neighbor as ourselves, our hearts need to be transformed to the image of Jesus Christ. We can't do this alone, but as believers we don't need to; we have the Holy Spirit. Scott Rodin says in The Transformation of the Godly Steward: Promise, Problems and Process, "Transformation is holistic, requiring our whole being: heart, soul, strength, and mind. If the Holy Spirit is the transforming agent, then every miniscule particle of our being will be affected by His work in us." He goes on to say, "It calls us to die to the old nature, to the lies we have been told and believed about our vocation." The key point is what he says next, "Transformation involves nothing less than the complete abandonment of our thrones and the dismantling of our earthly kingdoms. It is a transformation from the struggle of two-kingdom living to the joy of one-kingdom service." We cannot live for two kingdoms.
Scott Rodin quotes in his article "Just as Christ made the ultimate sacrifice for us, He desires that we learn to be givers in our everyday lives in response to His generosity." Scott says, "When you are freely giving a treasure beyond all value, how can you receive it but with joy, thanksgiving, and praise?" How can we have this unbelievable gift of salvation given to us by God and not have a desire to give back to Him for all He has done for us? Moving away from the self-centered view and becoming more God centered. It is realizing as Scott states "in the end, godly stewardship is all about lordship." This transformation he says "gives us no greater freedom that is available to humankind than that of a godly steward." We are free! We are free to live for him, we are free to give to Him, we are free! We don't wait for someone else to give, because we see this as one of the purposes in our lives. To give generously as God has given to us.
I have the privilege of meeting many different people and I'm blessed by their examples of living for Him and not themselves. I met one such couple recently. The first and last thing they said to me was, "We only want to live to give all we have to God." They have been faithful stewards their whole life, giving all along. As they acquired more they gave more. As they gave, God gave. They recently came into a sizeable inheritance and, as always, they gave. They retired from work and gave of their lives by serving as short term missionaries in a foreign country and are planning to go again in a couple of weeks. They give not because they can or because of tax benefits but for their love of Jesus! Tears come to their eyes when they talk about what Christ has done for them and how unworthy they feel for what He continues to do for them. They will never pass the buck to anyone else. They joyfully take the responsibility God has given them and continue to live, continue to serve and continue to give.
"Our possessions are meaningless to the One who created and owns everything. But our hearts are His treasure." Howard Dayton
YOUR LEGACY Part III
6:19 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, 6:20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Many times throughout the year, my partner, who is an attorney, and I do Estate Planning Seminars teaching people about what they should consider before they pass away. We tell them that they can leave their assets to three groups of people, their heirs, ministries or the government. They are told while they are alive they can pick two out of the three groups. If they plan purposely, they can choose any two of those three groups. Most often, without reluctance, people pick the first two. They are told that their legacy is the fingerprint left behind on their community.
I've thought about this in light of today's topic and see how our fingerprint relates to stewardship. Godly stewardship has more implications then the secular philosophy of planned giving. As believers, we are concerned with leaving a legacy that promotes stewardship (the use of God's assets) to further His kingdom. This comes in the form of benefiting our families, our churches and Para church ministries at the time of death and is more than just getting the best tax benefits for doing so. It is about glorifying Jesus Christ and building treasures in heaven, "where moth and rust do not destroy". Matthew 6:19-21
When we build for the earthly kingdom, as Scott Rodin suggests in Stewards in the Kingdom- "In a very real way the kingdom of the world is never built, but it acts like a black hole constantly demanding more with no hope of ever having enough. The irony of the kingdom of the world is that it does not let us stop long enough to enjoy what we have amassed." Giving to non-profit organizations is good, but when we think about the eternal consequences of giving to ministries, it is powerful! Unless God changes the hearts of men dealing with addiction to drugs, alcohol, gambling or sexual sins, then they may fall back into their addiction. The testimonies I've heard from these men have been incredible and can only come from God.
I've also witnessed for myself people being blessed when they give back to ministries with what God has entrusted to them over their lives. We have sat down with two generations of families that have been entrusted as stewards by grandparents that love the Lord. The grandparents want to see what they have been given by God continue to be used for His purpose and glory even after they depart this world. It is a tremendous testimony to see the excitement that fills the air in situations when grandparents, children and grandchildren get together and plan the future with these assets. Everybody is involved and the lesions of stewardship gets passed down through each generation.
The important questions that need to be asked are, what is your legacy? How do you want to be remembered? What do you want to give to leave your mark on the Christian community?
It is my prayer that the HYMN Great is Thy Faithfulness The well known chorus gives us comfort in the provisions of God by saying "Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see; All I have needed Thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!"
Let us remember that all we've ever needed in life has been provided by God. Are we prepared to continue to do His work with what He has so richly provided for us for His sake? What will be our legacy be whenever we leave our earthly home to go to our heavenly home?
"The renewal of our natures is a work of great importance. It is not to be done in a day. We have not only a new house to build up, but an old one to pull down." -- George Whitefield
The Bucket List Part IV
If you were to make a list of things you wanted to do before you died, what would it contain? I've given this some personal thought since seeing the movie "The Bucket List" starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freemen. It is about two men, a billionaire and working class mechanic that have nothing in common, except that each has a terminal illness. Knowing they are going to die, they each make a list of things they want to do before they kick the "bucket" and set out to do them all. On their list, they set out to travel the world, skydive, race cars, etc. The movie was very entertaining and made me think of what I would do with the rest of my life if I knew I had a terminal illness. Interestingly enough, we all know that we are going to die a physical death. Because we don't know when that is, however, living our lives as if we need a bucket list might not be a bad idea.
In Luke 12:16-21, Christ told his disciples a parable, "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, what shall I do? I have no place to store my crops. Then he said, this is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, you have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat drink and be merry. But God said to Him, You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?
This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God." This rich man's bucket list was to hold as much wealth as he could, then relax and take life easy. Sounds something like what we might hear on commercials that encourage us to put as much away in our 401(k) as possible, save anything else we have left over and then spend our time either on the beach or golf course sipping lemonade all day. Romans 12:2 commands us, "Do not be conformed to this world." Not being conformed to the world means that our list should be different then what the world would have us do.
The bucket list idea denotes the idea that life is a journey and the list is part of the journey that is uncompleted or unfulfilled. If our mind is focused on the world, then the bucket list is focused on. I want to skydive or I want to race cars or I want to store up wealth to take it easy before I die. If our mind is focused on a heavenly bucket list then we might think more about a journey that is filled with things we want to do for others and Walter B. Russell, in Revolution in Generosity, explains, "our journey on the road to generous giving 1. starts with faith in Christ, 2. is motivated by gratitude toward Christ, 3. is directed by biblical examples, 4. picks up speed as faith matures, and 5. encounters distractions or roadblocks that must be overcome." To fill my bucket list I must spend every day of my journey with Christ in His word and in prayer. As Russell states so well, "the road to generosity is a journey that few Christians successfully complete. Some never get started on the journey. Probably most Christians start on the road, then quickly pull off at a rest stop and just stay there, idling. A few take seriously their Christian faith and choose to travel faithfully, like Bunyan's 'Pilgrim,' and complete the journey. They arrive as mature believers and generous stewards."
Where are you on your journey? Have you made a bucket list? If you were to close your eyes in death today and awake before the Throne of Grace, would you feel satisfied that you lived this life to its fullest and done so for others and Christ?
"Even now I cannot understand the measure of a life, but I can tell you this. I know that when he died, his eyes were closed and his heart was open." Carter Chambers, The Bucket List "
If I am afraid to speak the truth lest I lose affection, or lest the one concerned should say, "You do not understand", or because I fear to lose my reputation for kindness; if I put my own good name before the other's highest good, then I know nothing of Calvary love". -- Amy Carmichael
Giving Back -What part of the pie is God getting? PART V
Psalm 50:9-12: I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from you pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine and all that is in it.
Giving Back -What part of the pie is God getting? Part IV
Psalm 50:9-12: I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from you pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine and all that is in it.
A Pastor told a story about a father that bought his child a large order of French fries from McDonalds. The child and father sat down at a table and the child started digging into the fries like there was no tomorrow. As most fathers do (I'm no exception), he reached over to take a couple of fries for himself. The child quickly reached over the pile of fries and exclaimed, "no daddy these are my fries you can't have any!" The father was amazed that his child was acting this way. He thought to himself that his child was being quite selfish. How dare he act this way? The father thought I bought the fries for him and he doesn't want to give me at least one! Then the father had a thought, how many times does he have the same attitude with God? How many times does he put his arms around "his things" and say, "no God you can't have this, it belongs to me?" I think we forget too many times who really is the owner of the stuff we posses. In this end to the lesson above and in my honest personal introspection with My Heavenly Father, focussing on devotion and stewardship, I want to ask you, as I need to continually ask myself, "What piece of the pie is God getting?"
I've been asked by people, how much money should they give to the Lord. It is understandable to want to start with the tithe. Craig L. Blomberg, Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Denver Seminary states in "Revolution in Generosity," A Biblical Theology of Possessions, "It is a shame that conversations about tithing often distract Christians from their real responsibilities. On the one hand, it appears that an unprecedented number of people today think that the word "tithe" is simply a synonym for gift or offering and have no idea that the word means to give one-tenth. On the other hand, there are still far too many people who have read neither Testament carefully enough to recognize that, in the New Testament age, no specific percentage is commanded of believers. Instead, generous, even sacrificial, giving is what is enjoined (2 Cor. 8:1-12)". What is sacrificial giving? I think of the widow's offering in Luke 21:1-4. As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. "I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on" Can you imagine, giving everything you have to the Lord? The widow knew that God provided for all of her needs. She didn't give Him 10% but she gave 100%. This woman was giving not a piece of what she owned but the whole, she was giving sacrificially.
Suppose you were given a pie and the giver of the pie told you to serve the pie to whoever you wanted. Without considering the giver as you began to serve the pie, you cut a large piece for your career, then you cut another piece for your family and yet another for your hobby and, oh yes, you can't forget to cut one for your sleep and down time and one tiny piece for that new car you wanted. After cutting the pie and giving each piece away, you glance up at who gave you the pie. The giver seemed familiar somehow, but you couldn't quite put your finger on it. You looked down at the pie plate and realized there wasn't any more to give to him. You gave it all away to the other important things in your life. As the giver picked up the plate and began to walk away, you look at his hands and noticed the scars on his hands caused by nails that had put him on a wooden cross. At that point, you realized who He was and all that was left for him were a few crumbs.
Friends, God doesn't need our stuff! He doesn't need our money, He needs our obedience, our devotion, our love and He deserves not the last piece of the pie, but the first piece, and dare I say the largest piece! He deserves our praise and glory! He gave us His son to die on the cross so we can enjoy Him forever. He gave it all for you and me. I want to encourage you to look at the abundant life he has so richly blessed you with. The gift He has so graciously given you. Then look around for people, churches and ministries that need to be blessed by resources that can come from you. When you begin to cut your pie and you think of all areas of your life, consider what Christ taught us when he said
"I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." Matthew 25:40.
Then give that piece of your pie as if you were giving it to Christ. -- Serve Jesus by Serving others freely and abundantly any then in abudance.
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