Money Matters

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  • Date: Sunday, December 11, 2011
  • Speaker: Jason Smith
  • Series: Acts: The Church Sent, Scattered, and Scorned
  • Scripture: Acts 4:32–5:11
  • Tags: Jesus, money, stewardship, grace, generosity

We've been considering our missional vision as a church since we've been in the book of Acts.  We've been saying that we want to see more and more people come to Christ, become connected to the family of God so they can grow, and for us to be released into the city to seek the welfare of the marginalized, the rejected, the broken and hurting.  We saw last week that one of the great benefits of having the Gospel preached boldly to you is that it results in a softened heart for God and for others.  That is what created A Community of Commitment in the early church.  Look with me at Acts 4:32-35,  Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.  After the Church heard Peter preaching the Gospel in power, those that had land sold what they had and distributed to those who had need.  They saw that Christ's generosity towards them meant that they had all they needed and could release what they held on to so that others were cared for.  The word and witness must never be separated in our lives.  The power of the Gospel being preached motivated their generosity and validated its reality.  The Gospel became tangible as the Church lived out of its reality.  The Apostles preached about the power of Christ's resurrection in words and the Church showed it in her deeds!    The Big Idea:  Grace leads to GENEROSITY, not GREED!   But what is it that keeps us from such radical generosity?  What stops us from loving our neighbors enough to see that the Gospel word and deed ministry are flowing from our lives?    If we're going to love in this way we're going to need a new way of viewing our own lives and motivations.  We're going to need a reorientation of our material possessions so that we see all things as serving the purpose of God's glory and witness to Him.  

 

Robert Putnam wrote a book called Bowling Alone which lays out some fairly startling trends in our culture over the last three decades.

  • In the last 25 years there has been a 25% decline in voting.
  • There has been a 50% decline in participation in social, civic, and fraternal organizations.
  • There has been a 10% decline in church attendance (which is alarming considering the growing population in America).
  • But there has been a 50% decline in activities outside Sunday services.
  • There is a substation decline to the proportion of both people who are giving as well as the percentage of what is being given to charitable causes.
  • This trend is carried into the Church where:
  • The proportion of households that tithe their income to their church-that is, give at least ten percent of their income to that ministry-has dropped by 62% in the past year, from 8% in 2001 to just 3% of adults during 2002 (2003).
    • 9% of born again Christians tithed 10% of their income to a house of worship in 2004.
    • When contributions are examined as a percentage of household income, giving to religious centers represents about 2.2% of gross income (2003).
    •  In total, one out of every twenty households (5%) tithed their pre-tax income to non-profit organizations (2003).
    • Americans inside and outside of the Church give significantly less than did the previous generation, and the previous generation gave significantly less than the generation before that.  
    • Yet our living standards have risen enormously over the last 50 years.
    • Volunteer serving in almost every age category has dropped significantly over the last 20 years both inside and outside of the Church.  The statistics are trending almost the same for non-Christians and Christians.


In other words, word and deed ministry is not doing well in our generation and unless there is a substantial change, our children will become more selfish, self-serving, and self-absorbed than we are.  In giving these statistics, it is easy to slip into a frustrated guilt tirade which will make the pastor feel better but doesn't change the hearts of God's people.  We know that only God's Spirit illuminating the Gospel can move us from such apathetic disinterest.   How can we become less absorbed with our own individual wants and perceived needs?  The answer is an encounter with God; finding our hope, love, joy, and peace in Him instead of money.  Look at what Paul says in 1 Timothy 6:17-19,  As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.   If we are going to be a church that loves the community in the way we believe God is calling us to, we must see our view of money and time change so that our vision is engaged.  We must become less selfish and more selfless.   We must love one another in a way that gives evidence that the Gospel is true to all who are watching.  

 

In the remainder of our time today, we are going to see through the examples of a few people in the early church How to Get to the Heart of Generosity.  Join with me in Acts 4:36-5:11,   Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.  Barnabas is going to play an important part in the Book of Acts. He was from the tribe of Levi and he was a native of Cyprus, where there was a large population of Jews. Barnabas was best known as an encourager. Through the Book of Acts, he always has his arm around someone, bringing comfort and encouragement. Luke says that Barnabas sold a piece of land and gave the money to the apostles. They didn't hold a banquet in his honor, or put a plaque up on the wall with his name on it. Luke wants us to know that this is the kind of thing people were doing. Being a Christian means being a part of a community in which this kind of thing happens; this is one of the ways the Spirit works. We've seen how the impact of the Spirit is felt in outreach to the world, but here we see that it's also felt in our experience of community within the church.    But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God." When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.  What Peter is showing here is the ugly-self worth and self-importance that gripped Ananias’ heart, so much so that Peter says that Satan has filled his heart to lie to the Holy Spirit.  This wasn't merely an issue of selfishness, though that was certainly part of it; it was an issue of self-worth. God was a concept to him and he thought he was smarter than the god-concept.  He assumed he could outwit God and was wiser than He was.  He could concoct this lie and pass himself off as important and worthy in the Church without God knowing.  God became a reality to him, but it was too late.  God was being used by him to get something he wanted, not for who He was in Himself.  He didn't worship God for His value, but the value that it brought him.  God was being used a currency to inflate his self-worth.   We continue in verse 7 with a third character,  After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter said to her, "Tell me whether you sold the land for so much." And she said, "Yes, for so much." But Peter said to her, "How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out." Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. When Peter asked Sapphira if the property was sold for a certain amount and she continued to lie like her husband, what was driving her was not just selfishness, but a hatred for God as she tempted God by lying to the Holy Spirit.  She was slapping Him in the face and assuming that she could get away with exalting herself over God and His holiness.  There was no repentance in either of them.  God quickly dealt with them without hesitation. She was confronted with God's holiness and instead of repenting and confessing before the Apostles and the congregation, she attempted to lie to God and to the Church to get her position of importance and prestige. Look at the result of what happened in verse 11, And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.  They had encountered God and had been forever changed.  They had a healthy fear of God, not a fear of insecurity, but of humility as followers of Christ.   Søren Kierkegaard, a Danish philosopher and theologian in the 1800’s points out the difference that we see between Barnabas and Ananias and Sapphira, If you have any knowledge at all of human nature, you know that those who only admire the truth will, when danger appears, become traitors. The admirer is infatuated with the false security of greatness; but if there is any inconvenience or trouble, he pulls back. Admiring the truth, instead of following it, is just as dubious a fire as the fire of erotic love, which at the turn of the hand can be changed into exactly the opposite—to hate, jealousy, and revenge. Christ, however, never asked for admirers, worshipers, or adherents. He consistently spoke of "followers" and "disciples."  We have been called to be disciples of Jesus Christ.  It is only as He changes our hearts that we can truly be generous.    I believe that we learn three actions that we must take if we want to imitate the generosity of Barnabas and avoid the greed of Ananias and Sapphira. 

 

First, Develop your HUMILITY of CHARACTER.

Philippians 2:3-4   Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Martin Luther, God creates out of nothing. Therefore, until a man is nothing, God can make nothing out of him. 

 

Second, Devote to HONESTY in CONDUCT.

Ephesians 4:28-30   Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

 

Third, Dwell in HOLINESS with CAPITAL.

2 Peter 3:10-13   But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

 

Commit to giving…

  • SYSTEMATICALLY (1 Corinthians 16:1-2   Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.  Matthew 6:21   For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. )
  • PROPORTIONALLY (2 Corinthians 8:12-14   For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness.)
  • SACRIFICIALLY (2 Corinthians 8:2-3   For in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, Mark 12:43-44   And he called his disciples to him and said to them, "Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.")
  • JOYFULLY (2 Corinthians 9:7   Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.  Matthew 13:44   "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.)

 

The Big Idea:  Grace leads to GENEROSITY, not GREED!  We don't serve God to get things; we already have everything.  We serve Him for the beauty that He is and because we want to know Him and show the world how beautiful He is.  We are now a part of His plan for the world.  We have been sent out by God into this world to be part of the movement of God which is shaking the earth.  To become an agent in this plan, you no longer use Him but instead desire to be used.  God becomes more real than your needs.  He's no longer a God you ask to be your assistant.  God's mission was going on through the world, with our without us.  But God still wants us to be a witness to this world through word AND deed.  We need to be available not for ourselves like Ananias, but for God like the early church.    

 

This advent season, we light these candles to remind us of the hope, love, joy, and peace that are ours through Jesus Christ.  Today, we light the third candle which represents Joy.  As we think about generosity, we have to remember the generosity that Jesus showed us by coming to earth in the form of a servant and giving His life for our sins.  We are reminded in Hebrews 12:1-2, that it as with joy that Jesus did this work and it is with joy that we should abandon our old way of living and embrace this radical new life in Him, Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.  As we prepare to celebrate the Lord’s supper and give our tithes and offerings, let us never forget what Jesus did for us and the joy that we have in Him.