What Difference Does Jesus Make In What We Do With Our Money?

What difference does Jesus make in the way we live our lives? At some point most of you stood up here or in front of some other congregation and said, "I trust in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior" and "I intend to be his disciple, to obey his word and to show his love." How does that change what we are doing with our lives?

That is the question for us in this small group sermon series. We started out with "What difference does Jesus make in what we do with our bodies?" A lot, since we are temples of God’s Holy Spirit. "What difference does Jesus make in aging?" A lot, for as our bodies decline we are getting stronger and stronger, better and better in Christ.

This morning the topic is money. We are going to listen to what Jesus has to say about this in Luke’s version of the Sermon on the Mount. As you listen to this passage, I want you to notice what a great preacher Jesus is, how he uses story and lessons from nature and daily life to bring home at least three-points:

Don’t be greedy but generous;
Don’t worry but trust in God;
Don’t invest in things that don’t last but in God’s kingdom.

Luke 12:13-34
Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher!" And that’s exactly what Jesus did. He teaches his disciples here on how to relate to wealth and money, a topic that comes up a lot in Luke and the rest of the Bible. In fact, you could say that Jesus considered this one of the most important litmus tests for how we’re doing in our relationship with God.

So Jesus gives us three lessons to guide us. The first is on greed, the second is on worrying (or trust), and the third is on investing in what lasts.

NOT GREEDY BUT GENEROUS
"Teacher," the man said, "tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me." This passage starts with a family argument and it’s about an inheritance. I’m wondering how many of you have been through that ugliness: "haggling over furniture, dishes, silverware, house, land, and savings account left by the deceased…the ugly dispute is all too familiar." ¹

What does Jesus do with this man’s request? He doesn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole! He’s not about to play referee over their greedy bickering. But instead he gets to the heart of the matter and he teaches them about greed. First he warns them and then illustrates it with a story.

"There was a rich man whose land produced abundantly." He tells a story about a rich farmer who already had more than enough for his own needs. He was rich. But then he gets the added windfall of a huge bumper crop. And yet with all this super-abundance of goods, it never even occurs to him to give any of it away.

He is living completely for himself. The parable is full of the words, ‘I,’ ‘me,’ ‘my,’ ‘mine’ – ‘my crops,’ ‘my barns,’ ‘my grain and my goods.’ Then his sudden death proves him to be a fool. Why? Because he thought all that abundance was for his benefit alone, when he had no way to consume it all or enjoy it all.

According to Jewish custom, his abundance wasn’t for him to store away for himself; it was for him to share. Remember the story of Joseph in Genesis?

Joseph was sold into slavery by his older brothers only to end up as Pharoah’s right hand man in charge of Egypt’s storehouses of grain when they were filled with seven years of bumper crops. What did Joseph do with all that good fortune? It was obvious what he was to do. God put him there and gave him all that wealth and power to distribute that food to the hungry during the famine years that followed.

"Sell your possessions and give alms." Jesus was quoting a centerpiece of Jewish piety – you give out of your abundance to those in need. If God gave you an overage it was for you to take care of the larger community. It wasn’t a means of self-congratulation or securing your own future. It was a responsibility.

The rich farmer did not do what he was supposed to do with his abundance. He was a self-centered fool. Jesus concludes, "So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God."

John Wesley was the 18th century founder of the Methodist Church. In his early years in Britain he lived on 28 pounds and he gave away two pounds. Then his income increased to sixty pounds. He knew he could live on 28 pounds so he gave away thirty-two. The next year his income rose to 90 pounds, but still he lived on 28 and gave away the rest. Wesley’s advise to the church at that time was this: "Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can."

Rick Warren has made a ton of money on his book, The Purpose-Driven Life, which has sold 30 million copies in 56 languages and is the best-selling book in the world. He was interviewed recently on Meet The Press and he talked about what he is doing with his money:

When, literally, all this money started pouring in, Kay and I made five decisions on what to do with the money.

First, we said, we’re not going to spend it on ourselves. I still live in the same house I’ve lived in 15 years, I drive a 6 year old Ford truck. I don’t own a boat. I don’t own a second house. I don’t own a plane.

A second was I stopped taking a salary from Saddleback Church about four years ago.

Third is, I added up all that the church had paid me in 24 years at that time and I gave it all back. And I did that because I knew that I was being put under the spotlight and I didn’t want anybody to question my motives of why I do what I do…

Then we set up some charities…

The last thing I did is we became reverse tithers. When my wife and I got married 31 years ago, we started giving 10 percent of our income as a tithe to our church. And each year we would raise it at least 1 percent… now…we give away 90 percent and we live on 10. And honestly, that’s quite fun…I’m probably the happiest person on the planet because we get to use money in so many great ways. ²

What difference does Jesus make in what we do with our money? That kind of difference: we will not be greedy, but generous.

NOT WORRYING BUT TRUSTING GOD
And we will not worry about having enough, but we will trust in God. "Do not worry," Jesus tells his disciples over and over again in this passage. Life is more than what you possess, worrying doesn’t accomplish anything anyway, and most of all God will give you what you need.

But we do worry, don’t we? We worry about legitimate concerns like children at risk, job security, health issues, loneliness, global instability. We worry about things that might happen: earthquakes, cancer, car accidents, the effects of global warming.

In the comic strip Peanuts, Linus comments to Charlie Brown: "I guess it’s wrong always to be worrying about tomorrow. Maybe we should think only about today." Charlie Brown responds: "No, that’s giving up. I’m still hoping that yesterday will get better."

But listen to Jesus’ tender invitation to those who worry: "Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom." You and I have a Good Shepherd who holds nothing back but lays down his life for the sheep. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. You and I have a loving Father who has already given us everything. Why are we haggling over a family inheritance when God has already given us the kingdom?!

They neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. God clothes them gloriously. Of how much more value are you?!

What are they teaching us? That God is trustworthy and provides lavishly. "Without this conviction," writes seminary professor, Carol Johnson, "it is impossible for anyone in our culture to feel secure enough to be free of money anxiety." Johnson did some research at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California on the way they relate to money. She said, "Many of the people I met have a great deal of money, by the standards of most Americans. Yet many of them had a lot of anxiety about having enough money to take care of their families. They felt that in order to be secure, they had to have homes in safe neighborhoods, send their children to private schools, pay extra for security systems, save extra in case of illness – the list goes on and on. For the truth is, no amount of money can ever provide security against human finitude [frailty]." ³

Isn’t this the second point that Jesus is making? You can’t buy your security with money. There is only one place of true security – trusting God.

What difference does Jesus make in what we do with our money? We shift what we trust. Jesus is our Lord and Savior. It is not financial security and wealth that we trust. We don’t worry about that anymore. We trust in God.

WE INVEST IN THINGS THAT LAST
And we spend our money on things that last. "Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys."

All the "stuff" in our houses and at our garage sale – what an indictment of how much money we spend on things we don’t need. But what about our wise investments? What about the money we put into Social Security or a pension fund? What about my investment in my home in Redwood Shores, which according to the front page of the Chronicle last week could be under water if we don’t do something about global warming? What is it, my friends, that really lasts?

The 16th century Reformer, Martin Luther, said, "I have held many things in my hands and lost them all, but whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess."

"Strive for God’s kingdom," Jesus said. Bank your savings on what God is doing in the world because that is the only thing that lasts forever.

That is why I will tithe my estate to Christ’s church (I’m finally putting together a will this year!). That is why I give an increasingly larger percentage of my income to Trinity and those in need. Because what goes on here in worship as we hear and respond to God’s word in Jesus Christ, what goes on in our Sunday School classes and our small group bible studies, wherever we are being shaped and sent out to live God’s love in the world – that is what lasts forever.

What difference does Jesus make in what we do with our money? According to Jesus, we should notice these three changes:

Talk about this in your homes and small groups. Listen to what the Spirit is saying to the Church.