“Committing Our Life to God”
Today’s Focus: “God
First”
Food for Thought: “God
Calls Us to the Consecrated Life”
ILLUSTRATION:
Have you ever
been in deep trouble and made promises to God? Legends abound of soldiers in
foxholes making such pledges. The late entertainer Danny Thomas faced a dilemma
early in his career. He couldn’t get enough work as a singer and comedian to
support his family. At the end of his rope, he visited a church in
His prayer was answered, and a job offer came from
Thomas didn’t forget his prayer, and he was thankful.
He made a pledge to build a shrine to honor God through Jude. In the early
1950s, Thomas met with businessmen in
·
People tend
to give back when they are grateful for being given to.
·
In other
words…People who are blessed desire to bless others.
·
People who
are given much, give much back to God.
Luke 14:25-33 says:
25Large crowds were traveling
with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26"If
anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and
children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my
disciple. 27And anyone who does not carry his cross and
follow me cannot be my disciple.
28"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not
first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete
it? 29For if he lays the foundation and is not able to
finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30saying,
'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'
31"Or suppose a king is about to go to war against
another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with
ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other
is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33In
the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my
disciple.
Hating My Family and Myself?
(Verse 26)
·
As we examine
the biblical text, we are shocked by Jesus’ intense statement:
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his
wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be
my disciple.”
·
How can the One who calls us to love our
neighbor as ourselves speak about hating our family or hating ourselves?
·
I thought we were supposed to love our neighbor
as ourselves?
ILLUSTRATION:
There was a Sunday School teacher who was discussing
the Ten Commandments with her five- and six-year-olds. After explaining the
commandment to “honor thy father and thy mother,” she asked, “Is there a
commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?” Without missing
a beat, Tim (the oldest of a family of seven), answered, “Thou shalt not kill?”
ILLUSTRATION:
We’ve all heard stories about family members
who “hate” one another. It’s the stuff that feeds the plot of every soap opera
on TV. One of John Grisham’s novels, The Testament, is a fertile tale about billionaire Troy Phelan who has gone through
millions of dollars and two or three families. The result is a lot of wrecked
lives, discord, and disharmony. But each member of the family is hoping for a
share of the old man’s wealth.
He invites them all to
his business tower, signs a will in their presence, then, as they are exiting
to the ground floor, he signs another will and leaps over the balcony to his
death. The final will disinherits all of his family—except for a daughter—a
missionary in a faraway land, whom he has never known. The rest of the story
revolves around the battle between the other family members to get their share
and the search for the young missionary by a misfit lawyer—who, by the way—finds
God in the process.
·
One might understand disliking family members in
a situation like that, but Jesus doesn’t give us any caveats in His statement
here.
·
Jesus doesn’t say, “You must hate family if they
mistreat or abuse you or take your inheritance.”
·
He just tells us we must hate them and
ourselves. That’s pretty heavy stuff.
·
Jesus spoke in hyperboles which are exaggerated
truths and the point he was trying to make was: The Christian should love God
so much that all other love for people and things should seem like hate in
comparison.
Carrying a Cross (Verse 27)
ILLUSTRATION:
There was a man a few years ago who
traveled across the country with a cross on his shoulder. The cross had a small
axle in the base with two rubber wheels attached. I guess this kept him from
wearing out a lot of crosses. Certainly, it made it easier to haul the thing
from
ILLUSTRATION:
We can browse the
jewelry cases at Penney’s, Sears, or Saks, and we’ll find a wide array of
crosses—sterling silver, white gold, yellow gold, platinum, diamond-encrusted,
ruby-adorned, Celtic, Maltese, thin, fat—all kinds of crosses. They may be
beautiful or serve as conversation pieces to talk to others about our faith.
But the cross Jesus talks about in our passage isn’t pretty. It isn’t shining.
It doesn’t attract admirers. It’s a loathsome thing. It’s heavy. It’s rough.
It’s got blood on it. It’s a symbol of death.
·
What does Jesus mean when He says we cannot be
His disciples if we don’t bear our cross?
·
Isn’t dying to follow Christ too great a price
to pay?
ILLUSTRATION:
I spoke with a young
father who told me he couldn’t make it to church, “Too many things going on in
our lives right now, Pastor. We work hard all week. We take our kids to soccer
and dance class on Saturdays. We do school events and scouts during the
evenings. Then there’s the work that takes me out of town a lot. We need some
time to relax and Sunday is the only day we can do it.” Dad was devoted to his
family and relaxation.
ILLUSTRATION:
I heard a story about a dad who was picking up his
son, Christopher, from school to take the lad to a dental appointment. Knowing
the parts for the school play were supposed to be posted that day, the father
asked his son if he had gotten a part.
The child enthusiastically announced he had indeed
received a part. He proudly exclaimed, “I play a man who’s been married 20
years.” “That’s great, son. Keep up the good work, and before you know it,
they’ll give you a speaking part.”
In Exodus 20:5 God
says, “I . . . am a jealous God.”
·
This is where we find the Ten Commandments—the
first of which is:
·
“You shall have no other gods
before me.”
·
God won’t
settle for second place to our spouse, our kids, our parents, or our boy- or
girlfriends.
·
He wants
to be first. That’s
what this passage is all about.
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GOD IS A JEALOUS GOD WHO DESIRES TO BE FIRST IN
OUR LIVES.
ILLUSTRATION:
The late T. W.
Willingham was a well-known evangelist and former college president. One time as
he was about to speak in chapel, he stood, picked up his chair and began
smashing it on the stage floor. He continued until it was a mass of splinters. He
then picked up one sliver of wood, held it before his entranced student
audience, and said, “There’s probably an easier way than this to get a
toothpick.”
·
His intent was to get the attention of his
audience—and he did.
·
That’s what Jesus is doing throughout this
passage.
·
He’s using hyperbole—exaggeration— to make His
audience pay attention.
·
God doesn’t really want us to hate ourselves,
our parents, our kids, our brothers and sisters, or our Fathers and Mothers…but
God does want us to know that He expects us to love Him with our whole heart
first and foremost.
·
God knows we love our kids and want to do things
for them.
·
He knows we need rest and relaxation to keep our
sanity and health.
·
He knows
teens get caught up in the thrill of young love.
·
But God wants us to keep all these things in
perspective.
·
It’s when our interest in other people and
things outweighs our interest in God that the trouble begins.
·
Jesus told this hyperbole to help us understand
the importance of keeping our priorities straight.
Many Followers—Few Disciples
·
Jesus had many “followers” such as the crowd of
5,000 He fed with five loaves and two fish.
·
To them, Jesus was a meal ticket. When the food
was gone; so were they.
·
When it came to paying a price for the relationship,
most of these people weren’t willing. They were takers, not givers.
·
Their Gods were their stomachs and their own
selfish interests.
·
They followed what could be emblazoned across
the billboards of
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Some in our day see Christianity as “fire
insurance”—as a way to avoid the prospect of hell.
·
There are a lot of images of hell in our minds,
but I can’t think of any kind of torture that would be worse than being
separated from God for eternity.
·
The great writer and apologist of the Christian
faith, C.S. Lewis, spoke of hell in this way. He believed people choose to walk
toward or away from God bit by bit.
·
Christianity is based on a relationship with God
and our fellow human beings.
·
We either work at building that relationship or
we let it lie fallow and—eventually—the relationship ceases to exist.
·
I’m paraphrasing Lewis a bit, but he says
something to this effect, “Sin is man saying to God, ‘Go away and leave me
alone.’ Hell is God saying to man, ‘You may have your wish.’”
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The Lord wants us to follow Him because we love
Him—more than anything or anybody else.
·
That’s what discipleship and the consecrated
life is all about.
·
As
Christians, we consecrate ourselves to God and give Him His rightful place at
the center of our world.
·
In return, God cleanses our hearts from sin and
fills them with love for Him and others.
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That’s when we truly die to self and take up our
cross to follow Him.
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The adventure and the thrill comes in living out
that relationship from day to day—trusting God, serving others, and sometimes
asking for forgiveness—but all the time keeping God first.
The Bottom Line—Giving Up
Possessions (Verse 33)
ILLUSTRATION:
Earlier I mentioned entertainer Danny Thomas and his
commitment to create a shrine to honor God. Was it difficult? Was it expensive?
Did it take time? Did it involve sacrifice? Certainly, yes to all these
questions; but look at the results. Since opening its doors in 1962, St. Jude
Children’s
God rewarded Danny Thomas (along with many others)
for his faithfulness. Thomas went from being a TV star to becoming a successful
producer of TV programs such as The Andy Griffith Show and Dick Van
Dyke. He died in February 1991, but his legacy continues to live on.
·
That’s true
in the church. The faithful build a legacy that serves as the foundation for
those who follow.
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If we fail to
live up to the challenge—if we are unwilling to pay the price of carrying the
cross—the next generation of the church is in peril.
·
During these
weeks we have said much about moving Forward in Faith. This involves
many things, but if I were to make a list of items we need to do in this church
to truly move forward in the things of God, at the very top would be to open
our (hearts) fully to the (Holy Spirit)—allow Him to cleanse and empower
us for His service to the Kingdom.
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TO MOVE
FORWARD IN FAITH WE MUST OPEN OUR HEARTS FULLY TO THE HOLY SPIRIT AND COMPLETELY
SURRENDER OUR LIVES TO GOD!
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When we do
this—all other priorities fall into place. We find ourselves at harmony within
and with those around us.
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It doesn’t
mean we don’t have problems or difficulties; it doesn’t mean we won’t get
frustrated with circumstances or people; and it certainly doesn’t mean we are
perfect.
·
What it does
mean is we will find special grace to cope with any situation life throws at us
because we will be looking at it from God’s perspective rather than our own.
·
What do we
love most?
·
Is it someone
else? Is it our own life and its comforts? Is it our possessions?
·
All of these
will someday pass away, but it doesn’t matter if my focus is on God first,
rather than me first.
·
My prayer is
that we will put God first in every area of our lives. If He isn’t first in
your life, He can be right now.
"Where your treasure
is, there will your heart be also." Matthew 6:21
ILLUSTRATION: I wondered
what you would feel like today, if through some devious means I had arranged to
put your current financial position up on the overhead for everybody to see. I
wonder how that would go. Would that make you feel good? Some of you would say,
"That's fine. It doesn't bother me. I feel real good about it." Some
of you should feel real good about it because you're doing a great job. Others
would be horrified. And then there'd be many in the middle of the pack.
·
You can tell
a lot about a person by how he/she spends their money.
Isn't that true?
·
We would be
thinking about more than just the numbers if we saw your financial situation.
·
A lot of
values are communicated behind the numbers. I think if we put your financial
situation up on the screens, we would be able to figure out how you feel about
a bunch of stuff.
For example, I think we
could figure out how you feel about God. If there was a record of giving generously
and consistently to the work of God, that would show up. If you generously
support God's activity, if you give the full tithe of what you earn to God's
work, there'd be no hiding that. And if you didn’t, that would be there for
everybody to see.
·
Jesus put it,
this way: "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. ' And
vice versa: What your heart gets engaged in, your money follows.
·
We'd also be
able to tell how you feel about other people. Are there gifts to the poor, the
needy, the helpless, the unfortunate? A friend or a relative in need? Those
would show up.
OUESTION: Now, if you
feel a little uneasy about this whole idea, then just let me ask you in a
loving way:
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What is it about
your money management that's embarrassing or frustrating for you?
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What is it about
the way you deal with your finances that makes you say, "I've got to do
better"?
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The Bible
says in Colossians 3:23: "Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as unto
the Lord".
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If you go out
and obey that Scripture, common sense says that over the course of a
professional life, you're going to handle a small fortune.
·
Some of you
are going to handle a large fortune.
·
If you earn
money week after week over a 40 or 50 year earning span, you're going to handle
a lot of money.
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Now, how are you going to handle it? That's
what we're talking about today. God's word has some pretty specific input on
money management.
WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT
WHAT WE DO WITH OUR MONEY
Proverbs 21:20:
"The wise person
saves for the future. But the foolish person spends all that he gets."
And the Bible says other
things about money once you earn it.
1. We are accountable to
God for how we spend our money.
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Some of us
say, "I earned it. I'll spend it any way I want to." But the Bible
says, "Just relax a little bit on that."
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Because the
truth is, if God didn't give you your next breath, if God hadn't given you some
talent and some abilities, if God hadn't put you in the land of opportunity,
you wouldn't ever be able to earn or have any money to spend.
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So back off
and recognize that God has been gracious in even enabling you to earn some.
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You're
accountable to him, as the creator of your earning power, for how you manage
it.
2. Money management is a
part of our commitment to being a Christ follower.
·
Some folks
think that if you're a Christ follower, you mainly follow Christ in the
spiritual area of your life. You pray.
·
You read your
Bible a little bit. You come to church. But then you go out into your real life
and leave God out of that.
·
The Bible
says that's not the way it works. The Bible has a holistic view of what it
means to be a Christ follower.
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Our
relationship with Christ should impact everything: our relationships, money management,
how we raise our children, how we think about politics, how we think about the
environment.
·
Our following
Christ should impact everything.
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A wise person
develops a plan and follows it, so that he has a nest egg or a cushion.
·
But the
foolish person has no plan, no formula, no strategy. So when he has an
unexpected problem, an unplanned reversal, some unscheduled setback, all of a
sudden he has a shortfall.
·
Most bankruptcies
are a result of an unexpected illness and looming hospital bills.
·
There is no
way to plan for unexpected major surgery.
·
As many of
you know, my wife, Michelle was diagnosed with cancer in 2001.
·
Our insurance
did not cover all the expenses and we had thousands of dollars in medical bills
to pay.
·
A few months
before we decided to invest some of our money, and that investment paid for the
majority of the medical bills.
·
We are still
paying off a few bills to this day.
·
But the fact
is, if we did not take some of our money and invest it by buying a rental
property we would have in all probability gone bankrupt by now.
·
But God knew
we were going to need the money and He led me to investing.
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There's
panic, anxiety, feelings of frustration, anger, foolishness and even shame when
we do not prepare for the future.
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The Bible
says, don't put yourself in that condition. Don't subject yourself to that
eventuality.
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The world is
an uncertain place and you don't want to be at the edge of financial viability
because you're liable to fall off. And when you do, that's a horrible condition
to be in.
·
Now, whenever
I start talking about these kinds of things, some people get nervous right away
and say, "You're going to try to sell us on some straitjacket deal.”
·
And “you're
going to try to take the joy out of our lives." But that's not the heart
that I bring to it.
·
This is not
going to be a legalistic noose that I'm suggesting you put around your neck to
choke you.
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It's just a
plan that can lead you to freedom some day if you implement and follow it.
·
I'm going to
talk about the most basic of plans that Christian financial counselors have
agreed on for decades.
·
Then you're
free to think about the variations that will fit your situation. It's historically
been called the
·
Take your
next paycheck and look at it. Then determine that there are two entities that
are always going to be paid out of that paycheck.
·
They're going
to be paid handsomely and consistently and joyfully.
THE
1) The first 10 % is
given to God.
·
The first
entity is God. The
Proverbs 3:9 says:
"Honor God with the
firstfruits of all you earn."
·
You say,
"God, I want to honor you and demonstrate obedience to your Word.”
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“ I want to
demonstrate trust in your provisions for me. I want to show you that I love you
and I honor you with the way I'm handling my money."
Malachi 3:8 says:
"Bring the full
tithe [a full 10 percent] into the storehouse."
·
That just
means into the place where you worship. Take the first 10 percent and give it
to God's work in the church that you're a part of consistently. Never miss.
·
Almost every
time this is mentioned in
the
Bible, there's a promise of God's divine blessing.
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When you honor
him with the firstfruits, that first 10 percent, God will honor you back.
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He will
engage himself in your financial affairs and surprise you with his blessings
and his grace. This is the only subject in the Bible where God says, "You
do this and I'll honor you back."
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And then
there's this little caveat statement, the only time it occurs in the Bible
where God says, "Test me.”
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“Honor me
with your finances and see if I don't honor you back."
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I've been
doing this since I was a new Christ follower in my early twenties.
·
And the
experience of every dedicated Christ follower I know is that as they have put
God to the test, He has always proven himself.
·
These
dedicated Christ followers would never do their finances any other way.
·
If I had a 50
percent pay cut, if my financial affairs changed dramatically, one of the first
things I would do is change my standard of living so that I would never
compromise that firstfruit gift back to God.
2) The second 10% to savings.
·
I'm going to
say this in a way that will stimulate your thinking a little bit. The second
entity that you need to pay from every paycheck is you.
·
You need to
pay yourself because you worked
hard.
Take that 10 percent right off the top and put it in a long-range savings or
investment fund.
·
This isn't a
mad-money fund or vacation fund. This is long-term. When you do this kind of
thing, it gives you a great feeling.
·
Since it is
gaining interest, you're not just working for your money. Some of your money is
working for you. All throughout the Scriptures it teaches about having money
set aside.
·
With
integrity, I must admit that right now, my and Michelle’s savings account is
pathetic and we are not in a position to save anywhere near 10%, if anything at
all.
·
As the boys
get older and Michelle goes back to work full time, I hope we can achieve a 10%
savings in the future because it is a good goal and makes sense.
3) 80 % to everybody
else.
·
What do you
do with the 80%? You just pay everybody
else.
·
The butcher,
the baker, and the candlestick maker. You use that to pay for housing expenses,
food, clothes, transportation, vacations, recreation, debt reduction, etc.
·
We know that
somewhere in the dark recesses of our carnal lives is this uncontrollable urge
to buy stuff and spend money and to get off the plan. Some of you have tried
things like this before. And it just didn't work because you got it set up and
then caved in to the pressure to buy stuff.
·
I want to
identify some spending categories for the remainder of this message to help us
understand why we break budgets.
·
All of us can
identify at least one area we can improve upon, including me.
SPENDING CATEGORIES THAT
CAN CAUSE PEOPLE TO GO OFF GOD’S PLAN:
1. Impulsive Spenders.
ILLUSTRATION:
·
Blue light
specials are too good to pass up.
2. Compulsive Spenders.
ILLUSTRATION
·
Then there
are compulsive spenders. This is a little sad. This is someone who has an unmet
need in their life. They might not even be aware of what it is. But rather than
determining what that need is and facing it and trying to work through it and
resolve it, they go out and spend money as an escape mechanism. They medicate
their internal pain by going someplace and buying something. I don't know if
you've ever felt twinges of this. Some things are really going wrong in your
life and you're really sad. So you say, "I'm going shopping! I'm going to
go feel better by going shopping."
3. Revenge Spenders.
ILLUSTRATION
You see this in Vegas
once in a while. If you take a close look at who's in the casinos, a lot of
times it's Ma and Pa Midwesterner who have been good all their lives. They've
been on a budget for a
long time. They've driven
a six-year-old Ford Escort wagon and they have a black-and-white TV. But they
just get sick of being good after a while, so they decide to get even. So they
take a flight to Vegas and blow a couple grand. They decide to stay in a big
suite and have some expensive dinners, see some shows, and pull the slot
machines for a while. Well, they get even all right. They never get ahead. They
don't honor God and don't build a savings account.
It's like a guy that
drives an old beater for eight years. He gets so sick and tired of that beater
that one day he walks into the showroom and buys a $36,000 sport utility
vehicle for payments of
$750 a month for five
years. He got revenge on that old beater, didn't he? He's never going to get
ahead. He can't honor God and honor his own work efforts.
This kind of thing also
happens to folks who build up a little nest egg, then instead of letting it
accrue interest and help them for the future, they blow it all on a
4. Boredom Spenders.
I have a hard time with
this one, because I just think it is so dumb for folks to say, "I'm bored.
I have nothing to do, therefore I will shop." It just makes no sense to
me. How does it make sense for
people to spend money
they don't have for stuff they don't need? What's the payoff in that? There are
so many wonderful things to do if you're bored. I mean, there are classes you
can take. Volunteer work you can do. Health clubs you can join to get fit.
Fellowship you can have with other people. There are volunteer positions in
this church that we'd love to have filled tomorrow. If you have extra time on
your hands, you'll receive a much bigger payoff if you
do some volunteer work
around this church than if you go get yourself in worse financial condition by
spending money you don't have on stuff you don't need.
5. Special Interest
Spenders.
6. Status Spenders.
ILLUSTRATION:
Buying certain name
brands to keep up with the “Joneses”.
WHAT GOD
SAYS ABOUT MONEY AND POSSESSIONS:
Matthew
6:19-34 says:
19"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on
earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth
and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “
22"The
eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be
full of light. 23But if your eyes are bad, your whole
body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how
great is that darkness!”
24"No one can serve two masters. Either he will
hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise
the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.“
25"Therefore
I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about
your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the
body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of
the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly
Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who
of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[b]?”
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the
lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet
I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of
these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the
field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not
much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not
worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we
wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and
your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But
seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be
given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about
tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of
its own.”