Give a Bit

* Disclaimer- I do not edit my manuscripts- they are written as an outline for my preaching. There are many spelling and grammatical errors.

OK, Quiz time. Right now, in your mind, I’m asking you to put a label on yourself. Don’t think about this too hard. Don’t over analyze this. I’m going to give you three options: Are you a giver, a saver or a spender?

Something popped into your mind immediately, and that was probably your most honest answer. Now if you are here and you are married or engaged or with your significant other, I want you to label them, right now- giver, saver, spender. Now lean over and tell that person what you think they are- no, just kidding. You can have that conversation on the way home. Next week I’ll preach on how to save your marriage after the biggest fight of your lives as that will be necessary after some of the conversations people are going to have. But honestly, what label would you put on yourself if you had to be labeled: spender, saver or giver?

Most people are most motivated, most driven, most identified, and most wrapped up in spending habits. That just statistical fact. It’s what drives me, it what consumes me, it’s what keeps me awake at night. We are spending, consuming creatures. If you are a spender you have to have the biggest, the best, the nicest and the newest. You got a credit card when you turned 18 and you never turned back. You always buy with credit because you don’t have to think about the money you’re spending, in fact, you don’t have a choice because you don’t have any real money to spend. If you’re a spender you have lots of friends, because you have lots of stuff. I mean, I love to be around spenders. They just get caught up in spending, yeah, I’ll pay for it, hey supersize it, hey, thrown in that set of sham-wows! Spenders pimp their rides, their cribs, and have extreme makeovers. Let me be clear that SPENDING IS NOT EVIL. Spending is a part of life, it should be a gratifying and fun part of life to help our selves and our economy. But if you are primarily driven by spending, you are probably in debt, and in trouble.

Some of us are savers. And again, nothing wrong with saving. It’s a part of the equation, and a good part, but if you are primarily driven to save, that can be a problem. You love saving. Nothing gives you more pleasure than saving. Unlike a spender, you pride yourself on your label. You might not flaunt it, but it makes you smile. But you might be so much of a saver, that you’re no fun. If you are a saver to the extreme, your savings are probably your best friend. They may be your only friend. You always let your friends drive, but never help pay for gas. You never offer to pick up the tab. Going dutch on dates is standard operating practice for you, even if you married. You always order water, with lemon, then sweeten it with sugar, then take the sugar packets and stuff them in you pockets, and a few extra napkins to keep in your car. Incidentally, it is from this position that I speak out of. I am predisposed to want to be a saver. My wife is dutch but I out dutch every dutch person I’ve ever met. Honestly, you’d think I grew up during the depression and was raised in abject poverty the way I agonize over spending money. I’ve had to learn how to enjoy spending money not just on fun things, but even on the basics of food and shelter. I am wired to save.

Some of you are givers. Interesting, real givers would also be the least eager to ever label themselves a giver. That’s a dynamic that will become clear when we get into our text. Most people most everyone, regardless of religion, of age, of cultural background, most people intuitively see this value of giving as the best way to live, the best approach we should have with stuff, the most desirable of labels if we must in fact label ourselves. There something in all of us that resonates with giving. Giving resonates with us because one, we understand intuitively that we are where we are today because someone at sometime gave to us. We’ve been given something- given food, shelter, love, protection, resources, opportunities, and we have been blessed by people giving to us.

And because someone gave to us, almost everyone at some point in their life gave to someone else. You gave a little something. Maybe is was just the cookie half of you Oreo when you split it with a friend in the school yard. You gave, and something in you felt so good, so right, so generous, so connected. You gave and something clicked and you knew that most old saying are grounded in profound truth and that yeah, it really is better to give than to receive, because giving did something in me and changed something in me in a way that receiving and spending and saving never has.

Here’s the thing: We resonate with giving because when we give we resonate with the heart of God, who is at heart, a giver. God gives. God gives until it hurts. God gives until he bleeds. God gives and so when we give we connect with the one in whose image we are made, and we are more ourselves when we give. Actually, I’ll put it this way, we are most ourselves when we give. We are most human and most Godly in our giving.

God gives because God wants something for you. This is counter our experience with most people and in most of life. Most people want something from you, especially when it comes to money. The credit card company will tell you that they want you to be free, that they want you to have fun, they want you to have stuff and travel, but we all know what they really want is something from us, not for us. They want us to make the minimum payment so they can get more money from us over the long run.

But God genuinely wants something for us before anything else. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him shall not die but have eternal life. God gave his son, Jesu gave his life not because he wanted something from us, but because he wanted something for us. God gave so we could live.

In a world where basically everybody and everything wants something from us, it’s hard to believe that God wants something for us. But the truth is that this is what the bible teaches- that before anything else God wants to give to us, he wants something for us. THen knowing god is for us, he wants us in a relationship with Him. then once we are in a relationship with him, then, like any relationship, he wants it to move into that place we we both want something for the other. That’s what great relationships are based on! Gods wants life and love and grace and mercy and forgiveness for us, and we want praise and honor and glory for God! We both want something for the other in the relationship. Giving will become then, and essential part of this relationship, of working out what God wants for us, and what we want to for God.

I want to talk to you today about becoming a giver. And to do this we will go to what is perhaps the most famous teaching of Jesus, the sermon on the mount. This is Jesus’ opus, some of his best stuff. He covers the most basic stuff that God desires for us. Because this is so basic this will help us set the tone for this whole concept of biblical finance. The thing is this- Jesus is speaking to a group that has already bought into his message. He not necessarily trying to win them over, he’s leading them along.

SO if you are not sure about all this stuff today- if you not sure about this biblical finance thing and if you’re not even sure about this whole Jesus thing- this is awesome that you are here. Because what you’re about to learn not just what is fundamental to biblical finance, but what is fundamental to what it means to be a Christ-follower. I mean really, this will give you a deeper understanding of what it really means to follow Jesus, to give your life to him, and how that should change your life. And if you’re already a how, if you’ve already bought in, then this is stuff you just need to know and take to heart and take to practice.

In Matthew 5 Jesus has focused on setting some things straight regarding religion. He actually turned religion on its head and taught that it is really about a relationship with God. When he gets to what we label Matthew 6 Jesus starts teaching his followers about how to live righteously. So again, if you are going to follow Jesus, this is what he Jesus wants for you, and what you will want for Jesus- to live a righteous life in the eyes of God and men. How to we do that- three things, fasting, praying, and giving to the needy. But here’s the first thing- giving. The foundation of starting to live a righteous life in the eyes of Jesus is to start with giving. He says this...

First, let’s be clear, this is not for a show. We all know or have seen those who give to make the show of it. They hold the press conference and announce they’re great act of philanthropy. Should we not promote or praise giving? Of course we should. But some people do it for the show, and Jesus says that show is their reward. the implication is that when we don;t do it as a show, we have the added bonus of pleasing God in heaven, and actually gaining a heavenly reward from Him. Later Jesus will bring even more clarity to this when he talks about storing up your treasures in heaven. That’s one of the most amazing things about this life- that here and now we can already start investing in our eternal home in heaven with God.

But he says this in regard to the most basic expectation of following him- when you give to the needy. Not if, when. Jesus presupposes that his followers will begin to emulate his value system, not always his lifestyle, but always his values. And that first value of living a righteous life- giving to the needy.

So the first thing we need to understand about living for Jesus is how seriously he really does take giving to the needy. Now this is I think precisely what excites us so much about Jesus, and what scares us. It is so exciting and wonderful and amazing to have a God who takes seriously our calling to care for the needy. It is so frightening that he chooses us to do it.

Really, we love the idea of a God that wants to care for people. We say yes, God’s plan is to care for those in need. God, how are you going to do that? I’m so glad you asked- you. You are my plan! Oh, snap. So let me get this straight- God you want to care for the needy- yes! And you want me and the other followers of you, Jesus, to be the care givers? Yep. Ok, that’s going to be a bit of a problem. Why? Because, most of us will say, and this is what we are really going to work through- because Jesus, while I love that idea and that value of being a giver, that seems like a million miles away for me.

Folks, that’s our reality. We are called to be givers. Givers to the church, givers to the needy. Givers because God is at heart a giver. But if we are going to be givers, we have got to get a grip on our financial reality. And if we are going to get a grip on our finances, well, a few things. We are going to have to go to the bible to learn what God says about finances. We are going to have to do some hard learning, and some serious unlearning of things the world has told us. IN order to do that un learning, we are going to have to break some old habits and create some new ones. Folks, this is going to go against culture, against the grain of our world, against the grain of our habits. against the grain of some of our beliefs, and it is going to rub us the wring way. There will be chaffing my friends, oh yes.

So I want to talk with PRACTICALLY about what getting on a giving plan looks like. Because God doesn’t just have the value for giving, he has the plan for giving. And it requires DISCIPLINE. It requires getting on a plan. LIke I said, we won;t naturally give- we will more naturally spend or save. So we have to start with a disciplined plan for giving and biblically, it starts with this: Percentage giving off the top.

Well God, since you are the source for all things, and since all things really belong to you, you get the first cut. I’m going give some of this to you. Throughout the bible it’s called the tithe, which is finance talk for 10%. The biblical basis for giving, for everyone, is 10%. The very way that God has structured giving requires us to have a grip on our finances. Because, this is so vital, we can give 10% unless we know what 10% is. So you need to know how much your %.

Some here are thinking, did he just say only 10%, Saylor must have sat out in the sun too long down in Florida last week. But it is 10%. This is the baseline of giving back to God, meaning, you really shouldn’t go under 10% is what God teaches. It is taught so many places, I could overwhelm you with references. It comes up in the laws, in the history of the kingdom, and over and over again in the prophets- bring your first fruits, your first offering, to God. Bring Him his 10%.

Now let me say a few things here-
First, what we know about Jesus and giving is both incredibly freeing, and scary. Jesus is often that way. In the bible we have not record of Jesus asking for money to fund his ministry. That’s not to say he didn’t, we just have no record of it. We do know that Jesus lived simply. He depended upon the hospitality of others. We do know that the disciples had a pool of money that came from somewhere and was used to feed them and fund their mission. We know Judas kept the money. We know that Jesus encouraged the people to give, and to give extravagantly. Some people he told to sell everything they had and give it to the poor. Some people he didn’t tell them to do that, but something about Jesus compelled them to give extravagantly. We know Jesus expected those who loved God to give to the temple, and as we just read, to the needy.

Further, we know that Jesus had very high expectations for how the money given to the temple was used. We know that in a fit of righteous anger Jesus overturned money changers tables in the temple and claimed that they had turned God’s house into a den of thieves. People were not just making a living from the work and ministry at the temple, people were abusing the religious system, getting rich, not honoring God, and suffice to say, it made him furious.

Second, can you give more? Sure. The bible actually speaks about tithes and offerings- that is, your 10% off the top, then what you offer in addition. In the bible after the tithe they gave an additional offering of 10% more to fund religious feasts, festivals, and to carry out a ministry of compassion amongst the poor. So they were called really to give 20% went all was considered- but 10% went directly to the temple- for the priests, for the building, for maintaining the space and basically running the place. Jesus later affirms this for his followers, instructing them to practice the tithe while not neglecting the great causes of the kingdom of God and the actives of the church, which was care, compassion, justice, mercy for aliens, afflicted, orphans, widows and those in need.

We need to consider how we can actually give more than 10%. You need to consider what comes after the 10% directly to God in offerings. You need to consider if you are called to a life simplicity like Jesus was. You need to consider if Jesus instructions to give everything applies to you. You need to consider living off of a fixed figure. If your income keeps rising and rising, you will naturally allow your standard of living to rise right along with it. In fact, most people that have a rising income over time adopt a faster pace in their standard of living. In other words, wealth people are some of the worst for living above their means. Which is why rich people get themselves into crazy situations and extreme financial trouble. So some here in you lifetime will need to set the limit. to say, I’m going to be rich, so I need to say that I can actually live off of this figure, so then, everything else will go towards giving and saving.

A lot folks right now are praying please put me in that category God! I really want to be in that category of earning power! Here my challenge- some of you already are. Some of you are already there, you just don;t know it yet, because you still think that one more income bracket away. But the thing is, you are already 4 or 5 or 10 brackets away from where you were a few years ago. the problem is, you never got a grip on your income that whole time you earning power has been increasing.

Third, Can you give less? Sure, we are free. This is not a salvation issue. This is an obedience issue. God earned our salvation through the work of the cross. Jesus gave himself so we could live. Salvation is a gift from God the bible teaches over and over and over again. A gift, by definition, can’t be bought. You receive salvation as a gift. Once you have received that gift, the bible teaches that such a profound change has taken place that we are new creatures. As we grow as new creatures, as children of God, we mature. We want to deepen the relationship, we want to honor and obey and serve God. And here God is very clear- I want you to give, as I am a giver. I want you to be a part of what I’m doing in the world and a big wonderful practical way to do that is to give. To be blunt, the bible doesn’t say we are going to hell if we don’t give, so there’s your out if that’s what you’re looking for. But the bible is very clear that if we want to please God and obey God and honor God and be a part of what God is doing, then we give. God says I don’t need your money, I can do what I want to do. I’m giving you the invitation to willing give and be a part of my work.

Incidentally, if you don’t like or agree with anything I’m saying, please open the bible and start trying to prove me wrong. That’s a win/win situation for both of us. One, if you correct an incorrect teaching in me, then I grown and that’s great. Second, if you start reading the bible for yourself, then you are becoming more obedient follower of Jesus. So if you’re thinking, hey, does Jesus really teach and expect us to give? Read Matthew 6. Read Matthew 23. Read, and let me know.

Finally, Now let me talk more about this plan for giving. This is a disciple, it takes planning and a practice. And the early you start, the better you’ll be, and the easier this will come. ANd it follows a very predictable pattern in our life. This is fascinating.

We teach this stuff to our kids, and it works out like this- kids, you get a dollar for your allowance to start. And to teach this you should use the dimes. Kids are visual, kids are tactile, they learn best when they can see and touch and get their hands on it. Here’s what we are going to do with that dollar- one dime, 10% goes to God, it goes to church. 10% goes to savings. 80% goes to you. You begin teaching that to kids, and you show them this, and they are like, wow, I get a whole dollar. Remember how exciting a dollar used to be? It’s big money for a kid. You tell that kid they are going to get a dollar, and that of those 10 dimes, one goes to God, and they are like, one goes to God? One dime goes to God. Only one? Well, I want to give god two dimes. Whooa hold on there Billy, you don;t want to get crazy with this- 2 dimes to God, that a bit extreme.

But when you start young, when your kid understands that that dollar is itself a gift to them, then giving some to God makes complete sense. More giving God a dime is like nothing. And the disciple starts. And the truth is, for all of us giving a dime is pretty easy. But let’s be honest, something happens over time. We start to increase our learning potential. We get en dollars, then we say well, a dollar goes to God, and we say, that’s OK, that’s like one thing at the dollar store, but I still get to put one dollar into saving and could buy 8 more pieces of junk.

Then we get our first hundred dollars, and then we say, hey, 10 dollars, while it’s still ten percent, somehow seems like more money, even though it isn’t. Then we make our first thousand, then we get ten thousand, then we get a job that pays 50,000 a year. Then all of the sudden we look at that, and we say hold on a second, 50,000 a year, that means...$5000. Well $5000 is actually a lot of money. I could really do something with 5000 dollars. That’s like, a car, or a new kitchen, or a trip to Vegas, or even a whole bunch of things- Xbox and new shoes and a dinner and a show and an iphone and heck, a new Macbook! That’s some serious money.

But here’s the thing- it’s still just 10%. But what seemed like so little when we were so little and when what we had was so little, now seems like so much. But why does it seem like so much? Now because, when we look at the percentage that it’s any more, the percentage didn’t change, we did. We giving 10% seems like so much because we want so much. We want so much more for us.

That is why it is so important to start this disciple, this kind of plan, early on. Start it when you have a dollar so you’ll do it when you have 10 and 100 and 100,000 dollars because if someone made you stand up in front of a group of people and they said we are going to reveal to you what this person is- a spender, a saver, or a giver, you are going to pray, you are going to hope with your whole heart- oh please let me be a giver. Please let me be a giver.

And the power to be a giver is in your grasp. And it’s the first thing we need to do. And when it’s the first thing we do, it changes our grasp in money, it changes the way we understand and approach and manage our money. It changes our relationship with money. And that is the most important thing of all. It makes us master of our money, instead of our money mastering us. And if we are master of our money, if we are giving the frist part to God, then we are practically doing something to build into our relationship with God.

I’ve been doing a bunch of weddings. I have a very simple pre-marriage counseling plan. Do three things and you will make it as a couple. Do three things and I predict your marriage will not just survive, but thrive. Because if you do these three things you get a grip on the three big marriage killers. Three things you need to have straight and have a plan- God, sex, and money. You better get right with God and be on the same page with God and one another. In other words, you can’t be arguing about God. The best way to do that- agree that you will always be a part of a church. God to church.

Second, get a plan for sex. Get on the same page. And the way to do that, practice natural family planning. Do that and you ‘ll understand how God made you and you’ll have to talk about sex as a couple, and you have to talk about it.

Third, give 10%. From day one as a couple give 10% back to God. And if you do this you will be forced into getting on a budget and a plan for your money.

ANd if you do that, and I’ve heard this story told time and time again now- you will live better off of 90% that is managed right, than 100% that isn’t managed at all. You really will- you will be amazed. You will actually discover that 90% managed right goes so much farther than poorly managed 100%.