MANIFESTO- Week 10: Worry

Here’s what Jesus says about this issue of worry...

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? 26 Look 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? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

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.

People love this passage. People are drawn to this passage. People write really bad songs inspired by this passage because people really like the thought of a worry free life. But let me tell you something that is most often missed on the passing glance at this passage. This passage isn’t primarily about not worrying. If Jesus purpose in this passage was to simply say “don’t worry,” this would be VERY bad news. That’s not really helpful. Try it, next time someone you care about is worried, just say hey, I have an idea, stop worrying! They might just punch you in the face! If this was only about eliminating worry, then this would leave us worse off than before because you can’t just get rid of worry. You can just will worry out of your life. How many times have people focused so much on the worry, they only end up worrying more! Nature abhors a vacuum- it has to fill it. Worry abhors a vacuum. Some of you, you abhor vacuums too! Worry abhors a vacuum, try to get rid of it, and it will just step right back in with greater force.

If we are going to get rid of worry, it is going to need to be replaced. We are going to have to get to the root cause of worry and deal with it at it’s source. Remember, that’s what so much of this MANIFESTO is about- Jesus wants to take us deeper and deeper, as deep as we are willing to go: let’s go deeper into your life, let’s deal with you lust, with your anger, with your hurt, with your betrayal. Let’s deal with you greed, with your love of money, with your lack of devotion. Let’s go deep into righteousness, deep into prayer, deep into your issues with worry.

What do we need to fill the vacuum of worry in our lives? Trust. It’s trust. But this issue of trust and worry as Jesus talks about it, is really an issue of your life’s pursuit or ambition. Pursuing one set of priorities will inevitably lead to worry. Pursuing another set will lead to deeper trust. One direction lead to worry, another to trust. One build anxiety, the other build faith. Today I want to talk about those two sets of priorities. First we want to unpack on set, one direction on life, that leads to worry. Then we want to look at the other- the direction, the desire that leads to deeper trust and faith.

Let’s address the first issue- pursuing the wrong things, namely the things of this world, leads to worry. This passage starts with one of those “therefores,” so we have to read this in context. Jesus just finished saying, you can’t serve both God and money, you can’t serve God and anything else. You can’t serve two masters! You’ll end up serving one, and the one you serve will have profound implications for your life.

Jesus gives us some examples- you worry about food- look at the birds, they don’t worry about food, and God thinks even more of you. You worry about clothes, look at the wild flowers, they are the most beautifully dressed in all of creation. Just look at what the worry Jesus talks about is focused on- will you have enough to eat? Enough to drink? clothes to wear? Now I’m not saying that none of us have never had to worry about these things in our lives, but, for nearly all of us, we have never had to worry about such basic things. We may not be able to eat filet mignon every night for dinner, but we can certainly find a loaf of bread. We may not drink champagne, but we have clean water. We may not wear the latest fashion trends, but we have something to wear.

The thing is, these were real concerns for the people Jesus spoke with. They were one dry season away from starvation and thirst. Most had one set of clothing, and if something happened to it, then they might very well have no back up sandals, no robe, no jacket for the winter. And so, we might think, the logical flow is that if we can meet our most basic human needs for survival, we will eliminate the source of our worry and anxiety. Meet the basic needs, life will be just fine. But as we know- it just doesn’t seem to work out that way. There is something deeper going on. It’s goes to the issue true ambition or pursuit of your life.

If you decide to serve the ambitions of this world, you will live a life of worry. If you seek what this world has to offer you, your life will rightfully be consumed with worry. If you seek money above all else, if it’s number one in your life, you are going to have a lot to worry about in this world, and especially in today’s market. If you seek beauty and health more than anything else, if that is what you are about, then everyday is going to bring a little more worry into your life. If you are all about success, you are always going to worry about the next up and comer. If you are all about fame, then you will always worry about being a media darling. If you worry about pleasing other people, you are always going to worry about their opinion more than Gods.

This is the issue with worry- worry is merely a symptom. Worry, this passage teaches us, is a result of having the wrong priorities. It’s a result of seeking first the things of this world. We see that worry is actually a response of our real priorities. Worry is your litmus test to what really matters the most in your heart. Worry is going to tell you what matters most to you at any given moment of your life. Worry is huge, it plays a huge role in our lives. And worry, in a strange way, is a gift from God. It’s a grace from God, not because we are supposed to worry, NOT AT ALL- it’s that anytime we start to experience worry it is like an early warning system. It’s like the check engine light has gone off in our souls. The check engine light of our priorities is beeping and flashing and then, being aware of our worry, we can do something about it.

But the good news is that another set of priorities is going to lead to greater faith. If we start to seek first God, we grow in faith. We seek first God’s Kingdom, and his righteousness, and all this things that we used to worry about, food and shelter and whatever else, starts to fall into place in our life. This passage is really calling us to ask the question of ourselves- what is it you are after in life- the things of this world, or the things of the kingdom, of God?

The REAL antidote to the worry-free life is making sure you are seeking first God. It’s getting so singularly and sincerely focused on seeking God, that your faith in God begins to consume your fear of tomorrow. Jesus says two things about this. First his says seek first his kingdom, then he adds his righteousness. Within the context of this passage, let me just say a few things about what worry and seeking first God’s Kingdom and righteousness really means.

First, worry is incompatible with common sense. My son Justin is obsessively worried about dogs. He’s afraid that every dog is going to attack and eat him. I’ve asked him many times- Justin, have you ever been attacked, bitten, terrorized by a dog? No. Why are you so worried about dogs. Because they have teeth! He’s seen those teeth and he’s smart enough to know that they could do some damage. They never have, but the might! So he has spent now his whole life afraid and worried about dogs. The few times we’ve gotten him to pet a small dog, he has actually seemed to enjoy it. But still, even based on positive prior experience, he worries. Worry, worry about what has not yet happened, and probably never will happen, or at least, when it does happen, you have no control over it anyways, flies in the face of common sense.
Because worry is really about tomorrow, it based things that may not, and probably won’t come into being. Has anyone here ever starved to death? Frozen to death? If you did, tell me how you got better. We may have worried about stuff, but most of that stuff never happened, and even if it did, we’re still here. You can’t add one hour to your life by worry.

Second, and this is a little more counter-intuitive, worry is actually very selfish. Some of us think no, I have noble worries! I worry about my children, and i worry about my spouse, and i worry about my community, and I worry about our carbon footprint, and I worry about war in Afghanistan, and I worry about the economy... Are you beginning to notice the common factor in all those possible worries? It’s me! It’s the worrier. Worry has a way of actually making us very self-centered in our outlook an approach to life and relationships. And this is what fundamentally flies in the face of what God is trying to do- he wants you to get more focused on loving him, and loving your neighbor, and loving yourself, and that is a very hard thing to do when you are consumed with worry. Worry, in an ironic and sad way, is actually and incredibly selfish and self-centered outlook to life.

Which is why Jesus doesn’t want us to be consumed with worry, and offers to re-set our ambition on something that will cause our worry to dissipate as it’s filled with trust and faith- see his kingdom, and his righteousness.

Third, Worry is not a sin, but worry is basically incompatible with faith and trust. Sometimes people will talk about worry in such grave terms that people with sincere faith will begin to see their worry as a sin. I don’t believe that’s the right way to view worry. Remember, worry is more like this litmus test. When we feel worry creeping into our lives, it can serve a call to prayer and more active pursuit of faith and trust in God. It serves as the springboard to really go deep with God over what it is you are worry about.

SO talk to him about it. Remember, we just learned all about prayer. God, I’m worrying about my grades. OK, why are you worrying- if it’s because you’re aware that your not studying enough, then, study more. Your priorities are messed up. If it’s because you study all the time and your grades are your measure of worth and value in life, then your priorities are messed up. If you are worrying about your job, that may very well be very well grounded in today’s economy. So what is it about losing your job that is so troubling? Will you lose you value and worth as a person? Do you think you’ll never find another job? Are you so over extended financially that you have no margin- if you miss one paycheck, the repo men will literally be knocking on your door? So really, what is it that’s worrying you.

Seeking God’s kingdom means you don’t worry about what you will eat. Does it mean you shouldn’t work? Does it mean you shouldn’t labor and toil? Does it mean you shouldn’t work to feed and clothe others? No, it’s doesn’t say that anywhere in the text. It says, you don’t worry about those things because you trust in God’s provision.

He’s what else it doesn’t say. It doesn’t say that you will never go hungry. You might. You may very well pursue God and seek Him, and find yourself in times of want. You may find yourself thirsty, needy and exposed. You may even find yourself persecuted and martyred for the sake of the kingdom. Living a life wherein you do not worry about yourself doesn’t mean that you, yourself, may experience all the things that you are not to worry about. It just means you are worried about them.

Seek God’s kingdom, and his righteousness, and all these things of life- food and shelter and everything else, will fall into God plan. And in God’s plan, tomorrow with take care of itself, just as eternity will fall right into place according to God’s plan.

First, we must pursue being a part of God’s kingdom. God’s kingdom is where he rules. It’s where he dwells. This makes the first priority of the Christian life to simply become a part of the kingdom. It’s saying God, I want in. I want to be a part of where you rule and dwell. In other words, it’s saying I want to be a Christian. The first priority of our life, the thing of ultimate importance, is surrendering our life to God. This has deep implications for general state of worry an anxiety in life. If we in fact believe deep down, in the core of our being, that our lives are now consumed by the kingdom, that we are now a part of the kingdom, that our eternity is secure in Jesus, then we really have nothing else to worry about. We may experience hunger. We may be persecuted. We may be martyred for our faith, but none of that matters in the big picture because we have eternal security. We have the ultimate insurance program- We are a part of the kingdom, and that’s the most important thing. 1 Peter 5:7 tells us, Cast all your anxiety on Jesus because he cares for you!

Seek his kingdom, and his righteousness. So that we don’t get so heavenly minded that we don’t do any earthly good, he says seek his righteousness. We start to live now like citizens of the kingdom. We lay down our lives, our rule, our reign, and we reorient ourselves to the reign and rule of God. For some of us, this is not radically of course with the existing direction of our life. You have been a follower of Christ, you’ve laid down your life, you seek him. You’ve made some practical steps and practices into your life to make this happen. You make worship a priority. You make christian fellowship a part of your week. You make prayer and bible reading and conversation about the things of God the center piece of your day with yourself, in your marriage, with your kids. You make service and charity and giving a priority. You are well on the way to to seeking God’s righteousness. Good, keep it up, get better!

Some of us are farther from this. We realize that seeking God’s righteousness first is going to cost us, it’s going to change things, it’s going to be work. We have a lot of righteousness to seek in our lives, and in our world. But please never forget this, never reverse this. We passionately pursue the righteousness of God NOT because that’s how we receive the kingdom. No, we receive the kingdom as a gift from God. We pursue righteousness as our response to the kingdom. It’s about gratitude, it’s about thanks.

And that’s my final word on worry- where ever and whenever we are fostering a spirit of gratitude, worry will find no foothold. When ever we are grateful to God, we trust in God, and worry becomes the furthest ting from our minds and our hearts.

Today I don’t want to end without giving you a change to re-orient your priorities. To make seeking the Kingdom, and his righteousness, your ambition in life. And one of the best ways to do that is to take this litmus test of worry. What is it that you are worrying about? What does that say about you on a deeper level? I want you to pursue that right now. I want you to pray about that right now. I want you to change that right now.

Ph. 4:6 says do not worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition, present your requests to God. You can present that request to God today.

MANIFESTO- Week 9: Prayer pt. 2

I remember as a child being taught to pray by my parents. I was taught to pray to God as my heavenly father. A relationship that made sense to me as I was blessed, am blessed, with a wonderful earthly father. I was taught to end my prayers in Jesus’ name, because the bible tells us to pray in the name of Jesus. I remember being taught to say thanks before every meal. I was taught to kneel at night at my bed. To thank God for the day. To pray for family and friends and anything else that was on my mind. To pray for the coming day.

But more than any method or mode of prayer, I was moved by answered prayer. I didn’t know how it all worked, and despite all the information and knowledge, verses and quotes regarding prayer that I could spout out to you now, the fact is, when I’m completely honest with myself, despite years and years, hour upon hour of prayer that I have now banked in my life, I still can’t tell you exactly how it works. Just that in some wild and amazing ways, it did, and it does.

I remember sitting in church one Sunday. I didn’t dislike going to church, as I believed in God and believed in Jesus as His son, my savior. But to be honest, I didn’t particularly like going to church. We sang old hymns that didn’t sound like anything I listened to outside of one hour Sunday morning. I usually didn’t mind the prayers, except there were a few people, who when they got up to lead a “congregational prayer,” I knew it was gonna be a while. What I didn’t mind was the message.

Pastor Streets always made us laugh, always made us feel welcomed. And no matter what the bible story he was talking about, every Sunday, one way or another, it was going to come around to singing “Just as I Am” and an invitation to come forward, to make a public profession of faith for the first time, or a chance to re-commit your life to Jesus.

I remember one Sunday a man sat in our families pew who I had never seen before. Apparently he didn’t get the memo about wearing a suit and tie. I could only assume that for this reason, he was a horrible man, probably a murderer and drug dealer, deeply in need of Jesus. Actually, he really did look like he needed Jesus. He seemed disheveled, and sad. He sat alone, he didn’t say a word. And when Pastor Streets started preaching, I have no idea what he was talking about, but I knew where it was going to end. So I started praying.

I prayed for that next 30 minutes, “God, make that man step forward. Make him a Christian. Make him accept you.” That’s what I prayed. That’s what I was taught to believe, it’s what I had done myself, and in truth, it’s what I still believe- all of us, everyone, needs Jesus. All of us need to step forward, to step up to Jesus, and give our lives to him. The best thing we can do with our lives, and the way to eternity with God, is giving our lives to Jesus.

So I prayed and prayed and prayed. And when they sang the first verse of Just as I am, he sat. And I prayed harder. We sang the second verse, and he sat. So I prayed harder. We always skipped the third verse, apparently we didn’t like third verses. Then Pastor Streets said we’re gonna sing the last verse. He said don’t wait if God is speaking to your heart today. So prayed as hard as a little boy could pray. And that man walked forward and gave his life to Jesus.

I remember a few year later my Grandmother, who passed away this year, was diagnosed with a large lump in her breast. I remember seeing the fear in my mothers eyes. I remember her telling us, not asking us, telling us to pray for Gram. I don’t know if it was childish naiveté, or if I still just had some child-like faith left in me, but I was not a bit worried.

Then day came for her surgery. They took her into the emergency room. She was prepped and prepared and anesthetized. And my mom came home in tears. She told us that the doctor came out, and said the lump was gone. He didn’t remove it- the lump was gone. What was there before, what the x-ray showed, was gone. And I remember then, in a feeling that I wasn’t expecting to feel- I shuttered, and a wave of fear ran through me. And I realized in a way I had never seen before, that God answers prayer, but that God was also bigger, and more powerful, and more mysterious, than I had yet to grasp.

I also remember, and live with, stories of prayer that didn’t turn out the way I had hoped or asked, which are every bit as significant in my life. When my sister-in-law’s brother, only 3 years younger than me at the time, 18 years old, was diagnosed with liver cancer, and died within a year. Prayers for friends who have walked away from faith, and have yet to return. Prayers for things that I thought surely were the will of God, which apparently, were in fact, not a part of His plan. Prayers that I won’t say were not answered, but were not answered in the way or in the time that I hoped.

And I have remembered your prayers, your hopes for a story of answered prayer, this week. Together we have prayed for a friend who nearly took his own life.
We have prayed for a son who likewise tried to end his life.
We have prayed for a young girl who in critical condition, with burns and bruises too suspicious not to ignore.
We have prayed for a child that awaits a diagnosis of a disability that no parent wants to hear. We have prayed for neighbors wrapped up in an affair that might tears at least two families to shreds.
We have prayed for a new job.
We have prayed as someone stepped out in faith to quit a job.
We have prayed for physical healing for pain that has persisted now for months.
We have prayed for children who have strayed far from the faith.
This week, with all these prayers and more, is really not unlike any week.

We have prayed for God to step in, to intercede on our behalf, to fix things, to change lives, to save lives. But we have also prayed that God would step ahead. There have been many prayers for God to do great things for our church, and for his glory.

We’ve all prayed. And it may seem counter-intuitive to you, it may seem like it makes it less spiritual, but we can get better at prayer. We can learn to pray and improve in prayer as we grow and mature as followers of Jesus. That’s what we’re talking about today. Last week we started our discussion of prayer. We learned about the two biggest prayer mistakes that people make, that we all make. Praying like hypocrites and praying like pagans. Hypocrites pray like it’s a show, a performance. They are not really seeking communion with God, they are seeking the praise of people. The cure for hypocritical prayers- get real. Start to get real. Don’t dumb it down, don’t be irreverent or disrespectful. Humble yourself. Engage your mind. But get real with God. The cure for pagan prayers- get to the point. Cut to the chase. God know all your needs, better than you do. So get real and get into it. You’ll find a growing sense of peace about your prayers, hey, I’m really starting to sense that God and i have something going on here. Or you’ll say, hey, I’m a praying like a hypocrite, I’m praying like a pagan.

Once you say that, you are teachable. You are ready to learn how to pray like the disciples were ready to learn, like Jesus was ready to teach. Here what he says- let me say the whole prayer with you, then we’ll break it down... Matthew 6:9-13

This, then, is how you should pray:
Our father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts, as we have also forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

This is how you should pray. This means two things. First, because Jesus says this is how you can pray, it is entirely appropriate to pray this exact prayer, word for word. It is never a bad thing to memorize scripture, to store it up in your heart, to be able to recite it word for word. So please, let’s take Jesus at his word here. He is not telling a story. He's not using hyperbole. He’s not illustrating a point. He simple and clearly said, this is how you should pray, and he gives them an example of prayer.

I find myself praying this prayer just about every time I pray, every day. More often than not this is how I begin my times of prayer. I just quiet myself for a moment, then I pray, My father in heaven... More than anything else I think of this as my centering prayer. It pulls me away from other thoughts and distractions, it centers my heart and mind on Christ. And it serves as a reminder for what all my prayers should encompass.

But the second thing is that this an example of prayer. What I’m about to tell you is nothing new. This has been around for ages. It is a profitable way of understanding the prayer that all Christ-followers should know. Five verses. Five movements. For the sake of alliteration we can make them all start with the letter P. (Have you ever notice how many 3-5 point sermons use P-words?)
Seek God’s Presence
...Purpose
...Provision
...Pardon
...Power

First, we seek Gods presence in our lives when we enter into prayer. Look at the words- our Father. This has both a communal and a personal connotation. Our father means we are in this together. We are a spiritual family. God is doing something bigger than me. God is up to something in the world. This is our father, this is our faith. We must stand in solidarity together with everyone who calls upon God as father- we are family- men and women, rich and poor, upper class, lower class, no class, young and old, red and yellow black and white (I’m not even sure if that’s politically correct anymore), people from every tribe and nation. There is something very communal about prayer that is to be acknowledge right from the beginning. Those that call upon God the father through Jesus the Son are family, and family there ain’t no denying your family.

God is our father, but he’s also my father. It’s that communal- God has a relationship with all who call upon him; it’s that personal- I have a relationship with God as my father. And while the father is unchanging, eternal, almighty and all that, his relationship with me us one in a billion upon billion upon billion. I’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating often- God’s relationship with us is a unique and any of our relationships. I’m the same father to all of my children (Think about that one)- but each is unique. Justin can’t sleep until I read him a book. Karis just wants to snuggle. Eden is needing more and more to be her own person. I relate to each of them in unique, wonderful ways. God invites us into that same relationship with him as our heavenly father.

Now let me just add that I know many of us have had great fathers, but many of us have had real dead beat dads, distant dads, or even just lost our dads too early in life. But you know, I’ve never found I need to shy away from this revelation of God as our heavenly father because one, it’s the bible, but also, for those that have not had that great earthly-father relationship that many of us enjoy, the promise and relationship of God as our heavenly father means all the more.

Seek God’s Presence in the most personal of relationships- your heavenly father. Give him praise. Another P word, a sub-point to seeking his presence. Every time you go to him, praise his hallowed, his holy name. Giving praise, giving thanks, must be learned. And I can’t say strongly enough how this needs to be fostered in our lives. I’ve learned the importance of thanking God the father, not surprising, through becoming a father. First, I’ve learned that I really have no choice or option but to love my kids with all my heart- that’s just the way it is. But as my kids have grown I’ve learned how meaningful their praise and thankfulness means to me. When they thank me for treating them to something, when they thank me for showing them something. From the simple- thanks for dinner dad (or usually mom), to the big things- thanks for taking us on this trip, thanks for the new bike. As they grow and mature, so their ability to show thanks and praise, and so our relationship deepens and grows.

Second, seek God’s Purpose. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Please don’t miss this- in the presence of God the first thing you do after praising him, you get past yourself. It’s all about god now. It’s all about HIM. His kingdom, his will. Remember, the whole message of Jesus is wrapped up in the kingdom of God. That is Jesus’ message. That is the good news. The kingdom of heaven in near- come and be a part of it in Jesus Christ.

Since God is so praise worthy, it begins to make more and more sense to us that we want to be about his purpose and plan and will in the world. In fact, as we really get deeper into prayer, we begin to realize that great God’s purpose is, and how much we need to be a part of it. We know that God’s purpose is for you. He created the world for men and women, his image bearers. He is for a relationship with you. He is for redeeming you. He is for renewing you. He is for restoring you. His purpose if for you, not against you.

Third, seek God’s provision. The first thing we can come to God with is the most daily, practical, necessary things, things as simple, but as important, as a loaf of bread. We are so out of touch with this until we seek way to get back in touch with this. God taught this to his people early on with a lesson that lasted some 40 years. For an entire generation God provided the Israelites with bread from heaven, manna. They were never allowed to store it up. But everyday when they woke up it was there. That would be such a hard lesson for me to learn, as it is a hard lesson for me to learn- the daily provision of God.

I am wired to horde. I’m a hoarder. You’d think I lived through the great depression or was born in abject poverty they way I feel I have to stock pile supplies. Now there’s nothing wrong with planning for the future, for even God was preparing them for a future time even as he was providing them daily bread. But this kind of prayer for provision bring us back to the daily bread of God’s love, God’s grace, God’s goodness in our lives. the great thing about Gdo is that daily we come into his presence, daily we praise him, daily we seek his purpose, daily he provides for us. Daily he encounters our lives. We don;t have to wait until Sunday morning. We don;t have to wait until Christmas or Easter. daily he is our provider.

Fourth, seek God’s pardon. His forgiveness. There is a story of a man whose friends brought him to Jesus. He was crippled. Jesus said your sins are forgiven. Then he said, that you know that i have the power to forgive sins, which is really the most important thing, get up and walk. Jesus knows we are very fleshly creatures. very incarnate. And it’s hard for us to trust Him in the big stuff, if we don't trust him in the little stuff. So i love that Jesus says first pray and trust me in what is really the little stuff- food and daily provision. then you’ll trust me better in the big stuff- that I can forgive your sins and give your eternal life.

But he doesn’t let us off the hook. No, there is a catch my friends. Don’t let anyone offer you cheap gospel and cheap grace- as you forgive. God forgives us, and we must be forgiving, reconciling, redeeming people as well.

Finally, seek God’s power. Power to overcome temptation. Jesus actually personifies temptation and evil here and refers to the evil one. I’m not sure what you all make ot that just yet, but Jesus says there really is an evil one, the devil, Satan, the deceiver, the one disguised as and angel of light who is really the agent of dead. The evil one. Give us power over his temptations.


Last week I challenged everyone to start working out an "Answer to Prayer" story. I want to tel you that there is an answer to prayer story that all of us can tell, but it's a prayer that is always answered by God- the prayer of offering your life to God. I told a story about answered prayer to start this morning- a prayer answered when a man gave his life to Jesus. Today, right now, I want to give you the chance to say that prayer. A prayer that simple says today Jesus, I believe. I believe in you. I believe you are the son of God, you show us God. I believe I need you. I believe I need your forgiveness for my sins. I believe I need you to have eternal life. I believe I need to to live the way life was meant to be lived here and now. Jesus, my prayer is that you take my life and save me. You take my life and make me new again.

I want to give you the opportunity have this prayer answered in your life...

MANIFESTO- Week 8: Prayer

What comes to mind when you think of prayer? Some folks grow up in a strict religious tradition where prayers are memorized, recited and ritualistic. They may even be so structured that the really important prayers have to offered up by the professions with a lot of pomp and circumstance. If you’ve ever wanted to understand where all that comes from read Rev. 8. Others may be at the other end of the spectrum. Prayer had little or nothing to do with your life. In fact, you may still be wondering if there is any value to prayer at all- it may just be superstitious wishful thinking, and if it has any value at all, it’s merely psychological. Many of us find ourselves somewhere in between on the spectrum, but all of us at some point have at some point said some kind of prayer.

Have you, at any time, for whatever reason, ever said a prayer? I suspect that’s 99.9% of us.
Now, who here would say they are good at praying? It’s OK to say you’re good at praying- I really hope we have some good prayers in our church. But even if there are several, I’m betting most of us would say, not so good.

Some of us might have the gift of prayer, but all of us still have a lot we can learn. I fact, let me begin with with this point- of all the stories we have of Jesus, we only have one recorded incident where the disciples asked Jesus to teach them something. That’s not to say they didn’t not ask him to teach them other things, but we have recorded for us in the bible only one account where the people closest to Jesus ask him directly to teach them something. The one thing we have recorded that they asked was, this, “Teach us how to pray.”

It wasn’t anything we might consider practical- leadership skills, preaching skills, conflict resolution, or anything like that, though Jesus taught on those things.

It wasn’t anything spectacular or miraculous- teach us how to heal the sick, control the weather, perform miracles, feed multitudes, though Jesus demonstrated all those things, and said we, his followers, would do even greater things. Many people might think that a wasted question. If you had only one question to ask Jesus, why throw it away on that!

But I’m going to suggest to you that we have this question and answer recorded for us because it really it the best question that could have been asked. If YOU could ask Jesus one question, you would want to ask this question. The great thing is- you can, and you can get the answer!

This is the best thing for Jesus to teach us. This is the thing that will lead to every other thing! Getting this right gets us access to ask all the other things we want to ask and talk to God about. This disciples got this, and we need to get this. There was something about the way that Jesus prayed that they must have seen, they must have known, this is the source for everything that Jesus does. Before something big happens, Jesus prayers. After something big happens, Jesus prays. Early in the morning, Jesus gets up to pray. Later at night, Jesus sneaks off to pray. There is just something about Jesus, and prayer, that we need to know more! We want to pray like Jesus.

So we are going to learn the very prayer Jesus taught his followers- next week. Today we are going to start begin but looking at what prayer is really all about. We’ll actually look at the too biggest prayer mistakes. Then I’m going to issue you a great big giant audacious challenge that I hope everyone of you will take me up on. Then next week we are going to pick apart the actual model for prayer that Jesus gives us.

Now to put this in context- Jesus has gone through his whole set up for this sermon on the mount. He talked about the blessings of the kingdom of heaven. He’s called us to a unique, a set apart kind of life, a life that’s like salt and light in a rotting and dark world of sin. He’s smashes to pieces some old ideas about being religious and invited us to go much deeper into relationship now with him. Now he’s talking into the actual disciples of devoted follower of his. First he talks about giving. I talked about this a few weeks ago in our series on money. You can go back and listen to that message online, May 10th. Suffice to say the first thing that jesus says the serious follower of his will do- give money to the needy. It’s assumed, no matter what your age, stage or income level, that you will give. So Jesus teaches about giving. The next thing tackled- prayer. He says...

5"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

First thing- the assumption here is that the fully devoted follower of Jesus will cultivate a prayer life. The assumption is that everyone has the potential to be a great prayer, to have a great prayer life. This is not some spiritual discipline reserved for monks and missionaries. This is at the heart of a life, any life, every life, devoted to God. It is within your grasp and you ability to be a truly incredible prayer! I hope that is incredible exciting to all of you. You can be a great prayer because prayer is simply communicating with God. It’s engaging in a genuine communication with God.

So you want a simple definition-
prayer is communicating with God.

But anyone, with any amount of life experience knows that communication, real communication, good communication, clear communication, is not easy. It takes time, it takes work. It needs to be practiced. It needs to grow and mature. It needs to seek understanding. Communication, we know, is key. It is key in any relationship, especially any genuine relationship. A counselor was once asked what the key to a successful marriage and the expert said three things are vital for any marriage to thrive- communication, communication, communication. Folk, three things are paramount, they are vital, for us to have a thriving relationship with God, and I’ll give you three guesses to what they are...Let me say three things here about communication with God.

First, communication takes at least two living parties. I can talk all I want to an empty theatre, but it would not be communication. The empty seats are not going to receive, process, evaluate, apply interact with my or my words. Communication takes to living, active engaged beings. So this is really the first incredible thing to acknowledge regarding prayer- that God is living, active and engaged with us. The living God of the universe hears our prayers. More so, he is interested in our prayers. He wants to foster a relationship with us.

Second, communication involves giving and receiving. Genuine communication means that the two living parties have a kind of give and take, a back and forth. It’s not one sided. That’s just giving a speech. The communication of prayer is much more like a conversation. We need to speak, and we need to listen. We need to listen, and we need to respond. Prayer changes us, and prayer changes God! It moves us, and it moves God- that’s amazing!

Third, communication is multifaceted. Prayer happens in a multitude of ways. Even the briefest overview of prayer in the bible shows numerous ways that men and women engaged God in prayer. Morning, afternoon and through the night. Spoken prayers, and silent prayers. Eloquent prayers, and sometimes just a sigh, and sometimes, just being quiet. There are thankful prayers, and angry prayers. Prayer of confession, and prayers for vengeance. Happy prayers, and tearful prayers. Moses spoke to God like a friend. David sang songs of prayer to God. Daniel went to his bedroom, opened his windows, got on his knees faced Jerusalem, and talked with God. Jeremiah wept prayers before God. Job argued with God in prayer. All this to say, as complex, and frankly, as sometimes complicated communication in any relationship can be, so our prayers, our communication with God, can be complex, varied and diverse. But all of this is about a genuine communication, a genuine relationship, with God.

Prayer is essential to our relationship with God. Prayer, is assumed, expected even, by Jesus. And since we are going to be a praying people, Jesus wants us to pray in the right way. But first, he says, let me tell you what it doesn’t look like. Don’t pray like the hypocrites, and don’t pray like the pagans. Jesus is so sweet and nice sometimes.

You’ve heard the expression, “There’s no such thing as a stupid question...only stupid people.” right? Well folks, when it comes to prayer, that expression doesn’t hold up. There is such a thing as stupid prayers. There are some very bad, very wrong things we could pray. There are many awful prayers! The bible records some really stupid prayers as examples. Jonah, the guy who got swallowed by a fish. That guy prayed some really bad prayers. A guy named Job, some real winners where he drones on an on trying to defend himself before God. Elijah, he prayed to die once because he was afraid. Abram, he prayed for Sodom, and that didn’t work out so well. Moses, he just sounds like a whiner half the time.

I would bet that there might be a lot more bad prayers, than great prayers. Now that’s NOT to say that they aren’t honest prayers. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t keep trying. Can I be the first to say that I’m the most guilty of praying a lot of stupid, immature, selfish prayers. Prayer so bad, that God in his incredible love and grace didn’t answer them, he didn’t smote me on the spot, he didn’t laugh and write me off as a lost cause, but that God has been, and continues to be incredibly patient with me as i pray some horrendously bad prayers, but, more and more, I actually get some good quality communication going. I’ll go so far as to say that I think it better to pray a bad prayer, a stupid prayer, than to not pray at all. Because if you are at least giving it a try, if you are at least acknowledging God at some level, entering into a communication with Him, asking something of Him, then you might very well be on your way to becoming a great prayer. But, you can not, you will not, say great prayers, be a great prayers, enter into a genuine communication with the living God if you simple continue to pray like the Hypocrites or the pagans.

Who are the hypocrites- actors. The term came for the actors that put on masks, and put on a show. And the title became an adjective for the kind of people who in the very act of going to God, put on a mask, and put on a show. How many of you, when you pray, go into prayer voice, or prayer words. For some reason we go down an octave or two, we suddenly speak in old english and words with 4-5 syllables. “We beseech thee great God of all the universe, the all powerful pantocrator of the pantheon of all peoples...” Come on, get real. Really, get real. When we come to prayer we need to take off the mask, we need to get off the stage, we need to get real.

Now I’m not saying dumb it down. Trust me, God is more intelligent than you. He knows more languages and more big words than you know, don’t dumb it down, but don’t feel the need to spruce it up either. Get real. And I’m not saying don’t some reverence and respect. Definitely show reverence and respect. Definitely know your position as you come before God. But get real.

I think of it like this- when we come to the prayer room, as Jesus here says for us to do, getting real means the only thing that is going to impress God and move you deeper into a relationship with him is gut level absolute honesty. There was an expression a few years back, it came out of a song, and it was simply this- pray naked. Pray naked, because God sees you for who you are anyways. So why not embrace the fact that God may be the one person in your life who knows you, who really really knows you, know everything about you, knows you inside and out, your beauty and your blemishes, knows everything you’ve ever said or done or even thought, and who still loves you and accepts you and takes you just as you are. That is an awesome thing, a freeing thing, and incredible thing- finally- someone who can truly bear my naked being. Don’t pray like hypocrite- pray naked before God.

Second, don’t pray like the pagans. The pagans were the folks who chased after every form and fashion of spirituality that they thought they could use to advance their position in the world. If they wanted crops, they prayed to a rain god. If they wanted victory, they sacrificed a child to a war god. If they wanted sexual gratification, they worship with the temple prostitutes. And the thing with the pagans was that they figured they could just pray or do what they had to do, no matter how long it took, to eventually get what they wanted.

Jesus says God knows what you need before you pray it, so don't waste your breath trying to win God over to your position. I’ll let you in on a trade secret I use as a pastor. When I go to visit someone ...

Just get to the point, and then start praying that point through with God. Just cut to the chase- he knows already, he knows your heart better than you do, but through prayer, you’ll start to know you own heart in ways you can’t now imagine.

Prayer isn’t for hypocrites who want to put on a show. Prayer isn’t about entering into a negotiation with God. Prayer takes us to the heart of God, and it begins to reveal our own heart to us. Prayer is about entering into a conversation, a dialogue, a relationship with God. And that is what Jesus says next is so important. Really, it is so incredible important. What Jesus is about to say changes everything. Nobody ever heard this before. Nobody was taught to pray like this. In fact, if anything, they were taught to pray NOT like they. What Jesus was about to say changed everything. It is paradigm shifting, no, that too weak, it is a kind of earth shattering revelation on par with saying the world isn’t flat, that we’ve replaced the gourmet coffee we usually serve with folders crystals- we didn’t, don;t worry.

Jesus says, when you pray, pray like this- our father in heaven. The word there, father, is Abba, and might also be translated Dad, or even daddy. Without being childish, it was the most endearing and intimate expression of the parent/child relationship. It is in this way, like a child coming into the presence and into the arms of their daddy, that we enter into a relationship with God.

Jesus is about to springboard from this radical new revelation in how we relate to God, in how we understand God, in who we see God to be in our lives, into a model for what real communication, real prayer, with our father in heaven, is going to look like. We are going to go through this prayer movement by movement next week. But as I promised, I want to wrap this up today with a challenge for you. Perhaps challenge isn’t the best word. I want to invite you to experience something in prayer that perhaps you’ve never experienced before. Like I said at the very start of this series- this who section of the bible is about doing. It’s about applying this stuff to our lives and making a difference in our lives. So I want to invite to experience the difference that real prayer can make in your life. So let me put it this way:

Do you have any answer to prayer stories?
Most of us have probably heard about answer to prayer stories. I’m asking, do you have an answer to prayer story. I hope all of you do. And I’m inviting you to get yourself an answer to prayer story. Because if you don’t, the problem isn’t God. it’s you. It’s because you’re praying like a hypocrite, it’s a show, so you are praying all the wrong things in the wrong way. Or it’s because you are praying like a pagan, you are trying to negotiate something with God, and it just doesn’t work that way. You have to start learning to communicating with God like your heavenly father.

Now if you are going to have an answer to prayer story you need to pray enough to actually know what you are praying about, and you need to pray enough to specifically know what an answer to prayer would look like. So here the challenge:
Prayer sometime, somewhere about something.

When and where are you going to pray? You can pray all the time everywhere unless you pray sometime somewhere. I want you to pick a time an place that you can do this. They you keep the appointment. You keep all you other appointments- keep this one.

How long? Keep it short. Because I don’t want you to fail and feel more guilty, make it 5, maybe 10 minutes tops. If you’re a long time prayer, you have this disciple down, go right on through and keep praying. This is for us beginners.

Now, lastly, what? You will need to get specific here. You need to work through what going on in you enough to be able to articulate in writing what you are praying about. You need to know, because only then, when God answers it, will you be able to recognize that God has answered your prayer, and then you will be able to give thanks.

THIS IS NOT putting God to the test. I’m talking about putting you to the test. Because real prayer never puts God to the test, real prayer, honest prayer, open prayer, always leads to a real relationship, and real communication with God, and that put sus to the test. I’m serious about this folks. I’ve learned now that real prayer doesn’t test God, it tests me. It tests my faith. it tests my strength. It tests my character. It tests my values. it test my beliefs. It tests me, NOT God. And I want you to rise to the occasion, and put yourself to the test, because I know God is real, and God is alive, and God is active, and God is ready to meet you in prayer, and do some incredible work in your life. You’ve got to put yourself to the test.

Maybe you need to pray for a relationship...
forgiveness...
a job...
a way out...
an opportunity....

What is going to be your answer to prayer story? I don’t know. But I can’t wait to find out. Because God if we start praying some real prayers, not the prayers of a bunch of hypocrites or pagans, not putting on a show and not babbling about stupid stuff that God already knows we need, We are going to see God move in our lives, in our church, in our community, on phenomenal ways.

There are now stories, already, in this church, in our lives, of answered prayers and incredible things that God has done. The very fact that we are here, that Connections launched, that Connections exists, that people have come to know Jesus, that relationship have been formed, that relationships have been healed- they are stories to answered prayer...

Monopoly: Playing with Money

left to our own devices, and left with only the influence of our culture and world- we will desire more and more and more and more. We will look at life like a giant monopoly board- we will want to own the board and crush the competition. We will leverage all our assets and every opportunity to get more money! We love money! We are like scrooge McDuck- we want to swim in a pool filled with bills and coins. But there is an antidote. There is another way to play the game of money. To play the game of wealth and stuff. And you already know what it is. We all know what it is. But like most things in life, it’s not a matter of knowing, it’s a matter of application, or practice.

I’m going to tell you where we’re going, then I’m going to start over and tell you how we get there. Here is how to play the game of money correctly- give a minimum of 10%, save a minimum of 10%, enjoy the rest. It’s the most simple and sound financial and spiritual advice in the world. It sounds good to everyone. But the world has convinced us, and we have convinced ourselves, that is unrealistic, even impossible. But the truth is, and each and every one of you knows this- it’s not. You choice where every dollar you make goes. You make that choice. You make the choices that free you to live this way. You’ve made the choices that don’t allow you to live that way. You can make the choices that would bring you back to this way.

In this Game of Life series we are talking about areas of life in which we play around. But unlike a game that we finish playing, put the pieces away, and move on with our day, these games effect everything. These games are not zero-sum-total outcomes. These games have implications for every area of life. We started with the pursuit of meaning in life. Life is not a trivial pursuit, but a passionate pursuit of God, of his purpose, plans will and way in our lives and in the world. And getting right with God gets meaning into our lives. We talked about sex and how the way we play with game will effect everything health- our health, our happiness, our relationships, our souls. Sex, perhaps more than any other game, has the power to bring pleasure, or pain, into our lives and the lives of others we play with. So we said, very plainly, very matter-of-factly, how to play the game- one man, one woman, become husband and wife, and start playing with game with the knowledge that this is how babies are made, this is how a couple is bonded together.

Today we have a likewise simple game plan, but one that few are following. And because they are not following it, they are losing. So we are going to look at how we are doing as a people in the game of money. In Canada personal bankruptcies are at an all-time high. In 2003 Canada passed a major landmark in how people live with, understand and spend money, and it will have implications for all of us and our economy. In 2003 for the first time, the average Canadian, meaning the majority of Canadians, spent more than he or she made. As a society we moved past equilibrium, and into debt.
At 22 years of age, the average student now graduates with $25,000 of debt. $1500 in credit card debt. That is not student loans- that’s credit card debt- translated, that’s $1500 worth or pizza, video games and clothing.

My daughter asked for a credit card. She’s been watching her mother and I. We go to the store. We get stuff. We go to the register, we run the card through. We walk away. It’s like magic! She wants a card. Think of all the stuff she could get. I’m like why do you want a card- because I want more stuff. Why do you want more stuff- stuff makes me happy. How are you going to pay for the stuff? With the credit card. She doesn’t get it. I say your mother and I have never missed paying off our balance in full ever. She has no idea what that means. I say, we use a credit card like a bank card. She has no idea what that means. We know how much we have, we never go over our checking account. I tell her I’ve never paid a penny of interest on credit cards because I don’t see it as a credit card, it’s a checking account card with air miles. She doesn’t get it. And many people don’t get it until it’s too late.

Any way you slice it, credit card debt is bad debt. And it gets worse after college once people are earning money. The average consumer owes $3,184 of credit card debt, or $8,299 per household. Most of you have credit card debt, 30% of you are only making minimum payments. And only 41% of you know what interest you are being charged on that credit card. So I’m going to tell you- and trust me, I’m not yet preaching the good news. This is bad news. You should be shocked at this- Upwards of 20%. Here’s what all of you should be thinking right now. If someone offered me an investment opportunity (not a spending opportunity) that guaranteed me that I would make a 20% profit rate on my money, do you know what I would do- I would do this and all of you would do this. I would liquidate every asset I could, even if liquidating that asset involved some penalties, I’d pull out of my pension plan, out of my IRA’s out of my RRSP’s, out of everything I had in the market, and I would put all of that money in that investment. Because if I could invest at 20% annually on my initial investment, I would be extremely wealthy extremely fast. I’d double my money in 5 years. In 20 years that $10,000 would be $50,000. That’s without adding anything else to that investment. Just letting it sit. And guess what, if you make that compound interest, meaning, you earn interest on the money as it continues to role over, then your 10,000 would be $383,376.00 in 20 years.

Here’s the thing, you are playing the game opposite. You are spending money at an 20% interest rate. If you charge $10,000 on a credit card and make the minimum payment it will take you 23 years to pay that off, and you will have paid nearly $10,000 in interest. When you buy on a credit card and start making minimum payments you double what you pay for anything. Those shoes don’t cost $50. They cost you $100.

Here’s why this matters- We are playing with money like it’s a game, but it’s not. Some of you are one move away from financial disaster. Some of you are already in financial disaster. Some of you are managing your fiancés where you are not prepared for any financial surprises. But you know what I‘ve learned about unexpected expense? Expect them. You car will break down. Your refrigerator will need replaced. Your kid will need braces. I can guarantee you numerous unexpected expenses. And you are still playing with you money like a game. It costs us our time, our energy, our work. It creates stress, worry and anxiety. Couples argue about money more than anything else, anything else! They fight about money. Can you believe that couples fight over this! I know, most of you find that hard to believe because you’ve never fought over something so petty as money and spending. You would never let it hold that much power in your life or come between you and you spouse. But it’s true- couples argue and fight and resent each other. They belittle and undermine each other. They stop to trust each other. They get mad and don’t have sex with each other. That would just never be worth it for me!

They start to nag and nit pick about every little thing because they don’t know where the money is going, but they do know this- more money is going out than is coming in, and that can’t help but create an incredible amount of internal stress. That can’t help but become a giant wedge, an impasse in a household and in a relationship. Money has effectively become the unwanted god of their household because they now serve debt. It’s that simple- if you own money, if you are in debt, you are not the master of your life. The one who you owe money to owns you.

Some of you have heard this before, and it’s true- Jesus says more about money than any other topic apart from his mission. As a subject of life and conversation, Jesus says more about money than anything else. What you might be interested to know is that in all his talking about money that we have recorded, he never once asks for money. Maybe he did, because the disciples had money. They had an account of money that they must have used for things like food, shelter and serving others. We don’t know anything about that money really, except that it must have come from people who wanted to support the ministry of Jesus. And maybe Jesus did ask them for money, but none of that is recorded. What is recorded for us is that Jesus instructed people to give to the temple (the church), to give to the poor and needy, and to pay their taxes.

Some people he tells to sell everything they have. Others he simply invited to generousity. But most of all, he warns people of the dangers of the love of money. We know that Jesus was not anti-money. He was not against money and was not calling for a revolution where we burn down the banks and abolish all financial institutions. But he was radically against and on guard against the love of money. He knew that of all the temptations in the world, of all the false gods that people would functionally give their lives to, it was money. I say functionally because Jesus was always concerned most with what was happening inside of us. He knew that few people would outwardly worship money. They aren’t going to put on the monacle and swim in a pool of cash. But more and more I’d argue folks do want to live like this. But he knew that inwardly they would be slaves to money, lovers of money, obsessed with money, consumed with the debts they owed or their desire for more. He talks about money because we obsess about money. We love to play monopoly! We love money!

I want to go to what is perhaps Jesus’ most famous and most often quoted passage on money. Matthew Chapter 6:19-24

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.

When Jesus talks about treasure, he is not using the word for money. He’s using the word for treasure. What this means is that he’s referring to anything we treasure. Thing we truly love. Things of great value to us. And what he is telling us is that what we should be most invested in, what we should value the most, are things of eternal value. That’s just good wisdom and life advice. Care most about, invest in, treasure up in the areas of life that matter most. Don’t waste your treasure on temporary, passing stuff. Stuff that will rust and fade away. Because where you treasure things is where your heart will be. And your heart, above all things, should be guarded and treasured. Sometime we are shocked at what we realize we value. And there is sometimes a huge variance in what we think matters to us, and what actually matters to us. We say we value a relationship, but the relationship falls apart, and we never give it a passing thought. We say our stuff doesn’t matter, then we lose something, and suddenly we realize how much this thing, that stuff, mattered to us. Because careful, Jesus says, about where your treasure is located- it is located in temporary things, or is it beigin built up in eternal things.

Then he says some weird stuff about eyes and light. This sis o deep, but we’ll keep it simple- what do your eyes desire? The eyes they say are like the window to the soul. He saying the things your eyes look at and long for and examine closely are a reflection of your heart. And it’s a two way street- the things you continually look at and long for will shed light on you heart. You start looking at and longing for more stuff, and more stuff, and more stuff. We know this.

Do you know when I want the most stuff? When I look at stuff. I’ll be perfectly happy and content. Then I’ll turn on the TV and the commercial will tell me that I deserve a new car. Then I look out my window, and I say hey, you’re right, I’m way too cool to drive a Taurus! They tell me I need a new iphone. Then I look at my old cell phone, and I say hey, you’re right, I can’t play games when I’m supposed to be working, I need that. I go the mall, I’m dressed, warm, and happy. Then I realize that my members only jacket has come full circle, so I’m cool again! But then I look at my bootleg jeans, and I realize I need skinny jeans, or I’m an old, out of touch dad, and I’m not happy anymore. (Actually, I’m really happy being an old dad who has way more important things to worry about than the jeans I wear).

They eye is the lamp of the body- the stuff we look at illuminates our hearts, and if we look at stuff, we’ll only start to want more and more and more and more. So Jesus says this- you can’t serve two masters. You can’t multi-task, and you can’t multi-master. You’re gonna love one and hate the other. Then he hits us right in the heart- you can’t serve both God and money.

As you play the game of life you will have to play the game of monopoly- you will have to. Money is a reality of our world. So you must learn to play, you must learn to play well. Because if you don’t, the game of monopoly will master you. And you can very well end up spending the better part of your life, or even all of your life, serving money. And God doesn’t want you to come to the end of your life and realize you served the wrong master the whole time. God does not want you to waste your life- to waste your life- serving money and not serving Him. And you do not want to waste your life that way either. Money is a waste of a God to worship. He will promise you the world, and in the end, give you nothing in return. He will ask everything of you, he will placate you with shiny, bright and colorful things, then in the end you will realize you really got nothing back.

But our God is a great God. And serving Him is not a waste. Giving to Him is not a waste. It is the best thing you can do with your life and it is the best thing you can do with your money and it is the best way to play this game of monopoly.

And so here is where the rubber meets the road. The old saying goes, show me your checkbook, or credit card bill, or the bottom line, and I’ll show you your values. I will know, just by looking at the bottom line, what’s important to you, what you value, how you have prioritized your life, and where you stand. And a lot of you, a lot of you, would not like the picture painted of you by your bottom line (that sounded funny!) You would say that’s not me, that’s not what I value, that’s not what I believe, that’s not where my treasure is. And I would have to say to you, the numbers don’t lie. The numbers never lie. But if you don’t like what the numbers say- then you can make a choice, and you can change your life, you can serve a better master.

And this is how you do it- you start to give money away. You give money away. You will never be free from the love of money until you give it away. You will never be safe or be free from the worship of money until you give it away because when you give it away you are telling money- I own you. I own you, and you don’t own me. You are just coins and paper. You are just a figure in an account. You are just symbolic of value as gauged by our economy. But you, money, are not symbolic of my net worth. You are not symbolic of my value. You are just a part of life in this world. You are a reality of society that has moved beyond bartar and exchange. You are a tool. And I will be your master, you will not master me.

And the best way to master money is to give it away. When you give it away you are free… There are few things as empowering and joyful as giving money away! Some of you know exactly what I’m talking about because you are already generous, giving people who have mastered your money. Others here have no clue what I’m talking about and you don’t understand this, and you are not really convinced yet because you’ve never experienced this, but I’m telling you, there is nothing more freeing than giving away money, there are few things that have the potential to give us more happiness and joy, and it’s not in spending more money, it’s in giving money.

It’s what author Randy Alcorn calls the treasure principle: I will not be robbed of the joy of giving. That by the grace of God I will never earn so little, or so much, or so middle, that I will be robbed of the joy of giving and saving first, then enjoying the rest. It’s about making the decision that it doesn’t matter if I live below the poverty level- money, or the lack of money, will never be my master, so I will give the first percentage to God. I will never live so far above the poverty level that money is my master. I will give a percentage away.

And when you give it to the church, you are actually telling God, you are the owner. You are the master. I belong to you, and my money belongs to you. I’m actually not my own, and this money is not my own, but it is yours, and I will show by giving you the first cut off the top.

Some of you right now are thinking that this is all very self serving for you, the pastor of a church. So let me be clear on this- God does not need your money. God doesn’t need your money, but he wants you. And he knows that the best way to get you, is to free you from serving money, and the way to free you from serving money, is, again, to give it away.

So let me be very clear about what I’m saying to you- I want you to give a percentage of your money. If you don’t like me, if you don’t trust our church, fine- give your money to something else. Give it to another church, give it to missions, give it to charity, give it to disaster relief, give it to a needy neighbor. But give it away.

But if you ask me, do I want your money? Absolutely. Yeah, I love our church, I want our church to grow. I think our church is an awesome place to be giving your money. But I also know this, where you treasure is, your heart goes also. So if you give to God, your heart starts to go towards God. And if you give to God through this church, you start to store up treasure in this church.

Now I know nothing about the individual giving of any person in this church. That is by design. We have a treasurer who handles the money and a stewardship committee that oversees this area. But if they showed me the numbers, I guarantee you I’d see this correlation- the biggest percentage givers, that is the ones making the biggest sacrifice to give to this church, are also our best volunteers, our best helper, our most faithful volunteers. And I know this because I am human and I know that I only invest in things that matter to me. And when I invest in something, I also give it my time, my energy, by service.

So do I want your giving? Yes, because I also want your heart. Because I want God to have your heart, and because I want Connections to be blessed through you, and I want you to be blest through Connections.

If you are in debt:
So what to do if you are in the hole? Let me tweak the instructions. Give first to God, get on a plan to get out of debt, and live on the bare minimum required to survive. Here’s where you will have to get some help. If you are in debt you are in the place where you need help, you need sound financial advice, and you need a plan to get out of that debt. Here is where I can’t tell you what the percentages are, but I will stick with the first rule- give. Give to God. Do not let money or now the debt of money you owe be your master. Give to God first. It will be significantly less. But do not rob yourself of the freedom and joy that comes with saying Money, you don’t own me- I am in control of you, and I choose to give first to God. Then follow your plan to get out of debt as fast as you can! Get on a plan so you know exactly how and when you will be out of debt. Mark it on your calendar, make it a reality, then celebrate like crazy when it comes to pass. Because then you will know what it’s like to live without that weight on your shoulders. You will, for the first time maybe, know what it’s like to be free from the god of money and from being slave to your debt. Celebrate that freedom.

And here’s the thing- then you can move towards the joy of giving. Because there’s something even greater than being free from debt, it’s being free to give. It’s being free to share, to be generous, to be a blessing to others. And there is nothing quite so thrilling as this.

Some of you are at a different place than us. You have more than you need. You are saving like crazy. But money is still your master because you don’t give any of it away. You live with only your needs in mind, and you do not know the joy of giving money away.

But for all of us, here is the deal. Here is the minimum- give 10, save 10, live off the rest. Get there. Stay there. Then go beyond. Then go to a place where you can give more, save more, and enjoy more what is left over. I’m telling you, the most freeing, the most empowering, the most exhilarating thing you can do is to give your money away! Honestly, it’s a rush. It’s an adrenaline high. Be careful when you start giving, because you might become and addict! You might get so excited about giving money away, you’ll find yourself always thinking about your next fix. You’ll start to plan and budget for your next big give. You’ll start to rework your personal finances, you’ll start to re-prioritize your life and living, all so you can give a little more. You’ll start to hide things from you spouse. They’ll look at the finances, and they’ll be like, honey, there’s a thousand dollars unaccounted for in our checking? Where did that go? And you’ll have to tell him, or you’ll have to tell her, honey, I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself, I gave it away! Then you’ll get all defensive and you’ll say, and you know what, I’m happy that I gave money away. I’m happy it did it, and I’d do it again, in fact, I’m already thinking about doing it again. Then your wife will just start to cry and say, oh God, where did I go right with this man?

It’s true folks. Once you break free of god of money, once you master it, and give it to God, and say God you get the first portion, and you get it all really- it all belongs to you. Once you experience the joy of generosity, the security of saving, you will spend responsibly and enjoy the game of money more than you thought possible.