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Introduction
We are continuing our “Thanks Giving” series this week.
Last week, we saw that before we give any gift, we have to give ourselves to God.
He doesn’t need our money; he wants our heart.
This week, we are going to build on that by laying down another important concept as we work on developing a proper relationship to money.
Let’s go ahead and turn over to , which is where we’ll spend most of our time this morning.
As you turn over there, I want to ask you something: how are your finances going right now?
For some of you, you are tickled pink because your retirement and investments have had a great year this year under the new president.
You are feeling secure and settled because it is looking really good right now.
Maybe you got a promotion at work, so you are finally able to get that new car or house or take the trip you’ve been planning, so you feel stable and happy.
Perhaps you are on the other end of the spectrum.
You have had a rough year, maybe made a job transition or taken some other hits, and now you are worrying yourself sick about how you are going to make it.
You have been looking at health insurance for next year, and you keep seeing those ominous warnings about how high your premiums are going to be, and you just don’t know how you can make it.
For you, you feel like you are walking on a tightrope, and at any moment, you are going to fall.
Whether you are feeling secure because of how well your money is doing, or you are feeling scared because of how challenging it has been, can I say something?
You’re both wrong.
Don’t misunderstand me.
There is nothing inherently wrong with financial planning and goals, investing wisely, budgeting, and saving.
In fact, the Bible tells us to pay attention to those things in passages like .
Where you and I go wrong is when we look for our money to give us our security, our worth, or our happiness.
Isn’t that what investment strategists want us to achieve?
Financial security?
If we have more than enough, we figure we are going to be okay so we can rest for the moment.
If things get tight, we are scared that we can’t survive.
Isn’t that what investment strategists want us to achieve?
Financial security?
Isn’t that what investment strategists want us to achieve?
Financial security?
Here’s what we want to see this morning: True security isn’t financial security.
Lasting security is found in a relationship with Christ.
If you catch nothing else this morning, it would be this: rely on Christ for lasting security.
We are going to see that this morning out of the book of Hebrews.
This is in the last chapter, and as with many of the letters written to believers in the New Testament, it contains some rapid-fire commands.
Let’s make two observations out of verses 5-6.
These really are two sides of the same coin.
The first is the negative command of what we shouldn’t do, and the second is the positive expression of what we should.
Read the verses with me:
Pretty straight-forward, isn’t it?
Let’s try to drive these truths home.
First, what are we not to do?
1) Avoid the love of money.
The writer of Hebrews tells us to keep our lives free from the love of money.
What is the love of money?
Does that mean that all money is evil?
Money itself is not evil; it is, in fact, amoral.
It isn’t spiritual to be poor, nor is it inherently sinful to have means.
The Bible never says that money is evil.
However, both here and in , we read that the love of money is evil.
Here, we get a better sense of what it means to love money.
Love of money is greed; it is a craving for more than you have.
That’s why an under-resourced person and a wealthy person can both be guilty of the love of money.
It doesn’t matter how much you have; it matters how your heart relates to it.
Going back to what we said in the introduction, the love of money is to look for our security and stability in our money, investments, and stuff.
I have described it before as having your “wanter” stuck on.
Do you know what I mean?
I am a recovering technology junkie.
I have a bad habit of wanting the newest, shiniest, fastest, best, coolest tech out there.
I saw a commercial last night for a QLED TV from Samsung, and even though we have a perfectly good TV and internet that isn’t fast enough to stream 4K, I still found my heart saying, “Boy, wouldn’t that be nice?”
I have intentionally not played with an iPhone X because I don’t want to get my “wanter” stuck open on one.
It may not be technology, but what is it for you?
What do you drool over when the commercials come on or when the ads pop up?
Cars?
Clothes?
Houses?
A certain amount in the bank or a certain income a year?
It’s not just about wanting stuff, though, it is also putting our hope in money.
I have days where I think, “If we were making $X more, we would be set.
I wouldn’t have to worry about this or that.”
I would finally be happy if I could get
“I would finally be happy if I could get $X more a year.”
Statements like those are indicative of that heart attitude of the love of money!
When I look to money and stuff to make me happy or keep me secure, I will never be satisfied!
Not only that, but I can’t chase money and God at the same time:
“Well, I just want to get to this point in my career or have this much saved up, then I’ll get serious about giving or doing something at the church.”
Who are you kidding?
You will never get there!
You will always need one more raise, one more toy, one more outfit.
Let me challenge you: where do you see the love of money in your own heart today?
Are you chasing a career so you can get to a certain point, all the while neglecting your walk with God and leaving your family behind?
Are you spending and buying, trying to fill some hole in your heart?
Are you saving every penny you have just in case something goes wrong?
Although it shows in different ways, you need to ask God to break your heart free from a love of money!
You replace that with the second observation we make from this passage:
2) Be content with what you have.
This is another straightforward statement, but one that seems almost impossible in our society.
In fact, this is a good litmus test for whether or not you struggle with the love of money: if you didn’t get anything else for the rest of this year, would you be satisfied with what you have?
If not, then you need to take a hard look at your heart and see how to root out that love of money.
Paul says that for us,
By the way, answering “no” to that question doesn’t mean you are automatically free from the love of money.
You may have said yes because you already have so much that you don’t know what to do with it all, so sure!
You don’t need anything else.
What if it was all taken away?
Would you be satisfied then?
Wasn’t that the test Job went through?
Satan told God that the only reason Job served God was because he had so many good things.
He was wealthy, had a large family, good reputation, and so on.
What happened?
God allowed every good thing to be taken from Job in an instant.
His wealth was taken and his children died, all at the same time, and here was his response:
How?!
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