Stewardship (Part 1)

Well, good morning, everyone. It is it is good to see you here. It is good to see you here week after week coming to praise the Lord and to hear from his word and to learn from him. Today. We're going to be discussing what the Bible and particularly Jesus has to say about stewardship. And that is how we use the resources that the Lord has given us and entrusted to us and reports. We might initially think of of our money but there's a lot more and Andrews done a good job of even explaining that to the kids. There's there's wealth there's possessions. There's skills there's our time. That's a big one in the society. We live in where it seems the constant refrain is busy busy busy. Are we investing our time for the Lord has fits within the bigger picture of our sermon series of being living sacrifices. We've we've song about that already this morning we're looking at what does it mean to follow Jesus and how How do we do that? What does that mean? What what does he call us to to a life of obedience and and we heard earlier for Matthew chapter 25. It's it's all over the teachings of Jesus. There's a lot of places where the Lord says and all the son of man is going to be coming someday and the evaluations he makes of people on that day are not all of all the things you believe he doesn't it doesn't always sit people down and go let's have an exam. He says let's let's look at what you've accomplished with what I've given to you and that's that's a sobering thought for me and I think that's a that's an important kind of Challenge and call for us in this community where we spend a lot of time in the life of the Mind in the academic life. We looked at last week of how sacrifice means that you forsake something. Now that you might find Pleasant or beneficial in order any hope of something greater too, We know about this in the world of investing right we talked about instead of just spending all the money you have on yourself and in the short-term we talked about taking some of that money and setting it aside as an investment for the future. Some of us likely have our workplace do that for us some some some of us may even have the option of our workplace matching a certain amount of our salary. So we put in $50 say and our workplace matches that up to a certain amount and we don't even see that. We make it easy. We just say take that away and we'll put in an investment somewhere and over time it will grow and that prevents us just spending all the money we make on things that we would like right now. It applies in the financial sense in terms of investing money, but it also applies in the spiritual sense in terms of investing what we have in Jesus Kingdom. So that will have something to show for ourselves on that day when he should return or when we stand before him. And like Financial investing overtime Kingdom investing can make a big difference even if incrementally it's quite small. So I'd like to provide just one example of how this works. This isn't a made-up story or an abstract idea. This is something small that's been going on in our midst. I also want you to know the reason I'm highlighting. This is I want you to know that this isn't something that our church staff and our church leadership is just kind of saying hey do this and it's something that we're not willing to do. So, I'd like to just invite Grace to come forward. We just have a small this is just a small story, but I think it's an example of something that you can do.

for the kingdom

Hello. So Grace, what did you decide to invest in Kingdom speaking? I actually decided to sponsor a child through compassion recently. And I think it was about two months ago. And what sacrifice did you make in order to do that? Cuz there is a cost. I got rid of Netflix.

And that saves you a few dollars a month, right? I only had $10 a month plan was something I had to cut down some expenses in order to be a sponsor child. So I started to cut down parse out. Some of my monthly expenses subscriptions was a really good way to do that a child sponsorship specifically actually like you and there was a feature for compassion actually sponsored a child that I'm sponsoring but afterwards I realized wait my student anymore. I have a I have a consistent income now and you've already kind of said you gave up Netflix just because it was something you could you could do easily or tell us a little more about that. Immediately I decided to sponsor sponsor this child and then I decided oh, so this is another 42. You know, what like I need to cut down on some other expenses. So I started looking at what were the nonessentials that I was spending on every month. And so I had a few different either subscription services or entertainment things that I decided isn't $40, but it is at least helps. Do you think it's been worth it this investment the sacrifice?

I have I have so much entertainment that I didn't mean to another for entertainment's sake. It's there wasn't necessary. Can you tell us a little bit about the child you sponsor and attends preschool? Nice, so I thought it might be a fun thing to do. We're going to stand in just a minute for the reading of scripture for why don't we all stand you can crowd into the center. I'd like to take a picture of our church congregation. So that Grace can send a picture of this is the church that she's a part of to her to her small child in Nicaragua. So if you want to go down there, I'll try to get Grace in the picture as many of us as we can.

I don't know if I can fit will be closed will be closed.

Pretty good. Okay, I think we're I think we're all in. All right one to also moving around 1 to 3. There we go. I'll take a couple more great.

It's just a small reminder that even say standing. We're going to read from the from the scriptures.

Just a small reminder that even things we do on an individual basis. Are they still touch our church body and we can still do them in the context of of being the body being the family of faith. Turn to Matthew chapter 6, you know, we weren't it wasn't that long ago that we were here actually cuz we did a series on The Sermon on the Mount but this this Bears revisiting probably relatively frequently Matthew 6 beginning at verse 19 do not lay up for yourselves Treasures on Earth where moth and rust destroy the thieves break in and steal but lay up for yourselves Treasures in Heaven where neither moth nor rust destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal for where your treasure is there. Your heart will be also the eyes the lamp of the body. So if your eyes healthy your whole body will be full of light but if your eye is bad your whole body will be full of Darkness if then the light in you is Darkness How great is the darkness? No one can serve two masters for 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 God and money. This is God's word. You can have a seat.

Like I said, this is a pretty familiar passage. We we looked at it not that long ago in our series on The Sermon on the Mount but let's not let familiarity or maybe even over-familiarity kind of wandered all the words of Jesus here. These are important words that that we do need to consider in the first the first question is where is your treasure? Jesus perfectly clear about where it should be. He opens with kind of a command in the form of a Prohibition don't store up for yourselves Treasures on Earth. This isn't a suggestion this isn't. I was wondering if you might be willing to consider the not storing up of treasures on Earth Jesus, don't do it. Don't store up your Treasures on Earth. This isn't something for mature or Advance Christians only this is this is Jesus word to all of us don't store up Treasures for yourself. Don't store up the treasures for yourself on Earth. I don't think we have to look very hard to see that this is kind of the basic driver fuel that so much of our world in our culture runs on at a large scale. We have companies huge corporation that are ruthless in their drive to get you to buy more of their stuff as opposed to somebody else's stuff to buy more and more stuff more and more Revenue more and more profits at the small-scale. We have us as individuals who gets so easily seduced into this dream of buying more stuff so that we have more stuff. Sometimes it's not even stuff that we really want. It's just something that somebody told us would give us status or or make us somebody important. You know, you hear about the The person that works, you know, 70 or 80 hours a week so that they can afford a house that's too big for what they have that they're never at that has all kinds of stuff that they will use to impress people that don't like that never come to visit. Anyhow, so much of what our culture runs on is like this.

It was just the way we are as humans. We've been falling for this for as long as we've been around. Just some stats. I know this doesn't apply to everybody equally but these are averages the average Canadian has $23,000 in change in non-mortgage debt. That's per person not for household. So that's not a mortgage that's just credit cards cars lines of credit Etc. Something like a hundred and sixty-five to 175% of disposable income and 270 of it. That's not sustainable in case you're wondering.

Now we can argue. Yes. It's hard to make a go of it in the society. We live in the cost of living's high and many other things and that's that's all true. And if you are struggling to make ends meet Please understand if you're in a tight spot. Not you know dropping a load of bricks on you. But a lot of this debt for a lot of people in our culture, it represents discretionary spending that's just gone off the deep end Furniture Electronics recreational vehicles and things like that as well as vices cigarettes and alcohol and lottery tickets in the like many Canadians have a real struggle struggle determining what things are needs. Because we actually need them and what things are needs because while everyone else has it so I better have it too. There's nothing wrong with having and using things even nice things. Sometimes it's actually better to have nice things because they might last longer and you end up spending less over time. However, the problem we seem to have fallen into is precisely what Jesus is warning and was warning against we don't regard things just as things to use. We regard them as things which may prove our Worth to ourselves and to people who might be looking at us and so against all this Jesus asks, where is your treasure? Before we answer that question. Let's just I want us to avoid one common Pitfall. I don't think we do this explicitly, but I think it's kind of lurking there in the back of our minds somewhere. We kind of take the edge off what Jesus is saying? We do this kind of spiritual lies this so we like to make up store up Treasures on Earth will that has to do with with wealth and possessions and material things but store up treasure in heaven all that's that's spiritual things that's affix and and the warm thoughts we have about people and good intentions and believing the right things. Right? So we kind of split it we make we make the bad thing about material things. No, we try to make the good thing about about spiritual stuff. But it kind of allows us the possibility then I will I will follow Jesus with My Soul. And the material things as long as I don't spend it on something that's completely sinful will just kind of leave that over here, but I think a better perspective is store up Treasures on Earth means spend your resources primarily on yourself store up Treasures in Heaven means primarily invest your resources in the Kingdom. You see how this is so much more all-encompassing is stewardship biblically speaking is not given its not giving a token amount to God in terms of your wealth or your resources of your time or anyting else. It's a much deeper Outlook that sees all of our resources everything we've been given our time or skills are resources in terms of of possessions and wealth and so far. This is all of that as something that's been entrusted To Us by God all of it and that he is free to direct us to use and that we should be sensitive. Using in ways to be pleasing to him and for his kingdom. While we're at it, let's let's head off kind of a second maybe misreading or it's very subtle. I think a lot of us read this passage to say where your heart is there. Your treasure will be but what Jesus actually says is where your treasure is there. Your heart will be also we we tend to think a lot of let's change our our inward thoughts and emotions and and then we'll kind of get on with doing something about our actions because to do otherwise that would be an authentic and hypocritical if I don't feel like doing something but that might make me a hypocrite. But Jesus warns us that our actions frequently shape our desires more than we like to admit what you regularly choose becomes what you love over time. So if you regularly choose to spend what you have on things that aren't all that important that becomes a habit that's becomes what you love that becomes the orientation of your heart will talk more about that for the end. Second question. What are you looking at? This is one of the main points of that. It's kind of confusing little middle section are the eyes the lamp of the body and Are you full of light or full of Darkness? The basically it boils down to this what you look at the most is what you will end up pursuing the most and what you pursue the most of course that shapes what you love the most.

So Jesus warns us that we need to be careful of what we see and how we see it Windows of the Soul artists and photographers will talk about you know, that that's where the emotion is that you can look at person's eyes and see like what's going on deep inside it takes what's inside and makes it visible to the watching world, but it's also true in the reverse since the eyes are the windows of the soul and that they let what's out there in as well what we're looking at continually and how we're looking at it comes in through our eyes and it doesn't just cause little electrical impulses that go through our optic nerve to our brain it it also does Spiritual things as well that takes it into our souls. So if our eyes are always looking around at things with it with a view toward spending what we have on ourselves. Well, then we might miss opportunities to invest in the more important things of Jesus Kingdom spending on ourselves social media and advertising train us. They're so good at this. They're so subtle. They keep it just kind of below that threshold of you going. Wait a minute. I'm being played like a sucker. They never quite make it ridiculous enough that you'll you'll catch on. They keep it just below that right compare ourselves to others in terms of possessions and their appearance and their experiences. Those who are experts at keeping it just below that threshold where you'll see through it. And so we keep falling for it. And so you see the logic the eyes is what sets the course for the whole person we spend time looking at and how we look determines what we treasure what we treasure becomes what we pursue what we pursue is what has our hearts.

Question number three that we should look at. Who is your master? It's perhaps the hardest question. Earlier on I mentioned how I suspect we might try to take this text and talk about treasure on Earth is having to do with material things and treasure in heaven is primarily spiritual stuff. I think that's actually the kind of thing. Jesus is warning against because that's that's a way that we can end up serving two masters. You know, it's not serve God on Sundays and do whatever you want with your wealth the other six days. It does not serve god with 10% of your resources and the other 90% is yours. It's rather serve god with everything you have or he's not ultimately the one you're serving at all. Many of us will being through a season in life may be wearing it right now where you've had to work multiple jobs. That's a reality younger people understand this you're trying to do part-time here and part-time over there and you got this other thing babysitting a little on the side or something mowing lawns, whatever and you try to make it work. But it's hard because extra shifts come up and you got to tell one boss while I know I know we agreed mornings here in afternoons here, but there's this extra thing over here. Somebody called in sick. Some of us will love being supervisors of people that are working in these kinds of situations and you know how it can be challenging to try to help navigate that and keep everything running and you end up shorthanded because someone got called into their other job, and that's just how it works. It's not easy and that's just at a run-of-the-mill part-time job. Imagine how much more difficult it is for something that requires absolute allegiance to an authority over you not just working here to earn a paycheck or there to earn a paycheck.

Here's the thing. We already know most of this stuff. We know that Jesus cares about how we spend our money. We know we probably heard this isn't news to us. Probably if you've read anything or heard any messages on this topic, we know that all the resources we have our money or possessions. Our time or skills are not really ours anyhow, but their gifts from the Lord to be used for his kingdom and we know you know, when we stop and think about it, we live in a pretty greedy Society. We know that We know that we live in a society that would rather spend right now then invest in something more meaningful for later if it's strictly this way and in a financial sense, how much worse must it be when it comes to actually the things of the Lord and of his kingdom. We know all these things but like many things we know far more than we actually ever get around to putting into practice. Before we get into some practical points of application. Let's just review the basics of where we've been. Can't get out from under this by making storing up Treasures in Heaven just a matter of spiritual or ethical concerns or or of believing the right things. Jesus cares about what we do with our resources are actual things. We have physical things and other intangible things like our time or our skills. We can either spend them ourselves or we can invest those in his kingdom.

We tend to think that actions must always follow our hearts or we might be in authentic or hypocritical and being inauthentic is just not something that school in the cultural moment. We find ourselves authentic is everything we deceive ourselves here. There are plenty of cases in the teachings of Our Lord where he calls us to do stuff that maybe our emotions our hearts would rather prefer not to do but Jesus calls us to do them. Anyhow, and in the doing of them, we frequently find that you know, what our hearts begin to change because in the doing of them in being obedient being obedient to the call of Jesus, it comes to shape our hearts and what we love and what we value.

Another thing this is this is more than about just setting aside a small portion of our resources for God. We're not we're not called to give him a tip once in a while. We're called the Stewart all the resources. He's given us for his kingdom and for his glory.

There will be sacrifice involved in this it will mean we will forsake some opportunities to spend money on ourselves and they might be perfectly legitimate ones. There's nothing wrong with having a Netflix account and watching Netflix. But sometimes the call of Jesus says, you know what I have plenty of other entertainment options. I don't need one more thing to stare at a screen out and do I could get rid of this and spend that money on something else. This is the pattern sacrifice or forsake something that you find desirable now in order to invest in Jesus Kingdom. and for his glory

structure is is not legalism structures good because it trains Us in Godly habits and rhythms and at the same time one structure doesn't necessarily fit every single person. I think it's one of the reasons why the New Testament doesn't specifically prescribe tithing as a one-size-fits-all solution for for believers the Apostle Paul in 2nd Corinthians. He talks about people should set aside what they have according to their income according to what they're able to do for the Lord's work. tithing tithing can be a great Benchmark, but at some stages in life that might be more than you can afford and and there are going to be some people