October 17, 2021, "Stewardship Sunday 1: Earn All You Can"

Proverbs 14:23, Ephesians 4:28

Today we begin a three-week sermon series on Stewardship.

I realize that for many it makes you nervous when the preacher talks about money, but view the next three weeks more from the montra of financial education. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, once taught about a wholistic view of the use of money. His three principles to the use of money were: “Earn All You Can, Save All You Can; Give All You Can.” Wesley’s beliefs regarding money will form the basis for our discussion.

Before we begin learning how to “Earn All We Can,” I thought it might be interesting to hear a short narrative about Wesley and England. Wesley lived from 1703-1791. If you remember the time frame, it was when the majority of Europe was engaged in bloody revolutionary wars as many of the monarchies were being overthrown. In that context, Wesley, an Anglican, taught the lower and lower middle classes about all things Jesus. Part of what he taught was how they should use their money… Earn All You Can, Save All You Can, Give All You Can. It is believed that as the people worked hard, saved, and tithed to their church, people no longer were as impoverished as they once were. Good financial practices routed in faith led to the upward movement of Christians from the lower class to the middle class; this upward mobility of Christians partially accounted for the political stability in England as other European nations found themselves in grassroots efforts to overthrow the government.

So what do we mean when we say “Earn All You Can”?

At its very core, “Earn All You Can” is different between the world’s idea and the Church. In the secular world, Earn All You Can means that we simply want to get rich by any means possible. In the Christian world, Earn All You Can can mean something entirely different. It does not exclude us from earning money, but it means everything we earn is to the Glory of God.

How do we “Earn All We Can?”

To sum up today’s sermon in a sentence, I believe Wesley would have liked the motto, “Work hard, play hard.”

1. A beginning point for “Earning All You Can” is that we need to work hard.

Wesley loved to describe our work as a calling. He affirmed that all who have faith in Jesus are ministers. As such, ministers are called to use their gifts in ways that accomplish God's best purpose for their lives and help fulfill God's life-giving purpose in the world.

Seeing our work as a calling from God puts the challenge to “earn all you can” in the context of the larger purpose for our work. Wesley's instruction is not merely to earn money for its own sake but to earn it for the higher purpose of fulfilling God's will for our lives. When was the last time you went to work and said to yourself, “I am called by God to be here today so that I may bring about his Kingdom here in this place!” It changes how we think about our work, doesn’t it?!

In advising Christians to earn money with “all possible diligence,” Wesley was agreeing with the Proverbs by lifting up the value of hard work in contrast to laziness.

There is profit in hard work,

but mere talk leads to poverty. (Proverbs 14:23)

Laziness brings on deep sleep;

a slacker goes hungry. (19:15)

The lazy don't plow during winter;

at harvest they look but find nothing. (20:4)

The lazy don't roast their prey,

but hard workers receive precious riches. (12:27)

The lazy have strong desires but receive nothing;

the appetite of the diligent is satisfied. (13:4)

Paul said in Ephesians 4:28, “go to work, using [your] hands to do good so that they will have something to share with whoever is in need.”

All of these Proverbs and Paul are challenging us to work hard. The next time we go back to work on Monday morning, let’s think about the importance of working hard!

A huge illustration of this principle of working hard is found in the parable of the talents. The master gave 5 talents, 2 talents, and one talent. He was pleased when the first two doubled their take for him. The last one held onto it and at least did not lose it. Of the last one, the master said, “‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed?” SLOTHFUL means laziness or lack of work, a further indication of the need to work with purpose.

Work hard, yes. But, what’s the purpose of your work? Why do you do it?

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

2. WE also Earn All We Can by seeking wise council.

Some people bypass the Proverbs because they seem to be nothing more than common sense. But that down-to-earth quality is also part of the wisdom they share, a wisdom gained through common, everyday experience that has been passed on from one generation to another.

The same Proverbs that celebrate the benefits of hard work also include these words of warning and of promise.

Plans fail with no counsel,

but with many counselors they succeed. (15:22)

Without guidance, a people will fall,

but there is victory with many counselors (11:14)

Do you remember when you were first out on your own? You had to come up with your own budget, where you would live, pay your bills, and buy groceries. Probably some where in the discussion was asking wise persons for advice… for help in how to do things such as budgeting and the best uses of your money. When we earn a paycheck, we shouldn’t just spend it the way we see fit. We should pray about how God wants us to use our money wisely. While we do need earthly advice, we should begin with seeking the counsel of our heavenly Father, namely by asking God, “Hey God, how do you want me to use the money that I’ve earned?” I challenge you this week to ask Him and see if He will not give you a definitive answer.

Wesley urged his followers, “You should be continually learning, from the experience of others, or from your own experience . . . to do everything you have to do better today than you did yesterday.”

Budgeting is important. Paul Harvey once said, “When your outgo exceeds your income, the upshot may be your downfall.”

3. THIRD, We should earn all we can, but we need to know when to stop... to take a break… this is the principle of playing hard for personal revitalization.

Wesley warns us not to “begin or continue in any business which necessarily deprives us of proper seasons for food and sleep.” Similarly, the Proverbs teaches us in 23:4,

Don't wear yourself out trying to get rich; be smart enough to stop. I recently read that what we call “boredom” is needed by the body to put things in the right order. If we work too hard for too long… or stay on our electronic devices 24/7, the body cannot reorder itself properly.

Six days, God worked really hard in creating the universe and everything in it. On the seventh, he stopped. He rested. And that has been the standard for the entirety of His creation every since. Instead of burning our candles at both ends, we need Sabbath, that day of rest that should be there every week. It gives us rejuventation for the next round of work. But, it is not just about stopping for the sake of stopping. It’s stopping so that we create a space in which God can indwell. Matthew 11:28-29 says, “Come to me, all you who are struggling hard and carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Put on my yoke, and learn from me. I'm gentle and humble. And you will find rest for yourselves” (Matthew 11:28-29).

Walter Bruggemann calls the discipline of Sabbath an “act of . . . resistance . . . because it is a visible insistence that our lives are not defined by the production and consumption of commodity goods.” He lifts up Sabbath as “an alternative to the demanding, chattering, pervasive presence of advertising and its great liturgical claim of professional sports that devour all our rest time.”

Conclusion

One of the early Methodist hymnals includes a section titled “For Believers, Working.” It includes a Charles Wesley hymn that expresses the spiritual center of earning all that we can.

Summoned my labour to renew,

And glad to act my part,

Lord, in thy name my work I do,

And with a single heart.

End of my every action thou,

In all things thee I see:

Accept my hallowed labour now,

I do it unto thee.

This week, make John Wesley proud. Earn all you can by working hard and playing hard… but do it all for the purpose of glorifying God.

SALVATION POEM