Sermon Tone Analysis

Money!

I hope I have your attention.

We don’t talk about money much here.

We don’t pass an offering plate to take up a collection, we don’t have regular sermons talking about money.

In fact, this is the first time I’ve ever preached on the issue of money in my life.

But from time to time as we move through books of the Bible chapter by chapter and verse by verse, we come across passages that address money, and when we do, we talk about money.

When it comes to personal finance, money is a topic that makes people squirm when it is discussed in church.

When it comes to personal finance, there are an abundance of passages that could be examined about how we are to think about and steward our finances.

Money is addressed so frequently in Scripture because of the effect that it can have on our hearts.

Scripture itself bears witness that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.

However, because there are so many so-called pastors who abuse texts that speak to money, there are negative stereotypes that exist when it comes to churches talking about money.

And understandably so!

When a so-called pastor fleeces the sheep in the name of heeling and seed sowing or whatever other tactic that might be used, it is not only ethically concerning, but it is wicked and demonic, and those who enrich themselves off the ministry will be judged for their actions.

But then there is the issue of church finances and how churches will spend their money.

Such a topic is a cause for many fights, damaged relationships, power struggles, manipulative tactics, and it seems that everyone has an opinion for how church funds should be directed.

There are many ways that churches and individuals can go off the rails when it comes to finances, so we really ought to be grateful that Scripture speaks to it as often as it does, including our text today.

As we are winding down this letter to the Philippians, we find Paul addressing the church on a personal matter regarding their financial support of him as a minister.

He expresses his appreciation for them and their support and as he does so, he gives us insight into how we can approach church finances in a God-honoring way.

A few pre-requisites that we need to understand as we move into this section.

The passage today discusses how churches direct the funds that they have.

What this passage doesn’t address is how they got those funds in the first place.

Other passages of Scripture address that, here is a summary of what I believe Scripture would lead us toward in that regard:

It is Good to Give to the Local Church

1.

I believe it is good to give to the local church and to the work of the ministry.

1 Cor 16:2 “2 On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper”

1 Corinthians 16:2 (ESV)

2 On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper

Notice is says “as he may prosper” indicating that this is not a strict 10% as many churches make it out to be, but in accordance with what you have.

Giving Should be a Delight

2. I do believe that members of a local church, ought to be delighted to help fund the ministry of the church.

2 Cor 9:7 “7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

If there are concerns about the funds of the church, that should be addressed with the leadership.

This doesn’t have to be an awkward conversation.

Because its about money we make it out to be a bigger deal than it is.

Giving is an Act of Worship

In our passage today we will see that Paul says that financial gifts to fund ministry are ultimately to the Lord, and not to just to a local church or an individual in the case of missionary support.

Finally, there is a wisdom principle that states that pastors ought not to know who gives what in a church setting.

There is not biblical passage to defend that practice, but it is considered good wisdom to insulate the pastor in this way.

Why?

1.

It allows me to preach messages like this without making me feel like I’m preaching directly at certain people.

Many of us knows what that’s like and it’s not a fun experience.

2. It frees the pastor from the pressure and temptation to give preferential treatment to those who give more rather than those who give little or not at all.

If I don’t know, it’s not even a temptation.

I know very little about who gives what at this church.

Though we are a small church and I do have a hand in the finances simply by necessity because of our size, we have sought to insulate me from the counting as much as possible and I have not known who gives what outside of my own family for a little while now.

So that covers the issue of how churches come to have funds in the first place.

For the rest of our time today we are going to examine from Philippians how a church can honor God with the use of those funds that come in.

We are in Philippians chapter four.

We are going to see four principles from this text about church finances that I believe apply no matter what area of church finance we are dealing with, whether that’s supporting missionaries, as is the immediate context, or if we are talking about the day to day ministry activity of the church, these principles ought to observed when making budget decisions for the church.

Biblical Church Finances that honor God

1. Helps a Genuine Need

To see this, we are going to start in Philippians chapter 2, verse 25

Phil 2:25 “25 I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need,”

The Philippian church had sent a financial gift to help support Paul, and Epaphroditus was the carrier of that gift.

Back then there weren’t our modern methods of delivering mail, or direct deposit, or wire transfers.

Epaphroditus had to carry the physical goods to Paul for his use.

But notice that Paul says that he had a need, and the Philippians church helped to meet that need.

Go with me to chapter four and look at verse 10.

Phil 4:10 “10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me.

You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity.”

Last week we looked at this verse and noticed the genuine concern that the Philippians had for Paul when they became aware of his need.

They were not always able to meet that need, but they did what they could when they could.

Now come with me to verse 14.

Phil 4:14 “14 Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble.”

The concept of sharing is the concept of partnership.

They entered into a participation together with Paul in his ministry when contributed to his need.

The word for trouble speaks of suffering or oppression.

Part of the reason for Paul’s need is because he was routinely being beaten and hauled off to prison.

Any resources that he had on his person would have no doubt been taken from him.

The Philippians church came a long side to help Paul in his genuine need.

I think of the parable of the good Samaritan.

To help the man who was beaten, the Samaritan had to risk his own safety by stalling in a dangerous area, get his own hands dirty by picking the man up, surrender his own means of traveling and walk so that the hurt man could ride the donkey, and pay money out of his own resources to the innkeeper until the man sufficiently recovered.

I hate to compare this to something so trivial, but there is an analogy in the stock market.

When you invest in a company stock, you become, in a way, a participant in the company.

The company’s gains are your gains, the company’s losses are your losses.

When we give to help a missionary, we are sharing in their joys and success, but also in their troubles and hardships.

The Philippians knew that, and they were willing to take that chance because it met a genuine need.

Church finances ought to be considered similarly.

Will we take on this missionary or not?

Will we spend toward this project or not.

Will we increase or decrease our budgets in these other areas or not?

We must ask: is there a genuine need here?

Second, biblical church finance that honors God

2. Helps Further the Gospel

Look with me at verse 15.

Phil 4:15-16 “15 And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only.

16 Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again.”

As Paul acknowledges the help that Philippians provided and how they were his exclusive ministry partners for a time, there is an important point here that we don’t want to miss.

They were his exclusive partners, but in what?

In the Gospel.

When Paul says “from the beginning of the Gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me except you only” What does Paul mean by the beginning of the Gospel?

It could mean 1) it speaks from the time that Philippians first embraced the Gospel themselves or 2) it could refer to when they first entered into Gospel Partnership with Paul when he left their region.

Look with me back in chapter one verse 3-5.

Phil 1:3-5 “3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, ((WHY??)) 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.”

I believe that as soon as the church came to a place of belief in the Gospel, that they were overjoyed to support Paul in his ministry that others might hear, believe, and follow Christ just as they had done.

They wanted others to know the of the Good News that they had come to believe, they wanted others to have the same life that they had.

So they eagerly entered into partnership with Paul to help advance the Gospel.

Paul seems to be praising them: You guys were on board from day one.

He thanks them, not because he is dependent on them as we saw last week, but because it brings him joy to know that others care as much about he Gospel as he does.

He used the language of partnership again.