Running On Empty: Enough!
Running on Empty • Sermon • Submitted
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· 46 viewsFinancial emptiness comes when our wealth is for us.
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Being broke in college…living in a dump apartment, eating macncheese and frozen burritos with koolaid to drink
If I were to ask you, would you say that it’s good to be financially empty?
Scriptural speaking it might be a good thing to God:
Sell all you have and follow me.
Sell all you have and follow me.
That’s not our experience though.
Broke = Bad
Choices = Good
I believe there are four reasons we find ourselves struggling financially.
I believe there are four reasons we find ourselves struggling financially.
Mistakes - Poor money management
Often times, our financial struggles come as a result of poor decisions. We don’t overspend on purpose. We fail to plan ahead. We get too far in debt. sometimes we are just poor money managers
Defiance - Disobedience
the second reason for our financial troubles is wasting money. We intentionally buy things that we don’t need.
Testing
Sometimes our financial struggles come as a result of God’s testing us. We didn’t do anything wrong, we planned ahead, but still things went sideways on us.
Complacency -
people resolve to living in lack and sort of give up making things better. Many poor just see this as their lot in life.
But being financially empty refers to more than just financially struggling, It’s about lacking. So in reality, many rich are financially empty because what they want is more.
You see, rich, poor, and everyone in between can find themselves financially empty.
IF the amount of money isnt the reason for financial emptiness, what is is that makes us financially empty?
You can be rich and be financially empty because you don’t have enough.
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In the same way you can be poor and still be financially empty.
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This may come as no surprise to some of you....but i’m a bit geeky. I like economics. I read economics books and magazines, it was the focus of my MBA. One writer that I have found interesting as a economist / sociologist is Jacques Ellul. He explains Wealth as the sum of the good things that God has blessed you to possess.
IF the amount of money isnt the reason for financial emptiness, what is is that makes us financially empty?
Mistakes - Poor money management
Defiance - Disobedience
Testing
Complacency
Let me say first of all that we need to understand the difference between money and wealth. Let me explain. I focused my masters degree on economics and finance so this is a personal interest to me. A french sociologist Jacques Ellul explains Wealth as the sum of the good things that God has blessed you to possess.
And money is one way of many to accumulate wealth, is the government controlled mechanism for trade as it is the property of Caesar. Money has the tendency to become much more than a tool and means to store wealth. It quickly becomes our tempter. Money is a ready made God as it demands our attention and devotion.
In scripture, Money is consistently set in opposition to God. As Jesus said it best in Matthew 6
“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.
Yet money is necessary in earthly life; we can’t live entirely separate. We live in a world that worships money and if we are going to survive, we have to take part in using it for our own buying and selling. Yet we must always realize that the coins in our pockets belong to Caesar, that we are playing with the sacraments of a false religion with a god that is never satisfied.
Its the chasing this illusive god that leads to our financial emptiness. That’s why it’s important to see the financial aspects of our lives in relation to the resurrection can help us find financial fulfillment.
If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?
As we surrender to Jesus,
The Cross is the Means to Financial Fulfillment
The Cross is the Means to Financial Fulfillment
we come to live life to the full as Jesus came to accomplish. Even full financially, as we appreciate our wealth, God blessings given for us to utilize and enjoy.
Think about your wealth, all that you have; not just your tools and assets: Joy, health, family, humor, gifts, abilities, friends, children, spouse,
In the New Testament, Jesus referred to money and wealth quite a bit. It was a practical way to teach people…every body understands cash.
Jesus referred to money and wealth quite a bit. It was a practical way to teach people…every body understands cash.
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In chapter 25 of Matthew, he refers to it in different ways. This is part of what we know as the Olivet Discourse that begins in Ch 24. This teaching of Jesus is about the end times and the judgement of the world and the coming Kingdom of God.
In Chapter 24, he describes non-believers as people who have a master who has gone away on a long trip. While he is gone, they take advantage of the time and relax. The faithful servant is the one who keeps doing what the Master has commanded them.
The teaching is clear here. Jesus is about to leave and the faithful disciples will continue the work that he has revealed to them. The unfaithful will begin to live for themselves expecting the master to be forgiving when he returns.
Jesus illustrates the difference in faithful and unfaithful servanthood by using two parables related to money and our management of it.
First we have a story of 10 Virgins waiting for their bridegroom to arrive. 5 of them grab their lamps and go out to wait for him. The other 5 get their lamps and fill extra jars with oil then go out to meet him. When the bridegroom is about to arrive, the 5 are out of oil and have to leave to get more. They miss his arrival and are left out of the wedding banquet.
Lesson - Use your wealth to prepare for the return of Jesus.
The second story is of three servants who have been left with some money by their master as he leaves town. We know it as the parable of the talents. One is given 5 talents, he invests his and earns 5 more. When his master returns, he is pleased and rewards him. The second is left with 2 talents of money, he invests it and earns 2 more. When his master returns, he is pleased and rewards him. The third is left with 1 talent of money, he hides it and returns it to his master when he returns. His master is angry because he did nothing with what he had been given. He takes it from him, gives it to the servant with 10, and kicks him out of his kingdom.
Lesson - wealth is a blessing and God will hold us to account for what we have been given.
These parables were teaching people about the Kingdom of God, and at the same time Jesus was illustrating his perspective on money and wealth.
In the end, people will be divided; the righteous, those who handled their time on earth and God's blessings rightly on his right.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
He goes on to explain that they were being rewarded because while he was away; he wasn’t that far. IN fact:
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
He is saying that while he was away, they handled their wealth, their life faithfully.
Exactly what John was teaching when he wrote:
If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?
This is how we live a full life financially, by using our wealth for it’s intended purpose regardless of how much we have.
Sure,
You may not have much, but it is enough to bring glory to God.
You may not have much, but it is enough to bring glory to God.
God can be glorified in the little you have. You remember the story of the widow giving the two pennies in the offering? It glorified God because she gave more than everyone else.
How are you glorifying God with what you have?
How am I glorifying God with what I have?
Well i give to the church, i give to the salvation army. I’ve adopted a couple of kids through Compassion International, I support a missionary.
Those are good things. Things I believe we should do as followers of Jesus. But do you still find yourself financially empty?
When the checking account is empty…how can we experience financial fullness?
Parable of talents.
When the checking account is empty…what might be full:
· All that we have that is free – freedom, space, health, family, friends, etc.
· What we have had and used well
· Life
· Joy
· Worship
· Salvation
· Dependence on God
Poverty isn’t holy…many are poor and want more…just like many rich.
The key is to have enough to glorify God.
It is possible to be poor and
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Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,
Since money is the main way we build wealth. I want us today to look at how Wesley taught his church to deal with money. He called them 3 rules for money.
I believe these are the
But beyond being rules, these are the result of the Holy Spirit working in us to produce holiness and good works. For us they can be 3 rules for wealth because I believe they transcend money.
3 Rules for wealth:
3 Rules for wealth:
—William Wilberforce
3 Rules for wealth:
Earn all you can
Earn all you can
Can’t harm our body, mind or spirit; nor our neighbors by accident or exploitation.
Can’t prey on or profit from our neighbor’s hardship.
We shouldn't unfairly compete with our neighbor seeking to run him out of business.
We don’t steal his employees or his customers.
The spirit leads us to prosper by being a diligent worker, by exercising creativity, by practicing excellence in the use of our skills and abilities, and by the superior quality of their work.
Wesley goes on to say that we may not harm our neighbor's substance. He rules out not only predatory lending practices and profiting from another's hardship, but also things we think of as routine competitive practices. He forbids selling goods below market value for the purpose of driving others out of business, and lays it down as a principle that we may not “study to ruin our neighbor's trade in order to advance our own.” For that reason, we cannot solicit our neighbor's workers, or even agree to hire them if he is in need of them. To the extent that competition in trade is constructed as a zero-sum game, one in which my benefit depends upon your loss, Wesley regards it is as contrary to Christian duty. Christians are to prosper in business by sheer diligence, by ingenuity and excellence in the use of their various skills, and by the superior quality of their work. Anything else violates the commandment to love your neighbor, “on which hang all the law and the prophets,” and this is equated with “gaining the world at cost of your soul.”
Don’t take short cuts in looking to “gaining the world at cost of your soul.”
When you earn all you can, you save all you can.
Save all you can
Save all you can
Not just a plea for modesty or prudence.
It is an attack on all the discretionary spending
Not legitimate expenses - anything needed to provide basic sustenance for you and your dependents, but “basic.” But Wesley argued against spending even a penny for variety or beauty in food, clothing or surroundings. These were luxuries. What would he think of our routine spending on household furnishings, entertainment, and fashion?
Wesley feared that we might move toward “the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life” (). So it best to stay far away. The holy spirit led him to spend no much beyond bare necessity because he owed the rest to the poor. He obeyed the Spirits leading.
“loving the world and the things that are in the world” (), are inherently at odds with loving God. The Spirit is leading us to save all we can… will we follow
Make all you can, save all you can, so that you can have all you can…no that wasn’t the point.
Give all you can
Give all you can
The whole purpose of earning and saving all you can is that you might be able to give all you can to support the most basic needs of those who lack the means for health and safety. Wesley insists that such giving is not a matter of charity but of duty.
When we use our resources, our wealth, to indulge our desires instead of meeting the needs of the poor, we do not merely miss an opportunity to do good: we “rob God", taking what God has entrusted to our administration and turning it from the purposes for which it was given.
We have been given much in order to be a blessing to others. Not to build an empire for me and my family; but to invest in God’s purposes.
Some of you have experienced this. When you gave to that person in crisis, you felt richly blessed. When you shared a meal with that family who had little; you understood wealth;
When we give all we can we discover the purpose of God’s blessing us with financial wealth.
How do we find ourselves financially full? We work to earn all we can; we manage to save all we can; and we commit to give all we can.
Realizing that no matter how much we have it all belongs to God, and we are blessed to be able to be used for his glory.
You have enough to glorify God!
You have enough to glorify God!
and find fulfillment in the financial areas of your life.
But you have to give God control of your checkbook. We have to submit our finances to God.
CHURCH
Would God want us to build an empire?
Would God see a faithful church with an investment account surrounded by people dying to spend eternity in hell?