Sunday Morning Service, 1/24/10
Songs
- [ Come Now Is The Time To Worship]
- [ Because Of Your Love]
- [ Everyday]
- [ Light The Fire Again]
- [ Will You Worship]
- [ What A Friend We Have In Jesus]
- [ We Shall See The King]
- [ How Can I Keep From Singing]
Message: Stewardship
Pastor Paine
For years, I ran from this topic. I was concerned that people would think if I was preaching on stewardship, that people would think that I want their money. But God dealt with me and straightened me out, because it’s not about me wanting something from you; it’s about me wanting something for you.
When we get this message right, it’s a wonderful thing to embrace.
We’re going to talk about stewardship principles today. Next week, we’ll talk about how we budget our time and resources. Then in week three, we’ll share testimonies. In the fourth week, we’ll go over the whole concept of stewardship, and how we are doing as a congregation.
Stewardship is the act of organizing your life so that God can spend you. (Lynn A. Miller)
I want to start this message with a parable where Jesus gives us one of life’s great lessons.
- For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.
- And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.
- Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.
- And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.
- But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.
- After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.
- And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.
- His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
- He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.
- His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
Remember this is Jesus teaching; this is a parable. Jesus likened the kingdom of heaven unto this. This is a kingdom principle. It is important for us to understand that Jesus didn’t just teach this parable for a few select people; he meant it for all of us.
- Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:
- And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.
He said, “I was afraid, God. I know that you reap in fields that you didn’t plant. I know you gather in places where you didn’t put it. I know that you are the God of everything, and I didn’t want to make a mistake. So I went and took the talent and hid it, and now I give it back to you just as you gave it.
- His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:
If that is challenging to you, let me paraphrase it: It’s all God’s.
- Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
That word today is “interest.” Somehow, some way, you should have made it larger; you should have increased it in some way.
- Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
- For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
- And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
What’s Jesus referring to in verse 30? Hell. And what did he say to the other servants? Well done.
Saints, this is a kingdom principle. This matters so much; it’s important that we get it right. If you struggle with giving; relax. I promise that I’m not going to pry anything out of your hand, your wallet, your checkbook. I have, on occasion in my years of ministry, refused a gift because I didn’t believe that it was given in the right spirit. I don’t want to have any part in that kind of giving.
We are stewards over what God owns; we don’t own anything ourselves.
When my father died, after the funeral, my brothers and sisters and I went to the house where my father grew up. Who owns it now? I’ve never met the folks; I don’t know. As we stood there, someone said, “I’m just looking at the house where my father grew up in.” I didn’t say “my father’s house.” It’s not his anymore. The things that pass through our lives are ours for a season, and God challenges us to do wisely with the things that are ours for a season. We have a choice to see it multiplly for the glory of God or to hide it. But when the day of reconciliation, the day or reckoning comes, we will have to answer for it.
God never gave a challenge to someone who did not have the ability. But sometimes we feel overwhelmed. I want to share a time with you when I was overwhelmed. Nelson Mandela once came to the Chicago area. My wife and I received a special invitation to the Palmer House where he would be speaking. I was truly honored. Can anyone imagine how excited I was? So I sent my RSVP and acknowledged how thankful I was to be attending. My wife and I arrived, and we showed up in a line where people were checking in. They had several tables there, according to the first letter of your last name. So I waited in line, and when I got to the table they said, “I’m sorry, but your name isn’t on the list.” So I said, “I know that something has gone wrong; is there standing room?” A little while later I brought my situation to the attention of the event coordinator. And as I explained my situation, she said, “Oh, Reverend Paine! You’re on the VIP list! You aren’t supposed to check in; we were supposed to greet you.” And she took me to the front where Debbie and I sat at table number one. I was humbled; I was honored; and I was waiting for someone with the same name to come up and say “You’re sitting at my table, and you’ve eaten some of my salad!”
When God blesses you, receive his blessing and embrace it. Don’t become arrogant. God wants to bless you. God wants to put you at table number one. When God gives you the talent, don’t run from it; run to it. And oh yes, stay humble, but multiply that talent for the glory of God.
1. Whose is it? Who owns the things in my life?
- The earth is the LORD’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
God owns the world, the things that are therein, and all of us.
- For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.
- I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.
- If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.
- See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
- For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.
When we acknowledge God’s ownership, every decision becomes a spiritual decision. Even how we treat others in our relationships. When it’s all God’s, every d
2. Time, Talent, Treasure: What’s It For?
Why does God give us our time, talent, and treasures? Why does God give us the things in our life? Somehow, some way, everything God gives us is so that we can give glory to God. Senior Chief ___, you earned every ribbon you carry, but it’s equally true that they’re all a gift from God. Are those contradictory statements? No.
Pastor Thomas is annointed as a speaker and a preacher. Did Pastor Thomas earn that, or did God just thrust it upon him?
Yes.
God gave him a talent, and he multiplied it; God gave him a talent, and he multiplied it; God gave him a talent, and he multiplied it. Are those his only gifts and talents? Of course not. But I mention them because they are so obvious.
What are the gifts and talents in your life?
I had a person walk up to me after he was done speaking, and said “I want to thank you for being here; you gave me energy today.” I wasn’t on program that day, but I took the talent that God gave me and multiplied it that day.
- What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
- For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Paul was challenging the church at Corinth. Let’s accept that challenge in Christian Fellowship today. Ultimately, God give us things for his glory. God blesses us so that he can multiply that blessing, and he can be glorified. So when we say “God blessed me,” it’s not a selfish thing if we say it right. “God blessed me so that I can bless him. God blessed me so that I can bless others.”
How many can say that you wish you could have written a large check, with lots of commas and zeros, for our brothers and sisters in Haiti? Keep your hands up.
How many of you did?
That wasn’t a put-down. I wanted to write a large check, too. But the talents that God gives me, I am multiplying for God’s glory.
Maybe your talent is to forgive. I’ve never thought of that as a talent. I don’t know that I’d want to multiple
- Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
God gives us things freely. Pat Cambell lost her son, and God has blessed her with a perspective that I marvel at. Sister Dorothy, our heart is with you; my heart breaks for you. You got word in the last forty-eight hours that your son has died. I can’t tell you I know how you feel, but my heart breaks for you.
God give us talents, and sometimes they’re unseen, but they
- He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.
Get this right. Don’t wait for it to be big; be faithful in the little.
- He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.
- If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
The little things matter; that’s how you multiply your talents. Whatever God has given you to serve, when you’re given the opportunity to do something for the glory of God, if it seems to small, don’t ever look down at it. Ask God, “How can I excel at it?” As Martin Luther King said, “If you’re a street-sweeper, sweep it well.”
- And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?
God gives us things in this life to prove our faithfulness.
3. God’s Perspective
God blesses us with gifts. We didn’t get everything we have and everything we are to just own it. God blesses us with talents and abilities, and how should we treat what God gave us?
- For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.
Can we get this Godly perspective that at the end of the journey, that’s all that matters? I am embarrassed when I look at my life in the light of these scriptures, how often I was selfish. How about the reward at the end? The scriptures teach us that we’ll get a reward in one place or another, but usually not in both.
- But godliness with contentment is great gain.
How about this contentment? Godly contentment isn’t just not wanting to do anymore. God didn’t say that.
- For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
- And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
My friend Don Grove started his own company and became very successful. He owned many acres of land near the top of Mount Nebo. He had a very large estate. My father would take us to visit, sometimes. He had a fire engine, and snowmobiles, and sleds, and he let us ride all of those things. He had a great big pond; maybe three acres. We used to fish in that pond, and we used to ice-skate on that pond. One day I asked Mr. Grove if the ice was thick enough to go ice-skating. So he said, “I don’t know. Let me check.” And he went to the barn. I thought he was going to get an auger to drill a hole through the ice and see how thick it is. The next thing, there was this white Fleetwood Cadillac bouncing down the hill toward the pond. And there was like a three foot drop to the ice. I saw the muffler of his Cadillac as it sailed through the air and landed on the ice. Then it bounced and spun around a few times, and Mr. Grove stood up through the sunroof and said, “It’s safe enough, kids. Come on out!”
So he had this great big flagpole, bigger than normal, and he decorated this great fir tree with hundreds of flags, and he hoisted it up the flagpole. He said, “When I was a child, we didn’t have a Christmas tree. So when I got this place, I wanted to put a tree up high enough that all the other kids could see it, and look up and say That’s my Christmas tree.”
- For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
Don Grove gave a lot in his life, but he took nothing out. What we do with what God gives us, we’ve got to do here and now.
- And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
God blessed us with things in this life, and God wants us to be content with those blessings. Are we thankful? Are we holy? Are we focused on the prize that awaits in heaven? Or are we focused on the things of this life?
- But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.
- But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
When we get this right, when we have Godly contentment with great gain…
- No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
We’ve got to pick our priorities. God gives us choices in life, and we should embrace those choices.
- Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
We don’t all have the same talents; we don’t all have the same things. We don’t want everybody bringing green-bean salad to the picnic.
- Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
- And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
- Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?
- Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?
- But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.
God set them up. None have applied for these positions; they were gifts from God. Sometimes God will give you a talent in your life, and you won’t see it coming.
My mother had a cerebral hemorrhage when I was age ten. After that, my father became a single parent, for all practical purposes. My mother was in a nursing home, and my father raised six children. At age ten, I was “all grown up”. So whenever I saw at my Dad, I was always looking for a way to help. Whatever my Dad was doing, I wanted to know how I could help. When my Dad mowed the lawn, I walked in front of him and picked up the branches. When he called to say he’d be home a six to cook dinner, I asked, “Is there anything I can do to help?” And he would say, “Yeah, you can put on some water to cook the potatoes,” and so forth. I don’t say that to make myself out to be a hero. I am painfully aware that I didn’t do much to help, but the point was, I was willing.
So when God gives you a talent, don’t get all anxious and say, “Now what do I do?” Adam, the man to whom God gave five talents, how many did he have after the reckoning? Ten? Oh yes, he had eleven, didn’t he?
What Can I Do With What God Gives Me?
- For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
When Debbie and I were first married in June, 1975, Pastor Thomas and Pam were already married. And Pastor Thomas had a Fiat. Debbie and I didn’t have a car. Pastor Thomas didn’t offer to sell it to me at a fair price; he gave us that car. Pastor Thomas blessed us that day. But you know who got the biggest blessing? Pastor Thomas and Pam. How does that work? Because God is just that good.
Giving increases our treasure in heaven.
- Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
- But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
Sometimes people ask me, “Pastor, is it okay to have a savings account or a retirement account?” My understanding is that it’s not only okay, it’s wise. And the next question is usually, “How much?” My answer is that you should make sure your treasure in heaven is the larger amount.
Giving increases what God will trust us here on earth.
- But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
- Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
This is so personal; it’s between you and God. If you give, you’re gonna get, unless you gave with the wrong motive. If you give to get, you’ve already got what you’re gonna get. But if you give to give, you’re gonna get a lot.
- And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:
Here are some examples of giving:
- And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
- And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.
- And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.
- And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.
The widow woman gave all her living:
- And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:
- For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.
Saints, we’ve tackled today the first part of a four-part series on stewardship. Saints, I would ask you to pray with me now.
God Almighty, I ask that you would let us relax and trust you on this important issue, and let go so that you would bless us. God, I thank you for blessing me; I thank you for loving me.