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Why Isn�t God Answering?

2010-03-07T00:00:00-07:00

You know... this question that we're talking about today is an unusually painful one. It's a very hard thing to think that God might not be answering me. This question comes up when some hard things are going on in our lives that make us look to God for help. So we do. We ask him for help. But he is not answering like we think he should be.

The struggle usually goes something like this. You've probably experienced this at one time or another. We have a problem of some sort and it concerns us because it's too big for us to solve. So we pray to God and ask for his help. We know we should do that, and others encourage us to do that. But...nothing happens. The problem just goes on. So we keep on praying, and the problem still goes on with nothing changing at all. First we get weary, weary of dealing with our problem, weary of continually praying about it, and (even more) weary of seemingly getting no response from God. And then after we've been weary for awhile, we begin to have a problem with prayer. We find ourselves wondering if it really does any good, if it's worth it to keep on praying. But a little later we slip into another struggle. We begin to doubt ourselves. What's the matter with me? Don't I pray right? Aren't my prayers good ones? Is there something wrong with my faith? Is it too small? And after a while it gets even more painful. Soon we are not only weary, and doubting prayer, and doubting ourselves, but we begin to have a problem with God. Where is he? Is he out there? Does he listen? Does he care? And when you get there, it's not a very large step to becoming cynical or angry. Have you experienced this? Can you identify with what I'm talking about?

Now, some folks are not comfortable with the term "unanswered prayer". They somehow want to believe that God answers every prayer in one way or another and so they try to explain away the whole idea of "unanswered prayers". They feel they have to paint it over. But the fact of the matter is that in actuality, when we are struggling with the fact that nothing seems to be happening, it does feel to us like it is unanswered prayer. If I am praying for some change, and no change seems to happen, then to me it's an unanswered prayer. And that can have a great impact on our personal relationship with God. What it really comes down to is that there is an apparent conflict between what the Bible says about prayer and what is happening in our own experience. And we struggle with how to reconcile the two.

You see, the Bible says prayer is good, it's powerful, and it makes a difference. So we find many prayers in the Bible, prayers that obviously made a difference. We hear Jesus say in Matthew, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find" and then he went on, "For everyone who asks receives...." (Matt.7:7, 8) And we remember that in John's gospel he said, "The Father will give you whatever you ask in my name". (John 15:16 and 16:23) And the apostle James said, "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective" (James 5:16) and then he substantiates that claim with the story of Elijah who prayed first that it would not rain and it did not for three and a half years, and then he prayed that it would rain and it did rain! So with things like that in the Bible, I would expect that when I pray it's going to make a difference, and things are going to change. Wouldn't you? But then there are our own experiences which do not match that. We have this problem that must be resolved, so we pray about it, but nothing happens; there is no resolution. We pray for healing from the disease for our loved one; and she still dies. We pray that our business will thrive, but it doesn't. We pray that our marriage will survive, and it falls apart. We pray for our children and their course of life, but they still get into trouble after trouble. You could add many more to the list. So what do we do? Our experience at times just seems so contradictory to what the Bible says!

And when that happens we are right at home with some other folks in the Bible. Folks like David, who prayed a lot, and yet was not immune to the kind of contradiction we are struggling with. There are two somewhat similar Psalms that we should think about. You heard one of them read a few moments ago. Psalm 13 is clearly identified as a Psalm of David. But there's another very similar one. It's Psalm 10, and it may well be one of David's Psalms too. I'm going to assume it is. These two Psalms are not what you would expect to hear in the Bible. They are blunt, earthy, complaints from a man who is struggling with the silence of God. Listen to the cry that goes up to God in both of these:

"Why, O Lord, do you stand far off?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?" (Psalm 10:1)
"How long, O Lord?
Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me? (Psalm 13:1)

Very frank complaints to God, don't you think? If you read the remainder of these prayers you will see that these words come out of a feeling of helplessness. Enemies are threatening him; the wicked are oppressing him. It may be the Philistines, or Saul, or something else. But he is feeling very vulnerable. That's one problem. The other problem is that his prayer life doesn't seem to be making any difference. He's feeling let down. God doesn't seem to be doing anything. True, he's trying hard to hold on to his confidence in God's ability and God's willingness to act and change things, but he is finding that very difficult. He sounds like a man who has picked up the phone to call for help, only to find there is no one on the other end to answer. Surely you know what that's like - you know you have the right number, and you are sure someone is supposed to be home, but nobody answers. Surely we all know about that!

Well, what do we do? And what can we say about this? Or better yet, what does the Bible have to say about experiences like these? I think you'll find it encouraging to know that the Bible doesn't leave us alone out there with our struggles. On these pages you will find a good deal of encouragement and help.

On the one hand, I find it very freeing to hear complaints like these we've read from these two Psalms. The Bible is a very realistic book that meets us right in our practical experiences. It's a book that understands what we have to deal with from time to time. And, as a matter of fact, the presence of these complaint-prayers on the pages of the Bible, actually gives us freedom...freedom to be that honest with God. Yes, we can admit to him how hard a struggle we're having. We don't have to hide it, paint it over, or pretend that everything is OK. Yes, it's OK to be honest with God. He can handle that. He can handle every struggle we blurt out at him. What he can't handle is when we are dishonest with him, or pretend that he isn't there. So, go ahead, express your complaint to God if that's what you are feeling. But then the Bible also tells the stories of a number of others who have dealt with the same struggle and through their stories we find help and insight.

One element of that insight is that we must be aware that God's ways are often different than our ways. It may be possible that God is deliberately delaying his answer, and delaying it for some good reason which we may not be able to understand. We see this in the story of Mary, Martha and Lazarus as it's told in John 11. They were very close friends of Jesus. They spent a good bit of time together. Well, Lazarus became very sick, and Jesus happened to be out of town. So Mary and Martha sent an urgent message to Jesus, "your friend is sick, very sick!" And the implication was...so please come as quickly as you can! But Jesus didn't. He deliberately delayed. John 11:6 we're told that when Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick, "he stayed where he was two more days." I'm sure Mary and Martha just could not understand the delay. They must have been terribly disappointed. After Jesus did get there, only to find that Lazarus had died, Martha even said, Lord, this would not have happened if you have gotten here in time! But Jesus knew that in God's good timing more glory would be given to God through Lazarus resurrection. So he delayed....Or it might be that God is wisely denying what we are asking for. And denying it not because he doesn't care, or doesn't love us, but because in his wisdom he understands things we don't. You see that in the prayers of the Old Testament prophet Elijah. At one point in his ministry, Elijah became very exhausted and discouraged. The story is in I Kings 19. Elijah wanted to quit, not only to quit, but also to die. He was so depressed that he left town, went out in the desert, sat down under a broom tree and he prayed. But you know what he prayed? "I have had enough, Lord, take my life". (I Kings 19:4) That was his prayer. Take my life! But God denied his request. Instead of taking his life, God fed his body, sent angels to care for him, encouraged his heart, and gave him new assignments in ministry. It was obviously a very wise denial on God's part.

Another possibility is that God has an alternate plan in mind. Maybe he will be answering our prayer but in a different way with a different plan, yet aiming to accomplish the same goal. The apostle Paul was a godly missionary who would stop at nothing to preach the gospel everywhere. But he had a personal problem which he referred to as a "thorn in the flesh". We're not sure what it was but it was obviously some physical problem that was a frustration to him. So he prayed about it; three times; "God remove this, please." But God didn't remove it. The thorn stayed. But God did do something. He explained to Paul that he had an alternate plan. "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness," (II Corinthians 12:9). So Paul's direct request was never granted. The thorn remained. But God did answer his bigger concern and provided grace to live powerfully even in the face of this weakness. I can see that many of my prayers have been answered with an alternate plan on God's part. Can you? And therefore there is another one we must think about. It's our perspective on things. Often we are too shortsighted. Answers are coming, but we are not able to see them because we are shortsighted; we see only the small picture. The story of the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk illustrates this. There is a small book by his name near the end of the Old Testament. It's a digest of a dialog between himself and God. And, frankly, as a prophet he's struggling with the same question we are - why isn't God answering? You see, Habakkuk was praying to God for some deliverance and help. He was perplexed. Wickedness and oppression were widespread in Judah; Habakkuk was praying for revival; and nothing seemed to happen. So the book begins, "How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?" (Habakkuk 1:2) Now doesn't that sound familiar! But God's answer to him is very interesting and can be of great help to us. God tells him that, though it may seem like he is inactive and silent, that is not true. God is at work strengthening a neighboring enemy nation, who will attack them, and eventually stir Judah to turn back to God. You see, God was answering but he was busy working behind the scenes, where Habakkuk could not see it. The answer was coming, but the prophet was looking in the wrong direction.

But I must tell you there is one other possibility the Bible tells us about. This is kind of a hard one, one that we don't really like to hear. The Bible tells us that there is such a thing as "hindered" or "obstructed prayer", in others words, prayers that God hears but chooses not to answer because of some hindrance within us. In Psalm 66 verse 18 the Psalmist admits "If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened." The prophet Isaiah speaks for God in his first chapter and says (1:15) "When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. For your hands are full of blood..." And the Apostle James tells his readers that when they ask they do not receive because they are asking (Praying) with wrong motives. (James 4:3) In all of these instances, the love of sin and sinfulness, has hindered or obstructed prayers that could otherwise be answered.

So all of those circumstances are factors for us to consider. But in all of it, there are two considerations that are not possibilities. It is not possible that God is uninterested in us, for everywhere the Bible tells us that he is merciful and gracious to us. And it is not possible that our prayers fail just because we don't have enough faith, for we are told that faith even as small as a mustard seed is sufficient.

"So, what shall I do?", you ask. "How can I make some headway in resolving this awful struggle I have with thinking that God is doing nothing, that he is being so silent?"

I'm glad that you are willing to ask some of these hard questions. Often we can't get beyond the questions until we begin identifying the questions we have. So, be willing to ask yourself about some of the things I have just mentioned. Is it possible that God is delaying for some reason; or that he is wisely denying a request that would not be good; or that perhaps he has a better alternate plan; or that if you could see the big picture you would see that he is indeed at work answering; or is it possible there is some love of sinfulness in your life that is hindering your prayers? Do not be afraid of probing questions like that.

But I would also caution you to be careful about how much you feel you can demand of God. It's true we may tell God all of our needs, and we may ask help with all of them. But sometimes, I'm afraid, we also think we can tell God exactly how he ought to answer and exactly what he should do. And then if he doesn't do it in exactly our way, we think he's being silent. We call for help, but we must leave it to him to decide how and in what way he will help.

And there's another caution too. Don't assume that just because God is silent it means he is inactive. It's easy to jump to that conclusion, I know. But not all silence is inactivity. Let me say that again - not all silence is inactivity . Sometimes while he seems silent he is busy working out of view, in the background, getting everything ready for just the right time, like we see with the prophet Habakkuk.

But I also want to say the same thing I said when we discussed the question, "Why do good people suffer?" We must learn to trustingly live with mystery. There are and always will be things that we can't understand. There will always be some of God's ways that we can't fit into our finite minds. The ways of God are sometimes beyond our comprehension. And so, though we cannot understand why he doesn't seem to be answering, we affirm that he is God, he loves us, he is merciful, trustworthy; he is the source of all good, and we can trust him....no matter what! The Psalmist does that in these two Psalms we've read. "But...." He says (and that's a big one) "But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand." (Psalm 10:14) Yes, he does. Even if I can't see it! I trust him.

Oh, and one other thing. Keep on praying. Don't give up...even when you are tempted to doubt its value. There is a very stirring parable that Jesus told in Luke 18. A widow was calling on a judge for some justice; and the judge paid no attention to her. Day in and day out she kept coming to him, but he wouldn't listen. Finally, after many such attempts he helped her. The point, Jesus said, is not that God is like that Judge who doesn't care, but that we should always pray and not give up. So, I say to you today, no matter how deeply you doubt, or how hard you struggle, don't quit praying.

So, all of our praying comes down to trusting God. It comes down to a deep sense of trust. And how can we do that? How can we know he's worth trusting? Well, my dear friends, just think of what he has done. Think of all the ways in which he has reached into your life in times past, times you may be tempted to forget about now in your struggles. And think about all the ways in which he has reached into the lives of others near you, and of others down through the halls of history. Think of how he has loved, cared, supported, rescued, carried and pardoned.

Even to the point of sending his son Jesus Christ to this world to be the payment for our salvation. Imagine that! He sent his son to live here and love sinful people; to die here and pay for our sins; to rise from the dead to accomplish victory over death for us. Think of all of that. Surely he listens and answers. I love the way the Apostle Paul puts it in Romans 8 (verse 32) "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?"

Keep praying, and keep trusting God, even when you can't see what he's doing!

Prayer:
Gracious Lord, you have told us that you will listen to our prayers. And we believe you. And so we have prayed about many things. We have told you our thanks, our praise, our adoration. We have also told you about our own needs, the needs of those close to us, and of others in our world. But it is very hard for us when we don't seem to see any changes. Sometimes we call, we even cry, but nothing seems to happen. Even for a long time. And that's hard for us, Lord.

And so today we pray for something else. We pray for the kind of help that will make it possible for us to be patient, to trust you, to wait for you, and to be willing to let you do things your way in your time. So, most of all, Lord, we ask for the grace to trust you, and to remain faithful to you.

For the sake of our Lord, Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.

About the Pastor

Howard Vanderwell

Howard Vanderwell was ordained in the Christian Reformed Church in 1962. He received his M.Div. and Th.M. degree from Calvin Theological Seminary and his D.Min. at Westminster Theological Seminary in California. He has served as pastor to four congregations over 40 years in Iowa, Illinois and Michigan. After leaving the pastorate in 2002 he began a new ministry at Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary.

He is currently a staff member at the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI and Adjunct Professor of Worship at Calvin Theological Seminary. He consults with local congregations, provides worship materials, leads conferences and workshops, and teaches courses on worship at Calvin Seminary. Howard's interests include planning, leading and evaluating worship, preaching, and worship renewal throughout the evangelical church.

"My life-long prayer, from my days as a child, was that I might be honored to serve as a Christian Reformed pastor preaching the Word of God to encourage and challenge his people. I consider the forty years of my pastoral ministry to have been the most valuable way in which I could have invested those years! When I consult with pastors, teach and mentor students, hold conferences for worship leaders, or write worship planning materials, my aim is to equip and inspire others to serve their Lord and Savior by making a whole-hearted investment in his church and his people. Such ministry is certainly not without its stresses and discouragements, and those of us who have found such joy in a life-time of ministry are uniquely fitted to encourage others."

Howard lives in Hudsonville, MI with his wife Eleanor. They have three married sons and ten grandchildren ages 5 through 19. His hobbies are yard-gardening, walking, photography and model railroading.

Why Do Good People Suffer?

2010-02-28T00:00:00-07:00

Scripture Reading: Job 1 and 2

You know it's so important to remember that Job really was a good man. And, yes, like so many of us, Job knew about suffering first hand.

Dr. Richard Selzer is a surgeon. And he has written a book for young doctors in which he addresses our experience of suffering. He says that all of us seem to be protected for a time by some kind of imaginary membrane that shields us from horror. It's much like our immune system which protects us from unseen but very harmful bacteria. So we are shielded from horror for awhile. But as the years roll on for most of us, this membrane of protection tears away and horror of one kind or another sweeps in. Dreams are dashed. Pain becomes intense. And that's when this crisis develops.

Dr. Nicholas Wolterstorff , a father and a philosophy professor, experienced the awful horror of learning that his 25 year old son, Eric, was tragically killed in a mountain-climbing accident. In his small book, Lament for a Son, he passionately writes some of his reflections on getting that awful news. "Suffering," he writes, " is the shout of NO by ones whole existence to that over which one suffers - the shout of NO by nerves and gut and gland and heart to pain, to death, to injustice, to depression, to hunger, to humiliation, to bondage, to abandonment." (Lament for a Son, p.96)

But perhaps, before we go further, we should acknowledge that there are different kinds of suffering.

There is, of course, physical suffering. Perhaps you think first of that one - when things happen in your physical body that make your whole nervous system cry out; when some disease reduces you to just about zero - an infection, a diseased organ, a greedy tumor, or an accident.
And there is emotional suffering. Perhaps anxiety, or anger, or panic, or depression, or some other disorder brings out internal cries of pain, the kind you feel when you learn your son has been killed in a mountain-climbing accident.
Or it may be social suffering. So many in our world are locked in poverty, oppression, injustice, and prejudice, not because of anything they have done, but because social structures, and evil people, are holding them hostage.
But there is also what we may call relational suffering. Have you ever been hurt by having someone you trust turn against you? Some folks talk about a relationship that is living torment. Others live with the constant pain of knowing that someone who they once loved has turned on them or abandoned them. Maybe you know of folks who live very near each other, but refuse to even speak.
We may also talk about religious suffering. The Apostle Paul writes to Timothy about those who are living a godly life in Christ Jesus and are persecuted for it. The Apostle Peter writes about those who suffer for doing what is right. Many today are being persecuted for their faith.
And, finally, I think we should include environmental suffering on our list. Have you see the fish float belly-up in a stream polluted with mercury? Or towns devastated by a wild tornado? Or homes washed away by a raging flood? Or perhaps in flying into some of our cities you notice the canopy of brown haze that covers the city where once the air was crystal clear.

Yes, suffering takes many different forms. And all of these wring out of our hearts the big "NO! It should not be this way!" And then we ask, "So how can we ever reconcile all these different kinds of suffering with what we know of a good and loving God?" There is the heart of our struggle!

Well, let's go back to the book of Job in the Bible from which we read a little while ago. It's really a very old book, perhaps from as early as the days of Abraham. It will help us with our question, not only by making us aware that sufferings are just about as old as world history, but also because it will welcome us into the struggle of Job and others as they try to resolve this dilemma of it all, of wondering how we can ever square it with the goodness of God.

I told you that within a very short period of time Job lost his flocks, his herds, his sons, daughters, health, and even his wife's support. But when we read the opening words of the book, what do we hear about first? We hear about genuineness of his good character! So that should eliminate the possibility that Job is suffering so much because he's such an evil person. His friends, of course, try to press that accusation against him. You are suffering because of your sin, they will say. A lot of folks slip into that fear today too. Maybe you also are tempted, to fear that things are going hard for you because God is punishing you for your sin.

So the big question behind this book is the one we began with today. Why do people as good as Job suffer? That's the big question! Why do people as good as Job suffer? The book of Job is a rather long book in the Bible - 42 chapters. It's a dramatic narrative account of how Job and his friends wrestle together with this big question of the faith. It's rather dangerous to take just one section of the book in isolation from the big picture. So let me explain to you that there are three very intense conversations that take place in this book. The first one is between God and Satan; the second between Job and his friends; and the third one is between Job and God.

The first conversation, the one between God and Satan, is found in chapters 1 and 2. It's really a conversation that takes place behind the scenes. The only way we know about it is that God has chosen to reveal it. Both God and Satan are observing Job, this "blameless and upright man, who shunned evil," as they describe him. It goes like this:

God says to Satan, "have you seen Job; there is no one like him; blameless, upright, he shuns evil all the time."
Satan responds, "Sure, but why wouldn't he serve you? You have blessed him, protected him, prospered him. But if you take some of that away, my guess is that he will curse you to your face."
God to Satan - "I will allow you to try that. You may test him. Just don't touch him personally, or his health. And you will see how faithful he is."

So the first series of calamities take place. Job loses his servants, flocks, herds and children. And Job remained faithful to God. Then the conversation between God and Satan continues.

God to Satan: well, I see you've made it hard for Job. And have you seen how faithful he still is to me?
Satan to God: Sure, but you wouldn't let me touch his health. If I can do that, if he loses his health, he will turn on you in an instant!
God: OK, you may try that too and you will see again how firm his faith is.

And again it says, "In all this Job did not sin"; he did not turn from God. So that's the first conversation. Job's faith and faithfulness dealt a stunning blow to the hopes of Satan.

And then follows the second conversation - a long one. As a matter of fact, it's all the way from chapter 3 through chapter 37 of this book. This conversation, perhaps we should call it a debate, is between Job and several of his friends. In several cycles of speeches they argue their points, and Job replies. Job cries out in his pain and frustration; he pleads for some support and understanding. But in long philosophical lectures his friends try to convince him that since God is just, and since Job is suffering, there must be some connection between his suffering and some sin in his life. He would be well advised, they claim, to admit his sinfulness, repent and ask for God's pardon before he can expect the suffering to end. The problem, they claim, is Job. And Job argues back, maintaining his innocence, pleading for vindication from God. In the end, there is no resolution in this debate. Job calls them "miserable comforters". Job, and his friends for that matter, who were so convinced they should be able to understand God in all his ways, were so convinced they could call God to account, and were convinced God should only do things in ways that they could understand, had to learn that God is sovereign, just, and holy. He does things his way, and all his ways are right, though not always so understandable.

I wonder if you, like a lot of folks, sometimes get stuck in this viewpoint that thinks God ought to only do things that we are able to understand. Yes, I've been there too. But Job's story tells us that just isn't possible.

And then follows the third and final conversation of the book. This one is between God and Job. Well, it isn't really a conversation. Instead of a dialog, God is speaking and Job is listening, at least for the most part. It's a very dramatic confrontation of Job by God. God steps forward and overwhelms Job with a sense of his sovereignty. Listen to these words as God begins,

Who is this that darkens my counsel
With words without knowledge?
Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
And you will answer me.
Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?
Tell me, if you understand. (38:2-4)

And so God goes on and on,

Have you ever given orders to the morning,
Or shown the dawn its place,
That it might take the earth by the edges
And shake the wicked out of it? (38:12, 13)
Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all this.
Do you know the laws of the heavens?
Can you set up God‘s dominion over the earth? (38:33)

And what happens? Where does this come out? It comes out at the point of Job's utter humility as he stands before the sovereignty of God. Listen to Job, "I am unworthy - how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer - twice, but I will say no more." (40:4, 5) God has given him a picture of a big huge world all under God's control. It's not that Job may not cry out, but he may not demand that God do things only in his way. Job does not find a human answer. He simply cannot fit the whole thing into his mind.

And so his experience teaches us that it is not so much for us to understand; it is for us to trust! ...to trust We do not force God to fit our experiences, or what we think he ought to be like; it is for us to fit our experiences into his promises.

So Job has learned a deep life-long lesson. God is lovingly and trustingly sovereign. It is for us to trust him, to put our hand over our mouth and be silent rather than shout out our objections to him, to trust that we are safe in him and may rest in him.

So what does all of that mean for how we handle this tough question about the suffering of good people? It teaches us that there may not be many satisfying human answers to all of it, but there are some very important things here that we can learn from the experiences of Job.

It is obvious that this book makes it clear, as life itself does, that we can expect suffering and ought not to be surprised by it. Yes, it does, and it will, happen, and to good people, too. It's that kind of a world - no longer the perfect world that God had in mind. There are forces unleashed here in this world that bring suffering to all. Even the goodness of our character or the strength of our faith will not make us immune to it.

And we may be honest about that. We don't have to hide it, deny it, or paint it over. Job is very candid and honest in his cries. It's OK to struggle without answers, to cry out when we don't understand. Just listen to him:

"I loathe my very life; therefore I will give free rein to my complaint and speak out in the bitterness of my soul." (10:1)
"Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb?" (3:11)
"If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales! I would surely have outweighed the sands of the seas...." (6:2, 3)
"I cry out to you, O God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you merely look at me." (30:20)

And many of the Psalmists utter similar earthy cries from their pain and suffering. Listen:

"Why, O Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?" (Psalm 10:1)
"How long, O Lord, will you forget me forever?" (Psalm 13:1)
"O Lord, the God who saves me, day and night I cry out before you...my soul is full of trouble...." (Psalm 88:1, 3)

With such honest and candid cries from the pages of Scripture we are indeed given freedom to be that open and honest with God. He can handle our cries of pain.

At the same time, I think we ought to use some of our pain to combat the causes of suffering in our world. Every suffering we experience is a reminder that this world is not the kind of world it should be. And we ought not to resign ourselves to it, but turn our pain into positive energy to combat the causes of suffering - the poverty, the abuse, the injustice, the diseases, and the like. Many who had seen the pain of oppressed slaves fought for the abolition of slavery and prejudice. Many who sense the violence done to infants in abortion have become the defenders of life. Those who have lost loved ones to drunk drivers have used their pain to lead the fight against drunk driving. Those who have seen loved ones suffer from major diseases often lead the fight against those very diseases. Pain can become a powerful force that motivates us for good.

But in the final analysis, it all comes down to this. When we suffer, particularly when we suffer without answers or explanations, we are called to trust God. Yes, we are called to trust God. I know, sometimes that's very hard. Sometimes it seems impossible.

I know. A good many years ago, when I was a young father, I was stricken with cancer. It involved surgery and treatment. But it also involved a lot of anxiety and fright...and huge questions. Then twelve years later I was stricken again. More surgery, more treatments, more questions! And six years later, for a third time, it was cancer! And the whole cycle repeated itself both in my body and my soul. Now it's a good many years later and I am grateful for the good cancer-free health that I have. But I still don't have answers to the questions I raised at the time. I don't know why. I can't figure it all out. I have no idea why it should be me, and why three times. Oh, I can see so very many good things God has brought from that. I love life more than ever; and I love health more than ever; and I give thanks to God for every day. But do I have all my questions answered? No, I don't. Do I trust God? I most certainly do. I don't need answers to my questions before I can trust him. I trust him because of who he is. He is holy, and true and loving and fair and merciful. He has said all of that in his word. He has illustrated that in my life and the lives of those near me over and over. He has given me so many promises that I hold on to. And he has even given his son for salvation. And so, even when I cannot find answers to my questions and cannot resolve my mysteries, I live with the mysteries and go on trusting God. You see, when I read the Bible and learn about God, then he gives me this big huge picture of the universe and of himself. At times like that my mind and heart go back to a classic Christian Hymn, "Immortal, Invisible, God only wise...the Ancient of days...your great name we praise." And when I see that big picture, then I don't have to force things to fit my own experiences, but I interpret my experiences in terms of this big God who rules this big world and does so in holiness and truth.

So in my trusting God I do two things.

First, I understand that God feels my pain. He knows when I hurt, when I am frightened, when life seems scary, when good people suffer. He knows and feels all of that. When I had cancer, I knew that God was on my side of the line, and had never become my adversary. He promises his care in the Bible and he proved it by sending his son to be our Savior on the cross at Calvary.

And second, I let God do his work of running the world the way he wants to. After all he has a holy and perfect mind; so who am I to think he has to do things only in a way that I can fit into my little finite mind? It is not for me to second-guess him. Yes, I can live with mystery. When things happen that I can't figure out, I can rest in the fact that God can figure it all out and has it all under control...and loves me deeply.

That's really where Job came out in this struggle. In the third conversation in this book, the one between God and Job, Job finally responds with trust. He very humbly says, I put my hand over my mouth; I don't talk back; I let God be God...and I trust him.

Oh, I know that's hard sometimes. But Christians down through the ages have trusted him in that way and have found great strength. For instance, during the sixteenth century, Christians in Europe were subjected to terrible persecution. They were oppressed cruelly. In order to prove to their oppressors that they were not rebels but law-abiding citizens they wrote a document confessing their faith. They even said they would "offer their backs to stripes, their tongues to knives, their mouths to gags, and their whole bodies to the fire", rather than deny the truth of their faith. As a matter of fact, the pastor who wrote the words of their confession died as a martyr a few years later. Guide De Bres was his name. The confession is called the Belgic Confession of Faith. Listen to what they said...

"We believe that this good God, after he had created all things,
Did not abandon them to chance or fortune
But leads and governs them according to his holy will,
In such a way that nothing happens in this world
Without his orderly arrangement.

This doctrine gives us unspeakable comfort
Since it teaches us
That nothing can happen to us by chance
But only by the arrangement of our gracious heavenly Father." (From art.13)

I find that trust like that gives hope. I can hope because this God is good and loving and wise and faithful. And I can hope because this good God sent his son Jesus Christ to be the Savior, to bring salvation from sin and the promise of eternal life. This good God holds me in his hand and will do so forever.

There is a lot in life I don't like; and there is a lot I don't understand; and there are a lot of questions to which I can't find answers...but I can know that God loves me, has his arm around me, and will always be faithful to me. I can know that because his son Jesus Christ has fully paid for all my sins and made me a child of God.

Because of this, you and I are not stuck in our suffering forever. It's all only temporary. I know it still hurts a lot. But I assure you that our saving God has a new perfect day in a new perfect world waiting for us. You can trust him!

Prayer:
Dear Father, some of us are having a hard time of it today. We experience the pain of suffering in our body, our spirits, and our minds. We watch our loved ones suffer. We see your creation suffer. We hear about fellow Christians who are oppressed. O God, so many in our world hurt so much.

And we search for answers. We wonder why you don't stop it all. We cry out in our pain. But we learn that often there are no answers for us. You are God and you see so much more than our minds can begin to fathom. But we trust you, God. We know you are our Father because of Jesus Christ your Son. We know that your promises never change. We know that you deliver. And we hear of the new perfect world that you have in store for us.

O Lord, we do believe. Help our unbelief. Give grace and the gift of faith to those of us who are finding it hard to believe... hard to trust you. Hold us firmly in your grip, even when we have lost our grip on you.

All for the sake of Jesus Christ, Amen.

About the Pastor

Howard Vanderwell

Can I Know the Will of God?

2010-02-21T00:00:00-07:00

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 5:15-21

Look at what Paul says in Ephesians 5 v.15-21...it's a paragraph in which virtually every statement and clause warrants close consideration. Here are some of the things he says:

Be very careful how you live and make sure it is done wisely.
Make the most of every opportunity you have for the days are evil.
Don't get drunk with wine, but be filled with the Holy Spirit of God.
When you come together, give encouragement to each other through your singing.
Always give thanks for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And did you notice that right in the middle of all those big principles, he puts this huge statement. "Do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is." What a big sentence! It captures what you and I need to know!

As you think about that sentence, let me point out to you that there are some big things embedded in it. Paul has a habit of writing that way-of packing a sentence with big and profound thoughts. And we understand him best when we take time to recognize all that is in it. If you look carefully at this sentence, for instance, I think you'll discover there are at least four assumptions behind it. And I think we'll do better in our conversation today about the will of God if we take time to identify those four things first.

First, God is a personal God. Paul is talking here about a God who is just as much a personal being as you and I are. He's not some impersonal force out there in the galaxies. He's not some cold and impersonal being we can't relate to. He's not some celestial sovereign computer who spits out programs. No, he is a person. He thinks, he feels, he acts, he rejoices, he is sad, and he thrives on entering relationships with us.

Second, this personal God has a will. Yes, he does. "The Lord's will" is Paul's phrase. He has desires; he has plans; he participates in charting out the course of the cosmos, of world history, and of our lives. He's not a God who would say "whatever!". He has a will, a plan.

Thirdly, he makes his will known, at least in large part. He does share it with us. Notice how Paul talks about "understanding" the Lord's will. He would not say that if it were not true that God has a will, he makes it known to us, and we are able to get it into our minds.

And then there is a fourth consideration here. It's the whole idea of foolishness. The opposite of understanding the Lord's will is foolishness, Paul says. He puts it this way, "Do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is." It's one of two ways: either searching for God's will, or being foolish. That goes two ways - it is foolish not to be interested in understanding the Lord's will; and, at the same time, if we don't understand the Lord's will we are likely to do some very foolish things.

But now as we continue this conversation together about searching for God's will, let's be aware that there are a number of levels or dimensions of God's will that we should distinguish. It's like that with us too. In your life, you likely have plans for a number of areas - what you want your work or career to involve; you have some financial plans; you have plans for the kind marriage or family you want yours to be; there is a value or moral system that you will live by; and you have an idea of how you will maintain meaningful relationships with others. They are not all on the same level. It's that way with God too. We could make some mistakes in trying to follow God if we don't remember these different levels or areas in which he leads us.

First, there is God's cosmic or sovereign will. He created this world according to his plan and he has a plan for ruling the entire cosmos and all of history. Paul in his speech in Athens had described God as the one "who made the world and everything in it" and "is the Lord of heaven and earth". (Acts 17:24)

Then there is another level that we call his salvation will. He is a God who wants to save people. Yes, he wants you to believe in Jesus Christ so that you can be saved from your sinfulness. Paul wrote to fellow-pastor Timothy one day (I Timothy 2:3) that God "wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth."

The third level is what we ought to call the moral and ethical will of God. He has established unchanging moral and ethical standards according to which people should live for the sake of a just and stable society. You find these moral and ethical principles in the law of God in the Old Testament, and throughout the whole Bible. For instance, you find a lot of them expressed right here in this letter to the Ephesians.

And then, finally, there is the personal and individual will of God. That involves the details and plans of our lives - where we are born, where we go to school, what career we enter, who we marry, and all kinds of those thousands of things that confront us every day. Yet, somehow, we have the freedom to make decisions on all these matters, all the while believing that God has a plan for us too.

So try to keep those four in mind - his sovereign will, his salvation will, his moral and ethical will, and his personal or individual will.

Now, while you think about that, I feel that I should tell you a little more about the person of God, because I suppose it could sound, so far, that God is one master planner who spits out a massive computerized plan for everybody , a plan that could sound as cold as the paper it's printed on. And that's surely not the case at all.

One day, early in my ministry, I went to visit a fellow who had long since discontinued going to church and would have nothing to do with God. I wondered how that could happen, and what he was thinking. So I went to talk with him about it. What I heard from him seemed to be a lot more cut and dried than I was prepared for. We were standing in his yard for our conversation. When I asked him the big question about what he thought about God, he seemed very ready for me. "Well, pastor," he snapped back at me, "As I see it, it's this way. See that fence? Let's just suppose there are so many bottles lined up along the top of that fence. And then God comes along... and he takes the bottles he wants..., and he knocks off the bottles he doesn't want! As simple as that! If he wants me, I'm taken. If he doesn't want me, I'm off the fence!" And he seemed to clinch it in his own mind with a little gesture of his fingers that said "flick" (another bottle gone)!

I drove away that day, saddened, thinking about how the cold mechanical almost computer-like God he was thinking of, is so unlike the God of the Bible!

And then I remembered a story that an evangelist named Paul Little had written in one of his books a number of years ago. Little wanted to describe God's relationship with us as that of a parent with his or her children. It's a relationship of love. If my daughter comes up to me tonight, Little said, and says "Daddy, I love you!" I never in a million years will ever say, "OK, now that you've said you love me, I'm going to lock you in a closet, take your food away, and make you as miserable as I possibly can." Of course not. When she tells me of her love, my love for her just spills over and I surely want the best for her.

Well, God is that way too.

You see, the God of the Bible that we're talking about here is a loving and relational God. This is a God with a warm heart, a soul filled with grace, who comes to be personally related to us, never to treat us as bottles he might want to flick off a wall. This God is a personal God who loves and cares and thinks and feels and sorrows and rejoices. And so the will of this God is a will that is loving and seeks to set out the best for us. It's the will of a God who went all the way to give his only begotten son to pay for our sins and provide our salvation. So his will is going to be a loving will, a good plan, one that wants the best for us, one that will give us a rich and satisfying life. And because he is a loving God in relationship with us, you can expect that he reveals his will to those who are loving him, who are seeking him and seeking what he wants.

But I think there are two other things we must remember.

First, He does unfold his will to us gradually, not all at once. You know, I've got the bad habit of wanting to page ahead in a book before I begin to read it. I'll read the opening, the table of contents, and then I'll go to the end of it. I want to know where it goes, how it ends up, where it comes out, even before I begin. Well, that doesn't work with God's will. We can't normally page ahead to the end. It's more like one of those scrolls that they used for their writings in the ancient world. All you can see is what is right in front of you, no paging ahead to check the outcome. We follow his will according to what is in front of us today, and we trust that he will unroll it at the appropriate time for us to see the rest.

And I think I must warn you about another thing. It is possible to step outside the will of God. It is possible for us to go outside of his plan. We have a will that we must use and it's possible for us to use it wrong, to make wrong choices, to go the wrong way. That's what disobedience is; that's what sin is. And when that happens we lose our sense of joy and satisfaction in life. And then we need to catch ourselves, repent of it, and return to get back on course.

So remember that all of this is about being in relationship with a very personal God who has a loving will for our lives.

But maybe you want to say to me, "that all sounds OK", but my big question still remains. HOW can I know that will, that plan God must have in mind for me? And I agree with you...that's the bottom line question. So let me make a few suggestions that I think will help you.

First, make sure that you are a child of God, that you love God above all. Last week we spoke about how to be sure of your salvation in him. If our search for the will of God is to be seen as a genuine one, then it must come from a life that believes on Jesus Christ as the Savior and Lord, a life that wants to be lived for him. Remember that I told you earlier that God's will is that you believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior and commit your life to him. Perhaps, for you, that has to come first before you can really expect to know the rest of his will.

And then, secondly, I'd encourage you to search the Word of God. Yes, read the Bible carefully, faithfully, and read it with a prayer that God will show you what he wants. The Bible is filled with dynamic stories about people who found his will, it's filled with moral and ethical statements, and with principles that guide and direct us. You will find most of the will of God for daily living written right here in this Word of God that we call the Bible.

But be sure that you combine your Bible reading with what we often call "seeking prayer". Before you read, bow your head and ask God to open your mind to discover what he has to say to you here in what you are reading. You see, an open Bible must be met with an open mind to hear his voice.

And I think I should remind you that it's pretty easy to impose our wants and hopes on God's will. When we should be aiming to shape our wants and hopes according to what God wants, instead we are busy trying to reshape what God wants to fit what we want. So we must be careful to approach the Bible with what we often call a yielded spirit. Let me tell you what I mean by that. Sometimes we may discover that God's will goes in a direction that we aren't interested in. Then what shall we do? It is possible, you know, to be looking for his will, when all the time in our heart we're really saying "let me know it so I can see if I like it or not". And he just may not reveal much of his will to us then because he knows we'll reject it if it isn't just what we like. But if he knows we are willing to follow what he shows us, no matter what, he's far more likely to make it clear to us. So a yielded spirit is vitally important.

But I would also encourage you to consult with other mature and committed Christians whom you trust, especially in those big decisions in life where you really wrestle with it. Spend some time explaining your struggle and seek advice from other Christians you trust. But be sure you are consulting with the right people. Too many have gotten into big trouble because they have sought advice from the wrong people. Be sure those people are also engaged in wanting to know God's will, not merely in giving you their own personal opinions. Sometimes other mature and committed Christians can be the ones through whom God speaks to you.

But after all is said and done, I have to be honest with you and admit that there are times when you will have to be content to live with mystery. I mean there will be times in your life, like there are times in my life, when we just simply don't understand what God has in mind, and we cannot by any stretch of the imagination figure out why he has planned things the way he has. Yes, there are mysteries. I've got them! And there will always be some mysteries like that. We'll be talking about some of that in the next two weeks on this broadcast. We must be ready to admit that there are some parts of the will of God that are beyond us, we can't get them into our little minds. And then we have to exercise "deep trust". Lewis Smedes, a well known author, once wrote in one of his books that the deepest kind of trust there is happens when we trust God "against the grain", even when everything within us wants to cry, "No, it shouldn't be that way!

So let me encourage you and applaud you for being willing to engage in this big search for the will of God. It's a life-long endeavor for someone who wants to live a vital Christian life. It's a lot easier to be foolish and go our own way, thinking we know best. But it usually ends up in failure and disappointment.

Let me take you inside my life and tell you about my own personal view on this matter. I am just a sinful human being, who has been saved by the grace of God through the work of Jesus Christ. I have a whole new life because of Jesus' work for me. I'm thrilled to have that new life. It makes living so rich and so full. Now, why then, if I'm so thrilled at his work for me, why in the world would I ever think that I ought to just run things in my life the way I happen to prefer? Could I possibly still insist on running things my way, and in my own direction? Of course not! If I'm so thrilled at the privilege of being a child of God, then the deepest desire of my life should be doing what I can to find and understand the will of God on a daily basis.

After all, he's my Lord!

And, my friend, I hope the same is true for you!

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, we really do want our lives to count for you. We want to live them the way you want. We want your plans to be carried out. And we want our lives to carry out those plans.

But sometimes, Father, we are not sure. We wrestle with these big questions. We search and are not always so sure we've found what you want.

And so today we pray for a spirit that deeply loves what you love, that wants what you want, for plans that fit into your plans. Please, O Spirit of God, give us a mind and heart that will be able to discern your leading, a mind that will understand what you've said in your word, and will love you above all.

And if, Father, some of us have not given our hearts to you, we ask that you lead us today to come seeking your grace, and your forgiveness, and a whole new beginning. Live in us and lead us to living that makes a difference.

For Jesus' sake, Amen.

About the Pastor

Howard Vanderwell

Can I Really Be Sure of My Salvation?

2010-02-14T00:00:00-07:00

Scripture Reading: 2 Peter 1:1-11

When I hear those words, especially the words of v.11 in which Peter calls us to "be all the more eager to make our calling and election sure", I hear him calling us to be folks who are confident that God has chosen us. And then I think of a number of folks whom I've met during my pastoral ministry who have struggled with that confidence. One, in particular, stands out. She was a saint. There's no other way to put it. She was a devoted and sincere Christian lady all her life. A more loyal and faithful follower of Christ you would never find. All her life she had served him, been faithful in her church, and everyone who knew her also knew how important her faith was to her.

But now her years were nearing their end. She was in her 80's; her body was weak and broken; her husband had passed away about twenty years before; and now since she could not care for herself alone she was living in a Nursing Home. I went to see her regularly during that time and observed that her strength was gradually getting more shallow. Often our visits were very pleasant. But one day those visits took a turn. She was no longer the gentle soul who was resting in God's care; now she was a troubled soul who wondered whether she really was in God's care. The closer she got to her end, the less sure she was about her faith. She just did not feel she could be so sure anymore about her standing with God. Her sinfulness loomed up before her and seemed to be a terrible obstacle to being certain of her salvation. "How can God love someone like me...?" was her painful rhetorical question. Now, let me say that to my knowledge there was no big unresolved failure and scandal that resided in her past. No huge skeleton in her closet, at least that I was aware of. She was just a very typical child of God who, when nearing the end of her journey, lost her sense of certainty. I tried my best to comfort her and reassure her, but I hurt so much for someone who seemed to be living her closing days in doubt.

Now, I know there are some people who seem so incapable of any healthy doubt at all. They seem so presumptive, they jump to conclusions so easily, and are so quick to assume that they like everyone else are safe children of God, and do so without even a hint of asking some of the hard questions about our sin and our need for confession. I say some are so presumptive. But I hurt for those who live in doubt, Christian saints who, for one reason or another, lose their sense of certainty. Some experience such doubt during certain chapters in their life, some seem to live with it lifelong, and others close their days of life wondering if they are safe.

And I think if we are really candid with each other, a lot of us will have to admit that we do find this bird of doubt flying by and landing on the branches of our hearts from time to time.

So where do these doubts come from, do you think? What causes them? Why can we be so confident in our salvation one day and unsure the next? And why would it happen that a gentle Christian lady, who seems to have lived with assurance all her life, would lose it near the end of the journey? I think I can point to several things that may cause it, though we must admit none of us fully understand exactly why it happens.

We must admit that in certain chapters of life, there is a normalcy and a health to our doubts. It's a normal part of growing, or examining what we believe and how firmly we will believe it. We normally believe in something most deeply only after we've asked some hard and probing questions about it. So doubt is not necessarily all bad. It can be good, growth -producing. And so perhaps some of these times of doubting are the times in which our heart is saying, "Look, before we go ahead any further, before we reach the point of no return, let's ask the hard questions, let's really examine it all to see if it really is true, really is solid." It may be a fear of being careless. "Let's really be sure", we say to ourselves. And perhaps some of these experiences happen at the close of life's journey as an expression of our anxiety about the process of dying. We know it's so terribly final, so before we face the last step we sense that we must understand and probe it all one more time. Maybe there can be something very normal about it all.

Or maybe those doubts come because so many of us live in a day of such rampant skepticism. You know, we are told, "you just can't be too sure of anything anymore." Everything that we thought was so sure yesterday is up for grabs today. Anything nailed down in a previous generation, is torn lose today. So don't be so quick to make firm affirmations and bold professions. And so such skepticism gets hold of us too and chips away at our assurance.

Or, more likely, some of those times of doubting are the result of unsettling and disappointing experiences in life that knock us off balance. We'll talk more in the weeks ahead about those times when good people suffer, and our agony when God doesn't seem to be answering us. We meet those times so often. Things don't work out; crises come; things fall apart; just when everything seems to be going well, it all seems to lie in shambles at our feet. And then it's easy to doubt...am I really OK with God?

But sometimes it may be failures of the past that rise up and haunt us...personal failures that we have concealed from others, never really fully resolved within ourselves, and never really fully resolved with God. We think they are hidden and gone, but sooner or later they do come out of the closet, at least in our own mind and heart. And because we have not resolved them, and perhaps have not appropriated God's forgiveness, or have not been able to forgive ourselves, they erode any sense of security we once had.

So, maybe as you think about any of the doubts that you are having, try to reflect on what may be behind them, what may be causing them. Understanding that will go a long ways to knowing how to overcome them.

I say that it's important to face such doubts, and to look for help with them, because it is very clear that the Bible DOES hold out for us the right to have a clear certainty about our standing with God through Jesus Christ. I want to be clear about that. There are so many very beautiful professions of certainty in the Bible from which we can learn.

We heard one of those in the words of Peter that were read a few minutes ago. Now remember these were written to Christians who were not having an easy time of it in a society that was not very friendly to their faith. And I hope you sense the firmness with which he begins, addressing them as "those who through righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours...." And then he pronounces a blessing on them, "grace and peace be yours in abundance...." And he continues, "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness..." There is so much more in this passage. I encourage you to read through it again on your own.

But I want you to notice especially what he says in the tenth verse. "...Be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure." Now, that may sound like a strange statement, because our calling and election is God's work, isn't it? God chooses us, in his mercy and grace, before we were born, even before the foundation of the world. It's his sovereign choice, and we can't do anything to change that, can we? Now, that's true enough. But that's not what Peter intends to say here. He's talking about our personal certainty of the fact that we know God has called and elected us. He's referring to our personal experience of God's work of electing us, choosing us, and calling us. He's trying to get these early Christians past the habit of saying, "I hope so but I don't really know" to saying, "Yes, I know and I am sure." And the concern of Peter's heart is that Christians who are facing all the difficulties of life in this world need to be able to stand in a place of firm certainty about their relationship with God.

What Peter says here is very consistent with what he wrote these people in the first letter he sent to them. Hear these precious words and note how filled they are with certainty and assurance. "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade - kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time." He has said three things are absolutely certain - the finished work of Christ evidenced through his resurrection, the inheritance that is being kept for us, and we also are shielded by God's power until that day when we will receive our inheritance.

That's the same kind of certainty and assurance that Paul is speaking about very passionately in Romans 8 (A chapter I absolutely love!) Notice how certain he is as he writes to the Christians in Rome. "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" "Now if we are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs of Christ...." And this is the climax of that chapter, "...in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

You see, the Bible is a book filled with certainty and assurance for us. That's why David can say in Psalm 23, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall lack nothing" and another Psalmist can say, "God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble."

There is a historic confession, shared by Christians, called the Heidelberg Catechism. It begins with just such a firm affirmation of certainty. It states:

My only comfort in life and death is
That I am not my own,
But belong - body and soul in life and death -
To my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.
He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood,
And has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.
He also watches over me in such a way,
That not a hair can fall from my head
Without the will of my Father in heaven;
In fact, all things must work together for my salvation.

So I want you to sense that when you settle into these times of doubt, God doesn't want you to remain there. He wants you to rise up to a position of greater certainty, and to look to his word for the assurance your spirit is eagerly desiring.

But, I know, you may want to say to me, "that sounds easy, but how can I do that? How can I move from all these doubts to that firm certainty? How do I get there? What must I do?"I know it doesn't happen overnight. It's a journey. Please think of it as a journey of three steps.

First, you need to focus on the finished work of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the eternal son of God who came to earth for the express reason of paying the price for the sins of the world so that people like you and me can be forgiven. He spoke, taught, healed, and cared for people during his ministry here. But at the end of it, he suffered rejection and was crucified on the cross at Calvary as a payment for our sins. He paid the price completely. He suffered forsakenness by God on the cross there because he had become the guilty sinner in our place, though he had no sin of his own. And then he cried "It is finished"! He meant that it's all done. His work was done. The price for sin had been paid, totally, finally. There is nothing more that needs to be paid. Nothing more need be added. You and I do not have to pay for our sins. He already did. That work of Christ is all finished and he calls us to trust him for that, confess our sinfulness and received his gift of being declared forgiven. That's the first step - focus on this finished work of Christ for our sin.

Secondly, take God at his word when he says you are forgiven. Yes, his word is true, absolutely true. And yes, his word says that when you confess you are forgiven, completely forgiven. So the question is: do you believe him or not? Do you think he is telling the truth or telling a lie? Faith is the act of believing his word, trusting him to be telling the truth, and then trusting that he has in fact forgiven us completely. Suppose, for instance, that you are one of the paralyzed men who has been brought to Jesus to be healed, and then Jesus says to you, "you are healed, take up your cot and go home" and you say, "I can't, I'm paralyzed". And Jesus says again, "You are healed, take up your cot and go home". Again you say, "but I'm paralyzed". Finally Jesus says, "Believe me, trust me, you are healed, you can get up, now do it". Faith is receiving the forgiveness Christ is so eager to give. Oh, I know, so often our biggest problem is forgiving ourselves of our failures, but that's a different subject. If Christ can forgive us, we need to forgive ourselves too. If by faith we are obedient to accept the forgiveness of Christ, then we are able to work also at forgiving ourselves.

And then the third step I would point to is what we call the test for fruit. Look for evidence that indicates you are a new and different person, evidence that points to the presence of God and his work in your life. What can you see in your life that can be there only if God's there and at work? In the passage that we read earlier from Peter's letter, he encourages the first century Christians to develop qualities of Christian character - faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love, he calls them. His point is this...the more of Christlikeness you see in your life, the more you will recognize Christ there, and the more certain you will be that you do indeed belong to him, you are a child of him. I suggest that you test yourself with some key probing questions.

Do my sins bother me, and am I sorry for them and have I confessed them to Christ? (No one does that without the work of the Holy Spirit in their heart.)

Do I recognize Christ as the son of God and the Savior of the World? (Paul says that no one can say that except if they have the Holy Spirit in their heart.)

Do I trust God's promises are true? (Only his children are able to do that.)

Do I see evidence of growth in my life, a love for others, fruit that shows I'm a different person than I used to be? (Those things come when Christ is at work within us.)

And when you sense God at work within you (sure, you're still not all you want to be, still have more growing to do, we all do) but when you sense that God is at work within you, then give thanks for the Spirit of God is speaking to your spirit reassuring you that you are a child of the Lord. You can stand certain of that!

And then, when you have some certainty like that to talk about, do so. Tell some others close to you. Affirm your faith while you worship in church. If you are part of a Bible believing church and they have the Lord's Supper, then go to the Lord's Table there and affirm that you are God's child. When you go through the valleys of life, affirm that God is with you. And even when you come to the end of your days, affirm over and over in your heart that you are safe and the Lord is your Shepherd.

Prayer:
Gracious Father, we sense deeply within us the need and desire to know where we stand with you. Our assurance in life and our hope in death are based on knowing we belong to you as your child. Some of us know that firmly and we give you thanks with all our heart for the work of your Son Jesus Christ for our salvation. Some of us go through these times of cloudy doubt that haunt us and we ask for your Holy Spirit to help us hold firmly to your promises of our newness in Jesus Christ. But some of us have never come to you for salvation, and so we ask for your Spirit to draw us to yourself now, that Jesus Christ alone can provide. Hold us close, Lord Jesus, and walk with us through all the ups and downs of our lives, until that day when you take us home. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

About the Pastor

Howard Vanderwell

Why Isn�t My Christian Life More Dynamic?

2010-02-07T00:00:00-07:00

Scripture Reading: I Corinthians 3:10-15

Opening
Let me begin by telling you about the time a fellow came to my office. We had set up an appointment to talk. When he entered I could see that he had a very frustrated look on his face and I knew something was bothering him. I had known him for a good many years, and I knew him as a very upbeat guy, a very committed Christian fellow, a very loyal church member.

It didn't take very long before he put his question on the table. "Pastor," he said, "I have to tell you I am very frustrated and very bothered. All my life I've considered myself to be a Christian. I've been faithful, loyal, and I think I've been a good member of the church. But...(he hesitated)...I just wonder... why isn't my Christian life more dynamic?" He had driven right down to the heart of what was bothering him. He went on and spoke of other people who always seem to be upbeat, filled with courage and joy, they walk close with God, they pray a lot, they witness a lot... "and I have this picture in my mind that that's what Christians ought to be like, but...(he hesitated again)...then there's me!"

I listened for awhile, and then I began to gently probe. I asked some leading questions that would help me to understand him before launching into saying the wrong thing. I was very satisfied that he was indeed built on the foundation of Jesus Christ that Paul speaks about in this passage we read. I was satisfied that his commitment was a genuine one. As a matter of fact this question arose in his heart precisely because his faith commitment was so genuine.

As he and I continued talking that afternoon, I began to realize that this fellow with this question may well be representative of many Christians, and as matter of fact, I had to admit that I've wrestled with that question from time to time too. I also have asked "why isn't my Christian life more dynamic?"

Have you? Do you feel like you were there in that conversation too? Perhaps you would have been raising the same subject.

Half-Healed People
Now as I continued to talk to the man, our conversation turned to what we called "half-healed people", people who were healed and therefore quite different from what they were before, but the process was so unfinished. "Half-healed", we called them. People, we said, who are not sick anymore, but they aren't really healthy yet, either. I was thinking of people who can walk, but who can't walk very well, because they are still crippled.

And then we talked about another story, one in John 11, the chapter we know as the story of the resurrection of Lazarus. It's a special chapter in the Bible for many Christians because Jesus makes this huge and bold claim, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies". And it's in this chapter that we learn Jesus stood outside Lazarus' tomb and called "Lazarus, come out!" and he did! It was a supernatural event. Lazarus came back to life! But there is a very poignant element in the story that most of us skip right over. After Jesus raised him, it says, "The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face." That, of course, was a reference to the normal burial process of wrapping the body with cloths and spices as an early embalming process. But just imagine the picture of this fellow standing there at the opening of his tomb. He's alive. Yes, he was dead for four days, but now he's alive. He really is. But...he's all wrapped up, hands, feet, face...so he can't see, can't move, can't walk, can't even speak. All the residue of his state of death is still wrapped around him. So Jesus gives the command, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go." Finally he was all Jesus raised him to be!

And then we thought of another similar situation. This time it was a blind man whose story is told in the eighth chapter of Mark's Gospel. Jesus encountered a blind man just outside of Bethsaida who was just begging for Jesus to touch him that he might be healed of his blindness. Jesus did. He put some spit and his hands on the man's eyes and then asked him, "Do you see anything?" And the man looked up and said, "I see..." But that's not all he said. He said, "I see people; they look like trees walking around." Well, that's not very good, that's not good sight. So Jesus touched him again and it says, "Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly." So apparently, early on he was healed, he could see, but he was half-healed and could not see clearly. He wasn't yet all that Christ had healed him to be!

It's in that spirit that Paul speaks about the congregation of believers here in Corinth in the passage that we read a little while ago. They are believers; they have built their hope for heaven on the one foundation, which is Jesus Christ; he calls them brothers and sisters. If we continue with our terminology, they are healed people, so to speak. But there still is quite a difference among them. Listen to how he describes that. He says they all are building on that foundation that has been laid, but they are building so differently. Some are building with gold, silver and costly stones; but others are building with wood, hay and straw. That means that some of those building materials are of much more value than others. Some will last; some will not last. As a matter of fact some of those materials are combustible; some are non-combustible. And at the last day, the Judgment Day, when all the work of our lives is evaluated (Paul says "the fire will test the quality of each mans work") some of it will be burned up, and some will survive. That means that some Christians will be saved, because it's all of grace, yet will suffer loss of all they have worked for; others will be saved by grace, and also have the reward and evidence of a life lived well.

So when my friend came in to talk about why his Christian life isn't more dynamic, and when we began to think about what we called "half-healed people" we were dealing with a frustration among Christians that really is very important.

The Danger and Damage
But, why? Why is it so important? Maybe you feel like saying something like, "well, so what? So what if we aren't always up to what we ought to be in our Christian life?" Well, let me remind you of several reasons of why it's so critically important.

In the first place, this is exactly what Satan wants for Christians. If he cannot be successful in prohibiting us from becoming Christians (that's his first choice, of course), if he can't do that, then he'd much prefer that we be half-healed, weak, and unproductive.

Secondly, this condition produces very frustrated Christians. I can just imagine Lazarus standing there all wrapped up, unable to move, and saying, "So? What's so great about being raised? It's just not all it's cracked up to be!" And for the blind man mumbling about the fact that it's no good being healed, "I still can't read!" I wonder how many Christians around us are frustrated that way, feeling as though they are stuck in mediocrity.

And in addition, it stunts and stalls our growth. Christ wants his children to grow, to build well on the foundation with high quality building materials. He redeemed us, not only so we could be his children, but so that we can be his growing, fruit-bearing children. If there's no desire for more, we'll have no motivation for spiritual growth.

But it does other things too. This condition that we are calling "half-healed" also gives a very poor witness to the life of the church and the gospel of Christ. We all know, of course, that there are many people who will give the gospel of Christ and the message of the Christian Church a good hearing, or will quickly reject it, on the basis of what they see in those of us who are within the church. And who will possibly be attracted when the message seems to be that you can only be healed half-way here?

It also creates a weaker church. That's what Paul was so concerned about with the church in Corinth. Corinth was a strategic city, in which a powerful witness to the gospel was needed. But instead the church was worldly, immature, with all kinds of divisions among them.

And of course, the bottom line according to Paul is that this will produce embarrassment at the judgment day. Listen to his words, when the judgment day tests and reveals the quality of all our work, some of us will discover that what we have is all burned up. Oh, yes, we are saved by the grace of God, and we enter heaven only by that grace, or in Paul's words here, we "will be saved, but only as one passing through the flames." But the embarrassment will lie in the fact that all we have brought with us, all our living during the years God has given us, will be burned up and we will suffer loss. In other words, we have only ashes left. I think it would be so embarrassing for that to happen. Don't you?!

So this question of just how dynamic my Christian life is should not be quickly pushed aside. There's a lot riding on it.

Actions
So if you find this question whirling around from time to time, what should you do? Let me identify some helpful steps you can take.

And let me begin to answer that by repeating what I have said. It IS a dangerous problem, and it DOES need attention. You must be convinced of that. Being stuck in mediocrity is not what Christ had in mind for you when he went to the cross. Being half-healed does not represent the full extent of the riches in Christ Jesus that are rightfully yours. Go to the Bible again, over and over, and hear the voice of Christ calling you to grow in faith, to produce fruit, to become more productive in your living, your obedience, and your Christian service and witness.

So it will be necessary to identify what is holding you back. What is it that's getting in the way? Notice how, in John's description of Lazarus, he clearly identifies what it is that is holding him back from walking and talking and moving. John says very clearly that his hands and feet were wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth was around his face. And then it's very clear what has to be done, and what needs to be unwrapped. And when Paul wrote to these Corinthian Christians, he did the same thing. He clearly identified the problem that had to be rooted out. They were building their Christian lives with such poor materials, and he even identifies those in their community life - you quarrel, you have all kinds of divisions in your church, you align yourself with one leader over against another, you have all kinds of jealousy, you tolerate immorality, you take each other to court so easily. Yes, it's very clear what has to receive attention.

Well, how about you? What is holding you back that you have to get rid of? What sinful habits are stunting your growth? What bad attitudes are killing your joy? What broken relationships are destroying you? Is there un-confessed sin, or perhaps brewing anger? What unchristian values have gotten hold of you? Identify them, and aim to root them out.

Now let me suggest some personal practices that will help overcome those things that are holding you back. Be in prayer for the Holy Spirit of God to lead you. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Holy Trinity, and he is the one who has been entrusted with your growth and maturity in the faith. He wants to make you more like Christ. He delights in it when you grow; and he grieves when you are only half-healed. And here is the good news - he is available to you for the asking. Listen to Jesus in Luke 11:13, "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him." So, go ahead, ask him. He invited you to do so. Ask him to send the Spirit to give you better growth and healing.

And then also practice the disciplines of the Christian life. You see, there are certain practices in the Christian life that we call "disciplines" which, when we faithfully observe them, become the means by which God and his Spirit work in our hearts for good growth. I'm thinking of the regular confession of our sins to receive his pardon, the daily reading of the Scriptures to feed our heart, the meditation on his word so that his Spirit speaks with our spirit, times of prayer to express our love, adoration, explain our needs to him, and to seek his care for others. A growing life is built around these disciplines.

Also, vital worship should be a part of your life. I don't mean just going to church as an empty routine, but going to a good Bible-based church where you are able to encounter God, vibrantly praise him, engage in prayer, experience fellowship with others, and above all to learn from and be shaped by the faithful preaching of the Word of God. I hope you are part of a good Christian church that will help you in that, and that you are faithful in your attendance there.

It's also important that you learn to be a servant. That's right - learn to serve, to give yourself, unselfishly for other people and aim to make a difference in their lives. Our world teaches us to think about ourselves, to live for ourselves, to be concerned primarily about ourselves and what we need and want. Step over that tendency, learn to think of others. Find someone less fortunate than you are and go to help them. There are crowds of people who are eagerly awaiting help from others: they are poor, unemployed, lonely, sick, suffering from injustice, or AIDS. They are aged, or disabled, and in general forgotten by others. One famed counselor once said that the best thing many of us could do for our own internal health would be to turn the key in the door, walk across the tracks, locate someone in need and find a way to be of help to them in the name of Christ. It just could be that if we all do that for six months, this question that we began with could just go away!

And then let me round it all out by encouraging you to get a good mentor. Or perhaps you call her an accountability partner. It's someone who is committed to your personal growth in Christ, someone who will meet with you regularly to talk about life, someone who will encourage you in growth, someone who will ask about your practice of the Christian disciplines, who will inquire about your Christian service, (in short) someone who will hold before you the model and example of a life lived well and fully in the name of Christ. All of us have so many mentors and heroes today in our secular culture who really do us no good. We consider them heroes but they live for values that directly contradict what our Christian faith is all about. Turn away from them, and bring into your life mentors, friends, accountability partners who will set a healthy pattern for you and hold you to your commitments.

Conclusion
So the concern you raise is a good one. None of us should be willing to settle for a Christian life that is drab, uninspiring, and mediocre. Christ came to die for us so that our living would be dynamic, that is filled with the Spirit's power. The church will be the church it's called to be in this world when it's filled with people like that.

It's a good concern, one that comes right out of the heart of God. Set yourself today on a path of obedience and discipline that will show you are building your life with the best possible materials, with the gold, silver and costly stones of Christian obedience.

Seek out some friends who will help you. Find a church that will encourage you. Pray faithfully for the Spirit's power to aid you. And spend time daily in the inspired Word of God to feed you.

Prayer:
Gracious God, we give you thanks today for the gift of life. WE know it has come from you and we receive each day with a grateful heart. But we also know that you want these days to count, to be lived to the fullest, with deep satisfaction.

So, we ask that you forgive us for the times when we have wasted our days and frittered them away with frivolous and selfish living. We ask that you fill us and life us to a higher level of living- living that shows we love you with all our heart, our soul, and our mind; living that loves our neighbors as our self. Capture us, Lord, completely. Lead us, Lord, to valuable living in the power of your Holy Spirit. For Christ's sake, Amen.

About the Pastor

Howard Vanderwell

Get Your House in Order

2010-01-31T00:00:00-07:00

Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 20:1-7

PREPARED TO DIE?!
The summer of 2009 was a hard one for a baby boomer like me when it comes to facing issues of mortality. Baby boomers lost two icons of their generation. Farrah Fawcett, whose infamous pinup poster sold in the millions, died of cancer. And then an even greater shock: Michael Jackson dead from cardiac arrest at age fifty. The whiff of death isn't supposed to cling to a generation that saw itself as forever young. As William Willimon, the chaplain of Duke University, notes, baby boomers have a hard time handling their own mortality. It's as though they say to themselves, "Wait a minute; a generation as wonderful as ours can't die! Maybe we won't!"

The message on television and the big screen is that everyone lives ‘happily ever after." So in Buffy and the Vampire Slayer, Buffy and her boyfriend are the couple that just wouldn't die. In the film What Dreams May Come, Robin Williams is killed in a car crash and then incredibly reunited with his wife and kids and the family dog. In the film Titanic, Jack and Rose are happy after all, in spite of Jack's drowning. And in the film Jack Frost, Michael Keaton, the workaholic father, is killed in a car crash but returns as his son's snowman. I have no doubt that the pin-up posters of Farrah Fawcett will receive a spike in sales. And Michael Jackson's music will undergo a renaissance of popularity. Certainly there must be some way death can be cheated by a generation as creative as our own.

But that means that people today aren't open to the common wisdom of past generations. The Puritans believed that the purpose of living was to prepare for dying. In fact, they often talked about the purpose of life as being able to die a ‘good death.' It was the same thing that the Roman Senator, Seneca, once said: "It takes all of life" he once said, "to learn how to die."

Still, I wouldn't be surprised if King Hezekiah shared some of the thoughts of today's generation as he lay fevered on what he thought was his deathbed. It is quite likely that when his brain cleared enough to think with any coherence his thought was simply-how could this be happening to me?

BAD TIMING
Let me suggest that for Hezekiah, this whole crisis must have seemed rather surreal. For this was not a good time to die. Well, you say to me-no time is a good time to die. But certainly this was a terrible time for Hezekiah. And for two reasons.

First, because Hezekiah was a young man. Let's be clear that this story doesn't just relate to the senior citizens who are listening to his message. We have the idea that we don't have to get serious about death until the actuary tables tell us that our biological clock is about to come to an end. But let's understand, death is no respecter of age.

You see, Hezekiah was about 25 years old when he began to reign. And he was about 53 when he finally died. That means that this episode occurred when Hezekiah was about 37 years old. Not exactly the time when most of us think about death.

But death doesn't always have the decency to hold off a visit until we think it appropriate. There were many in the first congregation I served that were quite elderly. And as a young pastor, fresh out of seminary, I couldn't help but wonder who might present the opportunity for my first funeral. Would it be John, in his 90's, living down at the rest home? Or Margaret, a virtual shut-in for the past 15 years! I served that church for an entire year before there was a death. My first funeral was an eighteen year old girl, killed in a car crash. She was making college visits in the area, preparing for the next chapter of her life. A chapter that was never written. No death is not a respecter of persons. This wasn't a good time for Hezekiah to die either, he's just too young!

But there is a second reason why this is bad timing. The message that he's about to die comes right at a critical time in the life of the nation. The Assyrians, led by a military genius named Sennacarib, had just invaded Israel. Israel was being threatened as never before by a pagan empire in a wildly expansionary mode.

Now, who is more important to lead the resistance against this invasion than Israel's King? What more important role does Hezekiah have now than to be at the front of the battle lines? This is his destiny! This is the pinnacle of his greatness!

And what happens? Hezekiah comes down with an infection. That's plain from the nature of the treatment that follows. Hezekiah gets an infection. Staph, strep, something more exotic-we don't know. The ancient world didn't know anything about bacteria. The ancient world didn't send cultures to a lab for analysis. And the ancient world certainly didn't have stocks of antibiotics with infectious disease specialists to administer them. And that made even a simple infection a very dangerous thing indeed.

So I found out myself, when a few years ago I ended up in the hospital with an infection in my hand. What surprised me was the speed with which that infection moved. A red lump between my fingers became streaks up my arm within twelve hours. Some similar condition had afflicted Hezekiah. And when the prophet Isaiah comes, he brings the diagnosis. "Hezekiah, you are going to die."

"Now isn't the time, Isaiah! I've an army to lead to battle!"

There are events of such consequence that they seem to be the reason we were born into the world. And then death interferes in what we thought was our special moment.

Yes, death has messed up Hezekiah's plans. Death often messes up our own. It's one thing to say there is death in the world. It's another thing to say that I will die. That there will come a day when my family and friends will lower my casket into a grave, cover it with dirt, and then go and drink coffee and eat cake at a local community hall. And I will not be there. I will be gone. It's unbearable. It's unthinkable. And yet, unless the Lord comes within my lifetime, it is the one thing that is inevitable.

PUT YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER!
That's why Isaiah appears on the scene with an instruction for Hezekiah. He tells Hezekiah, "PUT YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER!" Now, what might that mean? What is Isaiah asking Hezekiah to do? What would it mean for a king to 'put his house in order?' And what would this invitation mean for you and me today?

Well, I believe it would mean at least three things, and they all have to do with our identity as stewards. Being a steward means caring for what has been entrusted to me by God. And there are at least three things that have been put in our care by God that we need to take seriously in the face of death.

STEWARDSHIP OF MY SOUL
FIRST, there is the stewardship of our own souls. Now, we don't think of our own lives as having anything much to do with stewardship. After all, we say, I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul. If my soul belongs to anyone, it belongs to ME! I can do with my life what I want because it is mine-all mine!

But death pulls the rug out from under that idea. "The body returns to the ground," Scripture says, "and the soul to the God who made it." My very person-my very self-is on loan from the God who made me. I am responsible to God for what I do with my life!

Look at how Hezekiah responds to Isaiah's challenge: "Remember, O Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully, and with wholehearted devotion . . . ." Now, it may seem at first glance that Hezekiah is trying to barter with God. That he's arguing that all his good deeds have earned him a few more extra years of life.

But that really isn't what Hezekiah is doing. Hezekiah is claiming to be a man of faith, someone whose integrity has taken the shape of a faith-filled walk before God.

You see, the most important thing to consider in your stewardship of the future is this matter of your soul. The most important stewardship is the relationship you have cultivated with Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord.

The tragedy is that our world is filled with people who are concerned about exercising a stewardship of sorts over other areas of life--and forget the most important thing God has entrusted to them.

Christ tells the story of a rich man who thought his riches were his ultimate possession. After all, he intended to take good care of those riches too. He built bigger and better barns in which to protect them from the elements. And then God called home the one thing this man forgot about--his soul! "This night you die!" says God. "And whose will these things be?"

You see, God tells us that only fools forget about the stewardship of their souls.

Today there are millions who are concerned about keeping their bodies in tip top shape. They have a regular fitness program and jog five miles a day. Actually the Bible says that isn't a bad idea. After all, your body is also received on loan from God. Caring for our bodies is part of faithful stewardship.

I've made a commitment to get more exercise and I'm going down to the local gym more faithfully than in the past. I see all these people huffing and puffing along with me to improve their cardiac capacity and engage in strength training. We hurt and we sweat and we stretch and we strain.

But I look at all these people and wonder whether they are caring for their spiritual relationship with God even half as much as they care for their bodies. Yes, our physical existence is important. But when we return to God-when we stand before our Maker and he asks us about our soul-care, what will we say? Are we people who have used our years on this planet to nurture a relationship with God through his Son? Are we people who have enlarged our capacity to love and to bless others. Are we people who over the course of a lifetime learned what it meant to show kindness, to practice contentment, to walk humbly with God? Or are we basically the same person at 70 that we were at 30? What kind of soul are you returning to God?

Stewardship of the SOUL is our most important stewardship.

THE STEWARDSHIP OF MY FAMILY.

But there is more that has been entrusted to us. For almost all of us, there is the stewardship of FAMILY.

Now in Hezekiah's case, that involved a rather unique family-it involved the nation itself. You see, as the under-shepherd of God, the entire nation of Israel was entrusted to his care.

And that mean that Hezekiah had some decisions to make. Perhaps most importantly, decisions about the line of succession. At this time in his life, Hezekiah doesn't have an obvious heir to the throne. Manassah, who will follow eventually follow him as king, isn't born until three or four years AFTER his health crisis. So setting his house in order means that he has to make some decisions about how the nation is cared for after his death. Who will follow him? Who will rule? What will happen so that civil war doesn't break out? And that the nation isn't broken into warring factions right when Assyria's armies are knocking at the door?

I doubt whether too many of us have a nation that we need to tend to. None of us have to provide for a successor to the throne. But we still have family that needs to be tended. "Getting your house in order" means making sure that we address those matters which pertain to the care of our families. As Paul says in I Timothy 5:8

If anyone does not provide for his relatives and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

What does that mean? One key issue is whether parents of children have provided for the care of their children, should they die. Have they made a will that states who will receive custody of their family?

The truth is, if you haven't decided who would receive custody in the event of our death, the STATE will decide it for you. And their decision may or may not be according to your wishes. The state isn't going to determine the placement of children according to your parenting standards. Those whom the state decides should raise your children may or may not share your Christian commitment.

What about the stewardship of your family? Who would raise your kids if you're gone? Who would care for those dependent on you? A clear answer to that question is part of your calling as a steward of what God has entrusted to you.

STEWARDSHIP OF RESOURCES
Then there is a third aspect of getting your house in order. And that is the final stewardship of our physical resources. That was a key issue for Hezekiah, of course. After all, he was a rich man. He had a great deal of wealth that would need to be disposed of after his death.

But most of us are richer than we think. God's question to the rich man is pertinent to us all. Upon our death "whose things will these be now?" Well, whose?

Of course, everyone has an estate plan. The only question is whether we wrote the plan, or by the government. If we don't have an estate plan, the state has one for us. The state will decide who gets my resources. Is that how I want it to be? Is that what it means to practice intentional stewardship?

Perhaps one way of looking at this issue to ask where we want to make our investments as we come to the end of our lives. For what we have accumulated in terms of wealth is really an extension of ourselves. It's a tangible expression of the hours we have worked and the labor we've offered. Our wealth is the fruit of the way we've invested our lives.

At the end of our lives, what kind of statement do we want to make about our priorities, our values? What does it mean for us, with regard to our physical things, to put our house in order?

Well, we will want to make a statement to our spouse, of course, of our love and care. We likely want our children and perhaps grandchildren to know that they are remembered and cherished.

But perhaps we also want to say something about our ongoing investment in the Kingdom of Christ. Some Christians I know include in their will a child named Charity. Of course, that doesn't really mean they have a child by that name. But as they distribute their estate, they include an extra child (as it were), Charity! They give that child an equal share of the estate. And as they do, they practice a generosity that they know will make an impact long after they are gone.

AN HOUSE GOVERNED BY GOOD STEWARDSHIP
It's interesting that the last will and testament in the ancient world was called in the Greek language an oikonomos. It's a word is often translated "stewardship."

When we take seriously the stewardship of our souls, our families, and our resources in the light of eternity, then truly we have devised a very meaningful ‘last will and testament." When we do, we are investing in the eternal future. Jesus once gave a piece of advice. He said: "So allocate your resources so that they will welcome you into heavenly courts . . . ." That's good advice indeed.

An ordered house. When our house is in order then we can face death with a calmness that otherwise eludes us. Leo Tolstoy once said, "We can be lord of nothing as long as we fear death. When we no longer fear it, all things are ours." Tolstoy is right. When we live as faithful stewards of what God has entrusted to us, then death itself loses its terror. And when that happens, then to God's faithful stewards - all things belong!

About the Pastor

Bob Heerspink

Rev. Robert Heerspink is a native of west Michigan. He completed his undergraduate studies at Calvin College and holds the degrees of Master of Divinity and Master of Theology from Calvin Theological Seminary. He has also received a Doctor of Ministry degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

Bob was ordained a minister of the Word in the Christian Reformed Church of North America in 1979, and has 26 years of parish experience, having served four churches throughout west Michigan. He was appointed the Director of The Back to God Hour in 2006.

Bob has written several resources related to congregational stewardship, including the book, Becoming a Firstfruits Congregation. He is a regular contributor to TODAY, the monthly devotional of The Back to God Hour.

Bob is married to Edith (Miedema) and they have three children. His hobbies include reading fictional and historical works, watersports, and occassional golfing.

Guidelines for Givers

2010-01-24T00:00:00-07:00

Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 8:1-15

The Most Unsavory Part of Worship
Maybe you don't like to attend worship services much. And why? Well, because that collection plate floats by your nose on such a regular basis whenever you take up a place in the pew. "The church," you say, "is always begging for my money!"

Shall I let you in on a little secret? Even regular churchgoers often complain about the same thing. They think that the most undignified part of the worship service is passing the collection plate. Worship planners often struggle as to where best to place the collection in the worship order. And the complaint of the worshippers is that the church is always begging for money, that the request for funding intrudes into the more ‘spiritual' parts of worship.

Churchgoers even joke about the fact that wherever two or three are gathered together, someone thinks to take a collection. No wonder there have been suggestions that the collection plate should be relegated to the church's museum of archaic artifacts! And churches should just put a collection box in the narthex, where churchgoers could conveniently and discretely deposit financial support on the way out of the sanctuary. That way, it's argued, the worship service could be left for things more edifying.

Now, if the Apostle Paul were to join this conversation today, he would radically disagree with such thinking. He would think the offering is where it should be: right in the center of our worship to God. Indeed, I think he would argue that putting the offering anywhere but in a worship service misses the point of what's happening when the collection is taken.

WHAT OUR GIVING MEANS
You know, we sometimes forget that it was Paul who initiated the grand-daddy of all church fund-drives-the "Great Collection" it's sometimes called. That's the collection that's being discussed in II Corinthians 8. It's a collection that was so massive that Paul devoted a whole EIGHT YEARS to filling the collection baskets.

What was the Great Collection? It was a collection for the poor of Jerusalem. The Christian believers in the Jerusalem church had taken it on the chin financially for the sake of their faith. For them, there had been a deep financial cost to becoming a follower of Jesus. Christian converts in Palestine found themselves ostracized by their Jewish neighbors. Once successful craftsmen now found no buyers for their work. Widows and orphans found themselves excluded from the daily distributions intended to help the poor. Becoming a Christian in 1^st century Jerusalem put you in a serious financial predicament, not unlike what happens to day in many parts of the world, where coming to Jesus opens you to the ostracism of your community.

And so Paul undertakes what has to be the most remarkable collection in all history. It is a collection that opposes the high walls of division that had been built between Jew and Gentile for centuries. Jewish Christians in Jerusalem will now have the food set on their table by those with Gentile blood. Simply incredible! The walls of division between Jew and Gentile are collapsing before the generosity of Gentile believers who keep passing the plate for Jewish Christians in need.

Now do you sense why this offering is so important to Paul? To be sure there were other places in the empire that could have used poverty relief. But this collection wasn't just motivated by ordinary kindness. Paul chose Jerusalem as the target for this offering in order to announce the way in which Christ is transforming human relationships. This offering announces to the world that the wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile had come crashing down in the resurrection victory of Jesus Christ. Only a miracle of grace, a revolution of the Spirit, could result in Jewish Christians eating from a table set by Gentiles. This collection would affirm like nothing before it the UNITY of the church of Christ!

And frankly, that is one of the core reasons why Christians still today are so serious about their giving. When Christian believers give, they affirm their unity with other believers. At least that's what's happening when our giving does more than just meeting the needs of our local church. A collection worthy of the Great Collection should be making a worldwide impact. A church that understands If a congregation is serious about it's giving, those dollars are going far beyond the local church to impact the cause of the Kingdom around the world. The ordinary collection plate that sits in the local church is witness to the UNITY of the people of God-the truth that the church of God spans people from every people, tribe, and nation.

Yes, when Christian believers give, they affirm their unity with other believers. At least, they do if the church is collecting dollars for more than their own member's needs. A collection worthy of the Great Collection should be making a worldwide impact. A church that understands the unity of God's people gives its resources to bring good news to the people of India, to open a health clinic in Africa, to launch a ministry in South America. The collection plate is a witness to the mission of the Kingdom of God. God is making ONE people of ALL nations, tribes and races from around the globe. The COLLECTION PLATE is the church's weekly witness to the oneness of the church of Christ.

Now, Paul understands that. But evidently, back in the first century, he was having a hard time getting the message across. The Corinthian church was having a hard time getting the hang of gracious giving. It seems that people haven't changed much over 2000 years because if Paul were around today, he would probably still be encouraging us in this art of giving. He would say to many of us, "You made a good beginning in your financial generosity, but now you're running out of steam. Your good intentions are flagging."

What does Paul say to the Corinthians to help them understand what it means to be generous with God and with their neighbor? Well, they need to understand the key principle that can make every collection a ‘great collection.' And we need to understand that principle too.

GRACE AND GIVING
It's the link between GRACE and GIVING. Grace and giving really go hand in hand. Paul helps us understand that link by introducing us to some givers who understoond that connection-the parishioners over at First Church of Macedonia. Now, if go to the New Testament you find the Bereans who diligently searched the Scriptures and are the New Testament model of Bible study; the Macedonians are the New Testament model of generous givers. And what was their secret? Well, Paul tells us they brought their financial giving into alignment with God's grace. Paul writes: "We want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonia churches . . ." And a little while later he encourages the Corinthians to excel, with the Macedonians, in the GRACE of giving.

Now if you think about it, this view of giving really turns our thinking upside-down. We think giving is something WE do ourselves. But Paul is saying giving is something GOD does THROUGH US. And our giving will never be what it should be until we get this principle straight. Because until we do, we will always fall into the trap of thinking that generous giving is just about us putting a little more human effort into the enterprise. People say: "You know I should really get my giving up there a bit this year." But then, nothing changes. Our giving pattern remains the same. Why? Because we are giving out of OUR strength rather than God's grace.

Let me tell you-it's going to take more than some good intentions to empower us to adjust our lifestyles and bring our desires in check. It will take an act of God's grace. All around us our culture is screaming at us-More! More! More! You don't have enough STUFF! You need MORE! It's going to take a miracle of grace to live within our means-indeed, to live BELOW our means-so that we have something to return to God and to others. It's going to take an act of grace to allow us to do more than TIP God on Sunday morning, to turn our last fruits into first fruits giving. The thing is, Grace and Giving need to go hand in hand.

Now, Paul notes three things about the kind of givers that GRACE creates.

EAGER GIVING
First, Grace creates EAGER Givers!

"Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity." The Macedonian church was not well-to-do. And Paul tells us in this chapter it was never his intention to impoverish his congregations by their giving.

Yet when the grace of God gripped these Macedonian believers, there was a "giving beyond their means," writes Paul. In fact, Paul says that "They urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints." This is quite remarkable: people knocking down the door of the church in order to give.

I must confess I've never in all my ministry had anyone PLEAD with me to give. It's more likely the case that I'm the one pleading with people to be generous.

But Paul says, when the grace of giving sweeps through a congregation, people begin asking: What needs doing? What need can I help meet? What ministry needs to be funded? In fact, if there was any reluctance going on here, it was on the part of Paul. He wasn't sure whether he should accept such generous gifts from people who had so little.

I have encountered this kind of giving myself-but not in North America. While visiting Christians in the Congo, I attended a worship service which had not one but four separate offerings. People were dancing their gifts up the aisle. And this in a church that was dirt poor. Why the eagerness on the part of these Christians to give? I'll tell you. They were gripped by the grace of God. They were gripped by the Christ, whose generosity is unmatched.

It is grace that produces EAGER givers.

SACRIFICIAL GIVING
Second, Grace creates SACRIFICIAL Givers

Now what do we mean by sacrificial giving anyway? Sacrificial giving is not measured in terms of what is given away. It's measured by what we keep for ourselves. I have no evidence to suggest that in total dollars, the Macedonians were giving more than the Corinthians. It could very well be that it was the other way around. Corinth was a wealthy city. It could well be that the Corinthians had ALREADY put more gold and silver into the plate than the Macedonians. Perhaps by now the Corinthians were grousing-we've already given more than our share! So what's Paul's hang-up?

But Paul knows that sacrificial giving is measured in terms of what you keep, not what you give away.

Dr. Roy Laurin tells of a westerner who was traveling in Korea in the years after the Korean War. He saw in the field a young man pulling a plow, while an old man held the handles. The westerner was quite amused by the sight, and snapped a picture. "Those people must be pretty poor," he said to the missionary with him. "Yes," said the missionary. "But I know those two men. They are Christians. And when their church was being built, they were eager to give something for the project. But they had no money. So they decided to sell their only ox and give the proceeds to the church. This spring they are pulling the plow themselves."

When I hear a story like that I get embarrassed. For I have to admit I have never given that way to God. Oh, in dollars and cents, I've given more than the worth of an ox. It may well be that you've given more too! But I have never given with the level of sacrifice as those two Korean Christians.

Sacrificial giving is defined not by the size of the gift but by the proportion we give to God of our resources. Sacrificial giving means that we give IN PROPORTION to what we have received. And therein lies both encouragement and challenge.

It's an encouragement to those of us with little. For it means that even though you might not be able to write big checks, you can still excel in the grace of giving. The greatest giver in the New Testament was a widow who just put her two cents into the plate. But the PROPORTION she gave was far beyond what anyone else brought. She excelled in the grace of giving. You don't need to be rich to give sacrificially.

But it's a challenge to those of us who have much. What proportion of our resources does God ask of us? I will clue you in on a little research that's been done with regard to giving. Research studies show that as our INCOME increases, the PERCENTAGE of the income we give to the Kingdom of God falls. That is, someone who makes $20,000 a year on average gives a higher PERCENTAGE of their income to the church than someone who makes $100,000 a year. Now, that is a rather crazy thing, of course. After all, someone with $100,000 a year obviously has more discretionary income than someone with $20,000. But the issue isn't how much of our income is discretionary, is it?

I like the story of the family who had a son who had a paper route. He was expected to give 10% to the church. That went pretty well. He would get a check for 30 dollars and he would put three dollars in the plate. Then he went out and got his first "real job." And his first paycheck was 250 dollars. Well, said his folks - that means there is 25 dollars for church. You've got to be crazy, he said. 25 bucks! That is REAL money!!

And a lot of us honestly feel the same way. If we figured a tithe, 10%, on our income as a starting guideline for what to give away-we are shocked. Give away THAT much? That's REAL money!

But we can't escape Biblical teaching, my friends. To whom much is given, much is required.

Grace produces SACRIFICIAL GIVERS

JOYFUL GIVING
And a third principle: Grace produces JOYFUL givers.

Now can our giving be joyful? Only if we leave behind giving as a legalistic, coercive thing. Elsewhere Paul says-he is NOT COMMANDING this generosity. Elsewhere we read in Scripture, freely we have received, freely we give.

Now, only if we reach the point of FREEDOM in our giving can we find JOY in our giving. Only then can we be set free from the bondage that giving tends to create.

And let's face it, folks. In the Christian life, many of us see giving as a bondage-maker. Giving tends to focus on such things as church budgets, and denominational assessments. OK, we ask, how much more do I need to pay to keep the church afloat? How much is my share? Tell me what I OWE. Tell me what is my BILL. I'll sit down and write you out a check, to the penny. And be done with it. Because down deep, we want to pay our way-and no more. Let other people pay their own way too.

And when people talk that way-or, more likely-think that way, because we don't dare say it, the shackles begin to clamp all over us regarding giving. The joy gets sucked out of it. The freedom gets destroyed. If giving as a Christian is like paying our taxes, then don't be surprised if it's about as much FUN as paying your taxes.

What if I said to you God doesn't need your money? Do you think God, the owner of cattle on a thousand hills, the owner of all the gold mines on this globe, the God who has never relinquished ownership on a thing-do you think God NEEDS your money? That if you don't personally give to the Kingdom his plans will be stymied? Do you think that God is so weak that he wouldn't find other means and ways to accomplish his purposes in this world?

THE OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE
My friends, giving is more a privilege than a duty. In his invitation to practice generosity, God is offering you a wonderful OPPORTUNITY to get on board the most exciting movement the world has ever seen. It's a movement that is headed straight toward a new creation. He is giving you an opportunity to invest in the renewal of this world, with a company that has never failed to yield a dividend. He is giving you an opportunity to lay up treasure in the only bank that never has had a break-in-that has never had an investment go sour. Now, if I had the opportunity to put money in THAT kind of earthly investment-it would put a big smile on my face. Why wouldn't such a kingdom investment do the same?

Paul urges us to get out of the legalistic shackles which we put on when it comes to giving. The central issue in giving is not-what's my share?-but how much should I give in response to the grace that God has shown to me in Jesus Christ?

God's giving grace produces JOYFUL givers.

SEIZING GOD'S INVITATION
But now, how can I become this kind of Giver: Eager, sacrificial, joyful? How can grace-giving become a reality in our own lives? The key is in verse 5: "They gave themselves first to the Lord . .. " That's the key: "They gave themselves first to the Lord. . . "

There is no real financial giving without first SELF-giving. Before you put your money in the collection plate, you have to put YOURSELF in the collection plate. It's as simple as that. Our giving begins with the great confession of an old catechism that has meaning to millions: "I am not my own, but belong body and soul, to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ."

The Macedonians gave themselves to the Lord, yes, --but then Paul adds: "and then [they gave themselves] to us!" These Macedonians knew that serving God meant putting themselves in service to other Christians, to the church.

What the Macedonians did, we need to do. And as we experience the grace to give, we will increasingly resemble our Savior. Christ is the supreme example of grace-giving. The more we give, the more our character resembles his. The more we share, the more we experience Christ's joy.

About the Pastor

Bob Heerspink

Bob is married to Edith (Miedema) and they have three children. His hobbies include reading fictional and historical works, watersports, and occassional golfing.

Christ and Credit

2010-01-17T00:00:00-07:00

Scripture Reading: Psalm 37, Romans 13:8, Proverbs 22:7

THE NATIONAL DEBT AND THOMAS JEFFERSON
Today, in the United States, we've been told that the recession is officially over. But for a lot of people it really doesn't feel that way. "Good luck surviving the recovery!" heralded one news magazine cover. And why? Well, for a number of reasons, but here's one of them: America is facing a huge credit crunch. And not just on a personal level. America's national debt, which was big, is rapidly growing by the trillions.

I was thinking about that as I finished reading a biography of Thomas Jefferson this month. To my surprise I discovered that the national debt was also a concern during his administration. Jefferson came to power in 1801, at a time when federal government had just assumed the debts of the individual states. The result was a national debt of about 119 million dollars-a pittance compared to today. But it drove Jefferson crazy. In fact, he devised a plan to eliminate the national debt in 15 years. The federal government had an income of about 9 million dollars in 1801. Jefferson devised a plan to divert 7 million of those dollars to pay the national debt. He would run the government on what was left over-a scant 2 million. No wonder Jefferson decided America could ill afford to have a navy and took steps to put the ships in dry dock.

We hear a story like that and we smile at Jefferson's fiscal austerity. Jefferson, we say, really knew how to pinch a penny! Well, not really. He knew how to say no to America, he just didn't know how to say no to himself. He spent money he did not have. In fact, you may know the sad ending to Thomas Jefferson and his estate. After his death, his entire estate was auctioned off in an effort to pay only a small percentage of his debt.

You know, sometimes our personal lives tend to imitate national life. "I owe, I owe, it's off to work I go." That's the motto of millions of people. It's not just the federal government that is in debt up to its eyeballs. So are many North Americans-and elsewhere. Easy credit has become the modern way of life. Until the latest financial crisis, I was getting a couple credit card offers a day in my mailbox. You probably were to. And there are few things more tempting than that easy money the bank wants to give us. But credit has its downside. Credit card bills have a way of sitting on our desk unopened. Who wants to know what's inside, how much we really spent? Who could imagine that all those little credit purchases could add up to so much? And who would guess that in a day when the prime rate is so low credit card rates could be so high.

Now, I find a lot of people who consider themselves Christians who think that, well their use of credit really isn't very important. They think their use of credit doesn't figure into their Christian discipleship. But, I think that's a mistake. Your use of credit is going to have a major impact on your life. We need to talk about credit today for at least three reasons.

CREDIT AND MARRIAGE
First of all, we need to talk about credit because your use of credit is going to have a big impact on your family, on your family relationships. You know, when I meet with couples in premarital counseling, I spend a quite a bit of time talking about money. I often ask them to complete a little questionnaire where they can compare their views on money matters-including their attitudes toward credit.

I do this, not because I am nosy. I do it because I have a real concern for their future happiness. The truth is, money is the number one issue that people fight about in marriage. In fact, money is the number one reason why marriages end up in divorce court. Unless a couple has a sensible agreed-upon game plan when it comes to money, they are going to face some really big uphill struggles.

CREDIT AND OUR LIVING STANDARD
There's a second reason we need to talk about credit. It's because the use of too much credit can negatively impact our living standard. Now maybe you think that is surprising to say. After all, credit seems to be the way you enter into the promised land of affluent living. Credit promises us a wonderful life. But that's not really what happens. Because uncontrolled use of credit funds a lifestyle we can't afford. But the truth is, credit ties up future earnings with past purchases. Extensive use of credit hurts-instead of helps-the quality of your lifestyle. In the end we can afford LESS, not more.

CREDIT AND OUR GIVING STANDARD
And there is a third reason we need to talk about credit. Easy credit not only impacts our living standard, it impacts our GIVING standard. You know, a lot of folks would be able to be more generous with kingdom causes if they hadn't leveraged themselves to the max. Credit payments eat up the dollars they would ultimately like to give to their church and the mission of God.

Now maybe you say to me today "why are we having such a problem with credit, why didn't our grandparents struggle with such a thing?" Well, I'll tell you why: easy credit is something that is pretty new. I talked to a retired banker a few years ago who said that when he began his work as a loans officer, you would have been laughed out of the bank if you had come in and asked for a loan to take a trip to Europe. It just wouldn't have happened, he said. Loans were given for expanding businesses, for buying a home; maybe you could get a loan for a car or for education-but that was it. No bank would loan you money so that you could eat out this coming weekend at the restaurant of your choice. Money wasn't loaned that way. The easy credit that has swamped our society is a new thing. It's a new thing, but is it a good thing?

WHAT'S A CHRISTIAN TO DO?
If we intend to be faithful disciples of Christ, how are we to handle this remarkable new power that has been placed in our hands, this power to borrow? I am well aware that the Bible doesn't know anything like a credit card. Jesus never pulled an American Express card from his pocket and said to the man at the fish market-hey, just charge it! But the Bible does offer a perspective on credit that I think is instructive.

Where to start? Well, how about with the book of Proverbs. Now, as we go to that book, we need to remember the nature of Proverbs-it's wisdom literature. What you find there are not so much cast-in-stone commands as wise sayings-sayings that generally hold true. Sayings that make sense in most situations. Proverbs doesn't offer guarantees on life-but it does offer truths that conform to the principles by which God designed the world and human society.

And this is what Proverbs says about debt:

The rich rule over the poor
And the borrower is servant to the lender.

Now, what does that proverb really say? Well, first note what it does NOT say-it does NOT say-"It's wrong to borrow money." I know there are some who say that it is sin to borrow in any situation. They turn to Romans 13:8 and read: "Owe no one anything but to love one another." They, they say-all borrowing is wrong. Even borrowing for a house, for a car, for college, for business-it's all off limits for a Christian.

But we must be careful when we talk this way. For there are places in Scripture where borrowing and lending are NOT condemned.

In Psalm 37, for example, we read about the nature of righteous people. This is their character, this is what they're like: "they are always generous and LEND freely." Now, if it's OK to lend, then in certain cases it must be OK to borrow.

And in Matthew 5:42, Jesus himself tells us in the Sermon the Mount, "not to turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you." Jesus himself expresses that in some instances it's OK to take a loan!

The Bible does not issue an outright ban on borrowing. This proverb does not label all debt as a matter of disobedience.

So what DOES it say? Well, what it says is this: Keep your eyes open when you take out a loan. THINK when you borrow. For understand this: The borrower is servant to the lender. That is, a loan changes the relationship between two people. When you borrow money from a friend, you change your relationship with that person. How many of us haven't experienced that-perhaps to our deep regret. As soon as money changes hands, our relationship changes too. The borrower, in a real sense, becomes a servant to the lender. Suddenly that good friend is now our loans officer, who has not just a personal interest in our lives, but a financial interest in our lives. Our friend, our neighbor, becomes in a sense our financial master.

Nehemiah encountered that dynamic when he returned to Jerusalem. He met Jewish citizens who had no choice but to borrow money to pay their taxes to Persia. Their collateral? Nothing else but their own farms and families. And what happened when they couldn't pay on the principle? Their fields, their vineyards, even their own children now belonged to others.

We of course do not live in a culture where there are debtors' prisons-we aren't likely to see our families sold into slavery to pay off our bills. But the fact is debt still makes the debtor a servant to the lender. Your possessions, your future income, something of your very life-is now held in the hands of another person. That means you aren't as free as you once were. Anyone who still has a mortgage on their house knows that. I've talked to people who would dearly like to change careers, change jobs, but they tell me, "I can't. Not until the mortgage is paid. Then I can make some moves I can't make now."

A FEW QUESTIONS TO ASK
So debt, then, isn't sin. But debt is dangerous. So how do you know when to take out a loan? Ron Blue, who has written extensively on finances from a Christian perspective, has offered some guidelines. He asks us to consider a few questions before we borrow money, and I think they're excellent ones.

First, am I seeking this loan because of a lack of financial discipline?

A shocking number of people have no discipline when it comes to money. In fact, one of the reasons our world is in an economic crisis is because of personal financial mismanagement. Many people were spending 110% of their income EVERY YEAR. In effect, every year they sink deeper in debt because they have no discipline over their money. What about you? Is your use of credit really a lack of discipline?

Second, is my use of credit because a sign that I lack contentment?

In other words, is your use of credit really a cover for a spiritual illness? A lot of people are restless. They have a deep void in their souls that they cannot satisfy. They think another toy will satisfy their spirits. They are wrong. How about you? Are you using credit as a cheap answer to address your unhappiness about life?

Third, is my use of credit a way to engage in a misguided search for significance?

Everyone wants to stand out. Is the reason I am borrowing for this house or buying that car because of a legitimate need-or am I really doing it to impress my neighbors?

When we put our borrowing through that kind of test grid we really learn something about ourselves and our use of money. We'll really decide whether a loan makes sense. In all likelihood a student loan will pass the test. A loan to take a major vacation will not. Borrowing to buy decent transportation will pass the test. Borrowing to buy that expensive sports car to get you through your midlife crisis-wouldn't. Borrowing to put a decent roof over our heads will pass the test. But going over our heads in debt to buy a mansion that impresses the rest of the family isn't going to cut it.

Yes, there are times when it makes sense to take out a loan. Even the generations before us borrowed in order to buy a house. The truth is, there are some investments we make through a loan that appreciate in value! Many of us would not be where we are at today in our careers if it weren't able to borrow some money for college. We couldn't get to our jobs without reliable transportation. Many of us will declare that the best investment we ever made was our home.

CREDIT-WORTHY
But credit has moved in society from a blessing to a danger. Right now, the easy credit from the past is causing a whole mess of pain in the present. What are you doing with your credit?

Are you in trouble with your credit cards? I know there are some people who have gotten into trouble not because of mismanagement, but because they are struggling because of unemployment or underemployment. These folks don't need another credit card. They need the help God's people to provide. And it's often our pride that keeps us from making our need known. If that is you, then please ask God to give you the grace to allow others to help you. It is one of the privileges that is given to Christians to bear each other burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.

But for others of us, credit has become a millstone around our financial necks. We are addicted to a lifestyle we really cannot afford. If that's you, then let me invite you to journey on a road in which you find your security not in things but in God. If it is too much for you to begin that journey without the help of the Christian community-then find a friend, talk with a fellow believer who can help you get your financial house in order.

IN SEARCH OF CONTENTMENT
Ask for courage to face the spiritual issues in your financial situation and ask God to give you what you need to get started in making real changes. Ask for the gift of contentment.

There is an old story that comes out of the early church of an important dignitary who gave a basket of gold pieces to a desert priest, asking him to disperse it among his fellow brothers. ‘They have no need of it,' replied the priest. The wealthy man insisted and set the basket of coins at the doorway of the church, asking the priest to tell his fellow clergy, ‘Whoever has need, let him take it.' No one touched the coins, or even looked at it. Astonished, the wealthy man left with his basket of gold.

Compare that story to the sign that at least one public library was compelled to display on every study table: "Please ... do not leave your belongings unattended!"

"There are two ways to get enough," wrote G.K. Chesterton, "One is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less."

Good advice for a credit-crazed world like ours.

About the Pastor

Bob Heerspink

Bob is married to Edith (Miedema) and they have three children. His hobbies include reading fictional and historical works, watersports, and occassional golfing.

Seven Things I Want Kids to Know about Money

2010-01-10T00:00:00-07:00

Scripture Reading: Proverbs 10:1-22

SWEEPING MONEY TALK UNDER THE RUG
Some time ago, I heard the story of a very liberated couple. This couple had decided that they would raise their children in a very liberated way. As part of their parenting approach, they would discuss any and every topic in the presence of their children. No subject, no matter how sensitive, was considered to be taboo. Well, all subjects but one. When it came time to discuss matters relating to the family budget-when it came time to talk about money-husband and wife retreated to the privacy of their own bedroom and locked the door.

Now, when I heard that story, I cringed, because I knew they aren't the only ones with this operating protocol in their homes. There are a lot of couples out there operating the same way. They are raising their kids with no taboo topics. They intend to process everything with their kids. Religion. And drugs. And sexuality of course. But in many households one topic is still out of bounds: money.

That's bad news. Because at least in the homes of North Americans, money is a huge issue when it comes to our kids. The average teenager in the United States burns through over a hundred dollars a week. Most teens spend more time in shopping malls than at religious functions. And almost 50 percent of teenagers report that having enough money is, already at their teen years, a ‘big worry."

Anxiety about money-it's not just for adults anymore. Our kids are lying awake, wondering where they are going to get the dollars for their next CD or movie download. Money is a big issue for them. And when we don't talk to our kids about money we aren't connecting with where they are at.

But even more tragically, we aren't connecting with who they really are! They, with us, are reflections of their Maker-image-bearers of God-stewards of God's creation. Stewards are called to be care-givers of all that God has put in their care. As adults, we're stewards. And our kids share that same identity. Our calling as parents is to raise our kids to know their core identity as stewards and live accordingly.

Now being a steward, of course, means more than handling money well. Caring for God's creation relates to the way we handle our time, our talents, and the way we relate to the world around us-you could say we are called to total creation-care. But certainly one slice of a steward's work is money management. That's why our kids need to learn about money and how to handle it in ways that make sense. And they aren't getting very many useful lessons from soaking up ads that wash over them all day long on television or the internet. If they're going to learn about the meaning of money and managing money, well, they're going to learn those lessons at home.

LEARNING FROM THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE US
You see, most of us learned lessons about how to deal with dollars and cents from the walk and the talk of those who raised us. Some of us remember a set of envelopes in the kitchen of our grandparents. In the days before electronic checking, many families had a box of envelopes on top of the refrigerator. Into those envelopes went the dollars from the Friday paycheck. So much for groceries, so much for the house payment, so much for the church. Watching our parents or grandparents divide up the paycheck-and seeing that the dollars for the church were as important as the dollars for the gas tank-that was a powerful lesson in money management, in being a steward.

We've moved far beyond the crude accounting system used by grandma and grandpa. Gone are the days when the money tucked in the cookie jar constituted our money management system. Now we have Quicken, automatic withdrawals, and debit cards for our internet purchases. Nevertheless, the responsibility to teach our children stewardship remains very much within the family.

But what shall we teach them? Well, there's a book in the Bible that's going to help us, it's the book of Proverbs. Now when we go to Proverbs to learn about money, we're admitting that when it comes to money, we need God's wisdom. For Proverbs is a book whose intent is to make us WISE.

THE WAY OF FINANCIAL WISDOM
You know, the importance of wisdom in the Christian life is often overlooked. "Isn't it enough to have faith?" we say. "Isn't it enough to be a loving person?" But the Christian life is really a three-legged stool. Those three legs are: Faith, Love, and Wisdom. And if any of one of those legs is missing, the stool gets wobbly in a hurry.

Think about that. We all know people who have love and wisdom, but they lack faith. They are worldly-wise, we might say. They may really care about people. But they lack faith in Christ that energizes their care for others into a full-orbed life of Christian obedience and discipleship.

And then there are people who have faith and wisdom, but they lack love. Yes, they trust in God. And they have a great deal of wise advice that they feel compelled to disperse at a moment's notice. But they do it in such a crabby way that they really lose their Christian witness; their wisdom is seldom heeded or even sought.

There is one more possibility. We all know people who have great faith-and great love-but they lack wisdom! These people trust in Jesus and truly love others. But they just do very foolish, even stupid things. Oh, they may have a great amount of education, but education and wisdom...well, they're different. Their discipleship is crippled over and over again by their inability to act in ways that make sense.

That's happens to Christians who don't know how to handle money well. During the course of my ministry, I have met many well-meaning Christians whose witness was blunted, and whose life was in shambles, because they didn't know how to handle the dollars God had entrusted to them. One of the great gifts we can leave to our children is wisdom, wisdom to know how to handle their finances-whether they have little or much.

But what does it mean to be wise about finances? In Proverbs 10 we find at least seven principles by which to live financially. Seven principles for us and for our kids that will make a difference in our world. These seven things I want my kids to know about money. I hope you want them to know these seven things too.

Principle #1: I want my kids to know that financial blessing is a good thing.

Proverbs 10:15 "The wealth of the rich is their fortified city, but poverty is the ruin of the poor."

Here is the honesty with which the Bible approaches financial matters. You know, it's easy to spiritualize life and run down the goodness of God's material world. I've heard people say: "Money is nothing!! Money means not a thing to me. . ."

The book of Proverbs says that's really ridiculous talk. It says, "The wealth of the rich is a fortified city." Did you expect to find THAT in the Bible?? But there it is! For the Bible is honest. Those who have sufficient economic resources DO have a hedge against at least some disasters. They don't lie awake at night wondering where the money will come from to replace the transmission that just fell out of their car. They don't live with the fear that the next major repair bill around the house will derail the mortgage payment.

I want my kids to understand that there is no inherent blessing in being poor. In fact, poverty brings with it real strains in marriage and family life. I want my kids to know that the money to pay the bills is a good gift of God.

But I also want my kids to know that principle is balanced by the one that follows.

Principle #2: I want my kids to know that real wealth is more than just dollar bills

Proverbs 10:20 "The tongue of the righteous is choice silver but the heart of the wicked is of little value."

The word for silver here in this proverb means QUALITY silver-silver purified by fire. I want my kids to know that the words they speak, words that give encouragement, words that bring comfort, the words that convey wisdom-these are one of the most valued things they possess. I want kids to know that you don't need to have a lot of money to have wealth to share with others. Not when we can share our love, our compassion, and the good news of Jesus!

I want kids to think hard about that as they think about a vocational path in life. Unfortunately, I fear that many today decide on their education and career merely by asking: How much does it pay? Will it make me rich? Will I be able to retire by the age of 55?

Let's get one thing straight. The real wealth you are going to accumulate in life has more to do with investing your time and talent in service to Christ. Obedient living is what builds real wealth; it builds treasure in heaven. I want my kids to know that real wealth isn't defined by dollar bills

Principle #3: I want my kids to know that how they made their money is more important than the amount of money they made.

Proverbs 10:2 "Ill-gotten treasures are of no value, but righteousness delivers from death."

I want my kids to know that living rightly before God is more critical to the truly good life than all the wealth in this world. Or to put it another way, I want my kids to laugh at the common conviction in our society that the size of y our bank account defines your success.

As a pastor, I know that isn't true, and I will tell you why. I have sat with hundreds of people who are mourning the death of a loved one. Some of those ‘dearly departed' ones were imminently successful people. Their accomplishments were lauded in a special way in the evening papers. They made a lot of money and yet in all those visits, I have never heard family talk about the secular awards or the big money that the deceased had accumulated. I have never heard anyone say-"Good old John, he sure had a knack for making money. Good old Mary, she knew how to play the stock market."

I will tell you what people talk about when a loved one dies. First, they talk about their loved one's trust in Jesus-in other words, the righteousness they've received by grace that comes through faith in Christ. And second, they talk about their love of family and friends-in other words, the righteous living that God's grace allowed them to demonstrate in their own lives.

It is RIGHTEOUSNESS-not RICHES-that provide a safeguard against death.

Principle #4: I want my kids to know that God can be trusted to provide the financial resources necessary to cover our NEEDS, not our WANTS.

Proverbs 10:3 "The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry, but he thwarts the craving of the wicked."

I want kids to know that God is concerned about their physical as well as their spiritual well-being. But I want them to understand too, that in spite of the message of the prosperity gospel, God doesn't intend to give them every toy they have their heart set on, if they only ‘believe' hard enough. God is a thoughtful Father who supplies our NEEDS, not a Santa Claus who satisfies our wish list.

Let me tell you a story about God's provision for our needs.

One of the most remarkable Christians in history was George Muller. George Muller was a nineteenth century preacher who had a heart for children, especially orphans he would meet on the streets. Whenever he met an orphan he asked that orphan if he or she had a home. If that orphan was out on streets, he would bring the child with him to stay in rooms he rented in a local boarding house. Eventually there were so many orphans that the council of his church said: "We need to build an orphanage."

And so they went out into the country and built a three story building. And then another. And then another.

Well, that meant that George Muller had hundreds of children to care for. And when children came to his orphanage, he promised them three things: First, a warm bed, second clean clothes, and third, one hot meal a day. One noon, there was absolutely no food in the entire orphanage. When Muller was so informed he called the children to the dining hall anyway. He said: "Children, when you came here, I promised that God would provide you three things at this orphanage: a warm bed, clean clothes, and a hot meal. Have you had your hot meal today?" They said: "No."

"Well," said Muller, "there isn't any food in the orphanage, but I trust that doesn't mean that you aren't going to have a hot meal. So let's thank God for the food he is going to provide."

And so George Muller bowed his head, and prayed: "Lord," he said, "We are trusting you to provide us the food we need. We want to thank you for the hot meal that you will set before us now."

As he finished his prayer, there was a knock at the door. It was a driver of a delivery truck. He said, "Rev. Muller, my truck has just broken down on the road not far from your orphanage. It's filled with meat pies. It seems a shame to let them go to waste. Would you like them?"

"Of course," said Muller.

"Well," said the driver, "If it's all right with you, they just have come out of the oven at the bakers, and they are still hot."

"Well," said Muller, "We're expecting that to be the case! You bring them right in!"

The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry.

I want kids to know that God can be trusted to provide for their basic needs. Not their wants and cravings.

Principles #5: I want my kids to know that God expects DILIGENCE from his people.

Proverbs 10:4 "Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth."

I don't want my kids to be afraid to work. Now, please understand, I don't want my kids to become workaholics either. But I do want them to know that work is a key way that God expects them to serve him. And I want them to know that work is generally the way God is intending to put dollars into our pockets.

You see, I believe in a sovereign God. But I also believe God has built into the world some abiding principles. Among them are the words you find in 1 Thessalonians 3:10: "He who does not work, will not eat." Those who can work and refuse to work, had better not expect pennies from heaven to come showering down on their heads. I want to teach my children diligence. I want to teach my kids that responsibility matters.

Principle #6 I want my kids to know God expects his people to understand the law of sowing and harvest.

Proverbs 10:5 "He who gathers crops in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son."

Now, to understand that proverb, you should know that it was common practice for whole families to go out and ‘camp' in the vineyards outside of town when it was time to gather the grape harvest. While it lasted, the work was intense. The effort of the whole community had to be focused on bringing in the harvest. Every child growing up in ancient Palestine learned that lesson just by watching the rhythm of the growing season. There's a time to sow and a time to harvest.

Most of us don't live in the country anymore. We haven't visited a truck farm or an orchard in years. We go to the grocery store and walk among the fruit bins filled year-round, and we begin to lose the connection between sowing and reaping. We might even think that we can reap without sowing!

Well, unfortunately, many people think the same way about MONEY. Today, there are a lot of 20 year olds who want to start out in life where their parents have ended up after a lifetime of hard work. They don't seem to understand that the financial resources of a couple at the age of 60 have been gained over a lifetime of careful financial cultivation.

I want to teach my kids that delayed gratification is a wise principal when it comes to money. Strapping yourself financially to buy cars and take trips you can't afford, well, that's as stupid as eating the seed corn that was supposed to be planted in the spring.

There is a time to sow and a time to reap. Respect that simple truth.

And above all, I want my kids to know a final principle:

Principle #7: I want my kids to know above all that GOD is the Giver of everything.

Proverbs 10:22 "The blessing of the Lord brings wealth And he adds no trouble to it."

Everything we have comes from God. The proverb implies that just having more doesn't make us happy. There is increase that brings trouble-and there is increase that brings blessing. The truth is, just having more and more isn't going to make us content, isn't going make us happy. But when what we have is accompanied by God's presence-THEN there is no trouble with what we have received.

For then what we receive comes as a trust for the sake of God's Kingdom. We're managers for our maker, care-givers of God's creation. So we hold our resources with a rather light grasp, because everything we have is from him. Yes, money is good to have, but it doesn't have the last word in my life. Because that LAST word has been spoken by Christ Jesus, my Savior.

GOD is the Giver of everything.

Friends, that is what I want kids to know about money. But-I want us ALL to know these things about money. For unless we know them as parents and grandparents-unless we are practicing these truths in our own lives-we will NEVER be able to teach them to our kids. After all, Stewardship is more caught than taught. Kids will DO what they see US doing. If we act as consumers, we will teach kids to be consumers. If we act as stewards, we will teach kids to be stewards. So live well, so that you can teach your children well.

About the Pastor

Bob Heerspink

Bob is married to Edith (Miedema) and they have three children. His hobbies include reading fictional and historical works, watersports, and occassional golfing.

SPEAKING OF MONEY . . .

2010-01-03T00:00:00-07:00

Scripture Reading: 1 Timothy 6:3-19

MONEY TALK
Let's talk about money. That perks up everyone's ears. If there is one thing that gets people focused, it's the mention of money. Page through a copy of USA Today, and you will find all manner of advertisements offering ways to substantially increase your income, grow your investments. Money can easily become our obsession.

In the book, Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed, Alec Trocme tells of spending a season as a student in America, serving as French tutor to the family of the founder of Standard Oil, John D. Rockefeller. Trocme was struck by Rockefeller's view toward money. He once gave Trocme a thin dime and told him to go home to France and invest it. This, he said, is the beginning of your fortune. At the time, Trocme wasn't really concerned about making his fortune. But while Rockefeller learned to practice great generosity, he also had a chapter of his life where he was preoccupied with wealth. Asked how much money is enough, he once responded, ‘Just a little more than I have right now."

OUR CRAVING FOR "ONE MORE THING"
How much do you need? "Just a little more than I have right now." Don't most of us think that way? We are embarrassed to admit it, but this is the secret struggle to be satisfied, to have enough, is a never ending battle for most of us. I say we're embarrassed to admit it, because we know that most of us already have it good.

If you were to shrink the world's population to a hundred people, you would find that there are 33 living a fairly well-to-do lifestyle, while 67 would be living in poverty. Of each available dollar, those affluent 33 get to spend 87 cents. The other 67 divide the remaining 13 pennies. Many of us listening to this message are among the third of the world's population that divides up 87% of the world's goods. We feel awkward about that-even guilty. Yet frankly, down deep, that 87% still isn't enough. We want more. Our car is a few years old, our clothes not quite the latest style, our vacations could use an upgrade. And if we could only have those things, then we would be content? Right? Or don't we believe that anymore? Why can't we get enough?

If you can relate to this struggle, then here's what I want you to do...I want you to come to see that contentment based on what you have is a fool's game. Studies demonstrate that our happiness has very little to do with the amount of material goods that sit around our homes. Once we've got a roof over our head, clothes to wear and food to eat, it really doesn't matter if you live in a bungalow or a mansion, it doesn't matter if you eat hot dogs or filet mignon-studies show that happiness-your sense of well being-does not increase when you move up the economic later. But you know that, right? Because you've found that when you've had opportunity to crank your lifestyle up a notch, in the long run, your satisfaction-or dissatisfaction-with life remains about the same. The years you reported more income on your tax forms, they weren't any happier than when your income level was flat. Having more money doesn't' make you more happy.

It looks as though money isn't a very easy thing to understand and that's why we need some help. We need the help of the Apostle Paul, to help sort things out. He wrote about money to his friend Timothy. You see, there are two misconceptions -two mistakes that we need to guard against when it comes to the money in our pocket.

MONEY AS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL?
The first mistake is to treat money as though it doesn't matter. Or, to put it Pauls' way, to consider money the root of all evil, something wicked in itself. People who think this way argue that wealth itself is evil and should be renounced. "If you want to be spiritual," the argument goes, "you've really got to be poor.

You can find this conviction not just among Christians, but also among some New Agers who draw heavily on the idea of eastern spirituality. New Age sometimes argues that extinction of all desire is the real goal of the spiritual life. Salvation comes when we blow out the flickering flame of desire and pursue nirvana. So we read in the papers of executives in the fast lane who have decided to quit the rat race. They have decided to drop out and leave the material world behind. No more house payments or second mortgages. No more tracking the Dow Jones average.

We read of such spiritual adventurers, and we may get a bit envious. In fact, we may feel a bit guilty about the financial goals we've set for ourselves. Perhaps, we think, a vow of poverty is the way to go. Perhaps turning your back on material things is the answer.

But does that really work? Is it sensible to live as though money were evil, as though the material world were in some way evil? Such thinking is a long way from Paul's statement in I Timothy 4:4. There he says, "everything that God created is good and nothing is to be rejected when received with thanksgiving."

God created all things. And you and I are never asked by God to deny the goodness of his creation. That's why the Bible never condemns people for HAVING money. No, it condemns people for LOVING money. The Bible never condemns people for HAVING POSSESSIONS. The Bible condemns people for having possessions and not being willing to share with the poor.

That's why the danger of materialism isn't overcome by selling our homes and moving into a commune, because the issue is a heart issue. Who knows, perhaps God has entrusted you with a great deal so that you may exercise a special stewardship on his behalf!

MONEY AS THE SOURCE OF ALL GOOD?
But you know, the problem for most people in our society today isn't so much the rejection of the material world-but it's wild embrace of material things. I don't hear too many voices vilifying wealth. Instead, I hear more voices suggesting that wealth is the sure sign that God is blessing you.

A few years ago, Rev. Terry Cole had a best selling book on the market. Rev. Cole was at the time an up-and-coming evangelist in California. Her message was simple: Be sure to get yours! She willingly admitted living an opulent lifestyle. And why not? Because according to Terry Cole, the Bible is a book about making money. Money is the name of the game. The Bible is a book which tells people how to get rich.

Now, there are two problems with Cole's approach to wealth: one Biblical and the other practical. First the Biblical problem. Her approach to wealth doesn't square with God's approach to money. But more on that later. The other problem with Cole's teachings is that Cole offers a gospel that ultimately does not satisfy. For Cole's prosperity gospel doesn't birth contentment. You see, contentment isn't measured by what you have, but by who you are. Satisfying your soul on money is like drinking salt water to quench your thirst.

Paul says to Timothy that through the love of money, many have wandered away from the faith. The word ‘wander' is the same root word in the Greek from which we get the word ‘planet.' The planets, you may know, were once called ‘wandering stars,' because unlike true stars which maintain a fixed position over against other stars, the planets are lights that seem to wander all over the heavens.

That is what happens when we love money, says Paul. We wander in this world with no fixed course. With no real direction. We are like little children who dash along the beach, first spying this shell and now that piece of driftwood-looking for the next enticing treasure. But as we run along, we lose track of where we are.

THE TWIN DANGERS OF MONEY
When we do that, says Paul, we pierce ourselves with many griefs. In fact, Paul says if we love money we pierce ourselves with two griefs that will cut deep into our souls.

First, we stab ourselves with the dagger of pride. Later in this chapter from I Timothy, Paul writes "Command those who are rich not to be arrogant." Now, why would he say that? Why would rich people tend to be arrogant people? Because we tend to peg people according to the amount of MONEY they make. In fact, we equate money with success. How successful you are -translates into how much money you earn. Success is equated with how much money your estate is worth. "He who dies with the most toys wins." In the end, we even equate money with power.

But Paul says-God doesn't tolerate this kind of smugness. God will not put up with this spiritual snobbery. "I command you," says Paul, "not to be arrogant." That's the first danger of money, simple pride.

And there is a second danger-False confidence-"Command those who are rich," says Paul, "not to put their hope in wealth."

Money brings with it the tantalizing lure of security. Indeed, don't we even call one form of financial investments, ‘securities?" Many of us right now are worried whether we'll have enough money in the bank to retire. We're saving like we've never saved before, and that's good. It has biblical warrant.

But the driving question that follows is always-how much IS enough? How much do I need to have true security?

Maybe those of us who have a fair amount of money have learned the answer. I like watching old British sitcoms on television, and in the old PBS series "Bless Me Father" the parish priest remarks that there is something rich people know from experience that poor people do not know. Poor people, he said, can still live with the illusion that if they only had more money, all their problems would be solved. Rich people, said the parish priest, know that isn't true. Yes, rich people, if they have truly acquired real wisdom, have learned that money does not save.

How about you? Have you discovered that if you put your faith in your finances, well, then you'll never have enough? Have you discovered that putting your ultimate confidence in the size of your investment portfolio is a fool's game?

MONEY IN ITS PLACE: GODLINESS WITH CONTENTMENT
So how should we think about money? If it doesn't make sense to worship wealth and it doesn't make sense to trash wealth-what other way is there for us to go? The answer is to keep money in its proper place. Paul describes it very simply: "There is great gain in godliness with contentment."

The issue, says Paul, isn't money at all. It's godliness. What Paul is suggesting is really revolutionary. Paul is saying that before we assess our financial condition we need to look at our spiritual condition. We need to take a hard look at our spiritual attitude toward life. At the end of the day, what's our true love? Our Ferrari, our blue chip stocks, our lake home? Or do we love, with our whole being, the God who made and redeemed us?

You know, you can be as poor as a pauper, and still be a materialist. You can be as rich as a king-and still be a lover of God. The issue is not the number of dollars in your pocket-but the object of your true love. People who are REALLY RICH are people who are rich in godliness. Who are rich in contentment. Who are rich toward God.

The word contentment that Paul uses here in the Greek literally means ‘soul-sufficiency.' Now, by that word, Paul is not saying that we are SELF-sufficient. No. But he is saying though, that our sense of well-being doesn't so much relate to the outer world of possessions-as the inner world of the heart. When it comes to this inner world, when it comes to my inner self, money will not provide what I need. After all, says Paul, we brought nothing into the world, and we will bring nothing out. No, my ‘soul-sufficiency' cannot depend on things that I cannot take from this world. So what does it depend upon? It depends on Godliness. We are restless until we rest in God. We are created with an inner need to enter a living relationship with the Most High God through his Son, Jesus Christ.

Only when we are attune to godliness will we find a way through the morass of materialism. For the love of things is replaced by greater loves. A love for God and a love for neighbor. The Bible never commands us to love things. It never commands us to love bank accounts, or new recreation equipment, or our latest electronic gadgetry. When our identity is caught up in those things, we are in mortal danger. Rather the Bible calls us to love God above all, and love our neighbor as ourselves.

GODLINESS THAT TRANSFORMS
And when we know that kind of love, then our attitude toward wealth is transformed. No longer is money an end in itself. Instead, it is only means to an end. Using our money wisely is a way we serve others in the name of Jesus.

How do you keep money from becoming your god? Well, Paul points the way: "Command them to do good, to be generous and willing to share. . ." The way you demonstrate that money doesn't have you but the throat is by giving it away. The way you demonstrate that money is your servant, not your lord, is by sharing what you have with those who have less.

Never think that is an easy thing to do. Dr Karl Menninger, the founder of the Menninger Clinic, once asked a wealthy patient "What on earth are you going to do with all that money? " The patient replied, ""Just worry about it, I suppose!" Dr. Menninger went on to say, "Well, do you get that much pleasure out of worrying about it?" No, responded the patient, "But I get such terror when I think of giving some of it [away]."
(Foster, Challenge, page 43)

Now that's honesty! Why this great fear? Why was it so scary to give some of it away? Because for that man his money was his security.

Do you have that problem? One way to find out is to determine whether you can actually part with your money for the sake of unleashing its power to bless others. For you to do that, you're going to have to trust your future, not to your money, but to your God! If I do not trust my heavenly Father to supply my need, then I cannot live a generous life. For I will say, "Who knows? Maybe the money I give today, I'll need tomorrow for a car repair? Or to pay for nursing home care. I can't give this money away. I may need it." But how much will you need? Always a little more than you have right now.

Such is the talk of unbelief. Such is talk of someone who puts faith in finances. But a disciple of Jesus does something amazing. His bank account is a bit deflated, his wallet somewhat flatter because he does what the world thinks is incomprehensible. He gives to Christ's church and kingdom.

GOD'S INVESTMENT GUIDELINES
If you practice this kind of incomprehensible behavior, you will have riches indeed-you will have riches that neither moth nor rust consume.

Awhile back, I heard a story about an elderly gentleman who insisted that his sons honor his memory by each putting a thousand dollars in his coffin when he died. The first son came to the coffin and slipped in an envelope. The second son came and dropped in an envelope. The third son came and dropped in a slip of paper. After the casket was closed, the first two sons asked the third -what was that you put in the casket? The third son said-"I wrote a check."

There are no check-cashing privileges in heaven. No U-hauls follow the hearse to the cemetery. Indeed, I am always struck by the fact that what we treasure in this life often becomes someone else's trash. As they say, you can't take it with you.

No, you can't take it with you, but you can send it on ahead. Paul says so; he tells us that those who practice generosity will "lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age."

Gifts are investments. Not in the sense that we automatically reap in this life ala the prosperity gospel. Not in the sense that there is some divine bank account which we tap when we walk through heaven's gates. Nevertheless our gifts are investments. Because by giving materially we are enriched spiritually.

SO here is God's investment guide. Give to the work of God's kingdom the time and money you want to impact for eternity. What's the shape of your heavenly portfolio?

About the Pastor

Bob Heerspink

Bob is married to Edith (Miedema) and they have three children. His hobbies include reading fictional and historical works, watersports, and occassional golfing.