As you may or may not know, this summer we’ve been using our sermon time to study some of the great hymns of our faith—which means that hymns have definitely been on my mind these last three months. Knowing that—Bobby forwarded me a humorous e-mail he got from his mom that lists famous hymns that supposedly go with particular occupations. For example, according to this e-mail:
- The dentist’s hymn is: Crown Him with Many Crowns.
- The weatherman’s hymn is: There Shall Be Showers of Blessing.
- The tailor’s hymn is: Holy, Holy, Holy.
- The IRS Agent’s hymn is: I Surrender All.
- The Gossip’s hymn is: Pass It On.
- The Realtor’s hymn is: I’ve Got a Mansion Just Over the Hilltop.
Well, like you—I enjoyed Bobby’s forward—and I’ve also enjoyed this series because each hymn we have studied has opened the door for us to focus on a vital Biblical truth.
Here’s a quick review:
- The first hymn we studied — There is a Fountain— gave us a chance to learn more about what we mean when we say the blood of Jesus was shed to wash away our sins.
- My Country ‘Tis of Thee gave us a jumping off point to look at the Bible’s teachings about Christian citizenship.
- A Mighty Fortresshelped us understand spiritual warfare. Remember how we made Kevin into a living object lesson by dressing him in the “full armor of God?”
- I Must Tell Jesuswas a chance for us to review the principles of prayer.
- It Is Well With My Soul taught us a great deal about the unassailable peace we have as Christians—a peace we can experience no matter what comes in life.
- When we studied All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Namewe learned about the implications that come from the name God gave His only Son.
- And, Standing on the Promises allowed us to learn how best to study God’s promise book—the Bible.
So—in my opinion—these hymns have given us some great teaching opportunities. I don’t know about you—but I’ve learned a lot. I may do this again next summer!
Well, today we finish this summer’s series by looking at a hymn that provides us with yet another teaching opportunity—but I must warn you—our subject is not a popular one—even among Christians. You see, today—we are talking about STEWARDSHIP—as we look at Frances Havergal’s great hymn: Take My Life and Let it Be. I’ve chosen three Bible texts to frame our study: Malachi 3:10; 2nd Corinthians 9:6-8, and Romans 12:1. Listen as I read them to you.
Malachi 3:10 – “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”
2nd Corinthians 9:6 – “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
7 – Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
8 – And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”
Romans 12:1 – “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.”
We’ll look at Havergal’s hymn in a few minutes—but let’s begin by talking about WHY this particular subject—STEWARDSHIP—is so unpopular. And let’s be honest, it is unpopular—I imagine many of you flinched a bit, at least mentally, at even the mention of this topic. And, if you did—you are not alone. Most church members flinch whenever their pastors address this subject. I remember reading a sermon on stewardship a few years ago that was titled: “The Most Despised Doctrine in the Bible.” In his message that pastor pointed out that other doctrines may irritate us and convict us but no other subject causes us as much displeasure and resentment as does this one. And unfortunately, I would agree. I think most people would rather hear a sermon on HELL than a sermon on GIVING. By the way—don’t you think it’s interesting that MONEY is the most popular subject in the world when it is spoken of by laymen—but the most UNPOPULAR when spoken of by ministers? It’s our BEST CONVERSATION piece six days a week, but our most UNPOPULAR topic on the Lord’s day!
And—I can think of at least two REASONS this is so.
(1) First there is the sad fact that in the church the doctrine of stewardship has been so abused.
I mean, we can all come up with a long list of TV evangelists or pastors who focus an inordinate amount of their time asking for our money.
When I was in college the then popular evangelist Bob Harrington, a.k.a. “The Chaplain of Bourbon Street” came to town on a crusade. Here’s his picture. Who remembers him? I had heard Harrington’s testimony and had grown to admire him…so I worked with my peers at the Baptist Student Union on campus to spread the good news of his arrival to other college students. Pastors and staff in churches all over the area did the same thing working for many months to bring bus loads to hear the gospel proclaimed by Rev. Harrington. Well, the first night of the crusade I arrived early to get a good seat but when Harrington got up to speak, he spent 98% of his time asking for money for his ministry. He even spent about ten minutes challenging little children to reach into their pockets for change to put in the offering plate. He urged them to break their piggy banks and bring him the contents. Only the last couple sentences of his LENGTHY message had anything to do with the good news of the Gospel. I was disgusted and never went back to another service.
I remember tuning in to the “religious” channel on our cable box a few months ago and the hosts of the show that was on at the time seemed to literally DRIP materialism. The furniture was gaudily gold-plated. The women wore their hair up in expensive hairdos and sported jewelry on each finger….rings with stones the size of golf balls. The men were no better in their costly attire—and all this matched the central message of their program—a message that was two pronged. First, like Harrington, they asked for money…and second, they promised their viewers, that if they asked, God would bless them financially. The “stars” of this show repeatedly said that mature believers are always rewarded by God with big cars, big houses, big bank accounts, and good health to boot. Even a few minutes of their show sickened me.
Well, many of us have had nauseating experiences like this and so in our minds talking about money—well it seems like a tarnished subject that Godly preachers should avoid. But you know…if we were honest with ourselves…we would say that ANOTHER reason talking about this subject is so uncomfortable is because…
(2) …we love our money too much.
We are very FOND of our FUNDS…very attached to them…so—even TALKING about giving our money AWAY, can be a very PAINFUL experience. We’re like the man someone once described like this:
Once there was a Baptist. He had a very pious look.
He’d been totally immersed, except his pocketbook.He’d drop a nickel in the plate. And then with might and main…
He’d sing, “WHEN WE ASUNDER PART IT GIVES ME INWARD PAIN.”
Well—in spite of our bad experiences—and regardless of the affection we have for our funds—we MUST study this unpopular doctrine for several reasons—and here is the first:
(1) Stewardship is a BIBLICAL thing.
I mean, the subject of GIVING has a CENTRAL place in the teachings of the Bible. Did you know that in God’s written Word there are 1,565 references to GIVING or STEWARDSHIP?!
This made it very hard for me to limit my choice of texts for this mornings’ message because there are indeed SO many to pick from—and, if we took the time to read these passages…we would see that Jesus had more to say about stewardship and money than any other subject including Heaven, Hell, salvation, and His 2nd coming!
In His Word, God tells us how to save our money, how to spend our money, how to manage our money, how to give our money, how to avoid debt. He warns us that money can be a harmful thing in that it can lead us to sin. Our Creator says that money and possessions can even take on a life of it’s own and in essence become a “god” that we worship.
So—to use a financial term—in His Word God has DEPOSITED a vast WEALTH of information about the way we are to relate to our funds—which means we can’t completely teach the Bible…without addressing this issue. As Christians we can’t be “…thoroughly equipped for every good work…” if we avoid this doctrine.
In fact, I for one, consider STEWARDSHIP or GIVING to be a SPIRITUAL discipline.
Here’s why I say this. To BE a spiritual discipline a practice must do TWO things.
A. First of all, it must help us get the power to live life as JESUS would want us to.
You see, through the practice of certain disciplines or holy habits like Bible study, prayer, fasting, and worship, we learn to act and re-act and think in any situation as Jesus would. So, a spiritual discipline is something that makes us more like Jesus. And of course Jesus came to GIVE. He came into this fallen world not to RECEIVE but to EMPTY Himself. So when we learn to give of our time and talents—and especially our money—we are disciplining ourselves to become more Christlike. It has rightly been said that if you want to see how spiritual—how Godly—a person really is, ask to examine his or her checkbook. And this is so very true—the way we handle our money shows to a large degree how much progress we are making when it comes to being conformed to Jesus’ likeness. But to be a spiritual disciplines a practice must do a SECOND thing.
B. It must be a RELATIONSHIP BUILDER…in that it helps us to strengthen and deepen our friendship with God.
And the way we handle our money fits this requirement as well. I’ll say more about this in a moment—but the fact is, whenever we give—we learn to trust God. And the more we trust God—the more sacrificially we give—well, the deeper our relationship with Him grows. So GIVING—STEWARDSHIP—is indeed a spiritual discipline. Landrum Leavel once put it this way. He said, “Stewardship is the economic result of a spiritual experience.” And I would agree.
This leads me to mention a SECOND reason we must learn all we can about this unpopular topic.
(2) Stewardship is a FAITH thing.
You see, in His Word, over and over again God says that when we give to further His purposes, He will provide for our needs. In verse 8 of our text from Corinthians Paul says,
God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
Psalm 37:25 says,
I was young and now I am old but I have never seen the righteous forsaken or his seed beg for bread.
My favorite is in Matthew 6:31-33 where Jesus says,
“Do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or “What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
So, when we refuse to be obedient stewards we are saying in essence that…well, that we don’t trust God to do what He has said He will do in all these texts from His Word. We are choosing to trust ME to take care of ME instead of God.
Now…all of us struggle from time to time to allow God to be the source of our sufficiency. Our bank books DO show—very clearly—that it is often difficult for us to learn to trust God with our lives. But we must learn this lesson because God IS trustworthy. He WILL meet our needs…and more. And please note—these texts don’t include an exception in tough economic times. In other words, God’s Word doesn’t say, “Be sure to bring all the tithes into the storehouse except during recessions or economic downturns because you can’t trust God to meet your needs when times are tough.” No—the Bible says we can ALWAYS trust God to take care of us—and our GIVING is our way of stepping out in faith to embrace that belief.
When I graduated from seminary I went through my ordination council—like Kevin did a few months ago. There were about six pastors who grilled me with questions for about three hours. And I remember feeling pretty confident for the first two and a half hours. I answered all their doctrinal questions well for those first 150 minutes. I mean, I could tell by the expressions on their faces that they affirmed my responses. But then one of the pastors brought up this UNPOPULAR doctrine by asking, “Mark, do you believe in tithing?” And I naively and confidently replied, “Well, we’ve been in seminary these past three years living on two part time salaries—so we haven’t been able to afford to tithe but when I get a full-time church, we’re planning on starting.”
When I said this, it seemed as if all eight pastors audibly frowned. I could almost literally hear their brows wrinkle, and then, rather than ream me out, one of the pastors graciously reminded me that the Bible teaches that giving should not be based on our level of INCOME but rather our level of TRUST in God. He told me that in his experience, God had been trustworthy and went on to challenge me to tithe even when income was low…even when I couldn’t “afford” to. And ever since then Sue and I have tithed—and I will testify that God HAS been trustworthy. We have never wanted for more. God has always provided for our needs and so much more. I agree with R. G. LeTourneau, who once said, “I shovel out and God shovels in but God’s shovel is always bigger.” This reminds me of God’s promise in our text from Malachi 3 where He says that if we “Bring all the tithes in the storehouse…” He will, “…throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that we will not have room enough for it.” Now…we should never GIVE to GET. I’m not proclaiming a health/wealth gospel here. I’m just saying that we can trust that as we give, God will meet our needs and He is better equipped to do this than we are on so many levels!
You know, three years ago Sue and I decided to refinance our house so that we could give to the Crossing Campaign. Like so many of you, we wanted to make a substantial gift to get the ROC built. Now—in many ways doing this made no financial sense because we had one daughter in college and another about to start. But, as I said, we wanted to be a part of the building of the ROC and so we trusted God and gave money that many would have said we should have saved for tuition. Well, God has been FAITHFUL to meet our needs. Sarah will graduate next year—and it appears that, just like her brother, she will do so debt free. Plus—this year Wheaton College gave Becca a grant that exceeded our gift to the Crossing Campaign. I mean, we gave—and God gave back. He met our tuition needs and more—His “shovel” is indeed BIGGER!
So, remember this: GIVING—TITHING—STEWARDSHIP is a FAITH thing. It’s professing our faith that God is Who He says He is—and will do what He says He will do. Landrum Leavell puts it this way:“If a man says he belongs to Jesus but holds on to his possessions, he has denied his profession of faith.” I like that because the high road of Christian stewardship is the road of FAITH, not SIGHT. Biblical giving is not doing just what we SEE can be accomplished, but doing what we believe can accomplish with the resources of Heaven and the power of God.
I don’t want to step on any toes this morning but I think that many believers are in financial trouble—because they have never learned to embrace this despised doctrine. They have never learned to TRUST God with their money. They have never invited Him to be Lord of their bank account.
I’m reminded of the story of two lumberjacks who decided to paddle across the lake to a tavern one Saturday night. They paddled their canoe all the way across the huge lake, tied it to the shore, and went up to the tavern. Before the evening was spent they got roaring drunk. They eventually made their way back to the canoe and were going to row across the lake and go back to camp. They got in the boat and paddled and paddled and paddled until they were both exhausted. They looked around and saw, to their dismay, that they had never even gotten away from the shore. They were exhausted, no strength left, so they plopped down and fell asleep in the boat. When they were awakened the next morning by the rising sun, they discovered the problem. They had never untied the boat from the dock.
Now, that’s like a couple of drunks, isn’t it? That’s what you would expect from that mentality. You would expect a couple men whose brains are saturated with booze to try to paddle across the lake with their boat still tied to the dock. Well, this kind of foolishness is not just seen in those who are inebriated. I know thousands of Christians who act the same way. Every month they fight the battle of the budget and lose. They just can’t make ends meet. They can’t get anywhere financially. There is too much month left over when the money runs out. They are always exhausted financially. Why is that so? Why can’t they keep their heads above the water? Why can’t they make any financial headway? It’s because “they haven’t untied the canoe!” They’ve never “let go of the dock.” They’ve never turned their personal finances over to God. They’ve never professed their faith in Christ to do what He says He will do.
Let me suggest something to you. If you’ve never tithed—and trust me—I have no idea who gives what around here. Whether you tithe or not is none of my business. It’s between you and God. But listen—if you’ve never trusted God to meet your needs…give it a shot. Try it. Maybe 10% is too much for you—and that’s okay. Start at 2% or 5%—but start at a level that requires you personally to trust God—and watch what He does. If He is faithful—and He will be—then gradually increase your giving to a full tithe. But give it a shot! See what God does when you trust Him. Experience the size of God’s shovel!
To drive this home, let’s read God’s promise in Malachi 3? Read aloud with me:
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”
So, we must study giving because it is a Biblical thing…it is a FAITH thing…and here’s a third reason.
(3) Stewardship is an INVESTMENT thing.
You see, we can spend our money and our time in two ways—it can go for things that DON’T last—or for things that DO. And—even someone as ignorant as I am when it comes to stocks and investments knows that it’s foolish to invest in the former instead of the latter. Wise people—good stewards—will invest their money—in things that last the longest. This is what Paul is getting at in 1st Timothy 6:17-19 when he says,
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, Who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
If we are wise when it comes to our funds—if we are to be “right” on the money—we will invest in ETERNAL things. We’ll give to and do things that further God’s kingdom.
You know, when Daniel was in college at Grove City and we went to visit him we would try to stay in the Holiday Inn Express—but when it was full we’d stay in the BUDGET 8 motel. And I have to say, it was the cheapest motel I’ve ever stayed in—and we got what we paid for. The beds were hard—the furniture was sparse—the towels were small—and in each room they had two copies of the same picture—one identical print hanging over each bed. They must have got a bulk rate deal! They had an indoor pool—but it wasn’t too much bigger than my bathtub.The “continental breakfast” in the lobby included a couple slices of white bread, a toaster, and some weak orange juice. Well, to borrow an idea from John Ortberg, let’s say you’re going to the Budget 8 for a few days to visit your kid at college. How wise would it be for you to take all your money and use it to decorate that room? Would you clean out your bank account to purchase expensive paintings to hang on the walls (different ones above each bed)…and to have select comfort beds installed? Would you buy a 60 inch LCD HIGH DEF TV and have it mounted on the wall in your room? Knowing you would be there only a few days—would you invest in a surround sound system? How financially savvy would you be if you used your money to build a nice restaurant in the lobby—one that served Denny’s grand slam breakfasts during your stay? Well—of course that would be foolish because that motel room is not your home. You’re only going to be there a little while—and of course that’s the way it is with this life. The view we get in the mirror each morning underscores the fact that we live in this world only a very brief time…we are just passing through…so it’s silly to invest our money “decorating” this temporary world with temporary things. We must focus on ETERNAL things—things that further GOD’S kingdom!
This week we saw a news clip on a Mr. McCaffee—the man who invented McCaffee antivirus and instant messaging. Not too long ago, he WAS a very wealthy man—worth over a 100 million dollars—but in this economy he lost nearly everything. The clip showed an auction where his multi-million dollar homes were sold for a fraction of their price. His priceless art collection and furniture went in the same way. Here’s his picture and three of his six mansions that were sold at auction. Well, McCaffee would tell you that millions don’t last—nor do the things millions buy…so it is foolish to invest in them. It’s silly to make temporary pleasures your priority.
Well, we must study what the Bible says about stewardship because it teaches us to invest in the things of God—the things that moth and rust do not corrupt and thieves do not break in and steal.
Here’s one final thing we must learn about this unpopular subject.
(4) Stewardship is a TOTAL LIFE thing.
I mean, for the Christian, stewardship is MUCH more than your money—it is a doctrine that includes everything you are and have—every moment of every single day. And here’s where this morning’s hymn comes in. As I said, it’s author was Frances Havergal. Here’s her picture. At age 36 she testified that she had served the Lord for years…or rather THOUGHT she had…but she said she felt that something was missing in her Christian experience. Then one day in 1873, she received a little book called, All For Jesus, a book that stressed the importance of making Christ the King of every corner and cubicle of one’s life. After reading that book, she became a TRUE steward by making a fresh and COMPLETE consecration of herself to Jesus. Years later, when asked about this she said, “It was on Advent Sunday, December 2, 1873, when I first saw clearly the blessedness of true consecration. I saw it as a flash of electric light, and what you see you can never un-see. There must be full surrender before there can be full blessedness.”
This experience inspired her to write the words of our hymn—and it stresses the fact that to a good steward is a COMPLETE steward. We must give EVERYTHING to God. For example, Mrs. Havergal had a beautiful voice and frequently sang with the Philharmonic, but she realized that she must give her voice completely to Jesus and wrote, “Take my voice and let me sing, always only for my King.” From then on, she gave up secular concerts and devoted her singing exclusively to God. Havergal was also a very wealthy woman with lots of expensive jewelry but felt that should be given to God and wrote the verse that says, “Take my sliver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold.” She donated it all to missions and wrote a friend saying, “I never packed a box with such pleasure.”
Look at the words with me and see how COMPLETE Havergal realized Biblical stewardship really is.
Take my HANDS and let them move at the impulse of Thy love.
Take my FEET and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.
Take my WILL and make it THINE. It shall be no longer mine.
Take my LOVE, my God I pour at Thy feet its treasure store.
Take my SELF and I will be ever, only ALL for Thee.
Obviously Havergal understood that stewardship is more than what is in your bank accounts…it includes everything. Quoting Landrum Leavell once again,
Jesus doesn’t just want us in bits and pieces, cut up and divided and separated one part from the other. He doesn’t just want your emotions. He wants you mind. He doesn’t just want your hands; he wants your eyes. He doesn’t just want your time; He wants your treasure. He wants all you have and are and that’s what it means to be a Christian.
You know about a half hour ago our ushers came forward and passed plates around this room and we put our monetary gifts in them and we called that time “THE OFFERING.” But I think it would be more accurate to call that time “AN offering” because it is not the only time we give to God in worship. In fact, right now…at the end of this service is another time of giving. Because it is in these moments that we give God our lives. Well, this morning is God calling you to participate in this “OFFERING?” Is there part of your life—it could be the way you use your hands—your career…or the way you use your feet—the places you use them to go…or the way you use your MONEY…or the things you love—your affections…but is there part of your life that you need to GIVE to GOD? Is there some way you need to say to God right now, “…not my will but THINE be done?” If so, then bow your head as we sing—and pray as Frances Havergal did. Participate in this time of offering by GIVING it to God. Most importantly, is God knocking on your heart’s door…..asking you to invite Him in….if so, then I urge you to let Him in….today make your public profession of faith in Jesus. Give your life to Him today. Come to the altar and pray—come and ask to join this church but come now as God leads.
BENEDICTION:
Let the PEACE OF CHRIST rule in your hearts
since as members of one body you were called to peace.
Let the WORD OF CHRIST dwell in you richly
and whatever you do…in word or in deed
Do it all in the NAME OF CHRIST giving thanks to God the Father
through Him.