Wealth & Possessions (6) This is probably the last sermon in my series on money and possessions and it’s in response to a question that somebody posed to me. The question is: should we make provision for the future, or should we just trust God? That leads onto other questions: Is making provision (by saving and investing) showing a lack of faith? How far should we think ahead – next week, next month, or far into the future? Is it wrong to save for your child’s education, or for your retirement? How do you tell the difference between prudent stewardship and storing up treasures on earth? This is one area where you have to be especially careful not to lift a verse or a story from the Bible out of its context and make it a hard and fast rule for your life. Before you make a “rule for living”, you have to check the context of the Scriptures that you are using – what did they mean to the original hearers? What is the particular set of circumstances? When you know the answer to this, it is easier to work out how to apply the Scriptures today. Then when you’ve come up with an application, you need to test it against the rest of Scripture. Ask yourself – is this “rule for life” that I’ve come up with consistent with the Bible as a whole. So in Luke chapter 9, we have Jesus sending out His Apostles with power and authority, to preach and heal and cast out demons and He says: “Take nothing for the journey-- no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic.” In other words, they were expected to live by faith, making no provision for the journey. Now, before we make this a general rule for life, let’s check the context. The context is an event early on in Jesus’ ministry. It is a training session for His new Apostles. Jesus has been teaching and healing and casting out demons and now it’s time for His young apprentices to learn to do the same. In Matthew’s account, it is clear that on this occasion, they are to go to “the lost sheep of Israel” – fellow Jews (not Gentiles or Samaritans). In this particular training session, they are being taught to trust God for their material needs. So the context is quite specific – it is a missionary campaign for a certain duration of time. We cannot therefore readily apply Jesus’ instructions in this context into everyday life without some more evidence. Let’s keep looking. In chapter 10, Jesus sends out another 72 disciples and gives similar instructions . He says: “Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.” Again, these disciples had to live by faith, without making provision. But we wouldn’t want to make the instruction to “not greet anyone on the road” a general rule for life, so we’re not quite ready to stop making provision just yet. Let’s keep digging. In chapter 22, we’re getting near to the crucifixion, and Jesus is talking to His disciples and reflecting back on their time together and in verse 35 He says: “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?" "Nothing," they answered. He said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.” So what’s changed? Why did they have to live by faith earlier on and now make provision? The most likely reason is that circumstances have changed. When they were going to their fellow Jews, there was a good chance of being looked after. But now, they have to go to Samaritans and Gentiles and even their Jewish friends would begin to turn on them. The net result is that they would have a more hostile reception on future missionary journeys and so they would have to make provision. Incidentally, the sword was probably a short dagger, the kind that travellers took with them to ward off wild animals and defend themselves against robbers. Things were going to get more difficult for them – they might have to stay off the main routes and so they needed to be prepared. So how should we apply these passages? I believe there is a place for faith-based ministry in the church. It is a minority calling today and it may be for a period of time rather than your whole life. In its purest form, those involved in this kind of ministry do not publicise themselves, they don’t send out prayer letters with bank account details, they don’t have fundraising events. They don’t ring up people and ask can they stay with them. They only talk to one person about their material needs and that’s God. And assuming God has indeed called them to this ministry, He provides in miraculous ways – envelopes of cash are shoved through the letterbox, boxes of food appear on doorsteps. They speak to God and God speaks to their supporters. As I said, this is a minority calling. It is one form of ministry and certainly not the only one. Many missionaries are sponsored by their churches. Many Christian workers are salaried employees – myself included! And even
though material needs are provided for regularly, there are plenty of other things a supported Christian worker has to rely on God for. We can’t all give up our jobs and expect God to supply all our needs, because somebody has to pick up the tab! Many Christian ministries are supported by Christian businessmen. If all those businessmen gave up their jobs and became faith-based missionaries, then they wouldn’t be able to support those ministries! The Rank Trust, for example, recently gave £50,000 towards the Kilkenny Christian Café Project. The trust originated with Joseph Rank, a devout Methodist businessman. Within the whole body of Christ, there are a variety of different callings and functions and the trick is to discover your place and your calling. So what does the rest of the Bible have to say about making provision? In the book of Genesis, Joseph had to organise the storing of grain from 7 years of abundance in order to make provision for 7 years of famine. In Exodus, when the Hebrews left Egypt, they took provisions of silver and gold and clothing. When the Manna fell from heaven, it was a daily provision – except they had to gather twice as much on Friday to make provision for the Sabbath, because no Manna fell on the Sabbath. Before the Tabernacle was built, everything that was needed was gathered together to make provision for it – they didn’t just start and hope for the best. The same happened with the Temple. In the land of Israel, agriculture was the primary industry and so things happened in line with the seasons. When the Harvest came in, it had to last until the next one. The people had to make provision for the year ahead. It would have been foolish to cash in all your grain, spend the money and expect God to provide for the rest of the year! In Proverbs, making provision is described as being wise whereas not making provision is considered both foolish and lazy. Prov 21:20 In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has. Prov 6:6-8 (this was in our reading earlier) Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. Now remember, Proverbs are generally true but there are exceptions, like the faith based ministry mentioned earlier, bit for most of us, making provision is part of everyday life – it doesn’t necessarily mean a lack of faith in God. In Luke 14, Jesus was making a point about the cost of discipleship and he uses an illustration about a tower. He says: Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' Now the main point was about not entering into discipleship lightly, but the illustration about the tower is a valid one also. When I was in Ghana, I saw large numbers of unfinished buildings and that’s because people just start construction, without having the finance in place and it can take years of stopping and starting before the thing is finally finished – if ever! A friend of mine is a strong Christian, an ordained minister (not in Methodist church), more of a wandering preacher, gifted in the prophetic. He loves studying and is always broke. To try and make money without doing too much work, he gets involved in various business schemes and on one occasion he managed to set up a company and sell shares for £100,000 which only cost him £20. However, he then went on to spend that money on various things. He set up another company which cost a lot of money in patents and so forth but it went nowhere. He was also very generous and gave away large amounts, however, by the end of the year, it was all gone and he had no money left to pay for his capital gains tax on the sale of the shares. He was depending on God making his companies successful and generating income but they didn’t make a penny. He then had to go back to his investors and ask them for loans so he could pay his rent and support himself and his wife. So what happened? He was being generous, he was trusting God, why didn’t God provide? The answer is of course, that God did provide. God provided £100,000, which could have seen him through for at least 5 years. It was a long-term provision, but he mistook it for a short-term provision. I remember praying for this man and the Word that I got was that he was playing fast and loose with the Lord’s money. It’s a very sad story but it’s true.
And I think the lesson is, that when you receive an amount of money, whether it’s an inheritance or the proceeds of a business transaction, or a monthly salary cheque, you treat it as God’s provision but you also have to discern how long that provision is intended for, and what it is intended for before you use it. If God gave it you for food for a month and you spend it on a mobile phone, then you can’t say that God let you go hungry! The chances are, that when you receive an amount of money, some of it is for now, and some of it is for later, and some of it is for much later! So unless you are in a faith based ministry, or have a clear Word form the Lord not to plan financially for something in advance, the general rule is to think ahead and make provision. When you think about it, we all have a choice – either we’re going to go through life earning interest on money or paying interest on money. In the book of Deuteronomy, God puts a choice before the people– blessings or curses, prosperity or ruin. God made it clear that if they want to live prosperously in the land, all they have to do is follow His laws. Let me read a couple of verses from this vision of prosperity. Deut 28:11-12 The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity-- in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground-- in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you. The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. Look at the last line again. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. A sign of a prosperous person is that they lend money instead of borrowing it. This is not prosperity teaching by the way, this is just mathematics! When you lend money, you earn interest and when you borrow it, you pay interest. When you put your money in a savings account, for example, you are effectively lending it to the bank. Conversely, when you buy something on credit, you’re borrowing from the bank. Now I was an Actuary and I know exactly how this works, but that doesn’t mean I always followed it! Just like many doctors are aware of all the risks and still smoke, many Actuaries get themselves into debt unnecessarily. I told you the other week about the time I bought a car for my 30th birthday. I had to borrow £8,000 and I paid it back over 2 years. Now, I was earning a good salary, why did I have to borrow it in the first place? I didn’t have a mortgage, I wasn’t living an extravagant lifestyle, I wasn’t storing up treasures on earth – so where did the money go? I didn’t have any savings because I thought the only truly Christian things to do with spare money was to give it away to the church and to charities. So on the face of it, I was doing all the right things, so why did God not provide me with a car when I needed one? Why was I forced to borrow money to replace my aging car? Where was God’s provision? Of course, God did provide in the sense that I had a good salary and could afford the repayments, but looking back, that was a second best option. I didn’t use my salary wisely. Where I went wrong was I failed to make provision for a new car ahead of the time. I knew the old one would last about 5 years and then need replacing, so if I had saved up for it starting 2 years before, I would only have had to put aside £7,600 and the interest would have brought it up to £8,000 and I could have bought it for cash. But instead, I ended up paying almost £9,000 because of the interest on my loan. That’s a difference of £1,400. That’s the difference between earning interest and paying interest. It’s the difference between being a lender and being a borrower. Despite my good intentions, if I had managed God’s provision better, I could have been £1,400 more generous over that period of time instead of just making a bank richer. £1,400 can do a lot of good – for example, you could sponsor a child for 5 or 6 years with that kind of money. So you see how not making provision can seem like the spiritual things to do, but in the end it can be unwise. Of course, some people make too much provision and this is where it gets unbalanced. I was watching Judge Judy the other day and she asked the complainant what she did for a living and the lady said that she didn’t have a job, she had a lifetime trust from her parents. Judge Judy wasn’t impressed. She said “honey, your parents did you a disservice”. I’m sure her parents set up that trust with the best of intentions, but the result was that this woman didn’t have to work and therefore had too much time on her hands and no focus in life except picking arguments with the other people in her apartment block and taking them to court. Another extreme is making provision at the expense of your other commitments. Remember the chart I showed you before? 5% to the poor, 10% to the church, 10% on Holidays and special events? You might become so concerned about what might happen in the future, that you make all
kinds of provision for every eventuality but then there’s nothing left to give the church or the poor. If you’re going to make provision, then don’t do it at the expense of your church or at the expense of the poor. Most Christian Debt Agencies advise saving 10% of your income as a good rule of thumb. You might say I can’t afford to save 10%, but the fact is, if you don’t, you’ll end up paying 12% or 13% on borrowing repayments! Then there’s the question of your retirement. The state pension is currently about €10,000 a year. If you’re used to having the average industrial wage of €30,000 or so, then that will be quite a cut in income and you could find yourself in financial difficulty, possibly even dependant on your children or your relations. Friends of mine in Dun Laoghaire told me once about an Aunt of theirs who had made no provision for her retirement because she just gave everything she had away. In the end, they had to pay for her Nursing Home. God provided, but again, it was a second best or even a third best option. Somebody else had to pick up the tab! As to how much you should put away for a pension, if you’re lucky enough to be part of a company pension scheme, then you’ll probably have to contribute 5% of your income or so and the company will pay about 10% on your behalf. If you’re self employed, and you want a half decent pension, then you’ll have to put aside about 15% of your income, so let’s say 10% on average towards your retirement (this might of course be an investment property rather than a traditional pension). For someone who’s not yet retired, our chart then looks something like this:
Giving to the poor Giving to the Church Holidays & Special Events Saving Pension 5% 10% 10% 10% 10%
Day to Day Expenditure
55%
The figures will vary depending on your circumstances but my suggestion to you is that you should take the time to sit down and do the figures for your situation – produce a household budget and manage your finances. Personally, I produced a budget for the new year for the first time ever. And we’ve been amazed at how things have turned around for us financially in just one month. Our credit card bill is half of what it usually is, we’ve saved over €500 and we haven’t starved – we’ve still been able to afford a few treats. The whole process has actually been liberating. We know where the money is going, we’re saving for our Summer holiday instead of just putting on the credit card when it happens. We have 2 cars that will eventually need replacing, so this time, we’re going to do it right – we’re going to save up ahead of time instead of borrowing when the need arises. At this stage, you might be saying – Mark this is all getting very complicated – can’t I just struggle on like I’ve been doing all these years – sure the Lord will provide, I’ll be ok? It’s true, you will survive, but you run the risk of struggling and worrying and being a burden instead of a blessing. If you take what I’m saying seriously and put it into practice, I promise you that you will have more money available to you and so you will always be in a position to be generous. You will also have more peace of mind because you won’t have to worry so much about money and you will have more peace in your household – let me quote a few lines from an article I read on this subject:
Money causes more arguments between couples than any other family problem and is a major cause of divorce today. Many couples lack knowledge of basic financial management. Consumers are using credit cards to maintain their lifestyle. Few save on a regular basis and many lack an emergency fund. Partners may have different attitudes about handling money. To avoid arguments about money, family members need to develop good communication skills and financial management strategies.
There is a theme running through the Bible – the more that is given to you, the more that is expected of you. For example, gifted people have a greater responsibility to use their gifts in the service of others and for God’s glory. And likewise, the rich have a greater responsibility to use their money in the service of others and for God’s glory. Folks, in world terms, we are the rich. I’ve explained this before. The average industrial wage puts you in the top 5% of world incomes, allowing for purchasing power. Even if you’re wholly reliant on Social Welfare in Ireland, you’re in the top 15% of world incomes. We have been given much and so much is expected of us. It’s not enough to say “I don’t know how to manage money, so I won’t bother”. If you don’t know how to manage money, ask someone who does know, read books about it. When we brought Hannah back from the hospital, we didn’t know much about looking after a baby, but we didn’t just make it up as we went along – we got advice from others, we read books, we took our responsibility seriously. And so my contention is that this whole area of managing your finances is extremely important – it’s an area in which you can really honour God on a daily basis and it can be a tremendous source of blessing to you, to your family and to those who you will be privileged to bless financially throughout the rest of your life. [If you want help – I’m available] Let’s pray. Father we thank you for the riches that you’ve given us but we know that with great riches comes great responsibility, and so we ask for the knowledge and determination to manage our finances wisely, so that we can provide for ourselves and at the same time be rich in good deeds, generous on every occasion and more than willing to share, for we pray in Jesus name. Amen.