Sermons from Moorpark Presbyterian Church

Love that Opens Wallets

by Dave Wilkinson

Romans 12:13

October 31, 1999

You may know the man who was thrown from his car in a traffic accident. When a paramedic approached the bleeding man, lying in the road, the victim was moaning, "Ohhh, my BMW, my BMW!" "Forget your car," the paramedic told the man. "We can’t find your left arm!" The man, horrified, looked to his left side and moaned again, "Ohhh, my Rolex, my Rolex!"

We certainly can become prisoners of all our "stuff." We are certainly encouraged this way by those who want to sell us even more stuff.

A recent Toyota ad shows a 25 year old guy sitting in a lotus position, his hands curled in meditation. He is sitting on his shiny new Toyota truck. Behind him is a boat, a jet ski, a surf board and other assorted toys. The caption read: "In order to be one with everything, you have to have one of everything."

That’s the message we are handed. And it is a message, Jesus warned, that can bring about our gradual death.

Two flies were walking by a piece of flypaper called, appropriately, "Tanglefoot.

The young fly said to the older one, "What do you think of this stuff called Tanglefoot?"

"I’m opposed to it," the older said?

"Why? What’s the matter? It is poisonous?"

"Not a bit."

"Is it bitter?"

"No, it’s rather sweet."

"Then what are your objections?"

About that time a friend of their’s settled downright in the middle of the flypaper. "My flypaper," he said proudly.

But the flypaper said, "My fly."

And the older fly said, "Ah, he is possessed by his possessions."

Now I am not that concerned about flies. But one of the great concerns of my life is what will happen to the rabbits that live under my office when the modular buildings are moved. I have found myself thinking about Scot Adam’s Watership Down.

If you’ve read Watership Down, you remember that it is the story of a group of rabbits. Their warren is going to be destroyed by a bulldozer, and a subdivision is going to be built where they live. So we have a little rabbit who's like Moses who's going to lead them to this place called Watership Down a rabbit promised land. The novel is the story of the pilgrimage of these little rabbits.

At one point our little wild rabbits come to a hole in a fence, go through, and find rabbits like they've never seen before. These rabbits are bigger than they are. They're fatter. They have longer hair. They look very happy. They never seem to forage for food. They never work. So our little rabbits move in with them and begin to discuss life. They say, "What do you eat? You don't forage." They say, "We eat pellets. If you come out of your hole, you'll find a little ceramic dish, and in that dish are pellets. You just eat the pellets and chew your cud. It's a marvelous life. You grow fatter and your hair grows longer." So our little wild rabbits don't take long to get into the rhythm of this thing. They eat pellets and they grow heavier, and this is a marvelous place to live.

But then one day our little Moses rabbit notices that the biggest, fattest, longest-haired rabbit is gone. And he says, "Where has old Fuzzy gone?" Folks say, "We don't know. Every once in a while one of us disappears, but we don't ask questions about it. They just are gone."

Our little rabbit is not quite as domesticated. He goes out and finds a place where there's a twig bent over to the ground. Hanging from the twig is a wire with kind of a little lasso on it. He studies it for a while and eventually kicks some grass into it. As soon as he kicks grass into it, it sets off the snare, and the snare pulls the grass and it's hanging up like this. He becomes almost sick to his stomach because, in his mind, he can see old Fuzzy hanging there and realizes that Fuzzy is now in some farmer's rabbit stew. So he goes to the other rabbits and says, "Don't you understand what happens when a rabbit disappears?" And they say, "We don't like to think about it. We just eat our pellets."

We live in a society that lives something like that. We don’t like to think about it. We buy our SUVs and our bowling balls and our carpet and don't think about it. Many people in our society have the mistaken belief that happiness on any scale is something you can acquire. If I could just have a nicer car, or a nicer house, then I would be happy. That is an illusion.

If you doubt that, you need only consider the story of Maya Angelou's Aunt Tee, a woman who worked 30 years as a live-in housekeeper. At one point Aunt Tee lived with an Anglo couple in Bel-Air. On Saturday’s she would cook pigs' feet, greens and fried chicken, then invite some of her friends over for the evening. The chauffeur and the other housekeeper and her husband would come to eat, drink, dance, laugh and play cards. One night the rich couple knocked on her door. They apologized for disturbing her, then got right to the point. Every Saturday night, they heard the joy and laughter coming from their housekeeper's quarters, and they wanted to be part of it. Would she please leave her door ajar so they could not only hear the joy, but see it, experience it, feel it -- the warmth and happiness that their 14-room house, three cars, swimming pool and who knows how much money could never buy them.

I am so glad that the church of Jesus Christ exists in the middle of a "have it all" culture remind me there's a me of me, a soul of souls. There's something about me that shall live for all of eternity. There's a God in heaven, and I must please him and have a way to overcome my sin and know Him.

Let me share with you a personal confession. I want to be popular. Deep inside me is a craving for acceptance. And with that comes a deep desire to say things that will make people like me.

On the other hand, I struggle with the fact that if I am going to be honest and faithful to the Scriptures, I must say things that will make me unpopular with some. I must articulate truths that at first may seem old fashioned. But actually, when applied, they will prove to be very much appropriate for today.

I wish that I could, in good conscience, preach an easy Gospel -- one without any demands. It would be pleasant to never have to mention an"ought to" or a "shouldn't" from this pulpit.

But let me share with you another confession which is more pleasant. I've discovered that when I have been honest and shared some of the disciplines, some of the tougher aspects of the Christian life, and when people take them seriously, applying them in obedience, they are set free to a liberation and an exhilaration in life-style they've never experienced before. God never prescribes anything for His people, no matter how difficult, that does not lead ultimately to joy and blessing.

There are no shortcuts to successful Christian living. But when you expose yourself to the total teachings of God's Word and endeavor, with the strength of the Holy Spirit to be obedient, exciting things happen.

If you were listening closely to the passages of Scripture that were read today you might feel that this is going to be one of those sermons where you are going to get told what you ought to do. Well, if that is your feeling, I would ask you to go to prayer right now and pray that that is not what would happen. That is not the intent of the message this morning. The message is really how can we as the people of a God who truly is love and who desires to pour all that He is and all that He has into us, how can we as a people permit Him to do that in Our lives? Or how can we prevent Him from doing that in our lives and what can we do about it.'

Now I realize that when we talk about giving, especially when we are talking about giving around stewardship time, everyone gets a little nervous. Because we have all heard so many of those appeals that try to drive us to give out of guilt or some other misguided motive.

I'm not preaching today because there are financial problems in the church or because this is what I’m supposed to do once a year, to remind everybody what to do with their money.

I am aware of the budget needs for 2,000. I am aware of the great and exciting opportunities that are before us. I have a bad memory of what happened the year after we moved into this Fellowship Hall. Giving to the building fund went way down to the point that we weren’t able to even meet our debt payments. Giving to make a building happen is always more interesting than paying for what your already have. But, unlike today, we entered into a time of economic recession. Still, we certainly can’t afford to let that happen again.

The particulars of the finances are in the letters that are being sent out. I am up here this morning because I believe God wants me to share about His Word. He wants me to share that in His Word there are principles that if we choose to live by them, will permit Him to give the full measure of blessings that He desires to give us.

In Romans 12:13 Paul writes that we are called to contribute to the needs of the saints. He says that contributing to the needs of the saints is an action, not of fear or of guilt, but of love. Everything in this part of Romans is described as an action of love. We have a mission — not to pull into ourselves for love doesn’t do this — but to give. That’s what love does. It is possible to give without loving. But it is not possible to love without giving.

Our care for brothers and sisters in Christ should reach down right into our wallets and purses and cost us. Paul presents this as a privilege rather than a sacrifice. Love's care is natural and right and joyful! When Christ's Church is living in love, the needs of its people are met through sharing and caring.

Is this something you experience in your giving? Is it a place of joy? If not, there may be a reason. You may have stopped up the natural, replenishing flow, that God wants to move in and through your life.

A man named John Sanford paints a picture of this in his description of an old well that stood outside the front door of a family farmhouse in New Hampshire. The water from the well was remarkably pure and cold. No matter how hot the summer or how severe the drought, the well was always a source of refreshment and .joy. The faithful old well was a big part of his memories of summer vacations at the farmhouse.

The years passed and eventually the farmhouse was modernized. Wiring brought electric lights, and indoor plumbing brought hot and cold running water. The old well was no longer needed, so it was sealed for use in possible future emergencies.

But one day, years later, Sanford had a hankering for the cold, pure water of his youth. So he unsealed the well and lowered a bucket for a nostalgic taste of the delightful refreshment he remembered. He was shocked to discover that the well that once had survived the severest droughts was bone dry! Perplexed, he began to ask questions of the locals who knew about these kinds of things. He learned that wells of that sort were fed by hundreds of tiny underground rivulets which seep a steady flow of water. As long as the water is drawn out of the well, new water will flow in through the rivulets, keeping them open for more to flow. But when the water stops flowing, the rivulets clog with mud and close up. The well dried up not because it was used too much, but because it wasn't used enough! The inflow was stopped because the outflow was ended.

Sanford observed that our souls are like that well. If we do not draw on the living water that Jesus promised would well up in us, like a spring (John 7:38) and flow through us to others, our hearts close and dry up. The consequence for not allowing God to flow through is to eventually lose the ability to receive. The only cure is to make a conscious effort to do the pick and shovel work we need to reopen the lines of replenishment from God -- and then keep them open by our giving.

And when we do this, God will meet us with ample blessing. We cannot out give God. God promises that the purpose of our giving is not to make us poor but to open our hands so he can fill them to overflowing.

Now I am frankly a little embarrassed by this biblical principle. It has been badly abused by some health and wealth churches in recent years. But it is still a promise -- Malachi 3: 10: "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and test me now in this' says the Lord of Hosts, ' if I will not open for you the floodgates of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows."

Do you know what a floodgate is? It is the gate at the top of a dam where water is released to keep the dam from breaking during heavy rain. Before moving here to Moorpark we lived about five miles downstream from the great Oroville Dam. One wet year the lake was rising so fast that the floodgates were opened wide and 185,000 cubic feet of water per second were released. You could see the plume of spray for miles.

That's what God wants to do for us -- open the floodgate of his blessing.

I don't preach about stewardship to raise funds. I am concerned for your personal growth. And I know from Jesus that getting a right attitude toward money is the key to getting a right attitude toward a lot of other things. I also know that ever since we, as a family, began to give according to the biblical ten percent, the tithe, our finances have improved. If you do not tithe I urge you to take God at His word. God tells you to put Him to the test. "See if I will not open for you the floodgates of heaven."

Some of you have worked hard at this ministry for a long time. After being here thirteen years, I am sometimes reminded of a story from the Civil War how during his Valley Campaign Stonewall Jackson was pushing his Confederates north to outflank a Union force. As one weary, wounded confederate passed by, Jackson boomed: "Think you'll make it, soldier?" "Reckon I' ll make it" he answered. "But ah hope to God ah never love another country.",

Ministry feels that way sometimes. Its not always glorious. Helping in the nursery doesn't feel glorious -- until you see that you are freeing up a young couple to have a life changing encounter in worship. Washing windows on the new building next Saturday won't make the front page of Time Magazine. But it is essential for communicating to the community our belief that God deserves the best we have to give. It isn't always smooth sledding. But it is going somewhere worth going.

Others have been here just a few years. Realize that this church didn’t just happen. It came as a result of giving and serving. You are the beneficiaries of other people's stewardship.

A man was watching his ninety year old neighbor plant a small peach tree. He asked: "you don't expect to eat peaches from that tree, do you?" The old man rested on his spade. He said, "no, at my age I know I may not. But all my life I've enjoyed peaches -- never from a tree I planted myself. I’m just trying to pay back the other fellows who planted the trees for me."

Let me encourage you who are newer to the church to plant your own trees -- not just for the benefit of others — not just for the future -- but for your own spiritual growth. Jesus puts the issue plainly. He said, "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." In other words, our hearts tend to follow our money. This means that if you don't give, your lack of giving will shape your heart attitudes and create discord in your relationship to your brothers and sisters in Christ. You will begin to mask guilt by trying to justify yourself through finding flaws and blowing them up in your mind. Jesus wants to save you from that. He wants you to experience joy in your relationships in His church and part of that joy comes out of serving and giving.

The pledge card that comes in the mail this week comes as an appeal to your life and to mine. They are a way for us to fulfill the biblical mandate in Hebrews 10 to "encourage one another."

Some years ago I told how the Plains Indians of the American West engaged in constant inter-tribal warfare. The Crows and the Pawnees fought the Sioux and Cheyenne while the Comanches fought everyone. Often, when a tribe had experienced a series of setbacks, a leading warrior would announce that he intended to "stake himself" at the next battle. He would take a wooden stake and attach it to his waist with a long rawhide cord. When he arrived at the battleground he would take the stake and drive it into the ground as a pledge that he would not retreat. This public promise encouraged the other warriors to fight more bravely and to see the battle through to the end.

When we bring our pledges next Sunday and place them on the communion table, we are doing the same thing. We are saying to our Lord and to our brothers and sisters in faith beside us, "I have a commitment here. You can count on me. I am not going to retreat."