Sermons from Moorpark Presbyterian Church

What Do You Value?

by Dave Wilkinson

Matthew 6:19-21

October 29, 2000

I have to confess that I lost it on the phone a few months ago. It was dinner time when the phone rang. But, as a conscientious pastor, I answered the call. I mean, it could have been one of you.

It wasn't. It was a person I had heard from at least once a week for several months either at home and at the office: "May I speak to the person who is in charge of making decisions on long distance service?"

Something snapped. I raised my voice a few decibels and replied, "No one seems to be in charge of that around here. The place is chaos!" and hung up.

They haven't called back.

As you can see, I don't have a lot of patience with canned sales pitches over the phone. I don't tend to give them the time of day. But one I received just the other day was different. It was from an investment broker inviting me to a special one-day seminar for investors just like me."

I told him that I hoped his business really didn't depend on investors "just like me" because, with two sons in college, I don't invest. I spend. Besides that, I have another place to put my treasure -- a place with a great, guaranteed return.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives the following command: "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

The hard question Jesus faces us with is: "Where is our treasure?" Where do we put our hearts? What do we value? Jesus suggests that this is the key question of life.

This morning, we continue our fall stewardship focus. This can be a time of great discomfort for some people who think that it's not appropriate for the church to talk about money -- that talking about money is somehow a sign of a lack of true spirituality.

And that may be true. But if it is true, then Jesus was both inappropriate and lacking in spirituality. He falls below our standards of conduct. One verse in five in the New Testament refers to money and property and people's relationship to them. Of Jesus' 38 major parables, 19 concern money, property and people's relationship to them.

This means that Jesus said five times more about stewardship than about any other subject. This means that He said more about stewardship than He said about salvation, preaching, baptism, or any of the major doctrines. It appears that God knows that if He can get us into the right relationship to material things, it is not difficult for us to grow in those things which are spiritual and eternal. We put our hearts where we put our treasures. Our wills follow our wallets.

Therefore, this morning we are going to speak of stewardship -- without apology.

What is a steward? A steward is a person who administers and develops what is not his or her own.

The Bible declares in 1 Peter 4:10 that we are the stewards of God. This means that all that we have is a gift from God to be used for His purposes -- our time, our abilities, our property, our money, the world we live in -- even life itself.

But what is the basis of our stewardship? How can we respond?

One dubious way to approach our stewardship is to treat God like a heavenly banker from whom we have taken out an "interest only" loan.

In this model, we view God as requiring a 10% interest on the time, property, and abilities He has loaned us with the balance payable when we die -- sort of a cosmic "balloon payment" to the heavenly bank. Each year at stewardship campaign time, the bill collectors send out their notices. And if we don't want to respond, we don't have to because we know that God doesn't go in for "strong-arm" methods any more like He did in the Old Testament. If we don't pay the interest on the loan, we figure that God will just add it to the bill when we die -- which He will.

This approach treats stewardship as a kind of legal obligation. We look to see what is demanded -- what is the minimum response of the creature to the creator -- and give that amount. It reduces our relationship with God to the level of a contract.

A second dubious approach to stewardship is to approach God as if He is running a heavenly protection racket. "I'll give you anything you want God if you'll just give me what I want or if you'll just keep this awful thing from happening.

In an old movie called "The End", Burt Reynolds epitomizes this sad approach to stewardship. He had swum many miles out to sea in order to commit suicide. Suddenly he changes his mind. He desperately wants to live. The swim back to the beach looks impossible so Reynolds began to bargain with God.

"God, if you just let me get back safely, I'll give you 90% of everything I make."

After swimming for awhile, the task begins to look more possible so he lowers his offer to 70% -- then to 50% -- then to 20% -- then to 10%. As he finally pulls himself onto the beach, he informs God that he'd have to think it over some more before making a definite commitment and maybe they can do lunch some time. But he spoke too soon, for on the beach, a crazed mental patient played by Dom Deluise was waiting to attack Reynolds with a knife. And as the movie ends, Reynolds is running down the beach shouting to God "90% 90%." -- a stiff price to pay but made necessary by the situation.

The third, and Biblical approach to stewardship is the response of the saved to the Savior. This approach doesn't ask: "What can I get by with?" but "What can I give to the one who gave Himself for me?" This is the approach of love. It isn't a response to an emotional appeal or to an exciting idea that captures our attention, but to the Christ who has called us and saved us.

Mark 12 records for us the story commonly known as the widow's mite: "Jesus sat down opposite the treasury in the temple, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a penny. Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned -- all she had to live on."

There is something very fascinating here -- especially for people who look for flaws in the church as an excuse not to give.

Jesus had every reason to oppose the widow contributing to that treasury at all. The temple had become a place of corruption with the buying and selling of animals. The money the widow gave would go partly to the support of the very chief priests who were to condemn Jesus to death later that week. Maybe that mite would form a small part of the thirty pieces of silver that bought his life. Even the temple, which was also supported by her gift, was doomed to be destroyed in another forty years. Jesus knew that. All in all, her contribution to the treasury could be seen as a poor investment.

And yet, Jesus honors her gift -- and that gift was laid up for that widow in Heaven, because it was a response of faith.

Some evening when you have nothing to do, the TV is broken, and the kids are hogging the computer, take out a pocket calculator and figure how much that widow's penny would now be worth if she had invested it at 4% interest in the First National Bank of Jerusalem in the year 30 AD.

It would take eighteen years for her money to double -- to be worth two cents. It would take 125 years for her investment to go over one dollar. But by 250 years, her penny would have increased to $257.98. By 300 years, she would have $1,839.39. And by 400 years, she would have $92,595.32. By the year 2000 AD, she would be worth a number I can't pronounce, but it starts with 60 and is followed by about twenty three zeros. My numbering ability stops at a hundred gazillion and it's way over that.

That is what a human bank could accomplish at a low rate of interest. Just think of what God has done with that investment of a small amount of money, but a great amount of faith. That poor widow is a fantastically rich woman. For she put her treasure where thieves cannot steal and moths and rust cannot corrupt and destroy.

In 1809, in the village of Hardin, Kentucky, the story goes, two men were standing talking by the road. They were dressed in homespun and one man stood in the deep snow with a rifle over his right shoulder. The other man was mounted on a horse. The man on foot turned to the man on horseback and asked: "Any news down at the village?" The other man replied: "Well, they tell me that Tom Singleton has gone down to Washington to see Madison sworn in. They're saying too that Bonaparte has captured most of Spain. What's the news out of here?" The man standing in the snow replied: "Well, I heard that down at Tom Lincoln's hut there is a new baby boy. They named him Abraham." At this the other man nudged his horse and, as he started to ride away, mumbled, "Nuthin' ever happens here."

It often seems that way in the church. The needs of the world are so great and the progress seems so slow. But the Spirit of God is moving all around the world, and even here at Moorpark Presbyterian, we are not yet all that we can and must become. But it is now that we invest in the future strength of the church. We hold the future in our hands right now as surely as Tom Lincoln's cabin held the future of our nation.

On the wall of my office I have three pictures. I have them up there because I like them ù and also because they keep me reminded of who we are and what we are doing here as a congregation.. I brought them with me today to share.

This first picture is of the Golden Gate Bridge when it was still under construction in 1936. The two towers are in place and the roadbed is arching toward completion high above the waves. I like this picture because it reminds me that everything, no matter how permanent it looks or how famous it is, starts as an idea. Somebody looks at a barrier and says, "We can throw a bridge across that." It starts as an idea but the idea is pointless until it is accomplished by risk, team work, expense, expertise and hard labor. The picture also reminds me that just because something is made to be functional doesn't mean that it can't also be beautiful.

Here at Moorpark Presbyterian Church we are working together to turn a dream into a beautiful, functional reality. It costs money. I know that because some of it was mine. But this time of exciting growth is not a time for our church to practice Bill Morgan's economy because people like Bill Morgan don't build anything that lasts.

Bill Morgan, after whom this economy is named, was one of the first Mississippi settlers in an area of rich bottomland and poor ridge land. When Bill came to the area, he noted that the rich bottomlands where the good soil lay were overgrown with briars, vines, bushes, and large trees. He decided that clearing that rich land would be too much work so he economized -- by selecting ridge land, which needed little clearing.

He built his cabin economically, using small poles instead of the large logs, which his neighbors hewed out with much toil. He built his fences mainly of poles and brush to save labor. He bought a small pony because it was cheap and it cost too much to feed a big horse. He half-fed his pony during plow time because "corn was too expensive." He used a little scooter plow to match his weakened pony and consequently never got deep enough into his poor soil to grow much. He raised razorback hogs. They gave little meat, but were good rooters and could shift for themselves. His cows matched everything else; being slender and poorly fed, they gave a scanty supply of very poor milk. But Bill Morgan saved on feed.

He also economized in education. This was before the days of free schools and Bill refused to allow his children to advance to the upper grammar school grade because it would cost fifty cents a month more, and he reasoned "folks can talk without any larnin'."

The more he economized, the poorer he got. Finally he sold out, built a cart with hoop poles for tires, hitched a yearling to it, loaded a few belongings on it, and left Mississippi for parts west. That's Bill Morgan's economy. Pretty short-sighted isn't it.

Paul spoke about Bill Morgan when he said to the Corinthians about their gifts: "Now this I say, he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully." We will never make the future our own if we invest only for the present. We will just economize our way to collapse.

Let me show you the other two pictures from my office. They remind me of God's purpose for the church.

This one is by one of my favorite artists, Mort Kunstler. He usually paints Civil War scenes but he made an exception for this painting of the Great Hall at Ellis Island in New York Harbor. I bet that the ancestors of many of you came to this country through Ellis Island. The painting reminds me of the church because the world wide church of Jesus Christ is like the great hall in the painting. The church is filled with people who come from different places, with different dresses, speaking different languages but who are united in a promise of a better world.

The final picture is an E-bay treasure. It is a poster from the U.S. Government Printing Office that was issued in 1943 at the height of World War II. It shows a beardless Abraham Lincoln as he looked when he ran for President. It quotes Lincoln's words about slavery in the context of the struggle against the Nazi darkness -- "This world cannot continue half slave and half free." It will become either all one thing or all the other.

The urgent point of the poster is simple -- "Buy War Bonds" which is a short way to say, "invest in your future, the future of the nation, and the future of liberated humanity --"

Now Nazism is only a memory. Communism has landed in history's attic. But, unfortunately, Scripture tells us that our true enemies are not flesh and blood -- that this world is still half slave and half free -- that there is s spiritual darkness out there not only destroys but destroys eternally. And we need to put ourselves on the line to make a difference in the world. We need to buy war bonds.

The pledge card that arrives in the mail this week is a way to say, "Here is what we intend to do in the cause of liberation." Think about that as you either decide to tithe a ful ten percent of household income -- that's the biblical norm -- or to step up your giving in the direction of a tithe. Buy war bonds.

When you look at your family, ask yourself: "How would Christ relate to my family if He were in my place? What would He teach my children?"

When you look at your schedule ask yourself: "How would Christ spend these hours if He were in my place and had the responsibilities I face?"

When you look at the world we live in, ask yourself: "How would Christ treat His creation if He were in my place."

When you look at your work ask yourself: "How would Christ run my business if He had to make the decisions I face today? What kind of employee would He be? What kind of employer would He be?"

When you look at your budget ask yourself: "How would Christ spend my money if I allowed Him to write out the checks?"

That's what it means to be a steward of our families, our time, our world, our business and our money. It's not easy but it is essential if we are to grow to the stature of Christ and so fulfill God's purpose for the life He has given us.

For some time I wrestled with the pressure that comes with being in the ministry because it was really getting to me. I wasn't bothered by the pressure of time or planning or committees or relationships. The pressure came with the knowledge that each word I spoke, each relationship I formed had eternal significance. I could never leave my ministry at the office and just relax at home.

But I'm not alone in that because there is finally no difference between my ministry and your ministry. There is nothing especially eternal about an ordained pastor. Everything that every Christian does is equally eternal -- every word that is spoken, every decision that is made, every wrong suffered or inflicted, every act of selfishness or generosity are eternally significant whether we work in the church, in the business world or at home. That is why Jesus said to lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven. For where our treasure goes, that's where our hearts will follow.