Serve the Master, Not His Tools--Sermon on the Mount Series

            There was once a man who worked for a wealthy landowner, and one day the landowner came to him and said, “I’m going to be away for a few months, and while I’m gone I want you to clear the trees off of this portion of my property.” Then the landowner gave the man an axe and left to go on his trip.

            The next day the man woke up and started to get to work. He took the axe and went out to the edge of the trees and began to decide which one to cut down first. He also began to look at the axe, and he noticed that it was a very fine piece of craftsmanship. The blade was perfectly sharpened, and it really had a nice shine to it when you held it in the sunlight. The handle was perfectly carved to fit in a man’s hands.

            The man began to think, “If I use this axe to cut down all of these trees, the blade will grow dull and lose its shine. The handle may get rough and start to splinter.” So instead of getting to work, he went back home, and each day he would think about cutting down the trees, but he couldn’t bear to think of the wear-and-tear that the axe would endure, so he would just stay at home and polish the blade and sand down the handle.

            After a few days, it dawned on him that others might realize what a beautiful axe he had, and he began to worry constantly about robbers. He would lay awake at night to keep watch, and pretty soon he was too tired each morning to even think about cutting down the trees.

            Then one day, the landowner returned and was very upset to see that the land had not been cleared. He went to the man to ask him about it, and the man said, “Sir, this axe you gave me is so beautiful that I couldn’t bear to put it through that kind of wear-and-tear.” The landowner was irate, and said, “You fool! I was planning to use this land and all of that wood to build new homes for all my workers—including you!” And the landowner left in a rage.

            The man was left alone to think about what he had missed out on, but he thought to himself instead, “At least I still have my axe!” But when he looked at it, he realized that his daily sanding on the handle had made it so thin that it couldn’t support the weight of the axe head any more. If he tried to use it, it would have snapped like a twig! Not only had the man missed out on the good plans of his master, but now even his beloved axe was useless.

            This little story of mine describes a temptation that we all face with the tools that God gives us to do His work, but in particular it describes the temptation that we face with our money and possessions. Money and possessions have a very seductive power to them, and it is very easy for us to fall in love with and begin to serve these tools rather than God, the master who gives them. Today, we’re going to receive a strong challenge from the Lord Jesus to remember to serve the Master, not His tools.

            As we jump back into our study of the Sermon on the Mount at Matthew 6:19-24, we’re going to read about some teaching from the Lord on money and possessions. Just prior to this section, the Lord had been discussing the proper way to fast, and it may seem odd that Jesus would move from a discussion of fasting to a discussion about money, but remember that from the beginning of chapter 6, Jesus has been encouraging us to not to prize the fleeting praise of other people, but to seek the far more valuable and lasting rewards that come from obeying God from a sincere heart. It is along those same lines that Jesus is going to command us to think about our money. As we go through this section, I want you to remember our overriding lesson to serve the Master, not His tools.

1. Pursue the things that have lasting value (vv. 19-20)

            In vv. 19-20, Jesus reiterates the lesson that He has been stressing since the beginning of chapter 6—we should pursue those things that truly have superior value, such as praise from God rather than praise from other people. Now he challenges us to consider the lasting value of the things we treasure [READ vv. 19-20].

            Here Jesus draws upon the common-sense principle that it’s better to invest in things that have lasting value rather than things that wear out or are insecure. When you buy a house, for example, it’s better to buy a home that is likely to keep its value, or even increase in value. When you buy a car, it’s wise to purchase one that has a good re-sale value. With any purchase you make, it’s always wise to buy something of good quality that it will last.

            So here Jesus commands us—and notice that it is a command—to lay up treasures in heaven, which will last, rather than treasures on earth, which are subject to decay or robbery, as He mentions. Rather than stockpile the treasures of this world, like money and possessions, we should invest in a greater share of the treasures of heaven, such as praise from God and the chance to occupy an honored position of service under King Jesus.

            Now in just a moment, we’ll wrestle with the question, “How do I know if I’m laying up treasures on earth?” Where is the line, for example, between saving and doing what Jesus warns us about here? We’ll deal with that in a moment, but first, notice that it is not only wise to invest in heavenly treasure because it is lasting, but also because there is a profound moral principle at work in this discussion.

2. Remember that what you value will own your heart (v. 21)

            Jesus simply says in v. 21, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” The heart can be used as a metaphor for everything that goes on inside of us—thinking, feeling, worshiping, aspiring. Here we might simply paraphrase Jesus’ words by saying that your whole life will get wrapped up in whatever it is that you treasure. It will occupy your thoughts and squeeze out thoughts of other things. It will shape your goals and aspirations and tug at your emotions.

            So when we consider what we will treasure, we are really considering what it is that will form the core of our lives. It is obvious, then, why this is such a monumental decision. If we treasure those things that are considered valuable in this life, then those are the things that we will pursue; but if we treasure those things that are valuable from a heavenly perspective—again, things like praise from God and a greater opportunity to serve Him—then those are the things that we will pursue.

            We often try to kid ourselves, however, by attempting to have our heart in two places at once, thinking that we can somehow treasure the things of this world and the things of heaven in an equal balance. But Jesus is about to warn us that such a case of divided loyalties really results in no loyalty to one master or the other.

3. Beware of a faulty perspective (vv. 22-24)

            In vv. 22-23, Jesus uses a metaphor to warn us about having a faulty outlook when it comes to serving God or serving money [READ vv. 22-23]. The idea of this metaphor is that our outlook gives us a proper insight on things so that we see them clearly. If our outlook on a matter is faulty, then we will not see the matter clearly or correctly. We will be in the dark, so to speak, and if we do not see one matter clearly, that can produce a snowball effect that clouds our insight on other matters. That’s why the Lord says, “If the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” A faulty outlook can quickly expand.

            The Lord then plainly and bluntly tells us in v. 24 what our outlook on serving God and serving money should be [READ v. 24]. Notice that Jesus did not say, “It is hard to serve two masters,” or “its pretty tricky to serve two masters, so be careful how you do it.” No—he simply says that it is impossible to serve two masters. It simply cannot be done.

            Jesus was speaking during a time when slavery was still commonly practiced, and that’s the picture that he’s drawing on. If you are a slave to some master, that’s not an 8-to-5 sort of thing. You don’t clock in and clock out with the idea that some of your time is your own. You are at the beck-and-call of your master at all times, so how could you possibly be at the beck-and-call of two masters? If you’re serving one at the moment, then you are not available to serve the other—but that’s not how the master/slave relationship works.

            So here, Jesus portrays our money and possessions as being a rival master to God, and He tells us that we must make our choice. They cannot both be number one; we cannot be at the beck-and-call of both. Remember—the choice is really between serving God or serving the tools that He has given us to do His work. We are in the same position as the woodsman who was given the axe. Will we use the tool to serve our true master, or will we fall in love with the tool and begin to serve it?

            Now in our society—which is, on the whole, the most affluent society that the world has ever seen—a passage of Scripture like this should make us pause. It should make you pause no matter what your economic standing is, because as Jesus makes clear, this is a heart issue—it is not about how much money you may or may not have.

            So how might we diagnose these problems within ourselves? How do we know if we’re “laying up treasures” on earth? How do we know if we’re serving money rather than God? Let’s deal with each of those questions in turn.

How do I know if I am “laying up treasures on earth?”

            We might wish that there were simply a dollar amount we could appeal to that would make the answer to this question very cut-and-dry, but that simply is not the case. There are some questions we can ask ourselves, however, that will begin to help us draw a conclusion.

1. What is your goal for the money you save (or the possessions that you hang on to)?

            Are you holding on to these things in order to use them for some kind of biblically-permissible purpose, like taking care of your family or having something on hand to give to people in need? Or, are you saving for biblically unacceptable reasons, like winning the envy and admiration of others or trying to find a sense of security in life?

2. How tight is your grip on the things you have?

            Are you obsessing over them? Are you constantly thinking about them? When you become aware of a legitimate need, does it take the “jaws of life” to get your wallet open, or do you have a ready willingness to give? We don’t cling tightly to things that we don’t value, so this idea of clinging to something can be a helpful gauge. The tighter you cling to something, the more value you place upon it.

How do I know if I am serving money as my master?

1. What are you willing to do to make money?

            If you are willing to do something unethical or illegal, then you are clearly serving money rather than God because you’re breaking God’s commands. We also need to consider this question not only in the light of one-time decisions, but patterns of behavior as well. I once heard it put like this—if someone came up to you and offered you $100,000 for your children, you would be furious and insulted. But that is precisely the kind of deal that many people make when they work so hard to make money that they leave no time, no energy, and no attention for their kids. Now of course, I’m talking about the person who is working that way to gain excess, not the single parent who may have to work two jobs just to keep the electricity on. If you are willing to put your family on the back-burner in pursuit of excess, you are serving money.

2. Where do you find comfort when you think about the future?

            Do you find comfort in your nest egg, in the FDIC, or in the promises of God? Do you have a sense of peace because you’re in good hands with Allstate, or because, like a good neighbor, State Farm is there? I think we can only find comfort when we believe that our master will take care of us, but who or what are you trusting to take care of you?

            In 1 Timothy 6:17, Paul writes, “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.”

3. Are you content in your current financial state?

            First Timothy 6:6-10 says, “But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”

            Contentment is a very helpful gauge in this area. Now this doesn’t mean that we can’t seek to improve our financial situation—we must simply ask ourselves again about our motives for doing so. Those who are serving God as their master should be able to be content with the most basic of life’s necessities. If a gnawing desire for more is present in your heart, that is a sign of a lack of contentment. If our souls feel unsettled until we get the latest version of our cell phones, that is a bad sign.

4. Are you thankful for what you have?

            Contentment and gratitude are like two peas in a pod. If you are not thankful for what you currently have, that is a bad sign.

5. Do you find yourself looking for ways to spend your money on yourself or to meet the needs of others?

            When you dream about what you’re going to do with your money, who plays the starring role in your dreams? Is it only and always—you? Is your financial planning all about how to make your life more comfortable? Do other people fail to even enter your plans? If so, then you are likely serving money rather than God, because here is our master’s command for those who have excess: “They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life (1 Tim 6:18-19).”

            Possessions are to be a pathway, never a destination. They are to be a means, never an end. They are a tool, not the final product. They must take their proper place in line rather than becoming the bottom line. Your possessions should be at your service, not the other way around. Ultimately, they are to be at God’s service, since they are simply His tools that He gives us to carry out His work.

Balancing Your Money Mindset--Proverbs series

A stool is a very handy thing to have around. It offers you a place to sit down, of course, but it still offers you a lot of freedom to move around. A stool is great for projects because you can sit down and still move around without having to deal with armrests or other things that might get in your way. But a stool has to be in balance if its going to be useful; if you remove one of its legs, it just becomes dangerous to sit on.

Many lessons in the Bible are the same—they have to be balanced in order to serve their purpose. For virtually every subject that the Bible addresses, it offers a couple of viewpoints that have to be balanced if you’re going to see things correctly. For example, the Bible tells us that God is just and holy, He has wrath toward sin; yet the Bible also tells us that He is loving, gracious, and merciful. These perspectives have to be balanced if we’re going to have a correct view of God.

This observation holds true when we think about money. During church history, we’ve seen some very different perspectives on money and wealth. In the last few decades, a teaching has arisen called the “prosperity gospel” which basically teaches that God wants to fulfill every materialistic whim that you may have. On the other side of the spectrum, we have also seen Christian groups who felt it was necessary to take a vow of poverty.

I think both of those viewpoints are unbiblical extremes, but if that’s true, then what is a balanced mindset regarding money and wealth? The book of Proverbs helps us keep our balance on this subject, so today we’ll take a look at what it has to say about balancing your money mindset.

What does a balanced money mindset look like?

We might say that Proverbs gives us three supports to help us balance our money mindset.

I. Wealth properly acquired is a blessing from God

We all know that wealth can be improperly acquired at times, and God may allow that for His own reasons, but if we acquire wealth without resorting to sinful means, then we can rest assured that that wealth is a blessing from God. Prov. 10:22 makes an almost startling statement when it says, [READ 10:22]. Do you understand what this verse is saying? God may choose to make someone rich as a blessing to them, and if He does, He doesn’t intend for that person to feel sorrowful about it! God is not in the business of giving us a blessing and then making us feel guilty for possessing the blessing that He gave us!

So riches are a blessing that God may choose to give. We see this lesson elsewhere in Scripture as well. Before the children of Israel entered the Promised Land, Moses told them in Deut. 28 that if they would obey God, “the Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, within the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. The Lord will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow” (Deut. 28:11–12).

We can also think of the story of Solomon from 1 Kings 3. God spoke to Solomon in that chapter and told him that he would give him anything he asked for. Solomon asked for wisdom to govern God’s people in the right way, and God was so pleased that He told Solomon that even though He didn’t ask for riches, He was going to make him a wealthy man!

I think its clear that God doesn’t see wealth as an automatically negative thing. Otherwise, why would He grant it to someone and call it a blessing? Apparently God does not see wealth as an automatic temptation either, because James 1 says that God does not tempt anyone, but we are tempted when we are lead astray by our own desires. That’s the real problem—we take God’s blessings and turn them into idols. We can take any of God’s blessings and turn them into idols—our marriage, our kids, our jobs, our possessions. Our hearts have been described as an idol-making factory—just give us the raw materials and we can make an idol out of it. Money is no different—it’s a blessing that we can turn into a curse.

Now we have also seen in a previous sermon that wise living normally results in prosperity. In Prov. 8, the personified Lady Wisdom talks about the benefits of following her way of life [READ 8:18–21]. The way of wisdom and the way of prosperity are often on the same path because they involve the same kinds of behavior—actions like honesty, integrity, hard work, generosity and attitudes like contentment and the fear of the Lord. That makes sense, doesn’t it? If you work hard and you’re honest and generous and content with life so that you’re not driven by greed, then most likely you’re going to prosper. And if you do, just count it as a blessing from God. There’s no reason to feel guilty about it. If you do prosper and you feel guilty about it, then either you’re dealing with unnecessary guilt, or you may be acquiring it in the wrong way or managing it the wrong way. Those are thoughts to consider, but we need not feel guilty if God has blessed us.

The second support for our balanced mindset is this…

II. Wealth can bring trouble and temptations into your life

Many people are tempted to think that wealth would solve any problems that they have, but wealth is kind of like an illegal drug—it may numb the pain of certain problems, but it brings a whole new set of problems with it. Look with me at Prov. 13:8 [READ Prov. 13:8]. Now when does a person have to pay a ransom? When someone is trying to extort them, right? Perhaps when someone has been kidnapped and a payment is demanded for their safe return. So according to this verse, a person’s wealth may become a ransom for his life, but a poor person doesn’t have to deal with threats like that. Generally, people target a wealthy person in a scheme like that. A famous bank robber was once asked why he robbed banks, and he said, “That’s where the money is.” That’s the same reason why wealthy people may be targeted like this—that’s where the money is!

Wealth can make you a target for trouble with other people. Many lottery winners will tell you that this is true. Stories like that of William Post are far too common. Mr. Post won $16.2 million in 1988, but not long after winning the troubles started to come. He was successfully sued by a former girlfriend for part of the winnings, and his brother was arrested for hiring a hit man to kill him because he thought he would inherit a share of the money. His other siblings pressured him into investing in a car dealership and a restaurant, which both went broke. Eventually he had to declare bankruptcy, and now he lives on a $450/month Social Security check.*

So money can bring trouble into your life in the form of attacks from others or even just worry about hanging on to your money. It can also bring temptations with it, particularly the temptation to find security in your money rather than in God. Let’s read Prov. 18:10–11 [READ 18:10–11]. Notice the contrast—the righteous person takes refuge in the Lord, but the rich person imagines that his money can provide the same kind of security. Prov. 11:28 sums up the matter very well when it says, “Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.” That is why Agur made his famous statement in Prov. 30:7–9. Why don’t you turn there with me? [READ 30:7–9] Here he points out that the temptation that comes from wealth is to think that we don’t need God. Here again is that mindset which says, “My money will take care of me if I just get enough of it.” How quickly we forget where our money comes from! Notice that Agur also pointed out a temptation that comes from poverty—the temptation to use sinful means to take care of ourselves. So there’s a note of balance right there!

We have now seen two very different perspectives on money and wealth. One says that wealth is a blessing from the Lord, and the other says that wealth can bring trouble and temptation into your life. So how do we move forward from here? We need our third support to give us some balance! The third support is this:

III. Don’t seek to get wealthy, but manage your wealth biblically if it comes

With all of the potential problems associated with wealth, it is best not to seek to get rich. Look with me at Prov. 23:4–5 [READ 23:4–5]. Not only does wealth bring potential problems, it can also disappear very quickly! It is not the lasting foundation that we’re tempted to think it is, so why should we make acquiring wealth the focus of our efforts?

According to Proverbs, it is better to focus on acquiring a righteous character. Let’s read a few verses [READ 15:16, 16:8, 28:6]. Now let’s make sure that we understand what these verses are saying. They are not saying that money is evil, bad, and terrible; they are simply saying that riches and wealth are not as good as righteousness, integrity, and the fear of the Lord. So if we have to choose between righteousness and riches, the correct choice is a no-brainer—righteousness wins every time! So that’s where our focus should be—on living a righteous life. It would be terribly sad if we left righteousness behind in order to pursue riches.

Thus, wealth should not be our focus in life. This observation has some important lessons for us in all of the various ways that we interact with money. This means that even when we think about saving and investing, our goal in that process should not simply be to get wealthy. Our goal instead should be to aim for righteousness as we save and invest—we should see to it that we have righteous motivations and righteous intentions for that money.

And when we think about earning our money, we shouldn’t work simply with the goal of getting rich. Money should not be the driving force behind our labor. Teenagers, this means that when you’re thinking about a career to pursue, don’t simply get a list of the “Top Ten Highest Paying Jobs” and then pick whatever is #1 on the list! You need to have righteous motivations for your work and righteous intentions for your labor. Don’t just look at money—think of your job as a ministry, and consider how you are best equipped to serve other people.

So let’s not seek to get wealthy, but as I said earlier, the way of wisdom and righteousness and the way of prosperity are often on the same path. So if you pursue righteousness, you may end up with prosperity as a blessing from God, and if you do, then just manage it biblically. Be aware of the temptations and the pitfalls and avoid them by focusing on how God would have you manage that money. Biblically, our role when it comes to finances is that of a steward or a caretaker—the money belongs to God and we’re just supposed to handle it the way He wants us to. We need to be careful to remember that because its far too easy to think of money as ours, but it is not ours—it belongs to God. In many cases, He simply desires that we would channels through which He can bless other people. I think Pastor John Piper captured this well when he wrote these words: “Why does God bless us with abundance? So we can have enough to live on, and then use the rest for all manner of good works that alleviate spiritual and physical misery. Enough for us; abundance for others. The issue is not how much a person makes. Big industry and big salaries are a fact of our times, and they are not necessarily evil. The evil is in being deceived into thinking a six-digit salary must be accompanied by a six-digit lifestyle. God has made us to be conduits of His grace. The danger is in thinking the conduit should be lined with gold. It shouldn’t. Copper will do.”**

As every child learns when they try to ride a bike, balance is a tricky thing to maintain. So it is with your mindset about money. It is a difficult balance to keep, and we all do better at some times than at others. It is also much easier to judge others when we think they’re out of balance than it is to recognize when we are out of balance. But if we keep God’s truth in hand, it will steady us as we walk across this tightrope.

*Information taken from http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/SaveMoney/8lotteryWinnersWhoLostTheirMillions.aspx

** John Piper, Desiring God, (Multnomah Publishers, Inc. 2003) 203.

"Funny Money"--Philippians 4:15-23

A few years ago, I worked part-time at a bank as I was going through seminary, and there’s nothing quite like working at a bank to change your perspective about money. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the first time that I held $100,000 in cash in my hands. The first time you do it, it’s pretty cool, but the funny thing is that the second time you do it, it’s not quite the same rush, and then eventually it’s no big deal at all. It’s just another day at the office.

Actually, handling money all day is pretty gross. Most days my fingertips would be black by the end of the day because of all of the dirt and grime on the bills. Here’s something for you germ-o-phobes to think about: picture a five-dollar bill that’s been in circulation for ten years, and think about how many people have touched that piece of paper. And it’s probably never been washed either, because money only gets washed by accident, right? Now think about handling thousands of those pieces of paper every day. That’s kind of gross to think about.

At the bank I encountered people with all kinds of different perspectives about money. I encountered rich people who were greedy and who seemingly worshiped their money, and then I encountered poor people who were greedy and who seemingly worshiped their money. I encountered people who should have been rich who bounced several checks a week. I’ll never forget a doctor who banked with us who had to work a part-time job on the side because his wife and kids blew through his paycheck as soon as it came in. Then I encountered people who by all accounts should have been poor, but they had so much money that my boss told me to make sure and call them by name so they would feel special.

People get kind of funny around money, and we get particularly funny when we start to think about the matter of giving and receiving financial assistance from others. We have all kinds of unwritten social rules about how we’re supposed to approach a transaction like that, but what should our perspective on this matter be, from a biblical point of view? That is the question that we will answer from the book of Philippians today:

What should our attitude be toward giving and receiving financial assistance?

Let’s take a look at Philippians 4:15–23. Here Paul discusses the financial gift that the Philippians had sent to him while he was in prison, and he offers some helpful perspectives for us on this whole matter of financial assistance. Would you follow along with me as I read [READ 4:15–23]. We’re going to take a look today at three perspectives surrounding the matter of financial assistance—first, the recipient’s perspective, then the giver’s perspective, and finally the Lord’s perspective.

I. The recipient—Praise God for providing for you through His work in someone else’s life

In our society it seems that there is often a stigma attached to the idea of receiving financial help, and many people are resistant to receiving such help even when it may truly be beneficial for them. But I think Paul will help us see that such a stigma doesn’t need to exist. Look with me again at what he says in verse 17 [READ v. 17].

Paul offers a couple of helpful thoughts here. First, he reminds us that those who may have a financial need should not use that need simply as a way of getting money out of other people. He writes, “Not that I seek the gift itself.” To put it simply, Paul was reminding the Philippians that he wasn’t after their money. He didn’t treat their friendship as an ATM that he could simply hit up whenever he needed some extra money. In fact, the gifts from the Philippians were completely voluntary, and their friendship with Paul did not depend on these gifts, though the gifts did serve to enhance their friendship.

Elsewhere, Paul wrote that those who are able to provide for themselves should do so. At one point, the church in Thessalonica apparently had some members who were unwilling to work, but still expected the church to provide for them. In 2 Thess. 3:10–12, Paul writes this concerning the matter [READ 2 Thess. 3:10–12]. So the bottom line is this—if you have a financial need, you shouldn’t use it simply as a tool to leverage money out of other people.

However, I think Paul’s perspective also shows us that there is no reason to feel guilty about receiving financial help from other people when you have a legitimate need. Back in Phil. 4:17, Paul finishes his statement by saying, “but I seek for the profit which increases to your account.” Paul is using the metaphor of gaining interest to draw attention to the Philippians’ spiritual growth. What Paul is truly focusing on is God’s work in the life of another person, and we can see in the rest of the passage that their generosity was an act of service to God which really got Paul excited.

So as Paul considered this financial assistance that he received, he wasn’t so much focused on himself or the Philippians, but on the work of God to provide for him through someone else. I think this is a very helpful corrective for us, because often when we receive financial assistance from others, our thoughts are centered on ourselves. We struggle with questions like, “What will other people think of me?” or “How can I respect myself after this?” And sometimes we throw a little pity party when we really would be justified in having a praise party to glorify God for meeting our needs.

The reality is that the generosity of others is one of several means that God may choose at times to meet your needs. Oftentimes, God chooses to provide for us through the work that we do at our jobs, but that is still God’s provision! Let’s not give ourselves too much credit and think that we’re doing it all on our own. After all, who gives you the strength to do your job? God does. Who gives you the health to continue working? God does! Who controls the entire world economy to keep your company stays in business? God does! So even when our needs are met through our own work, we’re still just recipients of God’s generosity.

Occasionally, God may choose to provide for us through unexpected gifts. We can call this the “Beverly Hillbillies” method. You’ll remember how Jed Clampett unexpectedly became rich after “shooting at some food, and up from the ground came a-bubblin’ crude.” Sometimes God chooses to give us unexpected gifts like that. Sometimes He plants a wind farm on your land and allows you to make some income from it.

So whether God chooses to meet your needs through a job, the generosity of others, or an unexpected gift, the end result is the same—God has provided! That is what we need to focus on, and if He does choose to use the generosity of other people, we don’t need to feel ashamed; we can simply feel grateful, and praise God for His provision.

So that’s the perspective that the recipient of financial assistance should adopt. But what about the one who is giving financial assistance?

II. The giver—Have enough faith in God to be generous to those in need

In v. 19, Paul—under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit—gives a promise that has comforted many believers over the years. He says, [READ v. 19]. Now as Paul wrote those words, he may have had in the back of his mind a social custom of that time that was known as reciprocity. The idea behind reciprocity was this—if someone helped you out in a time of need, there was the social expectation that you would seek to do the same if they were ever in need. It wasn’t that there was an idea of indebtedness toward the other person; it was just simply the notion that a true friend should respond in kind when generosity was shown to them.

Now Paul’s situation, you might remember, was kind of up in the air. He was in prison awaiting trial before Caesar because of some false charges brought against him by enemies of the Gospel, and there was a real possibility that he might not make it out alive. So as he wrote this letter, he knew there was a possibility that he would never have an opportunity to show the Philippians the same generosity that they had shown him. But even though he might not be able to help with any future needs that they might have, he assures them that God will meet their needs. They had sacrificed to send Paul this financial gift, but they didn’t need to fear, because God would see to it that their needs would be met.

This is the perspective that we need to have when we have an opportunity to help someone else in need. Oftentimes, the thing that keeps us from being generous is worry about our own bottom line. Sometimes we even feel like we have some money that we could give today, but we’re hesitant to part with it because of fear about tomorrow. So we might find ourselves thinking, “Well, I could give this money today, but what if I have an unexpected bill that comes up? What if my car needs a new fuel pump tomorrow?” Then the fear of the future creeps in and chokes off our generosity.

But the promise of this verse frees us up to be generous because we can trust God to meet our needs. So we can help those around us who are in financial need without being afraid that our own needs will go unmet. Now notice that this verse does NOT say, “my God will supply you with a fleet of BMW’s.” The promise is that our needs will be met. And how does the Bible define our needs? Well, in 1 Timothy 6:8, Paul says that if we have food and covering, we should be content (“covering” probably refers to clothing and shelter). He doesn’t even include transportation there because that wasn’t really a need for the majority of people in that time. Most people lived on the land that they farmed, or if they had a trade, their shop was right there at home. Transportation is more of a need in our society because many of us have to drive to work, but there are many things that we’ve become accustomed to in our standard of living that really can’t be called “needs.”

We need to keep that in mind when we read this verse so that we don’t find ourselves expecting things from God that He has never promised to give us. What we can be sure of is that we can feel free to be generous without fear, because God will meet our needs until the day He calls us home.

And speaking of God, what is His perspective on this whole matter?

III. The Lord—Our Lord is pleased when we obey Him by being generous

In v. 18, Paul uses a metaphor comparing the Philippians financial gift to the sacrifices of the Old Testament. He writes, [READ v. 18]. In the Old Testament when the sacrifices were offered with the proper motives, they were said to be like a sweet fragrance to God. Many of us enjoyed a sweet fragrance over the last few days as the rains came through, and as you know when you smell an aroma that is pleasing to you, there’s a feeling of contentment or pleasure that comes over you.

That’s what our obedience in this area is like to God! When we are generous to others, its like we’re providing Him with a sweet fragrance, and He is greatly pleased by our actions. So even though it may seem like our money is just going to another person, the Lord views that act of obedience as an offering to Him, and He is pleased by it.

The Bible repeatedly talks about God’s concern for the poor and His desire that His people would look after their needs. In the Old Testament law God laid out specific commands that were designed to see to it that the community looked out for those among them who had needs. The book of Proverbs also says much about this matter. Proverbs 19:17 says, “One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the LORD, and He will repay him for his good deed.” Likewise, Proverbs 28:27 says, “The one who gives to the poor will not lack, but whoever shuts his eyes to them will receive many curses.” And over in James 1:27 it is put very simply: “Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their misfortune and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

Would you like to do something today that you know will be greatly pleasing to God? That sounds pretty good doesn’t it—a sure-fire way to please God? Then keep your eyes open to see those around you who have financial needs, and be generous toward them. Don’t let fear about the future keep you from being generous to other people. Our Lord Jesus said in Matthew 6:31–33, “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

God is always faithful to provide. As we noted earlier, sometimes He provides for you through the generosity of others, and when He does, there’s no need to be ashamed about that, but you can simply be grateful to Him. And all of us need to be aware of moments where God may be seeking to provide for someone through our generosity, and in those moments we need to respond in obedience to Him, knowing that He will be greatly pleased when we do.

"Satisfied Through Christ's Strength"--Philippians 4:10-14

How many of you enjoy riding roller coasters? Now let me ask a related question—how many of you are invested in the stock market? Emotionally, that can feel like the same thing, right? We watch our investments go up and down and sideways, and then every so often one of them goes upside down! The stock market is well-described by the old children’s rhyme: “Round and round it goes; where it stops, nobody knows!”

My wife told me the other day about a story her grandfather likes to tell about a time where he had the opportunity to invest in one of two fried chicken restaurants. He chose to invest in the one that was sure to take off—Daniel Boone Chicken. After all, it was named after a national hero; how it could fail to do well? And who would choose to eat at the other place, anyway, with a boring name like Kentucky Fried Chicken? Well, you probably know how that investment turned out!

He’s able to laugh about that story today, but there are few things in life that can wipe a smile off our face the way that our finances can. Who doesn’t cringe when you hear the words, “payment due?” I don’t care how much money you have—there’s always reason to worry about it, isn’t there? If you don’t have much, it’s easy to worry about how you’ll pay the bills. If you have a lot, it’s easy to worry about losing it, or about who might be trying to take it from you.

Many years ago the Beatles sang that “money can’t buy me love.” Well, it turns out that it can’t buy contentment either. We can wind up facing anxiety in any financial situation that we might endure. So is there any hope of finding contentment with respect to our cash? Can we find a contentment that will last through all of the financial ups and downs of life? And how about when we see others hit with financial hardship—how should we respond? In our study of Philippians today, we’re going to learn that…

We should be content through Christ in our own financial circumstances and concerned for others who are facing financial hardships.

Why don’t you turn with me to Philippians 4:10–14? You may remember that this letter to the Philippians was intended to serve as a thank you note from Paul for the financial gift that the church in Philippi had sent to him. At the time that Paul wrote this letter, he was in prison in Rome awaiting trial on some trumped up charges that the Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem had brought against him. Now the Roman government didn’t feel that it was their responsibility to take care of their prisoners; in fact, they didn’t even provide food for them, so if a prisoner was going to survive he had to rely on friends and family to bring him meals. Well, the Philippians couldn’t be there to bring him food themselves, but their gift of money would allow Paul to make some arrangements to receive food, so it was a very helpful and thoughtful gesture on the part of the Philippians. So Paul wanted to thank them for their gift, and as he does so he lets them in on a little secret that he had learned about contentment. Let’s read these verses [READ 4:10–14].

Let’s look first of all at what we can learn about being content.

I. Be content through Christ in your own financial circumstances

Some people have seriously misread what Paul was saying in these verses. They’ve thought he was basically saying, “Well, I’m glad you all finally got around to sending me some money. Not that I really needed it anyway because I was content. So, thanks for thinking of me, I guess.”

That’s really not what Paul was trying to say at all! We can see how thankful he was from v. 10 [READ v. 10]. Paul knew that they hadn’t sent him a gift because they simply hadn’t had the opportunity. As we’ll see when we get to vv. 15–16, the Philippians had sent financial gifts to Paul on a regular basis before, but for awhile now they hadn’t had the opportunity—which would seem to mean that they either didn’t have the money, or they had no way of sending it to him.

But now the Philippians had once again sent a gift to him, and Paul wanted them to know how thankful he was to receive it even though he had not given in to despair about his financial situation. In fact, it was quite the opposite—he was actually content, and he describes this in the next few verses [READ vv. 11–12].

Now notice that Paul says he had to learn how to be content BOTH in poverty AND in prosperity. We might think that its easier to be content in a state of prosperity, but in reality both conditions provide their own challenges to our contentment. If we’re in poverty, it may be difficult to be content because we may always be tempted to want more. Jealousy may also tempt us when we see other people who have more than we do. Or, we may not be content because we may desire the peace of mind that seems to come when we have some extra cash in the bank.

But prosperity doesn’t automatically usher in contentment, either. A very wealthy man was once asked, “How much money is enough money?” His answer was very telling—he said, “A little bit more.” Isn’t that so true? No matter how much we have, its easy to think, “You know, if I just had a little bit more, then I would be content.”

If we’re in a state of prosperity, greed may kick in and compel us to want still more and more. Or, we may start to look to our money for a feeling of security in life, and when that happens, we will never have enough money to feel content! We will always be worried about that one bad day on the stock market that could wipe us out, or that one failed bank or failed business. Money almost always goes easier than it comes, so if we base our sense of security upon it, contentment will be impossible to find.

So what is the secret to contentment that Paul refers to in v.12? It is his famous statement in v. 13—“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Now I fear that I’m about to step on some toes here, but please hear me out for a moment. Perhaps more than any other verse in the Bible, we use and quote this verse with complete disregard for the context in which it was written. And so we see athletes writing this verse reference on their shoes, or on the eye black underneath their eyes, as if to say, “I can win this game through Him who strengthens me.” Now I appreciate their desire to publicly display their faith in Christ, but that’s not what this verse is talking about. Nor should I use this verse and say, “I can dunk a basketball through Him who strengthens me.” That would truly be a miracle if I dunked a basketball!

So what is this verse talking about? What does Paul mean when he says, “I can do all things?” I think we understand that he’s not talking about leaping over tall buildings in a single bound, but what is he saying? Remember that Paul is sharing this thought as the secret of remaining content in whatever circumstance he’s in, particularly in whatever financial circumstance he’s in. So a basic paraphrase of Paul’s point would be this—“I can overcome any obstacle to contentment through Him who strengthens me.” So if his situation tempts him to be jealous or greedy, he can overcome that through Christ. Or if his situation tempts him to be fearful and anxious, he can overcome that. He had learned to step off of the spiritual roller coaster that circumstances could put him on by drawing close to Jesus for strength.

As we saw a few weeks ago when we looked at vv. 6–7, our hearts and minds can be guarded by the peace of God in everything when we communicate with God in prayer with an attitude of thanksgiving. We really find the same idea here—we can overcome whatever temptation our circumstances might throw at us by drawing strength from Christ—whether its changing financial circumstances or anything else. Christ will give us the strength to handle our circumstances in a way that honors Him.

So in any circumstance—and in these verses in particular, in any financial circumstance—we can be content by drawing strength from Jesus. But Paul also communicates an important lesson here about helping others when they’re in tough financial circumstances.

II. Be concerned for others who are facing financial hardships

Now Paul didn’t want the Philippians to get the wrong idea here. He has just said that he has learned to be content in any circumstance, so presumably he also meant that he would have been content whether he had received their gift or not. But he wants to make sure that they know they’ve done a good thing, so he says in v. 14 [READ v. 14]. So even though on Paul’s part, he was content with or without their gift, they had done well by giving it to him.

His statement here reminds us of a very simple but important lesson—it is a good thing to give financial assistance to those who have had financial hardship thrust upon them. When we see a Christian brother or sister in need, that is not the time for us to say, “Wow! What a great chance for you to learn to trust in God! Oh, what an opportunity for you to learn how to be content! God is going to teach you some great spiritual lessons through this.”

Well, whatever God may want them to learn, that’s between them and God. On our part, we are supposed to take the good step of offering whatever assistance we can. 1 John 3:17–18 says, “Whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.”

So we are to give what we can, and notice how Paul describes it here—he describes it as sharing in another person’s affliction. This comes through very clearly in the NIV translation, which says, “Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles.” Let’s think through this idea, because its very different than just giving someone a handout. Think about this, by way of analogy. Imagine that you came upon someone who was trying to lift something that was too heavy for them, so you said, “Here, I’ll give you a hand.” Now what happens is that you take on part of the weight, and they take on part of the weight, and the two of you lift it together.

Now think about that same idea in terms of helping someone who’s facing a financial hardship. When you help that person, its like saying, “Here, I’ll take on some financial hardship, too, and we can overcome this together,” because when you give them some of your financial resources, you’re making a sacrifice in order to help them. You’re introducing some financial hardship into your life in order to absorb some of the hardship that they are facing.

I think this picture helps us keep a healthy mindset about giving and receiving help from others, because this picture makes us partners rather than a donor and a recipient. It maintains the dignity of the person who is receiving help, because it can feel like a very humiliating thing to receive help from others. A great novelist once wrote, “It’s horribly painful for a man down on his luck when every person he meets looks at him as if he were his benefactor.”* As that quote suggests, it can also be very tempting for the person who is offering help to become proud and think himself as better than the person whom he is helping.

But the biblical picture keeps things in the proper perspective. If you help someone out financially, its just like you’re helping them pick up something that’s too heavy for them. You’re just joining in the struggle with them to help them overcome it. And if you receive financial help from someone, it’s the same thing. If someone helps you lift something, there’s nothing to be ashamed about—you’re just two people working together to accomplish something.

So I guess we can sum up what we’ve learned today like this—we should be content in our own financial circumstances, and discontent over the financial hardships of others, and that discontent should lead us to share that hardship with them. Money doesn’t have to master our lives. We don’t have to worry about it when we have very little, or obsess over it when we have a lot. We can get off the money merry-go-round that leaves us dizzy and unstable. Instead we can find strength in Jesus to overcome the temptations that threaten our contentment, and once again we can know that peace from God which surpasses all comprehension as it guards our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.


* Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov, (New York: Random House, 2003) p. 286.